Chiefs Weekly Report
Published on January 8, 2008 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Spokane Chiefs News Release
The Spokane Chiefs will play three games in four nights this week, Wednesday versus Kamloops, Friday at Portland and Saturday against Tri-City.
Spokane enters the week with the best winning percentage in the WHL with a 29-8-1-2 record and 61 points, second in the Western Conference two points behind the Vancouver Giants with two games in hand.
Nineteen-year-old Justin McCrae is expected to make his debut on Wednesday night after being acquired on Monday in a trade with the Saskatoon Blades.
WEEKLY SCHEDULE
DATE EVENT AIR GAME
Wednesday, January 9th vs. Kamloops Blazers 6:30 7:00
Thursday, January 10th WHL Trade Deadline 2:00
Travel to Portland
Friday, January 11th at Portland Winter Hawks 7:00 7:30
Saturday, January 12th vs. Tri-City Americans 6:30 7:00
Sunday, January 13th Day Off
AIR-Denotes the beginning of Comcast Hockey Tonight on KJRB 790 the Fan
NEWS AND NOTES
CHIEFS ACQUIRE McCRAE...The Spokane Chiefs have acquired 19-year-old forward Justin McCrae from the Saskatoon Blades in exchange for 18-year-old Chris Langkow and 16-year-old list player Burke Gallimore. McCrae is in his fourth full season in the WHL, all with the Blades, and has played 241 career games. This season, McCrae served as Saskatoon's captain. McCrae played for Peters for Team Pacific at the 2005 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge and helped lead the team to a silver medal. This summer, McCrae was selected in the fourth round (102nd overall) by the Carolina Hurricanes in the NHL Entry Draft. The Cochrane, Alberta native has scored 11 goals and 24 points in 35 games this season. The move leaves Spokane's roster at 22; two goaltenders, seven defensemen and 13 forwards.
WHL SUPSENSIONS...The WHL handed down suspensions to a pair of Spokane Chiefs, giving forwards Chris Bruton three games and Dustin Donaghy one game after each received major penalties for checking from behind on Saturday, January 5th in Tri-City. Donaghy will serve his suspension on Wednesday night when Spokane hosts the Kamloops Blazers while Bruton will miss all three games this week; Wednesday versus Kamloops, Friday at Portland and Saturday against Tri-City at home.
TOKARSKI SETS MARK...Dustin Tokarski has set the franchise record for most shutouts in a season with his fifth of the year on January 5th at Tri-City in a 3-0 win. Tokarski also has seven career shutouts, second in franchise history. Three of his shutouts have come against the Thunderbirds. Tokarski leads the WHL with a 1.84 GAA. The 18-year-old was named the CHL's Goaltender of the Week on December 3rd after two wins, a shutout and a .50 GAA. Tokarski became the first Chiefs goaltender to post back-to-back shutouts in consecutive starts with a 21 save effort on November 2nd versus Seattle. Jim Watt did it in 2003-04. Tokarski is 16-3-0-1 on the season.
COWEN AND TEAM WEST... Jared Cowen and Team West won the bronze medal at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge after a 9-6 win over Team Pacific. Cowen finished the tournament with seven helpers in six games. Cowen was named the Player of the Game for Team West three times. The first overall selection in the 2006 WHL Bantam Draft is in his rookie season in the WHL and has 4-9-13 with a +19 in 35 games.
ONE, TWO ZERO...The Spokane Chiefs have played two 1-0 games this season. The Chiefs earned a 1-0 win on Friday, December 14th over the Seattle Thunderbirds and dropped a 1-0 decision to Kootenay on December 29th. It was the 15th time in franchise history, 13th in the regular season, which Spokane has played to that score.
FOR STARTERS...The Chiefs 29-8-1-2 record and 61 points are the best through 40 games in franchise history.
ULMER AND TEAM AUSTRIA... Chiefs Defenseman Stefan Ulmer and Team Austria finished with a silver medal at the IIHF Division IA Under-20 World Championships after a 6-3 loss on December 15th to Germany. In five games, Ulmer had one goal and one assist and was +4. The 17-year-old rookie is +8 in 19 games for Spokane this year.
CHIEFS RANKED SECOND...The Spokane Chiefs remain second in the most recent Canadian Hockey League Mosaik MasterCard Top 10 Rankings and are the highest ranked of the four ranked WHL teams. Vancouver if third, Tri-City is fourth, and Calgary is ninth.
FALK'S NUMBERS...Justin Falk is +16 in his last 16 games and is +24 this season. The 19-year-old has played 159 career games and has led the Chiefs in +/- the past two seasons.
THERE ARE SOME PLUSSES...The Chiefs have the top six players in the WHL in +/-. Mitch Wahl leads the league with a +29, Drayson Bowman is second at +28, Chris Bruton is third at +27, Jared Spurgeon is fourth at +24 and Justin Falk is +23.
BOWMAN'S PLACE...Drayson Bowman's 28 goals lead the WHL. Bowman has 23 goals and 43 points in his last 33 games. Bowman was named the WHL's Player of the Month for November after scoring 13 goals, 11 assists, 24 points and posting a +16. Bowman recorded two hat-tricks, two more two goals games, recorded a point in 10 of the 11 games and was named the Canadian Hockey League's Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks in the final two weeks of the month. The 18-year-old is third in the WHL in scoring (28-28-56). His seven game winners are tops in the WHL and just three off the franchise's single season record. Carolina's third round pick has also scored 11 power play goals.
UNLEASH THE FURY...Mitch Wahl has recorded nine goals and 20 assists in the last 22 games. Wahl's 34 assists are fourth in the WHL. The 17-year-old had an eight game point scoring streak snapped on November 30th. Through the span, Wahl had three goals and 18 points and was +15. Wahl is +29 on the season and is second on the team in scoring with 47 points.
REDDINGTON'S RULES...Mike Reddington's first goal of the season was the "Teddy Bear" goal on December 8th versus the Swift Current Broncos. Reddington is +13 on the season. The 17-year-old has played 113 career WHL games.
RUDY, RUDY...David Rutherford has two goals and 11 points in his last 17 games. Rutherford returned to the Chiefs lineup on November 21st after missing 18 games due to injury. The 20-year-old scored 31 goals last season and had a hat trick on September 22nd at Prince George prior to his injury.
CENTRAL SCOUTING... Spokane Chiefs Mitch Wahl and Dustin Tokarski have both been recognized by the National Hockey League's Central Scouting Bureau in their preliminary rankings for the 2008 Entry Draft. A 17-year-old center, Wahl is ranked 17th for Western Hockey League skaters and Tokarski is ranked fifth for WHL goaltenders.
SCORING...The Chiefs have allowed fewer goals than any other team in the WHL, 80 through 40 games, 2.00 per game. Vancouver is second in the WHL with 2.14 goals against per game. The Chiefs 3.43 goals per game (137 in 40 games) is fifth in the WHL. Spokane has outscored the opposition 52-24 in the first period and has scored the first goal of the game in 28 of 40 games.
SHOTS ALL AROUND...The Chiefs are averaging 32.9 shots per game and allowing just 25.1. Spokane has allowed more than 30 shots in a game just 10 times this year. The Chiefs are 26-4 when outshooting the opposition. The Chiefs are 3-6 when being outshot.
AN ARMY OF ONE...Kevin Armstrong recorded his second shutout of the season with 21 saves on November 21st against the Chilliwack Bruins and is fourth in the WHL with a 2.05 GAA. The 19-year-old has a .921 save percentage, third in the WHL, and a 12-5-1-1 record. Armstrong had a six game win streak this season.
ROOTIN-BRUTON...Twenty-year-old Chris Bruton has points in 27 of 40 games this year for a total of 18 goals and 42 points. Six of his goals have counted as the game winner. The four-year veteran was named the Chiefs captain and has played 224 career games.
DRAFTED PLAYERS... Drayson Bowman (Carolina, 3rd round, 2007), Justin McCrae (Carolina, 4th round, 2007), Justin Falk (Minnesota, 4th round, 2007), Ondrej Roman (Dallas, 5th round, 2007)
INJURY REPORT...None to report
THIS WEEK
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9TH vs. KAMLOOPS BLAZERS AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00
The Chiefs will host the Kamloops Blazers for their second of four meetings on the year and the first time since a 4-3 loss on November 9th. Curtis Kelner and Tyler Johnson both scored for Spokane, which was 2-6 on the power play. Each team had just 22 shots on goal. Spokane will travel to take on the Blazers on January 29th and March 12th. The game will be the final trip during the regular season for the Blazers to the Spokane Arena.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 11TH at PORTLAND WINTER HAWKS AIR-7:00 GAME-7:30
The Chiefs will travel to Portland for the third time this year and play for the fifth time this season. Ondøej Roman and Mitch Wahl each had two goals and Kevin Armstrong made 32 saves as the Chiefs defeated Portland 7-1 on December 12th in their last meeting of the year. Spokane's Jace Coyle scored the lone goal in a shootout to give Spokane a 5-4 win on December 9th. Drayson Bowman, Chris Bruton and Jared Spurgeon all scored for Spokane as the Chiefs outshot the Winter Hawks 51-29. Spokane scored four goals in the first period en route to a 9-1 win over Portland on October 28th. The nine goals is a season high for Spokane. Ondøej Roman (two), Judd Blackwater (two), Drayson Bowman, Levko Koper, Mitch Wahl and Seth Compton all scored for Spokane as they outshot the Winter Hawks 42-28 on the game. The Chiefs earned a 5-2 win on October 12th in Spokane in their first match-up of the year. Five different players scored goals. Drayson Bowman and Mitch Wahl had one goal and two assists. The Chiefs and Winter Hawks will play each other a total of nine times. Armstrong has started three games and has posted a 1.33 GAA and .953 save percentage.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 12TH vs. TRI-CITY AMERICANS AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00
The Chiefs will host Tri-City for the third time this year and will take on the Americans for the third time in 13 days. Dustin Tokarski made 32 saves in Spokane's 3-0 win on January 5th in Kennewick in the last meeting of the year. The Americans defeated Spokane 4-1 on New Year's Eve in their annual match-up. Tri-City won back-to-back games by that score, including December 15th in Spokane. The Chiefs earned a 5-3 win on November 24th in Tri-City. Both Drayson Bowman and Chris Bruton had a pair of goals and an assist with Judd Blackwater adding a single. Mitch Wahl finished the night with four helpers as Spokane outshot the Americans 34-22. Tri-City took both halves of a home-and-home series, one in overtime and the other in a shootout, to open the home portion of the year for both clubs on October 5th in Tri-City and the 6th in Spokane. The first game was a 4-3 overtime loss. Tyler Johnson had the Chiefs lone goal in a 2-1 shootout loss on the 6th. Spokane and Tri-City will play each other six times in each other's building. In its 20th year of existence, the Chiefs lead the rivalry 115-104-1-3 with 13 ties.
Western Hockey League Stories from January 8, 2008
- Chiefs Weekly Report - Spokane Chiefs
- Chiefs Face-Off Three Times This Week - Spokane Chiefs
- This Week In Silvertips Hockey - Everett Silvertips
- Americans Add Depth with Toigo - Tri-City Americans
- Bartek Expected Back Tuesday - Brandon Wheat Kings
- Rockets' Jung named ADT CHL Goaltender of the Week - WHL
- Pats and Warriors Get Set for 2nd Trans-Canada Clash - Regina Pats
- Blazers Weekly Update - Kamloops Blazers
- Edmonton Oil Kings First Annual Teddy Bear Toss Night Is Set - Edmonton Oil Kings
- Hitmen hit the community, then host Edmonton Sunday - Calgary Hitmen
- Kelowna Rockets Release 100 Extra Tickets - Kelowna Rockets
- Calvert Up For Fans Choice Award - Brandon Wheat Kings
- Blades and Rebels on Rogers Sportsnet - Saskatoon Blades
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