WHL Spokane Chiefs

Chiefs Weekly Report

Published on January 28, 2008 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Spokane Chiefs News Release


After clinching a playoff spot on Saturday night, the Spokane Chiefs will play the second of three straight road games when they take on the Kamloops Blazers Tuesday night. The Chiefs began their trip on Sunday night with a 5-2 win at Chilliwack, their fourth victory in a row. Spokane will take on the Kootenay Ice this weekend with a home-and-home beginning Friday in Cranbrook.

The Chiefs enter the week with the WHL's top record at 36-10-1-3 and 76 points, six more than the Vancouver Giants for the top spot in the Conference and three more than the Tri-City Americans for first place in the U.S. Division.

NEWS AND NOTES

CHIEFS CLINCH PLAYOFF SPOT...The Spokane Chiefs clinched a spot in the playoffs on Saturday, January 26th following a 4-2 win over the Prince Albert Raiders. The Chiefs 36-10-1-3 record and 76 points are the best through 50 games in franchise history.

POWERFUL...The Chiefs are 10-25 (40%) in their last six games and are currently ranked third in the WHL at 21.1% overall.

GREAT WAHL...Forward Mitch Wahl scored a goal and helped Team White to an 8-4 win over Team Red at the Top Prospects game in Edmonton on January 23rd. The game is reserved for 40 of the top draft eligible players in the CHL. Wahl, the Chiefs first round selection (4th overall) in the 2005 WHL Bantam Draft, is in his second season in a Spokane sweater and is second on the team in scoring with 55 points. Wahl has recorded 11 goals and 27 assists in the last 30 games. Wahl's 40 assists are tied for fifth 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.

STRAIGHT OUTTA...Seth Compton has scored six goals and nine points and is +8 in his last nine games, including a career high four points, two goals and two assists, in Spokane's 6-2 win on January 11th at Portland. Compton has scored a career high 11 goals and has played in 204 career games.

BREAKIN' GLASS...Trevor Glass recorded his first goal as a Chief in a 5-2 win on January 25th versus Seattle. In eight games, Glass has one goal, three points and is +3 with four penalty minutes. Glass made his Chiefs debut on Saturday, January 12th versus Tri-City after Spokane acquired the defenseman from the Medicine Hat Tigers in a trade deadline deal. Glass is in his fourth season in the WHL and has 170 career regular season games under his belt and another 42 in the post season, including four in last year's Memorial Cup. Glass helped the Tigers win the WHL Championship with a team leading +13 in the playoffs.

MCCRAE'S MARK...Since being acquired by the Chiefs, 19-year-old Justin McCrae has three goals, five assists and is +4 in 10 games. McCrae scored a pair of goals in his debut on January 9th against Kamloops. The Cochrane, Alberta native has played 251 career games, most for any active Chief. McCrae served as Saskatoon's captain this season.

THE CAPTAIN...Chiefs captain Chris Bruton has one goal and four assists in his last four games and now has points in 30 of 45 games this season for a total of 19 goals and 47 points. Six of his goals have counted as the game winner. The four-year veteran has played 227 career games.

KEEPING UP WITH JOHNSON...Chiefs rookie Tyler Johnson has two goals and six points in his last six games. On the year, the 17-year-old has 11 goals and 26 points in 49 games.

DO AS ROMAN DOES...Ondrej Roman has one goal and six points in his last three games. The 18-year-old has 13 goals this year after scoring four last season. His 32 helpers are on second on the team. Roman has 20 points on the power play, 16 of those assists.

OH, BLACKWATER...Twenty-year-old Judd Blackwater has five goals and six points in his last six games and a career high 18 goals on the season.

KOPER'S COUNT...Levko Koper has one goal, five points and is +4 in his last three games

TOKARSKI'S 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. Tokarski is second in the WHL with a 1.99 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 since Jim Watt did it in 2003-04.

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 4-10-14 with a +23 in 46 games.

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 +9 in 24 games for Spokane this year.

FALK'S NUMBERS...Justin Falk is +21 in his last 31 games and is +26 this season. The 19-year-old has played 168 career games and has led the Chiefs in +/- the past two seasons.

THERE ARE SOME PLUSSES...Five Spokane Chiefs are in the WHL's top 10 in plus-minus. Chris Bruton, Jared Spurgeon and Mitch Wahl are all tied for fourth at +29. Justin Falk is 10th at +25. Jared Cowen is 12th at +23.

BOWMAN'S PLACE...Drayson Bowman's 30 goals are third in the WHL. 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 eighth in the WHL in scoring (30-30-60). 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 12 power play goals, third in the WHL.

REDDINGTON'S RULES...Mike Reddington has 0-2-2 and is +3 in his last four games. His 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 124 career WHL games.

RUDY, RUDY...David Rutherford has four goals and seven points in his last six games. Rutherford missed 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.

CENTRAL SCOUTING...Five Spokane Chiefs are on NHL Central Scouting's mid-term rankings. Mitch Wahl is ranked 37th, Mike Reddington is 133rd, Jared Spurgeon is 144th, and Brett Bartman is ranked 165th overall for North American skaters. Dustin Tokarski is ranked 11th overall for North American based goaltenders.

SCORING...The Chiefs have allowed fewer goals than any other team in the WHL, 104 through 50 games, 2.08 per game. Vancouver is second in the WHL with 2.28 goals against per game. Spokane has outscored the opposition 66-33 in the first period and has scored the first goal of the game in 34 of 50 games.

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 third in the WHL with a 2.02 GAA. The 19-year-old has a .919 save percentage, third in the WHL, and a 16-5-1-1 record. Armstrong had a six game win streak this season.

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...Drayson Bowman (left arm, 1-2 weeks)

THIS WEEK

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29TH at KAMLOOPS BLAZERS AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00

The Chiefs will travel to play at Kamloops for the first time this season. The Chiefs have hosted the Blazers twice and have split the two meetings. Kamloops picked up a 4-3 win 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. On January 9th, Ondøej Roman and Justin McCrae each had a pair of goals and Dustin Tokarski made 26 saves in a 6-2 win. Spokane was 3-5 on the power play and 5-5 on the penalty kill. The Chiefs and Blazers will finish their season series on March 12th in Kamloops.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1ST at KOOTENAY ICE AIR-5:30 GAME-6:00

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2ND vs. KOOTENAY ICE AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00

Spokane will take on the Kootenay Ice for the fourth time this year in the first half of a home-and-home series. The Chiefs are 2-1 versus the Ice after they split a pair of home games on December 28th and 29th with each road team winning. The Chiefs scored three first period goals on their way to a 5-2 win on the 28th and Kootenay. Mitch Wahl had two goals and Ondøej Roman had a pair of helpers. The following night the Ice earned a 1-0 win over Spokane. Overall, the Chiefs will play three times at Kootenay and host the Ice twice. Spokane earned a 5-1 win over the Ice on September 29th in their first meeting of the year. Drayson Bowman had two goals and an assist, Jared Cowen had three helpers and Dustin Tokarski made 25 saves.

Check out the Spokane Chiefs Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from January 28, 2008


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