WHL Spokane Chiefs

Chiefs Weekly Report

February 12, 2008 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Spokane Chiefs News Release


The Spokane Chiefs, in the middle of nine out of 10 versus the U.S. Division, will travel to a pair of division foes this week when they take on the Everett Silvertips on Friday and Tri-City Americans on Saturday night.

Spokane enters the week with the second best record in the Western Conference at 39-13-1-4 and 83 points.

DATE EVENT LOCATION AIR GAME

Wednesday, February 13th Practice Eagles 1:00

Thursday, February 14th Practice Eagles 1:00

Friday, February 15th at Everett Silvertips Everett, WA 7:00 7:30

Saturday, February 16th at Tri-City Americans Kennewick, WA 6:30 7:00

Sunday, February 17th Day Off

AIR- Denotes the beginning of Comcast Hockey Tonight on KJRB 790 the Fan or the beginning of practice.

THIS WEEK

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15TH at EVERETT SILVERTIPS AIR-7:00 GAME-7:30

For the third time this year, the Chiefs will travel to play the Everett Silvertips. The game will be the sixth match-up of the year. Four different players scored goals in the Chiefs 4-1 win on February 6th, their last meeting of the year. Everett defeated Spokane 4-2 on January 19th in Everett prior to that. Judd Blackwater and Stefan Ulmer scored for Spokane. Despite outshooting Everett 40-22 on January 16th, Spokane dropped a 2-1 decision to the Silvertips in the Spokane Arena. Drayson Bowman, Mitch Wahl and Levko Koper all scored goals for Spokane in a 3-2 win on November 10th. Everett beat Spokane 4-0 on October 3rd prior to that. The Chiefs and Silvertips will play each other four times between February 6th and February 22nd.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16TH at TRI-CITY AMERICANS AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00

Saturday night, the Chiefs will travel to take on the Tri-City Americans in the second of three straight weekends the two will play. The Chiefs and Americans will also play five out of six weekends. The Chiefs will host Tri-City on the 23rd and Friday, March 7th and travel to Kennewick again on March 15th. Spokane is 2-3-1-2 on the season earning seven out of a possible 16 points in eight games. Tri-City earned a 7-2 win on February 9th in their last meeting after scoring four goals in the third period. The Americans defeated Spokane 3-2 in a shootout on January 12th in Spokane. Dustin Tokarski made 32 saves in Spokane's 3-0 win on January 5th in Kennewick. 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 115-105-1-4 with 13 ties.

NEWS AND NOTES

VERSUS HISTORY...With 39 wins, the Chiefs have three more than they did last season and the most wins in a season since they had 47 in 1999-00. The most wins in franchise history are 50, accomplished in 1995-96. Their 83 points are already the fifth best season in 23 years in Spokane. The Chiefs have also won 36+ games in back-to-back seasons for just the third time in franchise history (1986-87, 37 wins and 1987-88, 37 wins. 1990-91, 48 wins and 1991-92, 37 wins).

ROAD WARRIORS...The Chiefs hold the best road record in the WHL with a 19-7-1-1 mark. Spokane is 20-6-0-3 at home.

CENTURY CLUB...With a 4-1 win on February 6th Bill Peters earned his 100th career victory as head coach of the Chiefs, already the third most by a head coach in franchise history. Mike Babcock won 223 career games in six seasons and Bryan Maxwell won 165 in four-plus seasons. Peters overall record is 100-80-10-11.

BOWMAN'S PLACE...Drayson Bowman had two goals and three assists on February 11th versus the Seattle Thunderbirds. It was the second time this season Bowman had recorded five points in a game. The 18-year-old had three goals and five points on November 21st versus Kelowna. Bowman also has three hat-tricks this season, the last being February 2nd in a shootout win over Kootenay. Bowman's 35 goals are tied for second 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 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 ninth in the WHL in scoring (35-33-68). His seven game winners are third 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.

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 60 points. Wahl has recorded 13 goals and 30 assists in the last 36 games. Wahl's 43 assists are sixth 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.

BREAKIN' GLASS...Trevor Glass recorded his first goal as a Chief in a 5-2 win on January 25th versus Seattle. In 15 games, Glass has two goals, six points and is +9 with six penalty minutes. 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 177 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.

STRAIGHT OUTTA...Seth Compton has scored six goals and nine points and is +7 in his last 14 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 210 career games.

MCCRAE'S MARK...Since being acquired by the Chiefs, 19-year-old Justin McCrae has four goals, eight assists and is +4 in 17 games. McCrae scored a pair of goals in his debut on January 9th against Kamloops. The Cochrane, Alberta native has played 258 career games, most for any active Chief. McCrae served as Saskatoon's captain this season.

THE CAPTAIN...Chiefs captain Chris Bruton has four goals and seven assists in his last 12 games and now has points in 35 of 52 games this season for a total of 22 goals and 53 points. Six of his goals have counted as the game winner. The four-year veteran has played 234 career games.

DO AS ROMAN DOES...Ondrej Roman has one goal and nine points in his last 10 games. The 18-year-old has 13 goals this year after scoring four last season. His 35 helpers are on second on the team. Roman has 20 points on the power play, 16 of those assists.

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 third in the WHL with a 2.11 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. Tokarski won 11 straight starts from October 13th through December 2nd and had a 1.35 GAA, three shutouts and a .934 save percentage.

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 2.12 GAA. The 19-year-old has a 16-5-1-2 record. Armstrong had a six game win streak this 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 4-11-15 with a +26 in 52 games.

ULMER FUDD...Stefan Ulmer recorded his first career three point night with a goal and two assists on February 11th versus the Seattle Thunderbirds. The 17-year-old rookie is +10 with three goals and 10 points in 27 games. The defenseman won a silver medal with Team Austria at the IIHF Division IA Under-20 World Championships.

RUDY, RUDY...David Rutherford has five goals and eight points in his last 13 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.

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...Curtis Kelner (shoulder, 1-2 weeks), Tyler Johnson (illness, day-to-day)

Check out the Spokane Chiefs Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from February 12, 2008


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