Chiefs Weekly Report
Published on October 6, 2008 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Spokane Chiefs News Release
CHIEFS SIT ATOP U.S. DIVISION
After earning points in all four games last week, the Chiefs sit atop the U.S. Division standings early in the WHL season. The Chiefs won twice and dropped a pair of shootout losses picking up six out of a possible eight points and hold a 4-1-0-2 record with 10 points, four points better than the second place Tri-City Americans who hold two games in hand.
Spokane is also tied with Vancouver for the league lead by allowing only 11 goals in seven games. That total includes goals the opposition is given for a shootout win, meaning Spokane has allowed just nine goals in regulation and overtime. Combined, Dustin Tokarski and James Reid have a 1.12 goals against average and .966 save percentage. Of the nine goals allowed, Spokane has given up just two of them five-on-five, allowed one empty netter with six power play goals allowed. Seattle's second goal on Saturday night in their 3-2 shootout win snapped a five game streak without allowing an even-strength goal.
Tokarski leads the WHL with three shutouts, is third in save percentage at .965 and is fourth in goals against at 1.15. The 19-year-old sits behind Reid in both save percentage and goals against, whose first career start and only appearance of the season saw him stop 32 shots in 33 chances but resulted in a 2-1 shootout loss to Chilliwack last Wednesday.
After taking Sunday and Monday off, the Chiefs will practice through the week preparing for games on Friday, at Portland, and Saturday at home against the Everett Silvertips.
Saturday is Skate with the Chiefs Night presented by 1510 KGA and 790 KJRB. Fans are encouraged to bring skates and hit the Arena ice after the game to skate with the team.
Tickets to all home games are available by calling the Chiefs office at (509) 535-PUCK or TicketsWest at (800) 325-SEAT.
THIS WEEK
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10TH AT PORTLAND WINTER HAWKS AIR-7:00 GAME-7:30
In their second of nine meetings with the Winter Hawks the Spokane Chiefs will travel to the Memorial Coliseum to take on Portland. Spokane will host the Hawks five times, including their first trip to Spokane on Wednesday, October 15th. Dustin Tokarski stopped 40 Portland shots for a shutout on September 20th, Spokane's second game of the year. Three players scored for Spokane with Brett Barman, Stefan Ulmer and Jared Cowen all scoring for Spokane. Last season, the Chiefs were 8-0-0-1 versus Portland, dropping the final game of the regular season, March 16th, in a 3-2 shootout. Spokane scored a season high nine goals in a 9-1 win on October 28th at Portland. Drayson Bowman led all scorers in the series with six goals and 15 points while Mitch Wahl had seven goals and 13 points in seven games.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11TH vs. EVERETT SILVERTIPS AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00
The Chiefs and Silvertips will face off for their second of eight match-ups of the year, four home and four away. Spokane will travel to Everett for the first time on Halloween. Five different players scored goals and Dustin Tokarski stopped 30 shots in their last meeting, a 5-0 win on October 3rd. Tyler Johnson, Mitch Wahl, Drayson Bowman, Jared Cowen and Blake Gall all had goals. The Chiefs defeated Everett in four games during last year's first round playoff series. Drayson Bowman had three goals and five points while Mitch Wahl had two goals and five points in the series. Spokane went 3-4-0-1 in eight games during the regular season last year with a 2-2 record at home and 1-2-0-1 record on the road.
LAST WEEK
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30TH SPOKANE-6 at KAMLOOPS-2
The Chiefs four goal second period keyed Spokane to a 6-2 win over the Kamloops Blazers Tuesday night in Kamloops, BC. In his first game in Spokane this year, Drayson Bowman had two goals and two assists, Mitch Wahl had a goal and two assists while Stefan Ulmer and Brett Bartman each had a goal and assist.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1ST SPOKANE-1 at CHILLIWACK-2 SO
James Reid stopped 31 shots in his WHL debut and Levko Koper scored the Chiefs lone goal as Spokane dropped a 2-1 decision on Wednesday night in Chilliwack. The shootout went eight rounds before the Bruins came away with the victory.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3RD SPOKANE-5 vs. EVERETT-0
Five different players scored goals and Dustin Tokarski picked up his third shutout of the season, 11th of his career, as the Spokane Chiefs defeated the Everett Silvertips 5-0 on Friday night in the Spokane Arena. The Chiefs outshot Everett 50-30. Spokane was 2-6 on the power play and 6-6 on the penalty kill.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4TH SPOKANE-2 at SEATTLE-3 SO
Drayson Bowman scored twice but the Seattle Thunderbirds handed the Chiefs their second shootout loss of the week. Spokane outshot the Thunderbirds 32-28 and went 1-2 on both the power play and penalty kill.
NEWS AND NOTES
WAHL SUSPENDED...Chiefs center Mitch Wahl is serving a league imposed suspension, the length of which has yet to be determined, based on the league's supplemental discipline rule. Wahl out Saturday night's game at Seattle after receiving a roughing minor in the second period of Friday night's game against the Everett Silvertips. Wahl has five goals and five assists in his first six games of the year.
GLASS RETURNS...After spending a week in the Rockford IceHogs (AHL) camp, defenseman Trevor Glass was returned to Spokane and appeared in two games over the weekend for the Chiefs. Glass has two assists and is +3 in four games in Spokane. The 20-year-old is in his fifth season in the WHL and has played 195 regular season games, 59 playoff games and another eight in the Memorial Cup. Glass scored Spokane's third goal, his only of the Memorial Cup, in a 4-1 win over the Kitchener Rangers in the final game to help the Chiefs win the championship. In 2007-08, Glass had three goals and 12 points as a Chief in 27 games after being acquired in a January, 2008 trade. The defenseman was also +15 in Spokane. Glass's resume also includes a pair of WHL titles, one with Medicine Hat in 2007 where he led the team with a +13 in the playoffs. The Cochrane, Alberta native was a former first round selection in the 2003 WHL Bantam Draft (10th overall).
FALK SIGNS...Defenseman Justin Falk has signed a contract with the Minnesota Wild and will remain in their organization for the 2008-09 season. The 20-year-old was originally acquired in November, 2005 in a trade with the Calgary Hitmen and appeared in 182 games in Spokane and finished last year with four goals, 22 assists, 26 points and a +27, all career highs. Falk was selected in the fourth round of the 2007 NHL Entry draft by Minnesota and earned All-Star honors at last year's Memorial Cup.
BOWMAN RETURNS...Spokane forward Drayson Bowman has four goals and three assists in his first three games since being sent back to the Chiefs from the Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL. Bowman comes back for his fourth season in Spokane after leading the team in goals (42) and points (80) last year. Bowman was named the Chiefs Player of the Year in 2007-08. The Littleton, Colorado native has scored 84 career goals, 21st in franchise history, and was the Hurricanes third round selection in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.
ROSTER ROUNDUP...With the return of Glass and Falk's signing, the Chiefs currently have 24 players on their roster, including 17 off last year's Memorial Cup roster. The roster also features seven players in their first full season in the WHL. The only player missing from the line-up is Ondøej Roman, who is still awaiting his release from the Czech Republic.
REID BETWEEN THE LINES...Eighteen-year-old James Reid stopped 32 shots in his first career start on October 1st at Chilliwack but dropped the game after an eight round shootout.
BANTAM DRAFT...Spokane's roster features 15 players selected by the Chiefs in the WHL Bantam Draft, including four first round picks; Drayson Bowman (2004), Mitch Wahl (2005), Jared Cowen (2006) and Mike Betz (2007). Spokane has four players from both the 2006 and 2007 draft and three from the 2005 draft.
TIC-TALK... Chiefs goaltender Dustin Tokarski has three shutouts this season and 11 for his career, setting a new franchise record. Tokarski posted back-to-back shutouts for the third time in his career, second time in the regular season, with blankings on September 20th against Portland and September 27th against Tri-City. Tokarksi's third of the year came with 30 saves against Everett on October 3rd. Tokarski was named the Memorial Cup MVP after going 4-0 with a 1.72 GAA, a .953 save percentage and a 52 save performance in the Championship game against the Kitchener Rangers. Through games five and six of the second round versus Vancouver and one and two against Tri-City Tokarski had a stretch of 186 minutes and 15 seconds without allowing a goal. Tokarski's mark is fifth all-time in WHL playoff history. The Tampa Bay Lightning selected Tokarski in the fifth round in 2008. In 2007-08, the 19-year-old set a slew of records in net for Spokane, including most shutouts in a season (6), most consecutive wins (11-October 13th through December 2nd), best goals against average in a single season (2.05) and best save percentage (.922). Tokarski finished third in the WHL in GAA and first overall in save percentage.
TEAM COWEN-ADA...Defenseman Jared Cowen was named an Alternate Captain and helped Team Canada win a gold medal at the Memorial of Ivan Hlinka under-18 World Championships. Cowen is in his second season in a Spokane jersey. His empty net goal versus the Kitchener Rangers on May 25th, 2008 clinched the Chiefs Memorial Cup Championship. In his rookie season, Jared Cowen appeared in 68 games, scored four goals and 18 points. His +28 led all rookie defenseman in 2007-08. Cowen is eligible for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
BARTMAN...Brett Bartman posted a career high +6 in a 6-2 win over the Kamloops Blazers on Tuesday, September 30th and is now +7 in his last four games and is +10 on the season, third in the WHL. Through seven games, Bartman has one goal and four points. His first career goal counted as the game winner on September 20th, 2008 at Portland, a 3-0 win. Bartman appeared in 48 games last season with six assists and a +16.
KEEPING UP WITH JOHNSON...Spokane's own Tyler Johnson scored his first goal of the season on October 3rd against Everett and now has four points in four games. Johnson has also been a plus in each game this year. Johnson was a free-agent invitee to the Phoenix Coyotes camp was invited to their main camp. Johnson was named the Western Hockey League Finals MVP after scoring three goals in four games, including game winners in games three and four against the Lethbridge Hurricanes. In 2007-08, Johnson led Chiefs rookies with 69 games, 13 goals and 35 points.
CAMPING - AMERICAN STYLE...Drayson Bowman, Tyler Johnson and Mitch Wahl all attended the United States junior evaluation camp in August. The camp is used to identify prospects for the U.S. team that will play in the World Junior Hockey Championships in December in Ottawa.
CAMPING - THE CANADIAN WAY...Dustin Tokarski and Jared Spurgeon both attended Team Canada's National Junior Team Evaluation camp in August in Ottawa. Both are eligible for Canada's World Junior Team.
COMPTON'S CORNER...Twenty-year-old forward Seth Compton is in his fifth season in the WHL, all with the Chiefs, and has played in 232 career games (25th in franchise history), including a career high 71 games in 2007-08. Compton also scored a career high 13 goals and 20 points last year. Compton was named the Player's Player after last season.
KOPER'S COUNT...Levko Koper is in his third season in Spokane with 120 games played in the previous two. In a career high 69 games last year, Koper scored 12 goals and 26 points and added another four goals and nine points in 21 playoff games. Koper scored two goals in the Memorial Cup, including the overtime game winner in Spokane's first game of the tournament against the Belleville Bulls.
REDDINGTON'S READY...Mike Reddington has played in 150 games in two-plus seasons, 27 playoff games and four more in the Memorial Cup. Reddington appeared in 71 of 72 games last season and led the Chiefs with 102 penalty minutes.
DRAFTED PLAYERS... Drayson Bowman (Carolina, 3rd round, 2007), Justin McCrae (Carolina, 4th round, 2007), Ondrej Roman (Dallas, 5th round, 2007), Mitch Wahl (Calgary, 2nd round, 2008), Dustin Tokarski (Tampa Bay, 5th round, 2008), Jared Spurgeon (NY Islanders, 6th round, 2008)
INJURY REPORT...Justin McCrae (knee, indefinite), Tyler Johnson (concussion, day-to-day)
Western Hockey League Stories from October 6, 2008
- Thomas Hickey Returns To T-Birds - Seattle Thunderbirds
- Join the 'Tips Around Town in October - Everett Silvertips
- Hawks Acquire Rainaldi from Prince George - Portland Winterhawks
- Hitmen to hit the community, then play pair of weekend games - Calgary Hitmen
- Chiefs Weekly Report - Spokane Chiefs
- Hitmen Name Mike Moore Director Of Business Operations - Calgary Hitmen
- Hurricanes weekly - Lethbridge Hurricanes
- Help Us Fill Up Comcast Arena And Welcome Seattle To Silvertip Country - Seattle Thunderbirds
- Pats Weekly - Regina Pats
- Giants' Casey Pierro-Zabotel named Boston Pizza WHL Player of the Week - WHL
- Vancouver Giants Weekly Update - Vancouver Giants
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