WHL Spokane Chiefs

Chiefs Weekly Report

Published on January 28, 2009 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Spokane Chiefs News Release


The Spokane Chiefs take a season high eight game winning streak into three games in four nights this week. The stretch will begin tonight in Everett when Spokane takes on the Silvertips for the second time in as many Wednesdays. The Chiefs are at home on Friday, versus Chilliwack, and Saturday against Kootenay.

Spokane trails the Tri-City Americans for first place in the U.S. Division by six points with three games in hand. The Chiefs are in third place in the Western Conference.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

DAY EVENT AIR GAME LOCATION

Wednesday, January 28th at Everett Silvertips 6:30 7:00 Everett , WA

Thursday, January 29th Practice 1:00 Spokane Arena

Friday, January 30th vs. Chilliwack Bruins 6:30 7:00 Spokane Arena

Saturday, January 31st vs. Kootenay Ice 6:30 7:00 Spokane Arena

AIR-Denotes the beginning of Comcast Hockey Tonight on 1510 KGA.

NEWS AND NOTES

BRING YOUR GREEN HAT...The Spokane Chiefs have equaled their third longest winning streak of all time with eight straight, just one short of their second longest all-time set last year. Spokane won 12 in a row in 1995-96. Last year, Spokane put together win streaks of seven, eight and nine games. Spokane also won seven in a row in 1997-98 and eight in a row in 1994-95. Dustin Tokarski has also posted eight straight wins, dating back to December 3rd. The 19-year-old goaltender picked up three wins before leaving for Team Canada and has won his five starts since returning.

SEVEN IS THE MAGIC NUMBER...Spokane scored a season high seven goals, five of them in the third period, to push the Chiefs to a 7-1 win over the Portland Winter Hawks on January 16th. Spokane had scored six goals in a game four other times this year.

LOW PLACES...The Chiefs have allowed zero or one goal 16 times this season and have give up 92 goals in 47 games for a league best 1.96 goals against per game. Dustin Tokarski and James Reid have combined to post a 1.81 goals against average.

KILLER...Spokane is 72-77 (93.5%) on the penalty kill in their last 17 and holds the top spot in the WHL with a penalty kill of 87.2%.

TOP THIS...Jared Cowen had two assists and Levko Koper had a goal for Team Orr in a 6-1 win over Team Cherry at the 2009 CHL Top Prospects game on Wednesday, January 14th.

PROSPECTING...Defenseman Jared Cowen is ranked seventh overall by NHL Central Scouting for draft eligible North American skaters for the 2009 Entry Draft. Levko Koper is ranked 44th overall. Stefan Ulmer, a second-year defenseman, is ranked 99th overall.

CALLA-RIES...Brady Calla scored his first goal as a Spokane Chief on January 14th in a 4-2 win over the Portland Winter Hawks and has six points, five penalty minutes and is a +3 in seven games in Spokane. Spokane acquired Calla on January 7th from the Kamloops Blazers. Calla has appeared in 297 career WHL games, scored 55 goals and 163 points with Everett, Moose Jaw, Kamloops and Spokane. Calla was Florida's third round pick in the 2006 NHL Draft. Calla started the season with the Rochester Americans, Florida's AHL affiliate.

TOKARSKI IS GOLDEN... Goaltender Dustin Tokarski stopped 39 Swedish shots and helped Team Canada win its fifth straight IIHF World Junior Championship crown on January 5th with a 5-1 decision in Ottawa, Ontario. Tokarski is the first Spokane goaltender to back stop Team Canada and the first Chief to win a gold medal since Trent Whitfield and Hugh Hamilton did it in 1997, a junior team coached by the Spokane's Mike Babcock.

ROMAN RETURNS...Ondrej Roman has three goals and six assists in seven games in Spokane after playing the first half of the season in the Czech Republic. Through 149 career games in Spokane, Roman has scored 22 goals, 96 assists and 118 points, including career highs of 15 goals, 46 assists and 61 points last season. Roman led the Chiefs in scoring last year in the WHL playoffs with 9-12-21in 21 games. The Dallas Stars selected Roman in the fifth round in 2007. Most recently, Roman finished second on his team in scoring with 4-4-8 in a sixth place finish at the World Juniors for the Czech Republic.

USA NEWS...The United States finished fifth at the World Junior Hockey Championship after a 3-2 overtime win over the Czech Republic on January 4th. Drayson Bowman finished the tournament with three goals and four points, Mitch Wahl had one goal and four points and Tyler Johnson had one goal in six games.

BOWMANS BACK...Drayson Bowman scored his 100th career goal on January 16th in Portland as a part of a 7-1 win and now has 103 career goals. Bowman is one goal from tying Tim Krymusa for 11th all-time on the franchise's all-time list for career goals. Bowman had two goals and three assists in his third career five point night in a 6-2 win over the Kootenay Ice on December 6th. The 19-year-old forward has 26 points in his last 20 games (12-14-26). The Littleton, Colorado native was the Hurricanes third round selection in 2007.

TIC-TALK WON'T STOP...Tokarski leads the WHL with 1.88 GAA, a .940 save percentage and is tied for second with four shutouts. Tokarski stopped 23 shots versus Chilliwack on December 9thand now has 12 shutouts for his career, a franchise record. Tokarski signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning, who selected him in the fifth round last summer. 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. During the playoffs Tokarski had a stretch of 186 minutes and 15 seconds without allowing a goal. 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).

ULMER WINS GOLD, HONORS... Stefan Ulmer was named the Best Defenseman of the 2009 IIHF Group B World Junior Hockey Championships after leading Austria to the gold. Ulmer also led the tournament in scoring with five goals and 11 points in helping Austria win the tournament. Ulmer is top scoring defenseman on the Chiefs. In 44 games, Ulmer has 28 points and is a +11.

WAHL NUTS...Chiefs center Mitch Wahl has 102 career assists and 21 goals and 38 points in 38 games this year. The 18-year-old is also a team leading +22 on the season. This is his third season in a Spokane jersey and he has played 176 career games in two-plus seasons. After scoring two goals and six points in four Memorial Cup games, Wahl was named to the tournament All-Star Team. Wahl was also selected by the Calgary Flames in the second round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Last year Wahl led the club with 53 assists, seventh in the WHL, and finished second on the team in scoring with 73 points. Wahl also finished tied for fifth in the WHL with a +33.

KEEPING UP WITH JOHNSON...Tyler Johnson is the first Spokane product to play for the United States at the World Junior Championships. Johnson had a two goal and three point night in a 7-1 win over Portland on January 16th. In 36 games, Johnson has 13 goals and 33 points. Johnson attended the Phoenix Coyotes camp in the pre-season and was named the Western Hockey League Finals MVP after scoring three goals in four games, including two game winners, against the Lethbridge Hurricanes. In 2007-08, Johnson led all Chiefs rookies with 69 games, 13 goals and 35 points.

REID BETWEEN THE LINES...James Reid has three shutouts in his last ten games and four in 15 career starts. Reid has a 1.69 goals against average and .936 save percentage. Reid has played 889 minutes, just 71 minutes from qualifying for the league leaders (minimum of 960 minutes played). Reid would be leading the WHL in goals against and second in save percentage. Reid is 9-5-0-1 on the season. Reid stopped 25 shots on January 10th in a 2-0 win over the Chilliwack Bruins.

KOPER'S COUNT...Levko Koper has seven assists in his last five games and is third on the team with 16 goals. Koper recorded his first career hat-trick on November 1st in a 5-1 win over Kootenay. His total is four better than his career high of 12 set last year. The 18-year-old had a career best 11 game point streak at the start of the season. Koper is in his third season in Spokane with 165 games played. 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.

LETTS TALK...Ryan Letts scored a goal 22-seconds into the game on January 14th versus the Portland Winter Hawks. The franchise record was set on March, 17th, 2002 when Brad Schell scored 11 seconds into the game at Portland. The 19-year-old has two goals in his last four games. Letts has been either a plus or even in 42 of 46 games this season. Letts scored a career high two goals on Friday, October 10th in a 6-2 win at Portland and has played 190 career WHL games.

PROJECT POWER PLAY...This season, Avista will donate $25 to Project Share for each power play goal the Chiefs score. Through 47 games, the Chiefs have scored 44 goals on the man advantage for a total of $1,100. In their last 18 games, Spokane is 18-68 (26.5%) on the man advantage and in their last 40 the Chiefs are 43-149 (28.9%). The Chiefs own the third best percentage (24.2%) in the WHL.

LOOKING GLASS...Defenseman Trevor Glass appeared in his 200th career WHL game on Saturday, October 18th in Tri-City and has now played 232 games. Glass has five goals and 13 assists in 40 games. The 20-year-old is in his fifth season in the WHL and has played 59 career playoff games and another eight in the Memorial Cup. 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.

DRAFTED PLAYERS...Brady Calla (Florida, 3rd round, 2006), Drayson Bowman (Carolina, 3rd round, 2007), Justin McCrae (Carolina, 4th round, 2007), Ondøej Roman (Dallas, 4th round, 2007), Mitch Wahl (Calgary, 2nd round, 2008), Dustin Tokarski (Tampa Bay, 5th round, 2008), Jared Spurgeon (NY Islanders, 6th round, 2008)

INJURY REPORT...Mike Reddington (thigh, day-to-day), Justin McCrae (foot, week-to-week), Ryan Letts (shoulder, week-to-week)

Check out the Spokane Chiefs Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from January 28, 2009


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