WHL Spokane Chiefs

Chiefs Weekly Report

Published on March 5, 2012 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Spokane Chiefs News Release


CHIEFS AND VANCOUVER IN THE FIRST ROUND

One post-season factor has been decided for the Spokane Chiefs; their opponent. What has yet to be determined is who will have home-ice advantage in the first round of the post-season, the Chiefs or the Vancouver Giants.

The top eight seeds in the Conference advance to the playoffs with the fourth place team hosting fifth team in four of the possible seven games. The Chiefs enter the week in a tie for fourth with Vancouver in the Western Conference's playoff race. Each team has 78 points, but Vancouver holds the first tie breaker, wins, with two more than Spokane.

The Chiefs have seven games remaining, five at home and two on the road, while the Giants have six left, four at home and two on the road.

The meeting will be the third time the two franchises have met in the playoffs with each team winning one series. The Chiefs defeated Vancouver in a six game second round affair on their way to the 2008 Memorial Cup Championship. The following year Spokane dropped a seven game playoff series that featured games five, six and seven going into overtime. Vancouver advanced to the Western Conference finals after winning the match-up between the previous two Memorial Cup Champions (Vancouver-2007, Spokane-2008). The two played the second longest game in WHL history in game five, a 3-2 Spokane win.

Game dates, locations and times will be announced at a later date.

WESTERN CONFERENCE GP W L OTL SOL PTS PCT GF GA

1. *x Portland 66 46 16 3 1 96 0.727 300 209

2. *xy Kamloops 66 44 17 2 3 93 0.705 261 190

3. x Tri-City 66 46 17 1 2 95 0.720 260 175

4. x Spokane 65 35 22 5 3 78 0.600 237 203

5. x Vancouver 66 37 25 1 3 78 0.591 235 212

6. x Kelowna 66 28 29 3 6 65 0.492 200 224

7. Victoria 66 21 39 2 4 48 0.364 217 309

8. Everett 65 19 37 1 8 47 0.362 165 247

9. Seattle 64 21 41 1 1 44 0.344 150 257

10. Prince George 65 20 43 0 2 42 0.323 143 231

* - division leader

x - clinched playoff berth

y - clinched title

THIS WEEK

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7TH vs. KELOWNA ROCKETS AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00 RADIO-1510 KGA

The Chiefs and Rockets will face off in their fourth and final meeting of the season., Spokane is 2-1-0-0 on the year versus Kelowna, winning their only home game on October 8th and going 1-1 in Kelowna. Spokane played twice at Kelowna over an eight day span in December and January and split the decisions. Spokane picked up a 5-1 win on October 8th as Mitch Holmberg had two goals and Jason Fram added another. The Chiefs were 2-8 on the power play and 4-4 on the penalty kill while outshooting the Rockets 45-12. Spokane won their first game in Kelowna on December 27th by a 4-1 score. Holmberg had two goals and an assist as the Chiefs were 2-8 on the power play and 5-5 on the penalty kill. Spokane outshot the Rockets 37-23. Each team had 26 shots on January 4th as Spokane returned to play at the Rockets and Kelowna skated to a 5-2 win. The Rockets scored four unanswered goals in the second period, including two on the power play.

FRIDAY, MARCH 9TH vs. TRI-CITY AMERICANS AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00 RADIO-1510 KGA

The Chiefs will host the Americans for the sixth and final time this season. Overall, it will be the 11th of 12 meetings. In the final six weeks of the season Spokane and Tri-City will meet five times. The Americans lead the season series 7-3. Tri-City skated to a 7-3 win over Spokane on February 25th. Dominik Uher, Mitch Holmberg and Blake Gal scored for Spokane. The previous Saturday, the Americans defeated Spokane 3-2 . Liam Stewart and Marek Kalus each scored for Spokane. Mike Aviani, Stewart and Mitch Holmberg scored at home for Spokane on February 11th but the Chiefs had their two game winning streak snapped in the series. Spokane was 1-4 on the power play and 6-7 on the penalty kill. Tri-City scored two shorthanded goals. Tri-City Spokane skated away with a 3-1 decision on January 20th. Spokane trailed 1-0 going into the third before Collin Valcourt, Brenden Kichton and Dominik Uher scored. Uher's goal was shorthanded. The Chiefs earned a 5-3 win on January 14th in Spokane. The game was 3-3 through two periods before Dylan Walchuk scored a go ahead goal at 7:05 of the third. Dominik Uher scored his second goal of the game, this one into an empty net, for the final tally. The Chiefs went 2-4 on the power play and 5-5 on the penalty kill. In the annual New Year's Eve game, Tri-City skated to a 4-1 victory. Marek Kalus scored the Chiefs' lone goal. There were just a combined 37 shots on goal, 17 by Spokane. The American's picked up another 4-1 win on November 5th in Spokane. Mike Aviani scored the Chiefs' lone goal. Tri-City earned a 3-1 win on October 29th. Blake Gal scored the Chiefs' only goal as Spokane was 1-6 on the power play and 7-7 on the penalty kill. Each team defended their home ice in their respective home openers. Tri-City earned a 4-1 win over Spokane on September 24th. One week later, Steven Kuhn scored twice as Spokane picked up a 7-2 victory. The Chiefs were 4-12 on the power play and 5-5 on the penalty kill. Spokane is 11-58 (19.0%) on the power play and 40-48 (83.3%) on the penalty kill in nine games. In its 23rd year of existence the Chiefs lead the regular season series 142-125-1-5 with 13 ties.

SATURDAY, MARCH 10TH vs. KOOTENAY ICE AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00 RADIO-1510 KGA

Spokane will host Kootenay for their fifth and final meeting of the season, the second in Spokane. The Chiefs are 2-2 versus Kootenay with two games going into overtime. Spokane has won once in a shootout and another in overtime. Kootenay won the last match-up 4-3 on February 17th in Cranbrook. Dominik Uher scored twice and Marek Kalus added a single. It was the Ice's second straight win in the series after a 4-2 win on Saturday, February 4th, also in Cranbrook. The Ice scored twice in the second and third periods and never trailed. Mitch Holmberg and Brenden Kichton scored for the Chiefs as they outshot the Ice 30-20. Spokane won a 3-2 shootout on December 30th and a 5-4 overtime game on January 28th. On January 29th in the Spokane Arena the Chiefs overcame a 3-0 deficit in the first period and forced overtime with 2:44 remaining in the game on a Darren Kramer goal. Five different players scored goals. The Chiefs outshot Kootenay 46-25. The Chiefs earned a 3-2 shootout win on December 30th in their first trip of the season to Cranbrook. Todd Fiddler, in his first game as a Chief, and Liam Stewart scored in regulation and Spokane outscored Kootenay 2-1 in a six round shootout. Each team had 40 shots and Mac Engel had the win with 38 saves. The Chiefs hosted Kootenay in The Rockstar Outdoor Hockey Classic, the first ever outdoor hockey game in WHL history, on January 15th at Avista Stadium, an 11-2 decision in favor of the Chiefs. Blake Gal had two goals.

NEWS AND NOTES

STANDINGS ...The Spokane Chiefs enter the week in a tie for fourth place with the Vancouver Giants in the Western Conference's playoff race. Each team has 78 points, but Vancouver holds the first tie breaker with two more wins than the Chiefs. Spokane has seven games remaining, five at home and two on the road, while the Giants have six left, four at home and two on the road. The Chiefs and Giants know that they will face each other in the post-season, up for grabs, though, is who will have home ice advantage.

GOOD TO BE UHER ...Dominik Uher was named the WHL's Player of the Week on February 6th after scoring six goals and nine points in four games. Uher became the first Chief to score four goals in a game since Drayson Bowman did it on February 25th, 2009 in a 5-2 win at Kamloops. Uher's four goal game came on January 31st in a 5-3 win at Seattle. He has 13 goals and 21 points in his last 17 games. Uher also has 18 goals, 39 points and is +24 in his last 29 games. Uher helped the Czech Republic National Junior team to a fifth place finish at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships with a goal and an assist on January 4th in a 5-2 win over Team Slovakia. Uher finished the tournament with one goal and two assists in six games. Uher was an alternate captain for the Czech team. Uher had a seven game point scoring streak snapped on November 5th versus Tri-City. Uher had five goals and eight assists. He leads the team with six game winners. Uher was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the fifth round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft after scoring 21 goals, 39 assists and 60 points in 65 games as an 18-year-old in 2010-11.

THE NACHBAUR 500 ...Don Nachbaur became the sixth coach in the history of the WHL to win 500 games as a head coach when Spokane defeated the Everett Silvertips on January 11th. Nachbaur is the reigning WHL Coach of the Year and is in his second season on the Chiefs' bench. Nachbaur won 202 in Seattle, 229 in Tri-City and has 83 in Spokane (514 total). He assisted on Canada's National Men's Summer Under-18 Team that won the gold medal at the 2011 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament over the summer.

THE STEW VIEW ...Liam Stewart scored two shorthanded goals on February 29th in a 6-1 win over the Victoria Royals. It was his first career two goal game. Stewart leads all WHL rookies with four shorthanded goals this season. The 17-year-old has seven goals in his last 11 games and is +7 in that same span. Stewart also has eight goals and three assists in his last 15 games. Stewart leads all Chiefs' rookies in scoring with 14 goals and 24 points in 60 games. He is +5.

MAKING HIS MAREK ...Marek Kalus has one goal and five points in a five game point scoring streak. Kalus has scored 18 goals and 37 points in 61 games this year after recording four goals and eight points in 22 games last season.

SCHEDULE ...Spokane has seven games remaining in the regular season, two on the road and five at home. Prior to the holiday break the Chiefs played 34 games in 99 days. In the second half of the season Spokane will play the final 38 games in 73 days.

ROLLIN' ...The Chiefs tied a franchise record with 11 wins in January. They had accomplished that feat four previous times, the last being February, 2010. In their 15 game month, they went 11-2-2-0. Spokane had their seven game point streak snapped on February 1st at Victoria. Prior to that Spokane was 6-0-1-0 and had points in 13 of 14 games (11-1-2-0).

WALCHIPIN' IN ... Dylan Walchuk has seven goals and 19 points in 27 games, including a three assist effort on January 31st at Seattle. Walchuk made his Spokane debut on January 11th versus Everett one day after being added to the roster. The British Columbia native was originally added to the Chiefs 50-player protected list in December, 2008. Last season Walchuk led the Vernon Vipers of the British Columbia Hockey League in points with 56, including 24 goals and 32 assists. He added another 13 goals and 20 points in 24 playoff games as Vernon finished as a runner-up in the Royal Bank Cup Championship, the Canadian Junior A National Title, one year after winning it. Walchuk split time this season at Northern Michigan University and Vernon.

SPOKANE CHIEFS DEFENSEMEN - ALL-TIME LEADERS

CAREER GOALS CAREER ASSISTS CAREER POINTS

1- Brenden Kichton-42 1- Frank Evans - 146 1- Bryan McCabe - 184

2- Sean Gillam - 40 2- Bryan McCabe - 145 2- Sean Gillam - 182

3- Bryan McCabe-39 3- Sean Gillam - 142 3- Frank Evans - 177

4- Jared Cowen-37 4- Jared Spurgeon - 133 4- Brenden Kichton - 173

Jared Spurgeon-37 5- Brenden Kichton - 131 5- Jared Spurgeon - 170

Check out the Spokane Chiefs Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from March 5, 2012


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