Chiefs Weekly Report
Published on January 6, 2014 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Spokane Chiefs News Release
40 IN 40... Mitch Holmberg joined the "40 in 40" club on Jan. 3, scoring his 40th and 41st goals in just the 39th game of the season. He is the 27th Chief to score 40 goals in one season. The single season franchise record for goals scored is 68 by Valeri Bure in '92-'93.
CHIEFS GET YOUNGER... The Chiefs acquired 16-year-old forward Hudson Elynuik from the Kootenay Ice on Dec. 31, trading 18-year-old defenseman Tyler King. In this, his rookie season, Elynuik played 31 games for the ICE, scoring a goal and an assist.
HOME AND ROAD, ALL THE SAME... Just over the halfway point of the season (40 games), the Chiefs have nearly the same record at home and on the road: 13-7-0-1 (home) & 12-6-0-1 (road), outscoring opponents 74-62 (home) and 72-55 (road).
U.S. DIVISION STRENGTH... U.S. Division teams average the most points of any division in the WHL with 49.4. The B.C. Division averages 47.2, the Central averages 44.8 and the Eastern averages 40.8.
SHORTHANDED IS HIS THING... Rookie forward Blair Oneschuk has scored just 3 goals this season, but 2 of them have come shorthanded. Oneschuk trails only Holmberg (4) and Aviani (3) in SHG.
SCORING IN BUNCHES... Mitch Holmberg has recorded 25 multi-point games this season and 14 multi-goal games. Mike Aviani has tallied 17 multi-point games and 5 multi-goal games.
THE MITCH FACTOR... The Chiefs are 20-4-0-0 when Mitch Holmberg scores a goal and 5-9-0-2 when he does not. Holmberg leads the WHL in GWG with 9, which is also over halfway to the club record (Kyle Beach scored 12 in '09-'10).
POWER PAIRING... Mike Aviani (17) and Mitch Holmberg (14) are 1st and 2nd, respectively, on the WHL power play scoring list. The two veteran forwards have combined for as many or more power play goals than 2 WHL teams.
THAT'S FRAM-TASTIC... 18-year-old defenseman Jason Fram has already surpassed his points total from a year ago. Fram is the 4th-leading Chiefs scorer with 4 goals and 30 assists for 34 points. He is tied for 7th in the WHL in scoring by a defenseman. Fram finished last season with 1 G and 14 A's for 15 points.
STRAIGHT A's... Chiefs' captain Reid Gow has 39 points "" without scoring a goal. He is tied for 4th in the WHL in defenseman scoring and is 3rd overall in assists. No player higher on the WHL scoring list has fewer than 11 goals.
CLIMBING THE FRANCHISE LADDER... Mitch Holmberg is 9th on the Chiefs' all-time goals list with 126, 12th on the Chiefs' all-time points list with 257, and 12th all-time in games played with 282.
SUPER SHORTIES... In addition to excelling on the power play, Holmberg and Aviani are both at the top of the WHL in shorthanded scoring. Holmberg has 4 SHG (2nd) while Aviani has 3 (4th). Holmberg is tied for 1st in shorthanded assists with 3.
CALL HIM CONSISTENT... With at least one point in 33 of 40 Chiefs games thus far this season, Mitch Holmberg averages 2.03 points per contest. He has recorded a hat trick in three games, most recently vs. Portland on November 29th.
THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE... Veteran forwards Mitch Holmberg and Mike Aviani, both expected to shoulder much of the scoring load for the Chiefs this season, have not disappointed as they are 1st and 5th, respectively, on the WHL points list. Holmberg (41-40-81) leads the league in goals and is 2nd in assists. Aviani (29-28-57) is tied for 2nd in goals.
WALL OF WILLIAMS... Chiefs goaltender Eric Williams currently ranks 7th in GAA (2.51) and 12th in Save Percentage (.911). He is 21-9-0-1 with two shutouts. Williams has 8 shutouts in his career.
LEAVE NO MILESTONE UNTURNED...
Jason Fram played in his 150th career game vs. VIC on Jan. 3.
Mike Aviani scored his 100th career assist vs. TRI on Dec. 31.
Jeremy McIntosh played in his 100th career game vs. KTN on Dec. 28.
Mitch Holmberg scored his 250th career point vs. PG on Dec. 14.
Connor Chartier scored his 50th career point, a SHG vs. SEA on Dec. 7.
Jason Fram scored his 50th career point, an assist vs. SEA on Dec. 6.
Adam Helewka scored his 50th career point vs. SEA on Dec. 6.
Cole Wedman played in his 150th career game and recorded his 100th PIM on Dec. 6 vs SEA.
A TIME FOR FIRSTS...
Jeff Rayman scored his first career goal in the 3rd Period vs. PG on Dec. 14.
Jacob Cardiff scored his first career goal "" a game-winner "" in the 3rd Period vs. EVT on Oct. 18.
Adam Hascic also scored his first career goal on October 18 vs. Everett and his first WHL point on Sept. 21 vs. Tri-City.
Colton Bobyk scored his first career goal vs. Brandon on Oct. 25 and first career vs. Tri-City on Sept 21.
18-year-old Blair Oneschuk scored his first career WHL goal vs. Victoria on Sept. 24.
Spokane-native Keanu Yamamoto scored his first career WHL goal vs. Brandon on Oct. 25.
Austrian forward Dominic Zwerger scored his first two career goals in the same game vs. Kelowna on October 8th.
ROSTER OVERVIEW... The Chiefs roster sits at 24 players. They are carrying 2 goaltenders, 7 defensemen, and 15 forwards. Ten WHL rookies are with the team, including 7 forwards and 3 defensemen.
Western Hockey League Stories from January 6, 2014
- Canes Weekly - Lethbridge Hurricanes
- Warriors Trade Brown to Victoria - Moose Jaw Warriors
- Royals Trade for Travis Brown - Victoria Royals
- Weekly Ice Report - Kootenay Ice
- Rockets' Myles Bell Named Denny's WHL Player Of The Week - WHL
- Chiefs Weekly Report - Spokane Chiefs
- Portland Winterhawks this Week - Portland Winterhawks
- Jordan Tkatch Earns December Player of the Month Award - Prince George Cougars
- Crimestoppers Chuck-A-Puck Returns - Lethbridge Hurricanes
- Moose Jaw Edges Red Deer 4-3 - Red Deer Rebels
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