Chiefs weekly
Published on October 1, 2007 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Spokane Chiefs News Release
The Spokane Chiefs will travel to Everett on Wednesday and Tri-City on Friday to round out their five game road stretch to begin the season. On the horizon is Spokane's home opener, Saturday, October 6th versus the Americans. The Chiefs enter the week at 3-0 with six points, two points behind Tri-City who are 4-0, in the U.S. Division. Beginning on Wednesday night, the Chiefs will play four games in six nights.
LAST WEEK
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29th SPOKANE-4 at KOOTENAY-1
The Spokane Chiefs used two power play goals from Drayson Bowman on their way to a 4-1 win over the Kootenay Ice Saturday night. Neither team scored in the first period as Chiefs goalie Dustin Tokarski turned away nine shots in the period. Kootenay's Dustin Sylvester would open the scoring with a power play goal just 1:08 into the second period to give the Ice a 1-0 lead. The Chiefs would even the game just 1:20 later on Bowman's first power play goal of the period. Mitch Wahl and Jared Cowen would get the assists. Justin Falk's first goal of the season would give Spokane a 2-1 lead just 39 seconds later. Bowman and Chris Bruton had the assists. Bowman would then cap the scoring in the period with his second power play marker at 12:23. Cowan picked up his second assist of the period on the goal. Seth Compton would cap the scoring with his first goal of the season at 17:53 of the third period. Bruton picked up his second assist of the game.
UPCOMING
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3RD at EVERETT AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00
For the first time this year, the Chiefs will travel to Everett to take on the Silvertips, their first U.S. Division opponent this season. Spokane and Everett played a six game playoff series in the first round of the post-season last year with the Silvertips advancing. Everett's game six win in Spokane was the first of the series for a road team. Last year's regular season each team won four games of an eight game series with the Chiefs winning once in a shootout and three times on home ice. Everett also was 3-1 at home. The team that led after two periods was 6-0 with each team winning once when it was tied after 40-minutes of play. The Chiefs outshot Everett in six of the eight games. On average, the Chiefs outshot Everett 25.1-22.5. The team that scored the first goal of the game was 6-2.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5TH at TRI-CITY AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6TH vs. TRI-CITY AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00
The Chiefs will begin their 12 game season series with the Americans with a home-and-home series beginning on Friday, October 5th on the road. The Americans will return the favor on Saturday night in the Spokane Arena. The Chiefs and Americans will play each other six times in each other's building. Spokane finished last year's series 5-5-1-1. The Chiefs were 4-1-0-1 at home last year and 1-4-0-1 on the road. The only loss in regulation at home last year was the home opener for Spokane. Mitch Wahl score five goals and 11 points in 11 games while David Rutherford and Drayson Bowman each had four goals and 10 points. Spokane will travel to Tri-City again on November 24th and host the Americans on Saturday, December 15th. In its 20th year of existence, the Chiefs lead the rivalry 113-102-1-2 with 13 ties.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 8TH at CHILLIWACK AIR-1:30 GAME-2:00
The Chiefs will celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving with a trip to Chilliwack to take on the Bruins for the first of four meetings on the season. The Chiefs will host Chilliwack on November 21st, the eve of American Thanksgiving, and March 8th. Spokane will return to Chilliwack on January 27th. The Chiefs and Bruins each won two games in their four game series last year.
NEWS AND NOTES
BOWMAN EXPLOSION...Going into this week, Drayson Bowman is in a four-way tie for first place in the league in scoring with nine points in three games. Bowman tallied a pair of goals on September 29th in a 4-1 win at Kootenay and now has five, also tied for the league lead. Three of his goals have come on the power play, second in the WHL. Bowman enjoyed a career four point night on September 22nd at Prince George in a 7-2 win. Bowman scored twice and assisted on two others. The 18-year-old scored 24 goals and 43 points in 61 games last season. As a rookie, in 2005-06, Bowman scored 17 goals and 34 points and was named the Chiefs Rookie of the Year. Bowman was the Chiefs first round selection in the 2004 WHL Bantam Draft.
18-YEAR-OLD SPURGEON...Jared Spurgeon is tied for the league and team lead in plus-minus with a +5. Bowman also has a +5. The three-year veteran scored his first goal of the season in a 7-2 win on September 22nd at Prince George.
ROOTIN-BRUTON...Twenty-year-old Chris Bruton has multiple points in all three games this year for a total of two goals and six points, good for second on the team in scoring. Both of his goals have counted as the game winner. His four points are tied for ninth in the WHL in scoring. The four-year veteran was named the Chiefs captain at the start of the season and has played 194 career WHL games.
COWEN'S CORNER...Sixteen-year-old Jared Cowen recorded his second career multiple point game on Saturday, September 19th with a pair of assists in a 4-1 win at Kootenay. Cowen earned the second star of the game. In three games, the defenseman has three helpers. Cowen's first career points came on March 18th last year with two assists in a win at Portland.
RUDY...RUDY...David Rutherford recorded his first career hat-trick in a 7-2 win over the Prince George Cougars on September 22nd. Rutherford tallied a career high 31 goals last year and finished second on the team in scoring with 58 points. Along with Bruton, Rutherford is tied for ninth in the league in scoring with four points through two games.
BIG SHOTS...Spokane put 55 shots on net on September 22nd at Prince George in a 7-2 win, their most since they had 51 shots on October 19th, 2005 in a 3-2 win at home versus Saskatoon. The Chiefs had 41 shots three different times last year.
SEVENTH POWER...The Chiefs scored seven or more goals four times last year, including the season opener (8-4 win at Kootenay) and the season finale (8-3 win at Portland).
HOME OPENER...The Chiefs will begin the home portion of the schedule on Saturday, October 6th against Tri-City. The game will be the second half of a home-and-home with the Americans as Spokane will help Tri-City open their season the Friday before. Sixteen times in the last 18 years the Chiefs and Americans have opened the season in Spokane. Prior to last year, the Spokane Chiefs had won their last five home openers. After a 5-1 loss versus Tri-City last year, the Chiefs 13-9 in their previous 22 openers in front of home fans. After dropping their first four in franchise history, the Chiefs are 13-5, including 8-4 in the Spokane Arena.
BRUTON NAMED CAPTAIN...The Chiefs named 20-year-old forward Chris Bruton Captain for the 2007-08 season. Nineteen-year-olds Justin Falk and Seth Compton were also named Alternate Captains with 18-year-olds Drayson Bowman and Jared Spurgeon sharing an Alternate Captain role through the year.
OLD MEN...Bruton is joined by fellow forwards Judd Blackwater and David Rutherford as the three 20-year-olds on the Chiefs roster. Bruton recently attended the St. Louis Blues camp and is entering his fourth season in the WHL. Coming into this season, Blackwater has played 100 career games and tallied 12 goals and 41 points last season. Rutherford is coming off a career year where he scored 31 goals and 58 points to finish second on the team in scoring.
STORIES FROM CAMP... Chris Bruton (St. Louis Blues), Justin Falk (Minnesota Wild) and Ondrej Roman (Dallas Stars) all participated in the Detroit Red Wings sponsored rookie tournament in Traverse City, Michigan. Falk earned the bragging rights in the Chiefs locker room by helping the Wild to a fourth place finish. Bruton and St. Louis finished fifth and Roman's Stars were seventh out of eight teams. Bowman attended the Carolina Hurricanes camp and played in one exhibition game.
ROSTER NEWS...The Chiefs are carrying 24 players on its roster, including three goaltenders, eight defenseman and 13 forwards. By age, Spokane has one 16-year-old, seven 17-year-olds, nine 18-year-olds, four 19-year-olds and the maximum of three 20-year-olds. Seven of the 24 are rookies, including four defensemen. Sixteen players off of last year's playoff roster have returned to Spokane, including five of the top seven scorers from the regular season.
LOCAL YOKEL...Rookie forward Tyler Johnson is a Spokane native who was the Chiefs 11th round pick in the 2005 WHL Bantam Draft. Johnson scored 56 goals and 120 points in 39 games with the Coeur d'Alene Lakers of the NORPAC last season. Johnson recorded his first career WHL point with an assist on September 22nd in a 7-2 win at Prince George.
BANTAM DRAFT...The Chiefs have three former first round bantam selections on their roster, including 16-year-old defenseman Jared Cowen, the first overall pick in the 2006 draft. Mitch Wahl was taken fourth overall in the 2005 draft and Bowman ninth overall in 2004. Ten Chiefs were selected by Spokane in the bantam draft.
EURO TRIP...The Chiefs two import players are forward Ondrej Roman and defenseman Stefan Ulmer. Roman led the Chiefs with 44 assists last year and was named the Ken Rabel Most Sportsmanlike Player of the Year. He and Mitch Wahl led Chiefs rookies in scoring last year with 48 points. Ulmer was Spokane's first round pick in this summer's Import Draft. Ulmer played 32 games last season for the GCK Lions, and Elite Junior A team in Switzerland, and scored two goals and 12 points. In eight playoff games, Ulmer had five assists. Ulmer also has played for Team Austria's Under 18 National Team in their past two World Championship appearances.
IN NET...The Chiefs are carrying three goaltenders, including the two that spent all season in Spokane last year. Three year-veteran Kevin Armstrong led the Chiefs with 48 games played, 2,681 minutes and a 23-17-3-3 record. Armstrong finished the season with a 2.80 GAA and .900 save percentage. Dustin Tokarski finished his rookie season with a 13-11-1-1 record. His 2.79 GAA was the lowest for any first year goaltender in the WHL. Tokarski also posted a .903 save percentage. James Reid, a 17-year-old who played for the Calgary Buffaloes in the Alberta Midget league last year, is entering his rookie season.
BEHIND THE BENCH...Bill Peters has returned for his third season as the Chiefs Head Coach but with a new running mate. Hardy Sauter, a former Chiefs defenseman, will serve as the Chiefs Assistant Coach. Sauter scored 13 goals and 61 points in 66 games for the Chiefs in 1991-92 after an early season trade with the Brandon Wheat Kings where he spent the majority of his junior career. Sauter joins the Chiefs after a two year stint as the General Manager/Head Coach of the Nipawin Hawks in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League where he compiled a 74-29-6-4 record. In 2006, Sauter earned Coach of the Year honors and was a finalist for the award in 2007.
DRAFTED PLAYERS... Drayson Bowman (Carolina, 3rd round, 2007), Justin Falk (Minnesota, 4th round, 2007), Ondrej Roman (Dallas, 5th round, 2007)
INJURY REPORT...None to report
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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
