Sports stats

WHL Spokane Chiefs

Three Chiefs Return - Cowen to Play in NHL Exhibition Game

September 18, 2009 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Spokane Chiefs News Release


Three Chiefs forwards have been returned by their NHL teams and will play tonight when Spokane opens the regular season in Prince George.

Mitch Wahl (Calgary), Levko Koper (Atlanta) and Tyler Johnson (Minnesota) all missed a majority of the preseason while with their NHL teams.

Wahl was a second round selection of the Calgary Flames in 2008. The 19-year-old has 118 career regular season assists, 24th all-time in franchise history. Wahl led the Chiefs last year with a +42. In 2007-08, he led the club with 53 assists as a 17-year-old, 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.

Koper was a seventh round pick of the Atlanta Thrashers after setting a career high with 23 goals last season, which was 11 more than he had the previous season. The 19-year-old had at least one point in the first 11 games of the season last year and played at the 2009 CHL Top Prospects game. Koper is in his fourth season in Spokane with 189 games played.

Johnson was a free-agent invitee to the Wild's camp and earned a spot in their main camp after a strong showing at the Traverse City, MI rookie tournament. Johnson is entering his third season in Spokane after finishing third on the Chiefs in scoring last year with 26-35-61.

Mike Boyle will go on the air with Comcast Hockey Tonight at 6:30 on 1510 KGA on both Friday and Saturday night when the Chiefs take on the Cougars in their only two games of the season in Prince George.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

COWEN TO PLAY IN NHL EXHIBITION GAME

Senators' kid is all right

By Rob Brodie

OTTAWA, ON - Jared Cowen had a feeling his turn was about to arrive.

Little did the big 18-year-old blueliner, who figures to be a big part of the Ottawa Senators future, realize it would come so soon.

When the Senators announced their lineup for Friday's pre-season game in Montreal against the Canadiens , the ninth overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft was one of the most prominent and startling on the list.

Truth be told, the news couldn't come soon enough for the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Cowen, who hasn't seen any game action since undergoing major knee surgery in February to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament. A few hours before the lineup was announced, the native of Allan, Sask., talked about how eager he was to finally feel the ice underneath him for real again.

"I think the plan is for me to play in a pre-season game before I go back (to the Spokane Chiefs, his junior team)," said Cowen. "I don't know how long it's going to take, but I think it's pretty close now.

"Playing any game right now would be exciting for me but playing in the NHL would be very exciting. It's been a long time coming now, so I can't wait for that, for sure."

The wait is obviously over now for Cowen, who was fitted with a knee brace last week and said "I'm just getting used to that."

"Other than that, it's just getting used to full-length practices and full speed," he said. "It's definitely faster (here). It's hard enough for any new guy coming in, but I think it's even harder when you're coming back from an injury like (mine). It's kind of doubled how much of an impact it's had on me so far."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHIEFS GAMES AVAILABLE VIA WEBCAST

The Spokane Chiefs season is here and starting tonight in Prince George fans have the chance to watch all the action action all season long with WHL WEB TV.

WHL WEB TV allows hockey fans to watch their favorite team in action live, in real-time, from their computer.

The WHL and its broadcast partner INSINC will carry all 792 WHL Regular-Season games during the 2009-10 season on WHL WEB TV, meaning fans won't have to miss a single goal, save or bone-crunching hit from their favorite team, whether at home or on the road.

"With the enhancement of our Clubs in-house video production, the WHL is proud to provide the highest quality of web broadcasting for our fans," commented WHL Commissioner Ron Robison. "Due to the high demand to watch WHL games live on the internet, we have upgraded the quality of our webcasting significantly. We are delighted to be in a position to deliver 100% of our games at a higher quality than ever before and we know our fans will continue to tune in and watch WHL games live throughout the season."

All WHL Regular-Season games are available live on WHL WEB TV on a broadband pay-per-view basis with Individual game, Monthly pass and Season pass packages available. Archived games are also available on WHL WEB TV. Fans can also take advantage of a Live and On-Demand package for all live and archived WHL games.

Already a WHL season ticket holder? Season Ticket Holder packages are available, allowing fans to follow their favorite team on the road live on WHL WEB TV.

No matter where this hockey season finds you, you can watch WHL games live on your computer on WHL WEB TV.

Visit www.whl.ca for more about WHL WEB TV.

2009-10 WHL WEB TV PACKAGES

Single Game, Live: $6.95

Single Game, Archive: $3.95

Monthly, Live: $37.95

Monthly, Live & Archive: $59.95

Season Pass: $299.95

Season Ticket Holder Pass: $89.95

Check out the Spokane Chiefs Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from September 18, 2009


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.

OurSports Central