With 34 games down and 34 to go, the good news for the Chiefs is they sit in a tie for second place in the U.S. Division and in 3rd in the Western Conference at the midway point of the season. The bad news is the team is a distant 14 points back of division and conference leading Everett. The prospects of catching the Silvertips is somewhat slim, but Spokane can take solace of being in a position to challenge after playing most of the first half of the season without their leading scorer Jaret Anderson-Dolan.
The team began the year without Anderson-Dolan as well as defenseman Filip Kral, who was still recovering from an off season surgery. The club was also without Jake McGrew and Luke Toporowski up front as they were away at NHL and Team USA camps respectively, as well as defenseman Ty Smith, who was still at NHL camp. These 5 were definitely missed opening night when the Chiefs were thumped 6-1 at Tri City. The team bounced back though, as they welcomed back McGrew and Toporowski for a 7-4 win at Kootenay in their next contest, and Spokane followed it up with a home opening 6-3 win over the Ice as Smith returned to the team. A roller coaster performance followed for the Chiefs as they would play .500 hockey for the next month. Included in that stretch was a 3-2-1 Eastern Division road trip that saw Spokane win 3 of the first 4, but lose the last two games.
Anderson-Dolan returned in late October from his NHL stint with the L.A. KIngs, but broke his wrist in just his second game back with Spokane in a loss to Tri City and was lost for the rest of the first half. Kral came back about the same time, and has steadied the blue line as he has paired with Nolan Reid to give Spokane a good second line defensive pairing. The Chiefs made a couple of major trades late in the first half as well, as they picked up forward Luc Smith from Kamloops in exchange for Jeff Faith. It's proven to be a huge boost offensively as Smith has been on the top line with Riley Woods since arriving. Spokane also acquired defensman Noah King from defending league champion Swift Current for forward Carter Chorney. King has been a rock steady defender and a perfect compliment to Ty Smith as the defense has improved over the course of the first 34 games.
Woods has led the club offensively as he's in the top 10 in goal scoring and top 15 in points in the league, as he's paired with Luc Smith and Ethan McIndoe to form the club's top line. Rookie forward Adam Beckman has been a pleasant surprise with a league high 17 goals for rookies, as he's paired with Eli Zummack and McGrew to give Spokane a very good second line. Rookie Jack Finley has given great third line minutes and he and Luke Toporowski have proven to be a great combination on the 3rd line.
Defensively, the club has a good corp of a top 6, despite losing Matt Leduc for most of the first half due to injury. Bobby Russell, Egor Arbuzov, Luke Gallagher and Tyson Feist have stepped up to round out a defensive corp that's improving weekly. The big question going forward is will goaltender Bailey Brkin continue his consistent play in the second half. Brkin seized the starting job in the season's first month as last year's starter Dawson Weatherill was inconsistent coming out of the gate. Brkin is ranked in the top 10 in goals against and save percentage and is third with 2 shutouts in the first half. If he continues his outstanding play, it will go a long way towards Spokane making the deep playoff run they hope to accomplish this season.
About the only thing consistent about the Chiefs in the first half of the year was the team's inconsistency. The team never lost more than 3 in a row, and yet never won more than 3 straight over the season's first 34 games. Over the last month of the first half though, the team put together streaks of winning 6 of 7 and after losing 3 in a row, ended the half by taking 5 of 6 as the Chiefs tied Portland for second in the U.S. Division at the midway mark. The team hasn't lacked offensively, but has struggled to keep other clubs off the scoreboard. Part of that problem has been inconsistent goaltending, while there has been a lack of commitment from the defenders in front of the net to provide lock down team defense. Until that commitment improves on a nightly basis, those defensive struggles will continue for Spokane.
Moving into the second half of the year, the Chiefs will be challenged with the 14 point deficit they face chasing Everett for the top of the U.S. Division. Spokane only faces the Silvertips twice in the second half, the first coming in the very first game out of the break on Friday night the 28th. The Chiefs will only face Portland three times and Seattle once in the second half, leaving Spokane to take on Tri City 10 times. The Americans beat Spokane in both match ups the two teams had in the first half, so the Chiefs better figure out a way to beat their top rivals in the division if they hope to move up the standings. That leaves 3 games against teams from the East in Red Deer and Kootenay, and the remaining 15 will come against the B.C. Division.
Anderson-Dolan, Ty Smith and Kral will return to the team in the beginning of January, and I for one am excited to see this club when they have all hands on deck. I have no doubts when this team has all its' parts back, it will be one of the top 6 to 7 teams in the WHL. The schedule is always challenging, and it starts right out of the game in the second half. The Chiefs will open with division and conference leading Everett at the Spokane Arena Friday, and then Tri City comes to town the next night on Saturday. Spokane will then head to Tri City on Monday the 31st for the annual New Year's Eve game. I'll have the call on 94.1 FM the Bear on Friday and Monday while Saturday's game will be on the Chiefs regular home of 1510 KGA. Pre-game shows will start at 6:30 pm with the puck drops at 7:05 pm. Hockey is back, and we hope to see you at the rink!
