SPOKANE, Wash. — With the end of the first half of the season looming in just 2 weeks, the Chiefs hoped to head into the Christmas break getting to the level of play they showed towards the end of last year when they made the playoffs. After winning its' first two games of the year in September, the Chiefs have stumbled mightily, winning just one game each in the months of October, November and at the start of December. Spokane was coming off a weekend in which they had split home games, earning a 2-1 victory over Kelowna and then taking a 3-0 shutout loss to Lethbridge. The Chiefs looked to finish up a 4 game home stand at .500 Tuesday as they hosted division rival Seattle before hitting the road to the Eastern Division.
Spokane has struggled at home this season, going just 3-12 thus far, and they've certainly had their problems with Seattle, having dropped both meetings this year by a combined 15-5 margin. The Chiefs were hoping goalie Dawson Cowan would continue his good play in net as he faced the Thunderbirds for the first time. Cowan had earned Spokane's last win in the 2-1 victory over Kelowna with a 43 save performance. Seattle had other ideas against Cowan though as the Thunderbirds scored just 2:20 into the game to jump out to a quick 1-0 lead. The two teams played evenly the rest of the frame as Seattle would carry that one goal advantage into the second.
The Thunderbirds struck again early in the second as they scored 4:31 in to pad their lead to 2-0. Spokane would kill off 3 Seattle power plays in the second to keep it a two goal contest heading into the third. The final period would be the Chiefs finest offensively as they would outshoot Seattle 16-5 in the final 20 minutes. Seattle would get the only goal though as they scored into the Chiefs empty net in the final seconds. Unfortunately for Spokane, they couldn't find the net on T-Bird goalie Scott Ratzlaff as the Chiefs would end up being shut out for the second straight game by a 3-0 score. The Chiefs outshot Seattle 36-27, hitting 36 shots for the second straight game as well. Spokane only managed to score 5 goals in the 4 game homestand, as the team is now struggling offensively after getting beat up on the defensive end for most of the first half.
Spokane has only given up 7 goals the last 3 games, their best defensive stretch of the season. The Chiefs only have one win to show for it and have now gone over 7 periods without scoring, far and away their longest scoreless drought of the year. Spokane's record at home is now 3-13, the worst win percentage in the league. The good news for the Chiefs is they now head out on the road to begin their longest road trip of the season, as the club will be gone from the Spokane Arena until December 28th. The team headed to the prairies of Canada to travel to the East Division for the first time since the 2018-19 season.
First up was the top team in the East and the #3 ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League in the Winnipeg Ice. Spokane had just finished facing the #2 team in Seattle three days earlier as the Chiefs were in their toughest back to back games so far this season. The meeting with the Ice was the first for Spokane in Winnipeg and just the second against the Ice since they moved from Cranbrook three years ago. The game was also a chance for the Chiefs to face former teammates Mason Beaupit and Graham Sward since their trades to Winnipeg earlier this season. The games would also be a homecoming for Manitoba natives Michael Cicek, Cam Parr, Chase Bertholet, Grady Lane, Ben Bonni and Dawson Cowan. Game one in Winnipeg was especially big for Cicek, Parr, Cowan and Bonni as they all grew up in the Winnipeg area.
This was the first time the Chiefs had ever traveled to Winnipeg, so it was my first experience in the Wayne Fleming Arena. It's not a very big arena, holding around 1,500 people and it serves as the home for the University of Manitoba Bison hockey team. My broadcast position was unique as I was located right above our team bench and for the first time I had to contend with actually being in the field of play as I had zero net protection and was close enough to have the puck whistle at my head. Let's just say my head was on a swivel during this contest. As for the game itself, the Chiefs came out with speed and were invested physically. The pace of the first 5 minutes of the game was intense and a lot of fun to watch.
Spokane would jump out to a 1-0 lead when Tomasso DeLuca blew into the Winnipeg zone and zipped one over the shoulder of Ice goalie Daniel Hauser just 1:23 into the game. Winnipeg came right back and scored 37 seconds later to tie the game at one and send the teddy bears flying on the Ice teddy bear toss night. The Ice scored again just 1:37 later as Zach Benson scored his first of the game to give Winnipeg a 2-1 lead after one. Spokane would bounce back midway through the second as Carter Streek scored his 7th of the season to tie the game at two heading into the third. The Chiefs were primed to pull a major upset over the top team in the East with the way they were playing.
The Ice came out determined to turn away the Chiefs upset bid in the third as Winnipeg scored two goals in the first 7:37 of the period to take a 4-2 lead. Spokane fought back again as DeLuca scored his second of the game on a power play tally at 12:22 to move Spokane within 4-3. The Chiefs would take back to back penalties late in the game though and Benson would secure a hat trick with a 5 on 3 power play goal with just 3:07 remaining to put Winnipeg back up by two at 5-3. The Ice wrapped up the win with an empty net goal with just over a minute left to secure a 6-3 victory. The win snapped a 9 game losing streak for the Ice against the Chiefs spanning back to their days as the Kootenay Ice. The tough part for Spokane was the team played one of their best games of the season, yet fell short of getting the win. The Chiefs had now lost 3 straight and had fallen into last in the Western Conference after Victoria won at Kelowna. Spokane was still 11 points out of the playoffs and hoped to get a positive result the next night at Brandon.
The Wheat Kings were coming off a win their last game and had won 3 of 4 entering Saturday's contest. The Chiefs had won 3 straight in the series but the two clubs had not met since October of 2019 in Spokane. It was the Chiefs first game in Brandon since October of 2018. It was another teddy bear toss night as the Wheat Kings had theirs this night. Spokane delayed the celebration in the first as goalie Dawson Cowan turned aside all 11 shots from Brandon in the first as the two teams played a scoreless opening 20 minutes. The Chiefs would come out in the second and take the lead as Ben Bonni scored his 3rd of the season at 3:30 of the middle frame to make it 1-0. Brandon would equalize with a power play goal that went off a Chiefs skate late in the period to even the game at one after two periods. Cowan was excellent in the second, turning aside 18 of 19 Wheat Kings shots, as Spokane went to the third period tied for the second straight night.
In the third, the two teams combined for just 13 shots but would also have 6 power play chances between the two. Brandon would score the only goal of the period on their second man advantage as a shot from the left wing went off a skate net front midway through the period to give the Wheat Kings a 2-1 lead. It would turn out to be the game winner as the Chiefs failed to get the equalizer in their 3 power play chances as Spokane suffered their second straight loss on the trip with a 2-1 defeat. Cowan was outstanding in goal, turning aside 34 shots but for the second straight game the Chiefs saw a great outing in net go for naught.
Spokane has now lost 4 straight for the third time this year in 25 total games and have now fallen 12 points back of Kelowna for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Chiefs are destined to finish last in the U.S. Division as the club is now a whopping 17 points back of Tri City, who have won 6 straight to pull themselves within just 3 points of third place Everett. The vision of making the playoffs is getting more distant by the week, as Spokane still has 4 games this week in 5 nights against a tough East Division and then will have 4 games in 5 nights against Seattle and Tri City in the first week after the Christmas break. Eight games left in the month of December and Spokane realistically has to get points out of four of them to start to push themselves into playoff contention. Anything less and the team might as well start playing for next year and beyond. The club is playing better hockey over the last two weeks, but unfortunately only has one win to show for it.
This week is the final one in the first half before the holiday break, and the Chiefs have a rugged schedule ahead of them. Spokane will head to the third place team in the East, Moose Jaw, on Tuesday and then visit 4th place Regina on Wednesday. The Chiefs then finish off the trip with a journey to 2nd place Saskatoon on Friday before finishing off the road swing and the first half taking on last place Prince Albert on Saturday. I'll have the call on 103.5 FM the Game and 1510 AM KGA with the pre-game shows at 4:30 pm PT and the puck drops at 5:05 pm. Let's hope the Chiefs can finish the first half on an up note and have something cheerful this holiday season. We hope to see you on the radio!
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