SPOKANE, Wash. — The arrival of 2023 saw the Chiefs come to the official halfway point of the season and also brought about the trade deadline for every club in the Western Hockey League. Spokane was sitting last in the U.S. Division and the Western Conference so there was no doubt the team was in the position of selling at the deadline rather than buying. The Chiefs were 10 points out of the final playoff berth in the West and 5 points behind the 9th place Victoria Royals. Spokane is definitely building for the future and they would make another move towards doing so as the team traded forward Blake Swetlikoff to Lethbridge for 2nd and 5th round draft picks and a 16 year old prospect. The trade continues to stock up the club in draft picks in the next 3 drafts and opens room for the talented 15 and 16 year old classes to see plenty of playing time this year and next.
The team also had a pair of games to play this past weekend and they were huge towards any chance of the Chiefs getting back into the playoff picture. Spokane hosted two teams ahead of them in the Western Conference race as Victoria and Vancouver visited the Spokane Arena Friday and Saturday. First up was the team directly in front of Spokane as the Royals came into Friday's contest with that 5 point lead on the Chiefs. The Royals had won 6 of their last 10 and were coming off a win at Kelowna on Tuesday. The Chiefs were coming off a devasting overtime loss at Tri City but could lean on having swept Victoria on the Royals home ice in the opening weekend of the season. Spokane had not won back to back games since then, but a win Friday could help the Chiefs start the New Year on the right foot.
The New Year didn't come in well for Spokane as a turnover from behind their net led to an easy goal net front for the Royals Marcus Almquist just over 5 minutes into the game to give Victoria a 1-0 lead. The Royals extended the lead to 2-0 on a tip at 16:07 but Spokane got back within 2-1 on a Chase Bertholet goal with just 37 seconds left in the period to make it a 2-1 game after one. Spokane had a power play chance to tie the game early in the second, but the Royals Tanner Scott turned the tables and scored short handed to give Victoria a 3-1 edge 1:29 into the second. The Royals scored again at 6:08 to take a commanding 4-1 lead but the Chiefs cut the margin to 4-2 midway through the period when Cade Hayes scored on a 4 on 4 situation.
In what would become a theme on the night for Spokane, another turnover in front of their net would end up in a Royals goal as Scott scored his second of the game just 1:17 after Hayes goal to put Victoria up 5-2. The Chiefs got a penalty shot while shorthanded late in the second and Ty Cheveldayoff would score his 14th of the year to get Spokane to a 5-3 game. Victoria came right back on that same power play though as Almquist got his second of the game 40 seconds after Cheveldayoff's goal to give the Royals a 6-3 edge heading into the third period. The two clubs would play a scoreless third period as Victoria secured their first win over Spokane this season with a 6-3 victory.
Special teams were the difference as the Chiefs went 0-3 with the power play while Victoria was 2-2 with the man advantage. The Chiefs were now 7 points back of Victoria for 9th in the conference and to make matters worse, Kelowna won over Kamloops to take a 12 point lead on Spokane for the 8th and final playoff spot in the West. Spokane now had to take on a Vancouver team that was coming off a come from behind 3-2 overtime win at Tri City the night before, which snapped the Americans 9 game home win streak. The Giants sat 2nd in the B.C. Division and were in the top 5 in the West. Vancouver had won the previous meeting with the Chiefs, earning a 6-4 victory in late November.
The Giants would take advantage of a Spokane defensive mistake at their blue line midway through the first period to convert a shot off the rush to jump out to a 1-0 lead after one. In the second, Vancouver would take a 2-0 lead after Spokane put on a great offensive sequence midway through the period, only to see the Giants break out and score after goalie Dawson Cowan was run into by his teammate in the crease and the puck trickled across the goal line. The bright spot came for the Chiefs on the penalty kill as they were 4 for 4 through two periods to keep within two goals heading into the third.
Spokane would come out in the third and cut the lead in half as Chase Bertholet scored a goal in his third straight game 5.5 minutes into the period to get the Chiefs within 2-1. Defenseman Nathan Mayes got his first career point with an assist on the goal as the Chiefs had to play Mayes as well as second round pick Owen Martin and third round pick Hayden Paupanekis due to injuries to regulars Carter Streek, Michael Cicek and Brayden Crampton. Unfortunately for the Chiefs, they couldn't find the net again against Vancouver as Spokane dropped their second straight game of the New Year with a 2-1 defeat to the Giants. Fortunately for Spokane, both Victoria and Kelowna lost on Saturday so the Chiefs remained 7 and 12 points back of the Royals and Rockets in the Western Conference playoff race.
Time is now starting to run out on the Chiefs if they hope to make the playoffs this season. The schedule is not going to get any easier as the team has just 3 home games left in January with road games at Vancouver, Kamloops, Everett, Tri City and two at Portland waiting for the Chiefs the rest of the month. Spokane's home games are with Everett, Victoria and Seattle, so the 9 games remaining in the month will be anything but easy. The Chiefs will host Everett on Wednesday before heading on the road to Vancouver and Kamloops on Friday and Saturday. I'll have the call on 103.5 FM the Game and 1510 KGA for the games on Wednesday and Friday and on 94.1 FM the Bear and 790 AM KJRB on Saturday due to Gonzaga basketball on 103.5 FM. The pre-game shows are at 6:30 pm and the puck drops at 7:05 pm for all three contests. Let's hope the Chiefs start to find some wins and we hope to see you at the rink!
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