SPOKANE, Wash. — The Western Hockey League has the most grueling schedule in Canadian Junior Hockey as teams travel through the 4 Western Canadian provinces, as well as the states of Washington and Oregon. Through the first two months of this season, the Chiefs have been spared from the usual grind as their toughest stretch came on a 3 games in 3 nights road trip through lower British Columbia in late October. All of that changed as the Thanksgiving holiday arrived, Spokane began a grueling 4 games in 5 nights stretch that would alternate home and away games.
The Chiefs were coming off a weekend split at home the previous week as they lost to division rival Wenatchee, but then rebounded with a shootout win over Kamloops. Spokane was still in 6th place in the U.S. Division standings, but were just one point behind 5th place Seattle going into the Chiefs first game of the week, a home encounter with Vancouver. Spokane had dropped the first meeting with the Giants in a matchup that came in the final game of that 3 games in 3 nights stretch in October. The Giants were coming off a disappointing loss at home to Lethbridge the previous weekend, so they were anxious to right the ship.
Wednesday's encounter featured the return of former Chiefs head coaches Manny Vivieros and Adam Maglio, who are now the head and assistant coaches for the Giants respectively. Spokane was still without forward Ty Cheveldayoff as he was serving the final game of his 5 game suspension. The Chiefs were also without the services of their leading scoring defenseman Brayden Crampton, who was resting a nagging injury.
The Giants would come out meaning business in the first period as they would score on a Julian Cull slap shot just 2:44 into the game to take a 1-0 lead. Spokane was matching the Giants shot for shot in the opening frame but two crucial mistakes would cost them dearly in the period. A failure to get the puck deep led to a break down ice and another Giants goal at 15:50 to give Vancouver a 2-0 edge. Then the dagger would fall in the final minute of the period as a backhand net front squeezed inside the near post to put Vancouver up 3-0 after 20 minutes.
Spokane saw the Giants outshoot them 14-8 in the second period as Vancouver maintained their 3-0 lead through the middle stanza. The third period would see the Chiefs play their best period of the night, outshooting the Giants 14-7, but Spokane failed to capitalize on three power play chances as Vancouver goalie Brett Mirwald turned away all 33 shots he faced as he picked up his first shutout of the year. The Chiefs were blanked for the first time all season as the Giants took a 2 point lead on Spokane in the Western Conference standings with a 3-0 victory.
After taking Thanksgiving off, the Chiefs started a three games in three nights trip with their first journey to Wenatchee on Friday. Spokane dropped an 8-6 offensive slugfest when the teams met for the first time the previous Friday. I was curious to see if we would have more of the same in store, or if both teams learned their lessons defensively and buckled down for a low scoring affair. The Chiefs welcomed back forward Ty Cheveldayoff, who completed a five game suspension served for a major penalty he took at Tri City on November 4th. The start of Friday's game looked like a resumption of the last meeting between the two teams as Spokane broke out just 2:07 into the game with a Berkly Catton power play goal to go up 1-0.
Wenatchee wasted little time equalizing as Matt Savoie scored his 4th goal in two games against the Chiefs just 1:20 later to make it 1-1. The Wild would take the lead at 6:06 on a goal off the rush to go ahead 2-1. Wenatchee would cap a three goal period at 18:09 to take a 3-1 advantage after the opening 20 minutes. The scoring would settle down from there as the two teams would only score one more time apiece. The Chiefs got within one late in the second when Catton scored his second power play goal of the game to bring Spokane within 3-2 heading into the third period. It was as close as the Chiefs got as Wenatchee would tally at 14:40 to wrap up their second straight win over Spokane with a 4-2 victory.
Spokane was perfect on special teams, going 2-2 on the power play and 1-1 on the penalty kill. The Chiefs were outshot 35-32, but out chanced the Wild 13-8 in the third, only to go scoreless in the final 20 minutes. The club had now dropped two in a row for the week and were three points back of Seattle for 5th in the division.
The Chiefs returned home the next night to host Victoria, who had won 5-1 in Tri Cities the night before. Spokane had dropped both games to the Royals in Victoria in October, losing leads in the final minute of both games and falling in overtime back to back nights. With a game in Portland the next night, a win at home vs. the Royals looked to be imperative.
A good start is a big plus and the Chiefs got one Saturday as Coco Armstrong scored his second goal against the Royals this season 9:25 into the first period to stake Spokane to an early 1-0 lead. After missing out on a brief 11 second power play early in the first, Spokane converted their first full man advantage in the last minute of the frame when Connor Roulette scored his team leading 17th of the year with just 53 seconds remaining to make it 2-0 Chiefs after one. The Royals answered right back with a goal less than four and a half minutes into the second period to cut the lead to 2-1. Spokane's Owen Martin countered with his 6th of the year on a rocket from the right side under the crossbar to bring the margin back to two at 3-1.
The game then turned permanently in Spokane's favor in the final two minutes of the period. The Chiefs scored on their second straight power play at 18:03 when Rasmus Ekstrom scored his 3rd of the year to put Spokane up 4-1. Just 13 seconds later, Ekstrom took a Chase Harrington pass and scored again to give the Chiefs a 5-1 lead heading into the third. The two goals in 13 seconds by one player set a new franchise record, breaking the old mark by Milos Frafrak, set in 2017. The four goal lead would normally feel safe, but after losing a 4-1 advantage midway through the 3rd to Victoria in the first meeting on October 20th and then losing in overtime, the Chiefs weren't taking anything for granted.
The Chiefs would settle things in the third, as Carter Streek scored 6:10 into the period to boost Spokane's lead to 6-1. Streek came into the game with just three points in the first 20 games, but would equal that total with a goal and 2 assists on this night. Cole Wadsworth, who didn't play the night before in Wenatchee, then took over. Wadsworth, who had just 2 goals in his career, scored 45 seconds after Streek's goal to make it 7-1 Spokane. He would then double his career and season total with the Chiefs third straight power play tally late in the third to wrap up a decisive 8-1 victory. It was the team's biggest win of the season as Spokane went 3-4 on the power play and 5-5 on the penalty kill. Goalie Dawson Cowan put up another fine performance, turning aside 34 Victoria shots to earn his 4th win of the year.
The win brought the Chiefs within one point of 5th place Seattle after they lost at Kelowna. Spokane now had a chance to move past the Thunderbirds in the standings if they could complete the weekend with a win at division rival Portland.
Sunday's meeting was the first of the season between the two but it would also open a four games over the next nine stretch for Spokane against the Winterhawks. With just three weeks remaining in the first half of the season, Spokane would play 2/3 of their season series with Portland and take all 3 trips to the Rose City for the season between November 26th and December 16th. Needless to say, the two teams are about to become very familiar with each other.
Portland was coming off an overtime win at home over Saskatoon on Saturday and were sitting in third place in the division, just three points back of division leading Wenatchee. Last season, the Hawks won six of eight against Spokane, but while winning all four games in Portland, the Chiefs extended Portland to overtime in one game and a shootout in another. After a stellar game in net the night before, Dawson Cowan was back in net on Sunday against a Portland club that had gone 8-1 at home this season. The Chiefs got off to a good start as Berkly Catton scored 9:13 into the game to give Spokane a 1-0 lead. Portland scored just 23 seconds later though to even the game at one, and then would tally again with 2:09 left in the first to take a 2-1 advantage to the second.
Neither team would score in the second as Spokane killed off three Portland power play chances. The Chiefs got two power plays in the first, but that would be all they would get for the game. Meantime, the club killed off five Winterhawk power plays through 40 minutes. Spokane outshot Portland 26-21 through two periods but still trailed 2-1. In the third, the Chiefs pulled even at 7:14 on Saige Weinstein's first goal of the season to make it a 2-2 game. Spokane came right back the next shift and Rasmus Ekstrom scored his 3rd goal in two nights just 31 seconds later to give the Chiefs a lead they would never lose at 3-2. Cowan picked up an assist on the Ekstrom goal but that would not be the highlight of his night in net.
Portland got three more power play chances in the third, but Cowan would turn all 15 shots he saw in the period aside. The Winterhawks pulled their goalie with just over two minutes left and the Chiefs took advantage of the empty net as Connor Roulette scored his team leading 18th of the year to make it 4-2 Spokane. Portland then pulled their goalie again with the power play in the final minute but a shot from the right wing rung off Cowan's mask and the puck then rolled all the way down the ice and into the empty net to give Cowan his first goal, a shorthanded marker no less, to wrap up Spokane's first win in Portland in two seasons with a 5-2 victory.
The Chiefs penalty kill and Cowan were the story as Spokane went a perfect 8-8 and Cowan turned away 34 shots for the second straight night as the Chiefs picked up back to back wins for the first time since beating Kamloops and Brandon October 11 and 14th. Spokane pulled back to the .500 mark at 10-10-2 and their road record went to 4-4-2. The Chiefs 22 points pulled them past Seattle for 5th in the U.S. Division but the big takeaway for me is the club has just five fewer wins than last year's club had all season...and there's still four months left. This Chiefs club is turning the corner and it's going to be fun to watch.
There are just three weeks left in the first half of the season and the Chiefs will play six of their eight games over that span at the Spokane Arena. The team returns home this week for a three game homestand as they will host Saskatoon on Wednesday at 7:05 pm before Prince George comes calling Saturday at 6:05 pm and Vancouver returns for the second time in two weeks on Sunday at 5:05 pm.
Saskatoon and Prince George are leading their respective divisions and are two of the top six ranked teams in the entire Canadian Hockey League, while Vancouver has beaten Spokane in both previous meetings. It's going to be a real litmus test to see how Spokane ranks in the league but I'm sure the club is looking forward to the challenge. I'll have the call on 103.5 FM the Game and 1510 AM KGA with the pre-game shows a half hour before puck drop. We hope to see you at the rink!
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