SPOKANE, Wash. — The Chiefs started the season with their first three games on the road before finally getting on home ice to open their home season in their last game of September.
Spokane used the road trip wisely, taking 2 of 3 before opening the home slate with a 4-1 victory over rival Tri City. With the hot start, the Chiefs put themselves on top of the U.S. Division at 3-1 and 6 points heading into the first weekend of October.
Spokane played their final home games until the last weekend of October as they returned to the Arena to host Kelowna and Seattle on Friday and Saturday. The Rockets were ranked in the top 10 of the Canadian Hockey League starting the season but were missing their leading scorer Andrew Cristall at Washington Capitals NHL camp and had failed to win a game in 4 tries, including a 5-2 loss at home Wednesday to Prince George.
Last season, the Chiefs won 3 of 4 from the Rockets, including both games in Spokane. The team was hoping to continue that trend in the first game of the weekend as they took on Kelowna Friday.
Spokane was short-handed up front as they had lost forwards Dane Pyatt, Coco Armstrong and Rasmus Ekstrom to injury for the next month due to injuries. The Chiefs picked up forward Smyth Rebman from Edmonton to help shore up their depth up front and he would make his debut against the Rockets Friday.
Quick starts are always key and the Chiefs certainly found the formula against Kelowna. Spokane would convert their first power play of the game just over 4 minutes into the game with Rebman and Brayden Crampton setting up Shea Van Olm's team-leading 4th goal of the season to make it 1-0 Spokane. The Chiefs would make it 2 for 2 on the man advantage as rookie Mathis Preston scored his third of the year midway through the period to give his club a 2-0 lead. The Chiefs would cap a 3-goal opening period when captain Berkly Catton scored his first of the year from Van Olm at 17:31 to put Spokane in control at 3-0 after 20 minutes.
The second period would feature some impressive goaltending from the Chiefs Dawson Cowan as he would turn aside all 12 Kelowna shots while the Chiefs were having to kill off 3 Rockets power plays, including half of a 5-minute major Spokane took late in the period. The Rockets would start the third with the back half of that 5-minute power play and would break through just over a minute into the third on a Jakub Stancl goal to bring themselves within 3-1. Spokane answered right back though as Van Olm netted his second of the game almost 7 minutes later to put the Chiefs back up 4-1. Preston would then score his second of the contest midway through the period to give Spokane a commanding 5-1 lead.
Kelowna would fight back with a pair of Stancl goals late in the third, but Spokane would hand the Rockets their 5th straight loss and Spokane would get their 3rd straight victory with a 5-3 win. The Chiefs would look to close out a 3-0 home stand as they hosted division rival Seattle the next night. The Thunderbirds were coming off a home loss to Prince George the night before and were winless in 3 previous road games. Spokane was hoping to keep the momentum going against a Seattle team that won 4 of 6 from the Chiefs last season.
For the second straight night the Chiefs would jump out to a quick start and on this evening, Spokane would waste little time getting on the scoreboard. On the game's very first shift, Shea Van Olm would tip in a Berkly Catton shot just 40 seconds into the game to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead. Owen Martin would score his second of the season at the 2:25 mark to make it 2-0 Spokane. Newcomer Smyth Rebman then tallied his first Chiefs goal on the power play at 5:31 to put Spokane up 3-0. Mathis Preston then bounced a shot off a Seattle defender midway through the first to give the Chiefs a commanding 4-0 advantage after one.
Spokane would come out in the second and make it 5-0 less than 2 minutes into the period on Hayden Paupanekis first goal of the season. Seattle would score on a 5 on 3 power play just over 4 minutes in to cut it to 5-1, but Martin would score his second of the night on the power play midway through the period to put the Chiefs back up 5 at 6-1. The Thunderbirds would score their second power-play goal of the period in 5 attempts in the final minute of the second to bring themselves within 6-2 after two. The Chiefs would wrap things up in the third on their 3rd power-play goal in 4 attempts when Rebman scored his second of the game at 6:17 of the final frame to cap off a 7-2 victory. Spokane outshot Seattle 44-21, including a dominating 20-8 margin in the third as rookie netminder Carter Esler picked up his first career win.
The victory was Spokane's third straight in three tries at home and their 4th in a row overall. The 4 game win streak is the longest since the Chiefs won 4 in a row in April of 2022. The team is on top of the U.S. Division with a 5-1 record and 10 points as they now head out on their longest road trip of the season as they start their 6-game road swing through the WHL's Eastern Division.
Two years ago, the Chiefs won just one of the 6 contests in the East so they will look to improve upon that performance this time around. The trip starts Wednesday in Prince Albert with game two Friday in Saskatoon and game three Sunday in Regina. I'll have the call on 103.5 FM for the Game and 1510 AM KGA with Wednesday and Friday's games at 5 pm PT and a 4:30 pm pre-game.
Sunday's game in Regina is an early start with an 11:30 am PT pre-game and a noon puck drop. Let's hope the Chiefs keep things rolling and we'll see you on the radio!
