SPOKANE, Wash. — Coming off a 40 point season last year, the worst in franchise history, the Chiefs were determined to begin the road back to a winning season as they opened the 2023-24 campaign on the road this past week. Spokane traveled to Kamloops and Everett to start the season, two places where they won just once in 7 tries last year. The Chiefs had made a number of personnel moves from last season's rosters and would enter Friday's opener in Kamloops with seven rookies in the lineup. The Blazers were the defending B.C. Division champions and had made the Western Conference Finals last season, falling to eventual league champ Seattle in seven games.
Spokane went with Cooper Michaluk in net in Friday's opener and he came out sharp in the first period, turning aside all 11 Kamloops shots and helping deny the Blazers power play twice in the frame. The Chiefs offense would get the early lead as last season's leading scorer Chase Bertholet got Spokane on the board with a goal at 14:59 of the first period. Kamloops would turn around and take the lead with two goals late in the second period just 2:15 apart to go up 2-1. Spokane would answer though as Berkly Catton capped a 2 on 1 rush from newcomer Connor Roulette at 16:22 to even the game at 2-2. Bertholet then followed scoring his second of the game on a power play with just 22 seconds left in the period to give Spokane a 3-2 advantage after two.
Kamloops came out roaring in the third as they scored in the opening minute of the period to bring themselves even at 3-3. Roulette then finished a rush less than three minutes later to score his first goal as a Chief to put Spokane back up 4-3. The Blazers then answered again as a power play goal with five minutes left tied the game again at 4-4. Both teams had goals waved off in the third, as the Chiefs had two disallowed for goaltender obstruction while Kamloops had one for a puck knocked in with a high stick. Kamloops would take a penalty in the final four seconds of regulation though to set up Spokane for a power play chance to start overtime.
The Chiefs wasted little time in converting the opportunity as Roulette capped off his Chiefs debut with his second goal of the night with a power play tally just 1:07 into extra. The goal gave Spokane their first win over Kamloops in their last nine meetings with a 5-4 OT victory. The Chiefs got all five shots in the overtime period and were able to play Kamloops even on special teams. Catton led the way with four points on a goal and three assists, while linemates Roulette and Bertholet went for two goals and an assist. Michaluk finished the night with 34 saves as the team headed west to take on an Everett club who had won their season opener on Saturday at home against Victoria.
Spokane had struggled mightily against Everett last season as the Chiefs dropped 8 of 9 meetings with the Silvertips. The Chiefs only win had come in Everett though, and the team looked determined to match that performance on Sunday.
Dawson Cowan got the start in net for Spokane and he came out sharp as he put up 9 saves as the Chiefs turned away 2 Everett power plays in a scoreless first period. Cowan and the penalty kill were back at it in the second as Cowan turned away 17 shots as the Chiefs negated four Silvertips power plays in the middle frame. Spokane would get one power play chance in the second and would score just nine seconds in as rookie Hayden Paupanekis scored on a rebound to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead heading to the third.
In the final period, the Chiefs would pad the lead as Berkly Catton scored 6:32 into the period to pad the Spokane lead to 2-0. Fifteen-year-old forward Matthis Preston, playing in his first game, would score just 35 seconds later to put the Chiefs up 3-0. Spokane then went on the power play for the only time in the third and would once again take advantage as Paupanekis scored his second of the game as he tipped a Brayden Crampton shot in 58 seconds after Preston's goal to give Spokane a 4-0 advantage. Everett would break up Cowan's shutout on their 33rd shot of the game, but the Chiefs buckled down defensively from there as they secured a 4-1 victory over their U.S. Division rival. Cowan finished with 36 saves as Spokane took over first place in the U.S. Division with 4 points on their 2-0 record.
The Chiefs performance matched their start from last season as Spokane won 2 in Victoria to begin last year. Spokane returned home and lost their home opener and would lose 12 of their next 13 games. The club is determined to not let history repeat itself as they head back to the Spokane Arena to open their home season Saturday when they host the arch rival Tri City Americans.
Tri City is coming off a split on the road at Prince George as the two clubs open their 10 game regular season series. Saturday's game will be at 6:05 pm as the Chiefs have moved their Saturday home game starts up an hour from previous seasons. I'll have the call on 103.5 FM the Game and 1510 AM KGA on Saturday with the pre-game show set for 5:30 pm. We hope to see you at the rink!
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