SPOKANE, Wash. — One of the great things about the Western Hockey League taking a break for the Christmas holiday, amongst many, is the chance for teams to not only heal up but also catch their breath and come out refreshed for the second half grind. The Chiefs ended the first half on a high note, beating Portland 3-1 the final weekend before Christmas to give themselves something to enjoy over the holidays. Spokane needed the win too, after losing 7 in a row prior to that victory.
The Chiefs started the second half in 6th in the U.S. Division, but just one point back of 5th place Seattle and 3 points behind Vancouver in the race for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Spokane is within striking distance as they begin the final 38 games of the regular season and would start the second half with 3 games within the division, taking on first place Wenatchee and 4th place Tri City.
First up would be the first place Wild, a team Spokane had lost to three times in the first half, including a gut punching 4-3 loss in the final week of the first half. In that game on December 10th, the Chiefs led 3-1 heading to the third period before surrendering 3 goals in the final frame on their way to a 4-3 defeat. Spokane was not only hoping to start the second half on a positive note, but also get their first win over the first place club in the division. The Wild were also missing their top two players as Connor Geekie and Matt Savoie were at the World Junior Tournament playing for Team Canada.
Spokane got off to a quick start as they got the 8th goal of the season from rookie Owen Martin just over 4.5 minutes into the game to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead after one. Ben Bonni would add to the lead with his 4th of the year only 29 seconds into the second as Spokane went up 2-0. The Wild would answer just as quickly as they would score two goals just 1:45 apart in the first 4 minutes of the frame to bring themselves even at 2-2. Chiefs goalie Dawson Cowan would keep Spokane in the game as he turned aside 18 Wenatchee shots and helped Spokane kill of 3 Wild power play chances. The Chiefs dodged a bullet later in the period when a go ahead Wenatchee goal was denied on a puck knocked down net front with a high stick by the Wild, negating a momentum changing tally.
The game would head to the third tied at two and the Chiefs would change that nearly 4 minutes into the final period when Connor Roulette scored on a tip to give Spokane a lead they would never lose at 3-2. Rasmus Ekstrom then took a Will McIsaac pass midway through the third and scored his 6th of the season to put Spokane up 4-2. McIsaac picked up his 3rd assist of the game, a career high for him. The Chiefs would then cap a 3 goal period and put the game away as Chase Bertholet scored against his former team at 12:56 to give Spokane their first win over Wenatchee in 4 tries with a 5-2 victory. The Chiefs were outshot 41-35 in the game, but out chanced Wenatchee 15-8 in the decisive third.
The win was huge for Spokane as the team moved past Seattle into 5th in the U.S. Division and within 1 point of Vancouver for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Chiefs then prepared for the final games of 2023 with a home and home series with the rival Tri City Americans over New Year's weekend. The two clubs would meet in Spokane on Saturday, the day before the annual New Year's Eve tilt in the Tri Cities. The Americans came into Spokane coming off a disappointing overtime loss to Portland and were 6 points up on the Chiefs for 4th in the division. Tri City had won the previous two meetings between the two clubs, winning 3-1 in Spokane in late September and 4-3 in Tri Cities in early November.
Saturday's game would come in front of the largest crowd to see a game at the Arena this season as 9,464 hoped to see the Chiefs win their 3rd in a row. Spokane struck first as they capitalized on their first power play chance of the night when Rasmus Ekstrom scored a power play only 1:46 into the game to make it 1-0 Chiefs. Spokane would make it 2-0 as Chase Bertholet scored his 9th of the year less than 7 minutes later. Tri City would cut the lead in half with a tip in midway through the period to make it a 2-1 game after one. The Chiefs outshot the Americans 18-9 in the opening 20 minutes as Spokane controlled the first.
The Chiefs had to kill off a Tri City power play early in the second and not only would do so, but would score short handed as Berkly Catton put a back to the net backhanded pass to Bertholet net front, who then scored his second of the night 1:42 into the second to give Spokane a 3-1 advantage. The goal was a historic one, as it marked the 10,000th goal in Chiefs franchise history. Spokane's penalty kill would continue to be busy in the second as they would kill off all 4 of the Americans power plays in the period, including a 2 man advantage that went for 1:28. Spokane would take their 3-1 lead to the third.
The Americans would cut the margin to 3-2 on a goal 4:28 into the final period. Spokane came right back and answered as Ben Bonni scored in his second straight game with a tally just 13 seconds after the Ams goal to extend the Chiefs lead back to two at 4-2. Bonni's goal unleashed a 3 goal period in the third for the second straight game for Spokane as Connor Roulette score his team leading 23rd at 7:51 and then Saige Weinstein capped the scoring at 10:02 to give the Chiefs their third straight win with a 6-2 victory. Chase Bertholet led the way with 2 goals and 2 assists, while Berkly Catton put up 4 assists.
The win was a season high 3rd straight for the Chiefs, and moved Spokane within 4 points of Tri City for 4th in the division. Spokane now led 6th place Seattle by 3 points and more importantly went ahead of Vancouver by a point for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference playoff race. The Chiefs now had a chance to solidify their positions in the division and conference if they could complete the weekend home and home sweep over the Americans Sunday night in Kennewick. The last time Spokane had won on the Americans home ice had come on New Year's Eve two years earlier, so the Chiefs were hoping history would repeat itself as 2023 came to a close.
Sunday's game would be played in front of a sellout crowd and the home folks would be on their feet early as a power play goal from the Americans would give Tri a 1-0 lead 6:10 into the game. The Chiefs answered with a power play tally of their own from Layton Feist 3:09 later to make it 1-1. Connor Roulette then gave Spokane a 2-1 advantage with his team leading 24th of the year at 14:35 as the Chiefs put up 17 shots in the opening 20 minutes. Tri City would even the game at two with a goal off a 2 on 1 just over 5 minutes into the second, but the Chiefs Chase Bertholet would score 2 goals in just 32 seconds midway through the period to give Spokane a 4-2 lead after two periods.
For the 4th straight game, the Chiefs would play their best period in the third. Owen Schoettler would score his first career goal 2:59 into the third to give Spokane a 5-2 lead. Saige Weinstein then scored off a 4 on 4 for the second straight night at 5:27 to extend the margin to 6-2. Tri City countered with their 2nd power play goal of the night just over two minutes later to make it a 6-3 game, but the Chiefs exploded from there. Owen Martin scored on the rush less than 2 minutes later to make it 7-3 Spokane. Fellow rookie Coco Armstrong followed with his 4th of the season at 10:17 to put the Chiefs up 8-3. Martin followed with his second of the game with a power play goal at 14:05 to make it 9-3. Bertholet would cap off a hat trick and 9 points in two games against Tri City with another power play goal at 15:54 to give the Chiefs a 10-3 advantage. Will Mc Isaac finished off a 7 goal third with his second of the year at 16:25 to wrap up an 11-3 victory and give Spokane their season high 4th straight win.
Spokane moved 5 points ahead of Seattle for 5th in the U.S. Division and within 2 points of 4th place Tri City in the division. More importantly, the Chiefs went 3 points ahead of Vancouver for the 8th and final playoff spot in the West. The team put up 22 goals in three games this past week while giving up just 7 as the Chiefs have come out with some purpose in the second half of the season. Now the big question is whether the team will keep up the progress as they head into 2024 and a big 6 game road trip through the league's Central Division. The Central has 4 of their 6 teams with winning records and will prove to be a real test for Spokane in early January.
The Chiefs will begin the road swing on Friday, January 5th at Swift Current, who is tied for second in the division, 6 points behind division leading Medicine Hat, where Spokane will head on Sunday the 7th. I'll have the call for the first two games of the trip on 103.5 FM the Game and 1510 AM KGA. Friday's tilt from Swift Current will have the pre-game show at 4:30 pm and the puck drop at 5 pm Pacific Time, while Sunday's game in Medicine Hat will be a 2:30 pm pre-game and a 3 pm puck drop. Let's hope the boys keep up their winning ways and we'll see you on the radio!
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