SPOKANE, Wash. — After suffering through the franchise's worst season last year, the Chiefs targeted the 2023-24 campaign as one to begin their turnaround to championship contention. Spokane knew the club would be about as young and inexperienced as last season, but were excited about the development of a talented young group joining the team. This season has seen the club grow as much as could be expected and the Chiefs entered the next to last week of the season in position to wrap up the final playoff spot the WHL's Western Conference.
Spokane was just needing one point over a 4 game schedule to clinch their berth in the post season as they had a 10 point lead over Seattle with the Thunderbirds having just 5 games left in their season. Simply put, Seattle had to win all 5 of their remaining games and the Chiefs just have to force one of their last 6 to overtime to clinch. The Chiefs were very confident in wrapping up their post season spot, but the club was also looking to possibly move up in the playoff hierarchy as they trailed 7th place Vancouver by just 2 points.
The club would begin a demanding 4 games in 6 nights, including a 3 in 3 to end the week, as they hosted U.S. Division leading Portland Tuesday at the Spokane Arena. The contest could serve as a preview to Spokane's first round playoff series as the Winterhawks are in the driver's seat to win the top seed in the West and would thus host the 8th seed in the first round, which right now is occupied by the Chiefs. Portland had won 3 of 5 from Spokane this season including both games in Spokane. A win by the Chiefs though on Tuesday would not only leave the season series even but also give Spokane a big boost mentally heading into a first round matchup.
Portland came out as a team ready for the playoff meeting Tuesday as they absolutely dominated the Chiefs in the first period. The league's top scoring defenseman, Luca Cagnoni, potted two goals in the first as the Winterhawks outshot Spokane 18-4 in the opening frame to take a 2-0 lead after one. James Stefan's goal early in the second would put the Hawks up 3-0 but the Chiefs would get back in the game late in the period when Connor Roulette extended his points scoring streak to 17 straight with his 41st of the season at 14:24 to make it 3-1 after two periods.
The Chiefs had a couple of great chances to get within one in the third but a missed net and a big save by Portland goalie Jan Spunar kept the Winterhawks up two. Portland would get a power play chance with just over 2.5 minutes left but the Chiefs would get within one when Berkly Catton scored his league leading 7th shorthanded goal at 18:21 to draw Spokane within 3-2. The goal was also Catton's 50th of the season, as he became the third Chief to score 50 or more in his 17 year old campaign, joining Ray Whitney and Pat Falloon. Unfortunately for the Chiefs, Catton's goal would be the final one of the night as Portland held on for a 3-2 win to clinch the season series 4-2. The Winterhawks won all 3 games in Spokane this season, all of them by one goal.
Spokane failed to wrap up the final playoff spot with the loss but now had a chance to get the clinching victory Friday night as the Chiefs paid their final visit to Wenatchee this season. After losing the first three games of the season series to the Wild, Spokane had won the last three in a row, including two in Wenatchee to even the 8 game season series at 3-3. Friday's contest was also the first of three games in three nights for the club, the last time they would have to do that this season. The Wild would help finish the three in three with a visit to Spokane Sunday but first up was Friday's tilt. Wenatchee was in a playoff race as well as they held the 4th place spot in the West, which is the final home ice slot in the first round of the post season.
Unfortunately for the Chiefs, Friday's start to the game would be an awful like Tuesday's, as Spokane fell behind 1-0 just over 3 minutes into the game. Like Tuesday, Spokane was badly outshot in the first as the Wild put up 19 shots in the frame to just 7 for the Chiefs. Wenatchee would come out and score two goals in the first 7:09 of the second period and go up 3-0. Spokane finally got the offense going midway through the period when Ty Cheveldayoff found Cam Parr for his 4th of the season at 13:12 to bring the Chiefs within 3-1 after two. Spokane was outshot 28-15 through two but would find their chances in the third.
Spokane would come out in the third and out chance the Wild 10-5 in the period but couldn't find the net. The Chiefs killed any chance of a late comeback with their second too many men on the ice penalty in the final two minutes as the Wild skated past Spokane 3-1 to keep the Chiefs playoff clinch on hold. It had been a disappointing week thus far as the Chiefs had been outshot 73-52 in the two losses and had only generated five power plays in 120 minutes, going 0-5. The penalty kill had been one of the few bright spots, going 10-10 as goalies Cooper Michaluk and Dawson Cowan had played well enough to win, but had not got a lot of support offensively.
The Chiefs returned home on Saturday hoping to turn things around and get a playoff clinching effort as they hosted the rival Tri City Americans for the final time this season. Tri was not in a good mood as they had been hammered 11-1 the night before in Portland and had dropped 7 straight and 10 of their last 11. Spokane came out a different team from the night before as the Chiefs got a power play chance just over 3 minutes into the game. The Chiefs capitalized as Shea Van Olm scored his 22nd of the season on a backhander to make it 1-0 Spokane. Connor Roulette, who had his points scoring streak snapped at 17 straight the night before, made it 2-0 on his 42nd of the season 1:29 later and it looked like the Chiefs were on their way to an easy victory.
Tri City had much different ideas as they got a Parker Bell power play goal late in the period to cut the lead to 2-1 after one. Bell's goal ignited a 4 goal rally for the Americans. Jake Sloan scored just 1:08 into the period to tie the game at 2. Bell then scored back to back goals 5:33 apart midway through the period to give the Ams a 4-2 advantage. Carter Streek got the Chiefs back in the game with a rebound of a Ben Bonni shot at 15:20 to get Spokane within 4-3. Berkly Catton then sent the fans into a frenzy with 3 seconds left in the period with his 51st goal of the season on a Spokane power play to take the game to the third period all even at 4-4.
It was a back and forth third as the Americans scored on a 4 on 4 just under 4 minutes in to re-take the lead at 5-4. The Chiefs would counter on the 4 on 4 themselves as Owen Martin scored at 5:02 to make it a 5-5 contest. Back came Tri City as they would score on another 4 on 4 at 6:33 to go back up at 6-5. The Chiefs would put on the pressure offensively but Tri would hold the lead through most of the frame. Spokane would finally break through at 17:38 as Catton would score his second of the game to tie the game back up at 6-6. It appeared the Chiefs would get the point they needed to clinch their playoff spot as the game looked like it was heading to overtime..
Spokane turned up the pressure in the final minute, pinning the Americans in their own zone and the Chiefs were able to change offensive personnel in the final seconds. The pressure paid off as Catton found Will McIsaac on the left wing and the defenseman rifled home the game winner with 13 seconds remaining to send the Chiefs to the playoffs with a come from behind 7-6 victory. Spokane put up 53 shots including 23 in the third period to secure at least a split of the 10 game season series with the Americans. The Chiefs assured themselves of their first playoff berth since 2021-22 as they now will set their sights on possibly catching 7th place Victoria in the West. The Royals are 3 points up on Spokane with 3 games left in the season. Whether the Chiefs finish 7th or 8th, they'll be facing either Portland or Prince George in the first round.
The Chiefs week still had a game to go though as Spokane closed out the home portion of their regular season Sunday when they hosted Wenatchee. Spokane needed a win to get the season split with the Wild in their 8 game season series and a victory would put the Chiefs over .500 at home for the year. The team was also anxious to avenge a below average effort at Wenatchee on Friday. The Chiefs got out to another quick start for the second straight night as Ty Cheveldayoff, playing his final regular season home game, scored his 12th of the season just over 16 minutes into the game to put Spokane up 1-0. Shea Van Olm would then net his 23rd of the year just 1:08 later as the Chiefs took a 2-0 lead into the second period.
Defenseman Braydon Crampton would jump start the Chiefs in the second as his 9th of the season 1:17 in put Spokane ahead 3-0. Connor Roulette would score a power play goal, his 43rd of the year, at 3:54 to make it 4-0 Chiefs. Lukas Kral would cap a three goals in 4:29 explosion with his 8th of the season to put Spokane in control at 5-0. Wenatchee would break the shutout attempt of goalie Cooper Michaluk with a power play goal midway through the second, but the Chiefs would re-establish a five goal lead on Roulette's second goal of the night at 17:22 to take a 6-1 advantage to the third. Spokane would shut down the Wild in the third, allowing just 3 shots on goal as the Chiefs avenged their loss two nights earlier in Wenatchee with a 6-1 victory. The win evened the season series at 4-4 as the Chiefs finished their home season 17-16-1.
The victory brought the Chiefs within just 1 point of 7th place Victoria in the Western Conference and 3 points behind 6th place Kelowna with 2 games left in the season. To move up in the standings, Spokane will have to win their remaining two games and hope for some help against the Royals and Rockets. A pair of victories for Spokane would also allow the Chiefs to finish at the .500 mark for the season and push the club to 30 wins, which would double last season's total. There's a lot to play for over the final weekend of the season as the Chiefs will visit Seattle Friday and Tri City Saturday to close out the regular season. I'll have the call on 103.5 FM the Game with the pre-game at 6:30 pm and puck drop at 7:05 pm on Friday from Seattle and a 5:30 pm pre-game and 6:05 pm puck drop from Tri City on Saturday. We hope to see you on the radio!
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