SPOKANE, Wash. — Making the playoffs was certainly the primary goal of the Chiefs this season, but winning in the postseason was a close second. After the previous year's struggles, making the postseason was a huge step in the right direction for this young Spokane club. The team's first-round series was about as tough as they could dial up as they took on the #1 team in the entire Canadian Hockey League, the Prince George Cougars.
The series' first two games were all Prince George as the Cougars won both games on home ice by a combined 13-5. A three-goal first in game one and a five-goal second in game two lifted PG to easy victories and within 2 wins of moving on to the Western semi-finals. The Chiefs had to be a lot better on special teams, and the Cougars were 4-16 on power play in games one and two, while the Chiefs were just 1-8.
The teams made their way back to Spokane for games 3 and 4 and a possible game 5 if the Chiefs could win in either of the first two games at home. Game 3 on Tuesday would see Spokane go with Cooper Michaluk on the net after he relieved Dawson Cowan in the second period in game two on Saturday. The Chiefs were also without defenseman Layton Feist and forward Mathis Preston as Kaden Allen took over on the blue line, and Lukas Kral made his playoff debut.
Spokane would jump out in the first period and score first for the second time in three games. Rookie Hayden Paupanekis batted a Cam Parr feed out of mid-air and scored his second straight goal in as many games at the 12:30 mark to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead. Prince George would strike back on their first power play five minutes later as the league's leading goal scorer, Zac Funk, scored his first of the series to even the game at one after the first.
The second period has been the Chief's Achilles Heel in the series' first two games and would be again on Tuesday. A turnover in their own zone led to an easy 2-on-0 goal 5:40 into the period to give the Cougars a 2-1 advantage. Back-to-back penalties led to a 5 on 3 power play for Prince George midway through the stanza, but the Chiefs were able to kill off the 51 seconds of a two-man advantage. Unfortunately, after a wild scramble in front of the Spokane goal, while it was a 5 on 4 power play, the Cougars scored their second power-play tally of the contest to go up 3-1 after two periods.
The Chiefs needed an early goal in the third to get back in the game, but a miscommunication between Michaluk and his defense led to a loose puck behind the Chiefs net. Prince George scooped up the loose puck, and Funk scored his second of the game 5:59 into the period to take a commanding 4-1 lead. Spokane answered right back, though, as Ty Cheveldayoff took an Owen Martin pass net front and scored his first of the playoffs 30 seconds later to bring the Chiefs within 4-2.
The two teams went back and forth the rest of the third, which definitely favored the Cougars. Spokane would pull Michaluk in goal in the final two minutes and then would get a huge break as Prince George put the Chiefs on the power play with 1:04 remaining to give Spokane a 6 on-4 power play. Despite putting a lot of pressure on the Cougars defensively, the Chiefs couldn't find the net in the final minute and ended up on the short end of a 4-2 verdict in game three. Spokane now trailed the series 3-0 and faced the prospect of seeing their season come to an end the next night in game four.
Only two teams had ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in the WHL playoffs, with one of those being the Chiefs back in 1996 against Portland. The odds were still very much against Spokane, though, as they hoped to take step one in the comeback process Wednesday night. The Chiefs got a huge boost for game 4 when forward Rasmus Ekstrom returned to the lineup after missing the last month and a half with a knee injury. Dawson Cowan returned in net for the Chiefs after Cooper Michaluk played in game three. In a tight first period, the Cougars would score midway through the period to jump out to a 1-0 lead after the opening twenty minutes.
Spokane countered in the second when Connor Roulette scored 1:36 into the frame with his second goal of the playoffs to bring the Chiefs even at 1-1. It appeared Roulette had given the Chiefs a 2-1 lead when the puck was loose in the crease, but the whistle blew as Roulette put the puck in the net, and the game remained tied at 1-1. It turned out to be a big call as the very next shift, a Chiefs turnover behind their net turned into a Cougar goal, and it was 2-1 Prince George midway through the second. PG would get a power play a little over a minute later, and they would convert as Zac Funk scored his 3rd goal in the last two games, and the Cougars took a 3-1 lead. Roulette would answer with his second goal of the night less than 2 minutes later to get Spokane within 3-2 after two periods.
The Chiefs came out in the third and would outshoot the Cougars 9-6 and get the only power play of the period but would fail to find the net as Prince George held off Spokane in the final twenty minutes to secure the series in 4 straight games with a 3-2 victory in game 4. Prince George would outscore Spokane 20-9 in the four games but the biggest difference came on special teams. The Cougars went 7-22 on the power play in the series, while Spokane was just 1-16. The playoffs often come down to how effective your special teams are, and this series was no exception. The second period was a huge advantage for the Cougars as well as PG scored 11 goals in the middle frame compared to 2 for Spokane, and those two goals came in the final game.
While it was a great turnaround for Spokane to double their win total from the year before, there is no doubt a great deal of disappointment in the failure to win a playoff game in the first-round series. Prince George is the #1 ranked team in the CHL right now, but the Chiefs have gone toe-to-toe with the Cougars during the regular season and appeared poised to do so again in the playoffs. Losing in four straight games didn't appear to be in the forecast but it turned out to be the case as Spokane has now dropped 10 straight playoff games since game 3 of the Western Conference Finals in April of 2019.
The team loses the three 20-year-olds, Connor Roulette, Ty Cheveldayoff, and Chase Bertholet, from this year's edition. Replacing the points of those three, which totaled 214, will be a challenge to match next season. Spokane had six 19-year-olds this year and can only keep three for next year. It will be a tough decision-making off-season for the club as the two leading scoring defensemen, Brayden Crampton and Layton Feist, are 20 next campaign. Ben Bonni is also 20 and can play forward or defense. The three forwards who return in their 20s are Shea Van Olm, Carter Streek, and Rasmus Ekstrom. Ekstrom would also be counted as an import selection, but he proved he would be worth taking up two slots with his play this season. It will be interesting on who Spokane will settle on for their 3 twenty's next season.
The exciting part will be the number of returners who grew a ton as players this season. Both goalies, Dawson Cowan, and Cooper Michaluk, are back as 19-year-olds. Defensively, Saige Weinstein will be back at 19, Will McIsaac and Nathan Mayes at 18, and Owen Schoettler at 17. Kaden Allen, who made a couple of appearances late in the season, will be a 16-year-old next season, so with Crampton and Feist coming back, the blue line will be set with plenty of experience. Between the goaltending and defense, it's no stretch to feel Spokane should rank as one of the top defensive clubs in the league.
Up front, the Chiefs will be loaded as well. Spokane will probably only keep two maximum of the Van Olm, Ekstrom, Bonni, and Streek groups. There are no 19-year-olds up front coming back, but Berkly Catton will lead the 18-year-old group with Coco Armstrong, Lukas Kral, and Cam Parr back on the front lines. The 17-year-old group is an exciting one as Owen Martin, Hayden Paupanekis, and Chase Harrington are back with a ton of experience gained in their 16-year-old rookie seasons. Mathis Preston leads a very talented 16-year-old group next year as Brody Gillespie also saw some time in the lineup this year and will be full-time with Preston in the 2024-25 season.
It will be an exciting season to look forward to next year, and the hope is that the team will take the lessons learned this year and learn from them and build up a club that will take the next step in the standings. It's not unreasonable to expect the team to contend for the U.S. Division and Western Conference titles next year. Whether the Chiefs win at that level depends entirely on the off-season work the returners and newcomers put in before going into next season. I, for one, am looking forward to the growth of this young team becoming the experienced, mature, and winning group we hope to see in Spokane over the next couple of seasons. Camp is just around the corner and starts in just over 4 months. Enjoy the summer, and we hope to see you back at the rink in September!
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