Getting to know the Chiefs Part 2: Drayson Bowman

6' 0" 188lbs. Birthday: March 8th 1989 Home: Littleton, Colorado Position: LW

Drayson Bowman was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and raised in Littleton, Colorado. In 2003 Drayson and his family moved to Vancouver so he could play hockey in the bantam leagues. He was the first pick of the Spokane Chiefs (8th overall) in the 2004 bantam draft. He quickly made his presence with the Chiefs in the 06-07 season scoring 24 goals and 19 assists and earning rookie of the year honors. He was drafted in the third round by the Carolina Hurricanes (72nd overall) in the 2007 NHL draft. In the 07-08 season he led the Chiefs with 42 goals while adding 40 assists and was a +32. He was one of the biggest reasons for the success of the Chiefs in their Memorial Cup championship run, scoring in all five games the Chiefs played in the tournament, including a hat trick against Belleville in the first game and scoring the game winner against Kitchner in the championship. Hockey runs in the Bowman family as well: Drayson's little brother Collin also plays in the WHL with the Kelowna Rockets.

If you want to see Drayson while he's in Spokane you better do it soon. Even though he is only 19 years old he is likely to get called up by the Hurricanes next season. He got a long look at camp and almost got the call this season. He did sign a three year contract with the Hurricanes over the summer, and it's not likely that they would make that kind of investment without calling him up. Ironically enough during his time with the 'Canes he shared a line with former Chief Ray Whitney, who was a member of the 90-91 Spokane Chiefs that also won the Memorial cup.

I completely expect that this will be Drayson's last season with the Spokane Chiefs. He will end up in the NHL and will flourish there. I know it's down the road a little, but I look forward to seeing Drayson playing in his first NHL all star game. That WILL happen.

On a sadder note and off subject: The Chiefs have taken Ondrej Roman off their active roster. He can still be added to their roster again if he gets back before January 10th. My emotions are all over the board on this so I'll say it again before I get cranky: FREE ONDREJ ROMAN!!!!

More thoughts on the weekend.

I thought I would elaborate more on what I saw at the games over the weekend.

Even thought the Chiefs beat Prince George, they didn't play up to the level that we are used to seeing so far this year. Lets face it: We would not have won Saturday if that had been Tri-City or Vancouver instead. Drayson Bowman and Mitch Wahl completely disappeared this weekend. Those two had back to back sub-par games. Especially Mitch, who was noticeably tired near the end of Saturday's game. Bowman looked frustrated and that translated into sloppy play. Hopefully a good week of practice will turn that around.

I'll give the Tyler Johnson - Levko Koper - Ryan Letts line a pass. Yes, they did make mistakes as well (especially in their passing). But at least that line was productive. Over the weekend Johnson has two goals and an assist. Koper had two goals. Letts had a goal and as assist. As a matter of fact if it wasn't for a goal by Dustin Donaghy with about thirty seconds left in Saturday's game against Prince George the Johnson line would have been responsible for all of the scoring over the weekend.

The Defense was also lackluster. I lost count of how many times they turned it over in their own zone. If Tokarski wasn't on his game we would have given up several more goals. Trevor Glass played decent on defense, but the other defensemen played below the level they are capable of. It probably didn't help that defensemen Jared Spurgeon didn't play over the weekend, and is on the injury report as a leg injury (by the way, I saw him walking around the arena Friday night with no crutches and no limp, so it doesn't appear serious).

It wasn't just the Chiefs that had on off weekend. I had choice things to say about the officials during both games. There were a lot of missed calls. Hey refs, learn what offsides is! Seriously. And you can't call tripping if the player just falls on his own! Even my dog knows what tripping is. So start calling the games right or Santa is putting you on the naughty list!

I believe we will have a good week of practice and this coming weekend we'll play much better. I can' imagine players like Bowman, Wahl, and the other veterans on the team having another bad weekend. The Chiefs are at Everett on Friday, then it's five straight games at home starting with Kootenay on Saturday.

Go Chiefs Go!!!

Back on track

That's more like it!

The Spokane Chiefs rebounded from their loss Friday night to beat the Prince George Cougars 4-1. Spokane got the scoring off in the first period with a goal by Levko Koper. The score would remain 1-0 until the second period when the Cougars tied it up on a really sloppy turnover by Brett Bartman in front of their own net to give me the first Maalox moment of the season(Bartman, you were playing so well). Tyler Johnson put the Chiefs up for good in the third period with the assist from my favorite player Ryan Letts. Koper added an empty netter and then Dustin Donaghy put a sweet shot past the goalie to end the scoring: Chiefs 4, Cougars 1. With the win the Chiefs move back on top of Tri-City in the U.S. Division.

By the way, Chiefs goalie Dustin Tokarski gets two assists in the game. Dustin, are you trying to pad your point totals? I think he has four assists this season already. Also, the assist by Ryan Letts gives him six points for the season, which matches his total for last season. Go Letts!

On an added note, it was great to see Kevin Armstrong again. This was his first time back in Spokane since he was traded to Prince George in the off season. I'm also glad that he was given a very warm reception by the Chiefs fans. He was just as much a part of last season's Memorial Cup run as the rest of the Chiefs. There was even a nice little moment when the Chiefs presented him with his Memorial Cup championship ring. Way to go, Army!

No games until next Friday at Everett, then it's Saturday night at home against Kootenay. Also, thank you Spokane Chiefs for playing my Bay City Rollers clip. I'm glad it's back. Anyway, see everyone on S-A-TUR-DAY.....NIGHT!

Bad. Just plain bad.

The Spokane Chiefs entered Friday night leading the U.S. division. They would not finish that way.

The Chiefs played most of the first two periods flat and with little enthusiasm against the Seattle Thunderbirds. After a scoreless first period the Chiefs managed to get on the board when Tyler Johnson put one past the Goalie just before the end of the second period to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead. Then my favorite player Ryan Letts added his fourth of the season to make the score 2-0 a minute into the third period. It looked like the Chiefs got things going again.

Then the wheels came off.

Seattle gets a quick goal to cut the lead in half, and then adds a shorthanded goal to tie the score at 2. Seattle continues to capitalize on the Chiefs sloppy play to add their third goal of the period with six minutes to play. They would not let up the rest of the way: Seattle 3, Spokane 2.

I can only hope that what I witnessed was the worst game the Chiefs will play all season. They continued to make mistake after mistake. It was only a matter of time before Seattle started scoring. Let's face it: Seattle was the better team Friday night.

Hopefully they will get their act together for Saturday night's game against Prince George.

Free Ondrej Roman: Part 2

It's not bad enough that I'm bummed that my beloved Philadelphia Flyers have gotten off to a rotten start, but I'm also bummed that Ondrej Roman is still not with the Chiefs. I really thought that he would be allowed to return once the NHL regular season started and he wouldn't be playing with the Dallas Stars, but obviously that's not the case.

From everything that I've gathered here's the situation: Ondrej Roman was drafted by the Dallas Stars in the 2007 NHL draft, but has not yet been signed by the Stars. The IHF (International Hockey Federation) will get financial compensation from the Dallas Stars in the Stars sign Ondrej. But the IHF wants the Dallas Stars to pay them financial compensation as if Ondrej was already signed by the Stars. Dallas doesn't want to pay in case they decide not to sign Ondrej to a contract. So the IHF is holding up Ondrej in the Czech Republic until this situation gets resolved. Basically Ondrej is in the middle of a squabble between the Dallas Stars and the IHF. I should also note that this happened last year to Tri-City forward Petr Stoklasa, who is also from the Czech Republic (he was allowed back after the World Junior Championships, which are held in December).

Here's where I get worried: If Ondrej Roman is not back by January 10th the Chiefs can't add him to their roster. If this goes past January 10th then Ondrej would be staying in the Czech Republic the rest of the season, and possibly permanently. I really hope this gets resolved quickly. Ondrej's goal has always been to play in the NHL, and he definitely has the talent. I also want to be able to see him in the Chiefs jersey again, and if you haven't seen our power play this season we really need him. So I will say this every day until he comes back:

FREE ONDREJ ROMAN!!!!!!!!

Getting to know the Chiefs Part 1: Ryan Letts

6'2" 215 lbs. Birthday: Feb. 15th, 1989 Home: Newport Beach, CA Position: RW

Ryan Letts was acquired by Spokane in a trade with the Calgary Hitmen in October 2007 for a sixth round draft pick. He quickly became a fan favorite when he got into a fight in his first game as a Chief against the Kamploops Blazers. He bacame known as a great fighter last season against the Chilliwack Bruins in a fight that was.....well.....incredibly one sided. He usually plays on the Chiefs fourth line but has been playing on the second line a lot this season with Tyler Johnson and Levko Koper due to a knee injury to Justin McCrae. He has gotten quicker over the summer and has improved his stick handling skills and works well on the second line. So far this season he has 3 goals and 1 assist and is a +5. He hasn't gotten into any fights this season, but I attribute that to the fact that no one wants to fight him anymore (Kyle Beach not fighting Letts a couple of weeks ago was probably the smartest thing he will do all season).

It might seem a little unusual to see a California boy so interested in hockey, but remember that Wayne Gretzky was traded from Edmonton to Los Angeles at the end of the 80's. Gretzky influenced a lot of kids in the Southern California area, including Letts. He wears #7 because it's a lucky number for him and it was the same number his dad wore. His favorite hockey team is the Aneheim Ducks (I suppose I can forgive him for that). Better yet, his favorite team is NOT the New York Rangers. You can tell he loves the game, he loves playing in Spokane, and he gets along great with his teammates, the fans, and the community as a whole. No wonder why he has become my favorite player this season.

I'll be doing these player profile posts from time to time to fill in the larger gaps between games so stay tuned.

Losing to Tri makes me very angry!

What's a team gotta do to win a shootout here?

Spokane lost to Tri-City 3-2 in an overtime shootout down in Tri-City. The only Chiefs goals came in the first period courtesy of Dustin Donaghy and Mitch Wahl, who made this crazy spin move to free himself in front of the net (think Michael Jackson in the 'Thriller' video). Tri-City matched our goals with one in the first and one in the second. No overtime goal so we ended up in a shootout, which we lost for the third time this year.

This leads me to my shootout point: How come we can't win a shootout? We've been involved in three so far this year, and lost all three. Watching on TV it really looked like the guys were out of sorts, especially Mitch Wahl. It appeared like he didn't know what he wanted to against Pickard, and when facing a goalie as good as Chet Pickard you better have a plan. I know he can do it. I've seen him make incredible moves on goalies in breakaways during games. They also struggled at this last season. Hopefully coach Sauter will drill them more on shootouts. If we're going to finish on top of the U.S. division we need to win a few of those. At least we earned a point out of it, which puts our point streak at 11 games. And we are still three points ahead of Tri-City in the standings, so there is a silver lining of sorts.

No more games until Friday when Seattle comes calling. Then a home game against Prince George on S-A-TUR-DAY....NIGHT! Speaking of that: Hey Chiefs organization. I noticed you're not playing my Bay City Rollers song anymore on Saturday nights. Why you gotta be like that? I really missing hearing it.......S-A-TUR-DAY....NIGHT!!!!

Different team, same result.

We sure do play great at home this year!

The Spokane Chiefs beat the Kamploops Blazers Friday night 5-2 to maintain their four point lead over Tri-City in the U.S. division. Spokane has earned at least one point in their last 10 games. Seth Compton started the scoring off for the Chiefs in the first period followed by a goal by Tyler Johnson just a couple minutes later. Drayson Bowman scored in the second and then again early in the third to put the game out of reach for Kamploops. Jared Cowen added a sweet wrister later in the third to finish the scoring (Cowen has a pretty good shot for a defensemen). My guy Ryan Letts didn't get a goal but did assist on the Tyler Johnson goal to give him four points on the season (he had no goals and six assists last season). Before the game the Chiefs received their championship rings from the Memorial Cup. Very nice! If only Ondrej Roman was here for it. FREE ONDREJ ROMAN!!

Spokane is a perfect 5 for 5 at home this year, outscoring the opponents 24-5! I'm loving the crowds this year and how loud and rowdy we all are. It's been a fun atmosphere and I expect it to continue all season. My voice is finally starting to get used to all the shouting I do at the games.

I think Drayson Bowman's new nickname should be 'Houdini'. Every game he makes these ridiculously good plays that make the opposing team's coaches bring out the pepto-bismol. You get the feeling that when he has the puck he's going to deke everyone on the ice, on the bench, and the drunk fans in section 214. I have to think the other teams' coaches have to be saying things like this in the locker room: "OK, guys. See the guy in the red jersey with the number 27 on the back? Someone seriously needs to pick him up once in a while." I think we'll have another nickname for him at the end of the season....MVP!!!

Saturday night the Chiefs have a HUGE game at Tri-City. It's on channel 78 for those in the Spokane area that have cable. Next home game is next Friday against Seattle.

Go Chiefs!

Rack up another one!

They just keep rollin' rollin' rollin' on!

The Chiefs continued their winning ways by posting a 5-2 victory over the Portland Winterhawks Wednesday night. Rookie goalie James Reid got the start and posted his first win, stopping 30 of 32 shots. The Chiefs also continued their unselfish play as they scored five goals from five different players for the third time this year. Levko Koper started the scoring in the first period. The second period saw Drayson Bowman deke three players at once and put the puck past the goalie (Bowman, I'm glad Carolina sent you back, but how on earth are you not playing in the NHL right now? Carolina needs their head examined). Spokane added three more goals in the third by David Conrad, Mitch Wahl, and an empty netter by Blake Gal. No Ryan Letts goal this game, which ends his goal scoring streak at 2 (I'm calling my shot, he scores a goal at Tri-City this weekend). This makes the Chiefs 4 for 4 at home so far this season, scoring a total of 19 goals while giving up only three.

I also must note that even though rookie defensemen Brett Bartman didn't get a point tonight he finished the game with a +1. That puts him at +15 for the season, which leads the WHL. Are you kidding? +15 already? The season isn't even a month old yet! Also, he's a rookie! This kid is becoming a freak on ice very quickly. It's going to be fun watching him this season.

Unlike Tri-Stinky or Everett, it's kind of hard for me to pick on Portland, as that team has not only been terrible over the past few years, but also poorly run. That might be changing soon as the WHL announced today that they approved the sale of the Portland Winterhawks. They will remain in Portland, as that was in the agreement of the sale. I hope this turns things around in Portland. It's more fun to hate on teams when they're not terrible. After all, look at how fun it is playing Tri-City now that they don't stink all the time.

Next game is Friday night when we host the Kamploops Blazers. It's also the game where the Chiefs get their championship rings from the Memorial Cup. So get there early and remember to brush up on the Canadian National Anthem!

Never stop beating the Everett Silvertips!

If the Chiefs keep playing like this at home this could be the best season ever!

After spotting Everett an early goal in the first the Chiefs scored three in the second and two in the third to beat the Silvertips 5-1. The Chiefs continue to be both impressive and unselfish on offense as the five goals were scored by five different players. Dustin Donaghy started the scoring off for the Chiefs in the second period to tie the score at 1. Then Ryan Letts continued to be a goal scoring maniac by getting his third goal in two games to put the Chiefs up for good. Rookie David Conrad netted his first goal as a Chief to finish the scoring in the second. The Third period scoring started with Drayson Bowman to make the score 4-1 (in case you missed him Everett, Bowman was that big red blur that blew past your whole defense). The final goal came from rookie Mike Betz, who also netted his first career goal as a Chief.

Near the end of the game we were all reminded why we hate Kyle Beach so much when he started a fight with Drayson Bowman by attacking him from behind. Beach also tried to start something with Tyler Johnson earlier in the second period until Ryan Letts stepped in. Further proof that 'friends don't let friends fight Ryan Letts'!

The Chiefs are still in first place in the U.S. division, two points ahead of Tri-City (I also refer to them as Tri-Stinky). Next up is Portland on Wednesday night. Spokane is unbeaten in three home games so far this year, scoring fourteen goals while only giving up the lone goal against Everett, which was a rebound of the back wall that bounced so freakishly weird that my former high school physics teacher would have passed out trying to explain the physics of it.

Also, I noticed that Drayson Bowman is now sporting an 'A' on his jersey (alternate captain). At the start of the season the alternate captains were Justin McCrae and Seth Compton. McCrae hurt his knee worse than originally thought and now he is out indefinitely. Bowman should be alternate captain until McCrae is healthy. Now if we can only get a captain named....

Ryan Letts. 'Nuff said.

I have waited for a long time to be able to say this: RYAN LETTS IS A GOAL SCORING MACHINE!!!!! I watched Ryan Letts all last year, playing on the fourth line, doing his job wearing the other teams down, getting into fights that he always won. But I wanted to see him score a goal so badly. There were several times last year he came so close it was almost heartbreaking. Even though he tried like crazy, he never did get that first goal last year.

Fast forward to this year: I watched him at training camp, and I noticed a different Ryan Letts. The attitude was still there, but he had adopted a different style of play. He slimmed down a little and added some muscle over the summer. He has gotten faster going up and down the ice and gets to the puck quickly. His stick handling has also improved, as he controls the puck well. He has also gotten smarter. He is getting better at reading his linemates and knowing exactly where he needs to be on the ice at any given time. Seeing all these changes gave me confidence that this year that the Ryan Letts goals would happen.

Then, it happened: They were in Portland Friday night. Ryan Letts gets.....not one.......but TWO GOALS! I was so happy for him! I was only wishing that the goals happened at home and not on the road. But he wasn't finished. Playing Everett at home on Saturday night he gets another goal, which turned out to be the game winner! Three goals in two games! This is better than I ever thought it would be.

I think Ryan Letts just became my new favorite player. I was Ralphie from the movie 'A Christmas Story', and the Letts goals were my Red Ryder BB Gun! I really hope he keep up the excellent work. He has definitely arrived, and has every right to be proud.

Tyler Johnson is getting noticed

For all of those Tyler Johnson fans out there (and I know there are lots), Shawn Roarke from nhl.com wrote a sweet article about Tyler Johnson that's worth checking out. I'll say it right now: Tyler Johnson will end up playing in the NHL someday. Bank it now. As far as his size goes, Danny Briere of my beloved Philadelphia Flyers is under 6 feet. So is Saku Koivu. And Martin St. Louis from the Tampa Bay Lightning is listed at 5'9" (that's what they list him at....he looks smaller) and he knows how to make goalies look stupid.

Chiefs host Everett tomorrow. Hope to see a good crowd!

Back to back weekend

Alright, Chiefs fans!

Spokane has back to back games this weekend. They'll be at Portland on Friday and home against Everett on Saturday. If you need more incentive to go to the game on Saturday, I'll point out that Kyle Beach is back playing with Everett and should be there for us to hate on. I'm there and I'm bringing a whole bag of 'I hate Kyle Beach' with me. If only Chris Bruton were there....ah, the memories!!

Can you feel it?

There's something definitely in the air. It always comes around this time of year, and I'm not talking about the change in the weather. It's the feeling that makes me turn to channel 31 (Versus network) when I normally don't care what's on that channel. It's the feeling that makes me watch my DVD's of 'Slap Shot' and 'Miracle' back to back, and even 'Mystery, Alaska' on occasion. It's the feeling that makes me want to play the latest NHL video game I own (by the way, it's NHL 2K9 on the Wii - and it is awesome)! The feeling is HOCKEY, and I mean ALL HOCKEY!!! The NHL is back, televised on Versus. Back to back NHL games on TV to start the season makes me happy. Hockey is back in full and I am loving it!

By the way, I saw that Sarah Palin is dropping the puck at the home opener of my beloved Philadelphia Flyers. If they have a bad season I am blaming her!

Oh Captain My Captain?

So what's taking so long?

In case you haven't noticed the Chiefs still don't have a captain. Since the whole team's back (minus Ondrej) I'm not sure what the holdup is. I figured they were waiting to see what was going to happen with Falk before they made a decision. Now that he's gone there should be a decision soon. So who's it gonna be? My guess is Seth Compton. He's a 20 year old and has been with the Chiefs longer than anyone else on the team right now. I suppose Bowman has a shot at it, as does McCrae or Trevor Glass. Whoever it is, pick a captain already! I would like to see someone with a 'C' on his jersey before the teddy bear toss game. Out.

Grrrrrrrrr!!!

Well, the Chiefs lost to Seattle 3-2 in a shootout on Saturday. I know the Chiefs can't win them all......but Seattle? Really? The T-birds might actually be worse than Portland this year. On top of that it was their first win of the season.

I know I could easily come up with the excuses: The Chiefs played four games in five days, Ondrej Roman is still gone, Justin McCrae is out with a knee injury, Tyler Johnson didn't play after he got hurt in Friday's game, Justin Falk is gone (signed with Minnesota), they were on the road, etc. Still, it was Seattle. Did you see what Vancouver did to them? Oh, well. I've seen worse loses before, just don't let it happen again.

At least they can rest up for a few days. Their next game is Friday against Portland.

On a happier note the sweet Mitch Wahl goal against Everett in which he beat basically their whole team is on youtube if you feel the need to see it again. Seeing that goal puts me in my happy place!

Thanks for Coming, Everett!

Wow!

I believe I said in my last post that tonight's game with Everett would be a good one. I really thought Everett would keep it close. Boy, did I miss that one! The Chiefs smacked the Tips around for 60 minutes, winning by the score of 5-0. Tokarski stopped 30 shots on his way to his third shutout this season (I put the shutout over/under for Toka at 12 for this season). The goals went to Cowen, Johnson, Bowman, Gal, and Mitch Wahl, who worked his way through three Everett defenders and beat the goalie on what could be called an early goal of the year candidate. Two home games, two shutouts. I'm loving this!

Note to anyone who plays the Spokane Chiefs in Spokane this year: You come, you get beat, you go home. End of story.

Welcome back Trevor Glass!

OK Chiefs Fans!

I know Spokane plays Everett in less than five hours from when I type this but the Chiefs announced earlier today that Trevor Glass is back in Spokane after his tryout with the Rockford Ice Hogs. He should suit up for tonight's game. I'm glad he's back, and a little suprised as well. I thought he would sign with Rockford, as that is where former Chiefs head coach Bill Peters coaches.

Also, Justin Falk signed an entry level contract with Minnesota. Falk is one of only two Chiefs not in Spokane, the other being Ondrej Roman (see earlier post on him).

Everett's in town tonight. Ought to be a good one. Go Chiefs!

Free Ondrej Roman!

Enough already!!!

I want Ondrej Roman in a Spokane Chiefs jersey now! This has gone on long enough! If you don't know yet, Ondrej is still in the Czech Republic waiting for his release. The NHL and the Czech Republic Hockey Federation are in a dispute and Ondrej is caught in the middle. C'mon people, get over your petty differences and release him so he can come back to Spokane and do what he does best: making Tri-City look bad. I know this is junior hockey, and that players are rarely here for more than a few years, but this is the product of a disptue between stubborn organizations that can't come to an agreement.

Attention NHL and the Czech Republic Hockey Federation: Get this done!

FREE ONDREJ ROMAN!!!!

Spokane Chiefs Forever!

Hello and welcome!

My name is Rick (some know me as Hitch) and this is my blog dedicated to hockey, all hockey, and nothing but hockey. I am a season ticket holder for the Spokane Chiefs (you might remember them, they are the current junior hockey Memorial Cup champions and the ones who were holding the cup when it fell apart in their hands). The Chiefs are without question my favorite hockey team on any level. Go Chiefs Go!!

I have favorites in other leagues. My favorite team in the NHL is the Philadelphia Flyers (if you like the New York Rangers, don't even think of coming here). I also follow the Philadelphia Phantoms (AHL), the Saginaw Spirit (OHL) and will be following the Fresno Falcons (ECHL) this year.

This blog will be primarily about the Spokane Chiefs, and the teams they play against in the WHL. Speaking of which, they play Everett Friday. I'll be there, Chiefs jersey and all!

Go Chiefs Go!