Extreme Weekend Dissapointment!!

I'm not sure where to begin on this one.....

At long last the Spokane Chiefs played a home game. A long stretch that kept them away from home for 17 days was finally over. I figured it would do them good to play at home in front of a favorable crowd and get a win over an more or less average Kamploops Blazers team that they beat the first two times by a combined score of 11-4.

Boy was I wrong on that one.

Kamploops basically came to Spokane Saturday and handed them their own in a 4-2 Chiefs loss. Combine that with the 5-1 loss at Tri-City on Friday night and it turned out to be a horrible weekend for the Chiefs. Spokane now finds themselves in second place in the U.S. division five points behind Tri.

Where do I begin here?

I know it's easy to start with the officiating but let's start with the players: They are not playing with the same kind of intensity that they showed last season. They are not playing smart and they are letting their tempers get the best of them. Some examples: Dustin Tokarski not being able to shrug off a bad call from the officials on Friday, and he carried that temper through the rest of the game. Jared Spurgeon lazily giving up the puck in the defensive zone on Saturday which led to a Kamploops goal. The Chiefs on their 5-3 power play from Saturday. I know that Tyler Johnson scored on that power play, but he was open in front of the net for so long he had time to make a sandwich and read the first few chapters of 'War and Peace' before someone spotted him. Note to the Chiefs: You're better than this. There's a reason people say you can repeat as Memorial Cup Champions. I know you can. The Calgary Hitmen come calling on Wednesday. Best team in the WHL right now. Hopefully the Chiefs can rebound.

Now, just because I started with the players doesn't mean that the officials have escaped my target line. The officiating was some of the worst I have ever seen! I mean a seeing eye dog could have called a better game! There were so many bad and blown calls I'd list them but my battery will run out before I'm done. Can the WHL please get those officials back to school or something? Maybe they need counseling or something (if they do my sister is a great counselor). Maybe they need a talking to (my dog does that pretty well). There is a WHL rulebook. You don't have to make this stuff up as you go along. Seriously, help us to help you. I thought Theissen was bad last season, now I kinda miss him. Get it together before I try and switch you with the cast of America's Next Top Model!

Okay, I'll end it on a good note. It was good to see Justin McCrae back from his knee injury. He hasn't got his skating legs under him yet but that will change soon. That kid is lethal on ice, and we can sure use his scoring presence. Also, the teddy bear toss game is Saturday against Kootenay. The bears are restless!

Go Chiefs!