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Glad to see the Chiefs can take care of business.

I was a little worried about this one. I knew Seattle, who was in a must win situation, would come out firing. Once, Spokane weathered that storm they beat Seattle 5-3 to win the best of seven series 4 games to 1. Bowman continued to be Bowman by adding two more goals, once of them an empty netter to seal the scoring. Bowman had 5 goals and 2 assists in the series. Justin McCrae scored on a nifty no look backhander. The other Chiefs goals went to Brady Calla on a breakaway and Mitch Wahl who scored a power play goal. The Golden Goalie stopped 31 shots in the game, 16 of those coming in the third period. Also of note, Seattle coach Rob Summer gets called on a bench minor in the third period for slamming the board and for being a potty mouth. He continues to be a potty mouth and gets kicked out of the game on a game misconduct. Way to get yourself kicked out of the game when your team is fighting for their playoff lives, coach.

Also, I still don't understand why Jared Spurgeon didn't get a star of the game last night. He did assist on both Bowman's goals, which alone wouldn't be enough. But he was absolutely incredible on defense and made some spectacular plays that kept Seattle from scoring two different occasions. That probably saved the game for us. A+ game for Jared! This game was also the first time that Bus No. 7 (aka Ryan Letts) skated in Spokane since the suspension. He had a decent game, although he did draw a stupid penalty in the third period.

Next up....the war machine of the Vancouver Giants. They are beatable, but this is going to be extremely tough. Everyone needs to bring their 'A' game is we want a chance. Game one is Friday in Vancouver. At least this gived the Chiefs some much needed rest and prep time.

Go Chiefs!

Taking it back

Back with authority.

The Spokane Chiefs took a 3-1 command of the series with a 3-2 road victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds. Justin McCrae scored his first of the series and Tyler Johnson added his second of the series. Then, once again, with the score tied at 2 in the second period, the Chiefs being it up ice and HERE COMES ONDREJ ROMAN! He puts the game winning biscuit in their basket to finish off the scoring. Once again Tokarski became the golden goalie, stopping 11 shots in the third period alone in a performance that reminded me of the game against Kitchner in last season's Memorial Cup.

It was good to see the Chiefs bring some attitude back to the team. They did what they needed to do. They not only took back the series from Seattle, but they ripped it from their hands, pushed them down to the ground, laughed at them, and waited from them to get back up so they could push them back down again. Even though the Chiefs are the 4 seed in the western conference, they are the defending Memorial Cup champions, which means everyone else is gunning for them. To go far in the playoffs, the Chiefs need to show that they are dangerous, and I think they accomplished that by winning both games in Seattle.

With both Vancouver and Kelowna sweeping their opponents in the first round, the Chiefs now know they will start the second round of the playoffs on the road. They will get Vancouver unless Everett pulls off an almost miracle and knocks off Tri, in which case the Chiefs will face Kelowna. Either way, that's going to be a battle.

One quick OHL note: My adopted OHL team, the Saginaw Spirit, swept the Guelph Storm 4-0 to advance to the second round of the OHL playoffs. Way to go, Saginaw!

The Chiefs have a chance to close out the series in game 5 on S-A-TUR-DAY....NIGHT! Go Chiefs!

Welcome to the Offices of Johnson & Koper

When those two click, they really click.

Tyler Johnson and Levko Koper each scored two goals as the Spokane Chiefs beat the Seattle Thunderbirds 5-1 to take a two games to one series lead. Johnson's first came in the first to tie the score at 1. Stefan Ulmer soon followed to give the Chiefs a 2-1 lead. Levko Koper then started his magic act with a shorthanded goal which gave the Chiefs a 3-1 lead at the end of the first period. Koper and Johnson each scored in the second period to finish off Seattle. Also of note: the returned Trevor Glass had two assists on the evening. Dustin Tokarski was once again the golden goalie, stopping 31 shots. Ryan Letts was also back from his suspension and celebrated his return with a roughing penalty in the first and an interference call in the third. Maybe that was rust, or possibly frustration. Probably both. Glad he's back, though. We could sure use his forechecking.

Something else that was refreshing is the fact that Drayson Bowman was not mentioned in the above paragraph. Don't get me wrong: Bowman is awesome and I love it when he tears goalies apart (I think his favorite breakfast is goalies in milk). But it's nice to see some of the other guys step up. I hope this is a sign of good things to come. Game three is tomorrow night in Seattle.

Also, game five in Spokane has been moved from Friday night to Saturday night so it doesn't interfere with the Gonzaga game which would have been played at the same time. I know this really frustrates me, but deep down I kinda understand it. It doesn't matter how many Memorial Cups the Chiefs win. They will always play second fiddle to Gonzaga. And I know that many people would rather watch Gonzaga on TV than go see the Chiefs play a home playoff game. More people will show up on Saturday. However, this will not stop me from hoping that North Carolina crushes the Zags on Friday night. Go Heels!

Think I'll get hate mail for that? Don't care.

Anyway, Go Chiefs!

Goal scorers wanted!

Well, so much for the sweep. Seattle won game 2 of the series 2-1 to tie things up at 1. There are a lot of things that the Chiefs need to do better and fast.

First off, let's talk about scoring. Spokane's three goals in this series so far came from Drayson Bowman, Drayson Bowman, and Drayson Bowman. See a pattern? We really need someone other than #27 to start stepping up. Mitch Wahl and Levko Koper have been sub-par lately, as well as Tyler Johnson. Also, and it pains me to say it, but Ondrej Roman has not been very Ondrej Roman like. Hopefully they can break this slump.

On the bright side, Trevor Glass shound be back for Tuesday's game and Ryan Letts is done with his suspension. Hopefully with Glass back Dustin Donaghy can be a forward once again. I will say that Donaghy has filled in well as a defensemen with everyone on our defense getting hurt. It we get back Reddington that will give us seven defensemen, which is more than we've had for a while.

Also, one more thing: No more delaying start times so people can watch Gonzaga basketball! Look, I enjoy college basketball as well, but hockey playoffs are hockey playoffs! No more delaying start times.

Game 3 is in Seattle tomorrow. Go Chiefs!

In Bowman We Trust!

I am seriously going to miss Drayson Bowman next season when he's playing in the NHL.

Bowman knows one speed on the ice - fast. He plays hard every shift regardless of the score or what's at stake. This is one of the reasons I'm glad he plays for Spokane. Bowman notched the only two goals for the Chiefs as they outlasted Seattle 2-1 to open the best of seven series in the first round of the playoffs. Drayson Bowman is so skilled the other teams have got to be trying to put a GPS tracker on him so they can follow him around the ice, and even that might not be enough. Tokarski was money in the pipes again, stopping 31 shots including a breakaway attempt to start the third period that left the score tied at 1. Chiefs are back on the ice Saturday for game 2.

While I'm on the subject of Dustin Tokarski I have a question for the WHL. How in the blue blazes do you not name Tokarski first team goalie for the western conference? Instead you give it to Chet Pickard. Really? Pickard? Are you kidding me? It has to be because Tri-City had more wins this season than Spokane because you can't possibly be using anything else to make that decision (by the way, if you were going off of wins it should have gone to Sexsmith, especially after looking at Vancouver's record). Just look at the numbers: Tokarski has a GAA of less than 2.00 - best in the WHL. Tokarski had seven shutouts - best in the WHL. Also, and this is the big one as far as I'm concerned, the Spokane Chiefs were UNBEATEN when scoring three or more goals this season. The main reason? There's a guy in goal for Spokane with the number 34 on his jersey. Also, he has done this with a defense that has been banged up all year long. He helped the Chiefs win the Memorial Cup and help Canada win the World Juniors. What more do you want from him? Put #34 in the net and I'm all happy inside.

Sorry. Had to rant about that. Game 2 is tomorrow. Go Chiefs!

Playoff Time!

Well, I'm back. I know it's been a couple of weeks, but a lot has happened in my personal life that I have needed to attend to. You know the saying 'when it rains it pours'? In this case it's true. I have still been going to the games but I haven't been able to focus on the blog so I just put it on the back burner while I dealt with things. It is at this time that I feel I can close the book on this chapter of my life - with no regret - and get back to it.

Well, a lot happened in the Chiefs world. They lost the third seed to Kelowna and will start the playoffs as the fourth seed against Seattle. For some reason this should worry me, but it doesn't. I mean, the Chiefs were 5-4 against Seattle this season and they played us tough every game. I would have preferred Kamploops in the first round so the selfish part of me could see Seth Compton play one last time. As it stands though we have Seattle and a likely match up with Vancouver in the second round. I really believe we'll handle Seattle, perhaps even easily. After all, Everett gave us fits last season before we swept them from the playoffs. Time will tell. Also, because they play Tri-City in the first round Everett is now my second favorite team in the WHL right now.

As how they ended the season I can't really complain. Several of the Chiefs players ended up with food poisoning over the weekend. The Saturday and Sunday games were postponed to Monday and Tuesday night. The Chiefs played Kelowna to a 1-0 loss on Monday and turned around and bear Tri-City 2-1 to end the regular season. Not bad considering they were still recovering. One thing I have to know from Kelowna: What was the deal with those jerseys? I have no idea what type of 'creature' was on the front of that jersey. It looked like a Pokemon character. All I wanted to well at the game was 'Fight Pikachu!'. Do yourself a favor, don't ever wear those again. Ever.

Playoffs start Friday at home with game one with game two on Saturday. Both games are in Spokane. Time to get the playoff game on!

Go Chiefs!

Here Comes the Hammer.

I can't say this was unexpected but the WHL handed out their suspensions from the Spokane vs. Tri-City game on Saturday. Ryan Letts is suspended indefinitely for charging (and injuring) Pickard, and Cory Baldwin gets a one game suspension. Coach Sauter also gets a one game suspension. For Tri-City Mitch McColm is also suspended indefinitely and assistant coach Terry Virtue was fined for his actions. Both teams were fined as a result of the brawls on Saturday.

I figured this would happen. There have been a lot of 'events' happening in the WHL lately. There were fights between Seattle and Portland, as well as several fights, brawls, and other happenings involving Lethbridge (Kyle Beach has been suspended six games since his trade to Lethbridge). It was only a matter of time before the WHL started suspending coaches as well as the players. Not a bad idea if you ask me. With the playoffs fast approaching I would sure like to see this a lot less.

I'm worried about the Baldwin suspension. He was one of the five healthy defensemen that we has left. Like Letts and Sauter he will miss Tuesday's game against Seattle. I did note however that Trevor Glass is no longer on the Chiefs injury report. I hope that's a good sign. Stefan Ulmer should also be back from his concussion this week as well. Either way, Tuesday's lineup against Seattle ought to be interesting.

Home stretch

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I dealt with a family tragedy over the past week and haven't felt like blogging at all. Now that I'm back let's talk hockey and what has happened over the past week and a half.

I really wish the news was better. Tri has pretty much wrapped up the U.S. division title and the second seed in the playoffs and Kelowna has pulled within one point of the Chiefs for the third seed in the playoffs (the Chiefs have a game in hand on Kelowna). Our list of injuries to defensemen also grew with Stefan Ulmer and Trevor Glass out. That leaves the Chiefs with five true defensemen with Dustin Donaghy filling in on defense to give Spokane three defensive lines.

There were some bright moments, like Drayson Bowman's four goal night in Kamploops last week, and a two goal performance by rookie Blake Gal in an 8-0 win over Portland on Friday. The Chiefs should also get back Ulmer this week and possibly Glass by the weekend. We'll need them. And I know it's not the Chiefs but the Saginaw Spirit (my adopted OHL team) clinched a playoff spot and are positioning themselves to the the third seed in their playoffs.

The most talked about game, however, is the game vs. Tri-City on Saturday on pink ice night. The score will be mentioned: a 5-2 Chiefs loss. But what is talked about the most were the fights. Lots and lots of fights in the third period highlighted by two different line brawls. So many players were sent to the locker rooms that the Chiefs had only eight players left at the end of the game, and six of them were on the ice. It was only Bowman and Reid on the bench. Cruise Reddick cemented himself as my least favorite Tri-City player when he attacked Jared Spurgeon from behind. Anyway, feel free to check out the Chiefs website and click on the game report to look at the penalties (342 minutes of penalties in all). But be sure go to the bathroom first and maybe even fix yourself something to drink. It will take a while. The only player I will give props to is Drayson Bowman for scoring his 40th goal of the season. With eight games left in the regular season he has an outside shot at 50.

Spokane will play four games on the road this week in Seattle, a BIG one against Kelowna, and two games in Prince George. Go Chiefs!