Feels Good to Be Back Home Again!

I love hockey, I love the Chiefs, and I love being in the Spokane Arena. Being at the arena with friends, being loud and rowdy, and watching hockey, it's better than therapy. It also helps when the home team wins. Tonight was no exception: Spokane 5, Tri-City 2.

The Chiefs looked like the nerves were running high in the first period. Tri scored first early in the first period on the power play thanks to Kyle Beach and his hooking penalty less than a minute into the game (great, here comes the Beach we all know). Mitch Wahl tied it at 1 in the first. Bret Bartman netted the Chiefs second goal in the second period. The Chiefs came alive in the third. Jared Cowen scored early, and Kyle Beach scored twice in the third to end the scoring for the Chiefs. Tri added another power play goal late in the third. James Reid stopped 21 shots and did not let an even strength goal through in the game.

I must say I am impressed. Once the Chiefs started the second period they completely dominated Tri. They were the aggressor for the rest of the game and kept Tri on their heels. This is the Chiefs team I hope to see the rest of the season. If they continue to play like that there's no reason they can't win the U.S. division. As for Beach, his play in the first period was forgettable, but I will chalk that up to nerves. He had the hooking penalty and wiffed on a breakaway shot. He played much better the rest of the way, getting two goals and an assist. So my overall opinion on Beach....he can stay. For now. So far the 'games in a row Kyle Beach has not pissed me off' now stands at 1.

Chiefs are off until Friday when the much improved Portland Winterhawks come calling.

Go Chiefs!

Cowen, more Beach, and S-A-TUR-DAY....NIGHT!

Okay, first off, we have a captain already. Jared Cowen. I'm a little surprised at the choice, but I'm pleased. He has the leadership skills and the overall knowledge of the game to lead this team. I'm actually more surprised that they picked a captain now instead of last season when they picked him in December.

Also, I have some more thoughts on the arrival of Kyle Beach. I was angry, but to my surprise it was not a 'Hulk angry! Hulk smash!' kind of angry. It was more like a Marvin Martian 'oooh, that makes me very angry!' kind of angry. Now that I'm calmer about this I have some more thoughts about this. I can only hope that he has matured over the past year. If you've read any website, blog, tweet, article, newspaper, and stone tablet about him you know he's very talented and knows how to find the back of the net. It's his lack of maturity that has caused problems in the past. I really hope he has gotten past that. And because I am about giving people a second chance.....I am willing to do the same for Beach. It's not like I have much of a choice if you think about it. I am a Chiefs fan. I support my team. That fact that Kyle Beach is going now wearing a Chiefs sweater is not going to change that. So here goes: Show me something, Beach. Show me I can be glad you're here. I'll be watching. Don't make me regret this.

During this I have also forgot to wish Mike Reddington the best of luck in Lethbridge. I think he'll fit in nicely there. But he will be missed here.

Now, it's game time! Season opener against Tri on Saturday. It's going to feel good to be back home again!

Go Chiefs!

WHAT???

Seriously, someone needs to come over to my house right now and repeatedly punch me in the face to make sure I'm not dreaming. The Spokane Chiefs made a trade with the Lethbridge Hurricanes and acquired Kyle Beach. Yep. THAT Kyle Beach. The same Kyle Beach that I have loved to hate over the past couple of years. The same Kyle Beach that had his face caved in by Chris Bruton a while back (by the way, that video still makes me tear up with joy).

I'm not happy about this. He's a jerk. I've talked to Everett fans before and they were glad when they traded him to Lethbridge last season. He brings a lot of problems with him.

The Chiefs sent Lethbridge both Mike Reddington and Landon Olanski. I'll miss them both. Especially Olanski. I really liked watching that kid at the scrimmages and thought he was going to be something special.

Beach better shape up. I won't put up with his bad act for long.

I still can't believe this. I'll have nightmares tonight for sure.

Sweet Caroline, we have a hattie already!

That didn't take long.

Levko Koper comes out of the gate like a maniac to start the season with a hattie as the Chiefs beat Prince George 6-3 to start of the 2009-10 hockey season. Koper gets two goals in the first and one in the second. They were also the first three goals the Chiefs scored in the game. The other goals went to Tyler Johnson, David Conrad, and Blake Gal. James Reid overcame a difficult first period and performed well the rest of the way. The second game, also in Prince George, didn't go as well. The Chiefs lose 2-1 in OT. Levko Koper (there's that man, again) scored the lone goal for Spokane.

Considering it's the first weekend of the regular season I couldn't have expected any better. The Chiefs started their season with a road trip that is so far north I'm fairly sure it involves a 12 hour dogsled ride and an episode of Ice Road Truckers. Plus, there is the injury bug already. Jared Spurgeon, Cory Baldwin, and Ryan Letts are out with injury. We are also still missing Jared Cowen, who is training with the Ottawa Senators. Hopefully the Chiefs won't have to deal with injuries like they did last season.

Now that the first roadie is out of the way it's time for the home opener. Saturday can't get here soon enough. Tri comes to town. This will be a fun one.

Message to Tri-City: Levko Koper will be there. Hide your goalies.

Go Chiefs!

Can't Hardly Wait

So as the season gets ever closer I'm finding it difficult to get back into the swing of writing about hockey more often. So to catch up this is a small update of everything that's happened over the past week or so.

The Chiefs went 1-2 in their first preseason weekend, beating Seattle while losing to Tri-City and Portland. Most notable player in those three games was Matt Marantz who had two goals and one assist and is playing like an absolute maniac. I like this trend: a player who was not drafted in the bantam draft ends up getting listed by the Chiefs and plays with a chip on his shoulder. Considering Tokarski, Blackwater, and Koper all fall into this category this story seems to have a happy ending. Someone needs to start up the Matt Marantz bandwagon quick (I have already committed myself to starting up the Dominik Uher bandwagon).

The Chiefs have also slimmed their roster down to 31 players. I was surprised that both Brenden Edie and Cole Hamblin were sent down. Hamblin had a good fall camp performance and looks like he'll be a solid defensemen. Edie was stellar in net from what I saw and I thought he had a decent shot at becoming the Chiefs #2 goalie. Other than that no real shockers. One thing this does tell me is that the Chiefs have a lot of good young talent on this team. It's one of the reasons I am very optimistic and excited for this season. With the players we lost in the offseason I was a little worried about how good the Chiefs would be, but the solid play by the newbies made that worry short lived.

Some of the players are away at NHL camps: Mitch Wahl (Calgary) Jared Cowen (Ottawa), Levko Koper (Atlanta), Tyler Johnson (Minnesota), and probably the coolest one of all is James Reid, who is attending Vancouver's camp. Glad to see the NHL has noticed his talent. He has some enormous skates to fill, but I think he's up for it. Number one goalie here for sure.

I also noticed the Chiefs (as well as everyone else in the WHL) has gone to the new Reebok edge jerseys. Nothing too exciting. They look almost identical. My jerseys are in good shape still so I can get at least another year out of them. I started to freak when I saw the price online but I think that's through river city sports, and they inflate their prices something fierce. I mean, really, $75 for a hooded sweatshirt? The new jerseys should be cheaper at the team store.

The Chiefs continue their preseason Thursday down in Tri at their Tournament. Then the regular season starts up next week.

This is gonna be good!