Statement Delivered

I know I took the week off from updates so here's a quick recap of the roadie the Chiefs were on: 5 games, three wins, seven points. They beat Edmonton and Calgary while losing to Red Deer. Then after a disappointing loss to Everett they turned around and delivered a 4-1 beatdown in Tri-City. I'll take a seven point result on a five game roadie anytime, especially against teams like that.

Then on to Saturday, where the Chiefs returned home and blanked the Regina Pats 4-0. Tyler Johnson started the scoring when he took a sweet pass from Jared Spurgeon and razzle-dazzled his way in front of the net to score. Kenton Miller scored the second goal as he continues to improve his game. Steve Kuhn scored in the third period and Ryan Letts added an empty netter to seal the scoring. Then there's James Reid. He continues to be an absolute maniac in net, making some amazing saves and twisting around in ways that made my muscles sore. Also, his GAA is now 2.03, which is tops in the WHL. I take back any doubts I had about Reid from a month ago: In James Reid I trust.

This team is for real. Everyone's off the injury list. The younger players are getting better. I find myself calling names like Blake Gal, Kenton Miller, Anthony Bardaro, and Brady Brassart more often. And it even looks like the coach might finally be deciding on his lines. Hopefully he doesn't change his mind. The Chiefs are looking good and have pulled within two points of Portland for second place in the division and four points of first place Tri-City. Look out WHL, here they come.

Spokane is now off on a well deserved rest until Friday when they face the Seattle Thunderbirds in the arena.

Go Chiefs!

That good feeling

This was a good weekend for the Chiefs. A VERY good weekend for the Chiefs.

I get to the game on Saturday to see the warm up skate as I usually do. There I am, checking to see which players didn't suit up. Imagine my delight when I see a Chief wearing number 18 which can only mean one thing:

JARED SPURGEON IS BACK!!!

Spurgeon responded in his first game back with three assists as the Chiefs went off on the Kamploops Blazers 6-1. Mitch Wahl knocks in a goal. So does Stefan Ulmer. Brady Brassart gets his first WHL goal of his career. The other three goals went to Kyle Beach, who earned another hattie. I know usually a Beach hattie would be mentioned earlier in the post but Spurgeon was the bigger story. He's not the biggest defensemen, or the strongest defensemen. But he is one of the smartest defencemen the Chiefs have ever had. This team is much better with him. Even Jared Cowen had a better game with him there. Cowen and Spurgeon are the Butch and Sundance of the WHL. Also, any doubts I had about James Reid are completely gone. Another stellar job in net by #35. Reid is getting the job done. That's all I ask.

Sunday's game against the Kelowna Rockets marked the return of Ryan Letts. His main job is not to score goals, it's to hit you and wear you down. He does that well, and it would prove to be crucial in this game as Brady Brassart makes a case to be my new favorite Chief as he scores the only goal of the game in a 1-0 victory over the defending WHL champions. Again, James Reid did the job in net, stopping everything Kelowna threw in front of him. Also good to note that if you go to the Chiefs website and click on the injury report you won't see any names. Can't remember the last time that happened.

After this weekend it is clear to me that the Chiefs can play with anyone. They have beaten Tri-City, Portland, Vancouver, and now Kelowna twice. They are tied with Everett for third place in the U.S. Division and in the grander scheme of things are tied for fourth place in the western conference with a 12-7-1-0 record and 26 points. The Chiefs are ready to make a run. Tri-City and Portland better be checking over their shoulder.

The Chiefs now go on their second longest roadie of the season with stops in Edmonton, Red Deer, Calgary, Everett, and Tri before returning on the 28th of November to face Regina. Better find a new hobby this weekend.

Go Chiefs!

Ugly Hockey

I'll get straight to the bad news: In a game that was so bad it seemed to last about six hours the Chiefs lost to the Everett Silvertips 5-2. Mitch Wahl continues his good streak with a goal, and Kyle Beach scores a beauty with a minute left in the game that really only felt like a pity goal. I know that losing is going to happen, but bad play like that doesn't have to happen. I left in a bad mood. Nothing could break my bad mood. Even watching the replay of Chelsea beating Manchester United 1-0 didn't help.

Okay, maybe that helped a little.

In spite of that The Chiefs played poorly. One of the problems? Lallygagging! I like that word and I'm bringing it back. They were lallygagging all over the ice. What does that make them? Lallygaggers! Hopefully the Chiefs will pick up the pace and light a fire. They can be better than a fourth place team.

I'm putting the Chiefs Coach on notice. Hardy Sauder needs to stop tinkering with the lines. This is not September. I find it amazing that we're nearly two whole months into the season and he still hasn't got his lines set. Someone get him an 'easy' button so he can figure this out.

The Chiefs have Kamploops on Saturday and Kelowna on Sunday. Let's not start a losing streak.

Go Chiefs!

The Tremendous Upside

It wasn't all pretty but if you come away with four points I'll take it.

On Friday the Chiefs showed that strange things still happen on trips to Seattle. Spokane shows up to play in the third period and wins 3-1. Kyle Beach gets another goal. Blake Gal gets the game winner in the third. Mitch Wahl adds an empty netter. James Reid gets the job done in net again, stopping 28 of 29 shots. Spokane still racks up penalty minutes like no one's business. I'd like to see that tone down. An ugly win, but a road win nonetheless.

Saturday it was home against the Vancouver Giants. I had some concern about this one. Vancouver was sure to be in a foul mood after the 8-2 beatdown that Tri-City handed them the night before. But the Chiefs played solid defense and scored just enough to win 2-1. Levko Koper scored in a nifty breakaway to put a fakey past the goalie and in the net. Mitch Wahl added a second goal when he went five hole on the goalie. James Reid is again showing that he still wants the starting job with another rock performance in the pipes. He stoned 24 of 25 shots and only let in the goal that Vancouver scored on a 5 on 3 power play. Which leads me to the next issue: Penalties. The Chiefs are still taking lots of penalties. Several of them are stupid and unnecessary. The Chiefs need to be more disciplined and take fewer penalties. They are giving their opponents to many chances to score. But this team is showing promise. They are finding more than one way to win and are becoming more resourceful on both ends of the ice. If this trend continues they will make a serious run. Bank that.

As it stands, though, the Chiefs have won four straight. They are now in a third place tie with Everett in the U.S. division. And ironically enough it's the Everett Silvertips that come to Spokane on Tuesday.

One more thing. That was a red out Saturday? Embarrassing. They were even selling red t-shirts at the gate. Red out means wear red! To anyone not wearing red do better next time.

Go Chiefs!

Glorious Victorious

I was worried about this one. Chilliwack had beaten both Tri-City and Calgary over the past week. Plus, the Chiefs had lost their last three at home.

But I'm feeling much better now.

The Chiefs handled their biz in a 5-1 win over Chilliwack. After spotting them a goal in the first the Chiefs took over. Or rather Kyle Beach took over. Again. Scored two more. How he didn't get WHL player of the week I'll never know. I gotta admit Beach is making a strong case for my new favorite Chief. Tyler Johnson added a goal. So did Levko Koper. The fifth and final goal came from Mitch Wahl. Mitch Wahl? Wow. Haven't called his name in a while. Mitch moved down the ice, past the defensemen and made a nifty move to put the puck past the goalie that ended his nine game goal drought. I don't think I have ever seen a player look so relieved after scoring a goal. James Reid looked pretty good in goal, stopping 24 of 25 shots.

Even though the Chiefs won I still have a major concern. Jared Cowen. I don't know who that is wearing Cowen's jersey anymore. I mean, I like it when the Chiefs use him up front on the power play. That has opened up several opportunities for goals. But his defensive skills have been, well, terrible. Maybe being captain has been a burden on him. Maybe he misses Jared Spurgeon, who has been on the shelf all season. Hard to say. I just want him to start being the player he can be. Soon. I think Ottawa might be ready to call and ask for a first round pick do-over.

The Chiefs are on a roadie on Friday against Seattle and then it's back on Saturday against the Vancouver Giants. Wear red on Saturday.

Go Chiefs!

Farewell to Donaghy

Game post against Chilliwack is coming but I wanted to do a separate post on Dustin Donaghy. Donaghy was traded to Lethbridge, a team that we do a lot of business with, for a sixth rounder in next Summer's bantam draft. This solves the problem of having four 20-year-old players on the team. Looks like Sprugeon, Letts, and Bartman are staying put.

I'll miss Donaghy. It's sad when any player that was part of the '08 Memorial Cup Team leaves. Not many of them left. Plus, Donaghy fought Tri-City players often (and crushed them).

Farewell, Dustin Donaghy. And good luck in Lethbridge. You will be missed.

Sense of Optimism

You could say it was a rather odd weekend for the Chiefs. With the way they played you would think they came away with six points instead of only four. Regardless, playing Kelowna on the road and then a home and home set with Portland could have ended disastrous. But all things considered I'll take it.

First off, I haven't mentioned my Saginaw Spirit team for a while so here's a quick OHL post:

Saginaw beat Windsor over the weekend 4-3 in a shootout! Woo Hoo!!!

This concludes my OHL post.

Moving on, the Chiefs rolled into Kelowna on Friday. Kelowna was the only team the Chiefs played more than once last season and didn't beat. Plus, they are the defending WHL champs so I had my concerns. But the Chiefs went in and beat the Rockets 4-3. Kyle Beach and Tyler Johnson each had a pair of goals and Michael Tadjdeh stopped 31 of 34 shots. Who would have thought that Kyle Beach went from most hated hockey player in Spokane to the Chiefs leading scorer. Beach has become.....the wind beneath my wings. Strange that I'm not ashamed to say that.

The Chiefs then came home on Halloween night to face the Portland Winterhawks. Spokane outshot them, outplayed them, and lost 2-0. The Chiefs looked good. The passing was good, the movement was good, and they were getting looks at the net. Problem was Kurtis Mucha had one crazy good night in net for Portland, stopping all 35 shots the Chiefs threw at him. Tadjdeh was also good in net, stopping 24 of 25 shots. The officiating...not good at all. It was so bad that it wasn't even good enough to stink. Hopefully Wieler won't make a return here soon.

Sunday the Chiefs got it together and beat the Winterhawks in Portland 3-0. The goals came from Stefan Ulmer, Kyle Beach, and Tyler Johnson. But most impressive was the return of James Reid who stopped all 34 shots he faced. I started to have doubts of Reid and even started getting critical of him. This performance might have laid some of my fears to rest. I hope he can continue to perform well in net. He is certainly capable of it.

The Chiefs are back Wednesday when Chilliwack comes calling. Then off to Seattle on Friday and Vancouver back in Spokane on Saturday. By the way, the Saturday is red out night. Please wear something red. Anything red will do.

Go Chiefs!