Identity Crisis

The Chiefs had back to back games at home this weekend against Lethbridge and Victoria.  Their performance was, well, lackluster.  Spokane lost both games and left many fans like me wondering what is going on.  They are not playing at the level I expected they would be or at the level they are capable of.

In spite of that I do see some positives:  Ty Smith is legit.  He's only a rookie but right now he has been playing better than any other defensemen on the team.  Ethan McIndoe plays tough every shift.  I liked watching him with Kousal and Najman.  That line had some chemistry together.  Jaret Anderson-Dolan has played well.  I honestly believe he could be ready for more of a leadership role with this team in only his second season.  Jeff Faith still needs to work on getting stronger but he has been playing better than I expected.  I even thought Hayden Ostir played better on Saturday.  I think he needs to be stronger with the puck and not get knocked off it so easily but he had some scoring chances which comes from working hard every shift.  He keeps that up and he will continue to improve.  I thought Dawson Weatherill played well for his first start in Spokane.  He was out of position for one of the goals but sees the puck well and doesn't get rattled.  I would like to see him get more starts this season.  And of course, both Yamamoto brothers are playing great.

Now for the negatives:   I know it would be easy to put Friday's loss at the feet of Sittler but that would be an oversimplification.  Sure, he let in some soft goals (especially the fifth goal on Friday)  but there were other problems.  The defense was soft way too much.  I lost count of the times someone from the other team was open in the slot or slipped past the defense.  Helgesen, Fiala, and Henderson need to step up and play at the level they're capable of.  Elynuik and Miske need to skate harder.  It looked like they were in slow motion too often.  Bottom line is the Chiefs are missing the grit and leadership from the older players.  The 19 and 20 year old players (outside of Keanu) must step their game up or it might be time to give the younger players more ice time.  I know it doesn't help to have Bechtold out with injury but players have to step up in the face of injuries and play harder.  This team has the talent to do it, and it needs to happen ASAP.  Tri-City and Portland are playing better than expected and if things don't turn around the Chiefs can find themselves in a big hole.

Spokane had four games in five nights starting in Seattle on Tuesday.  Get it together, boys.  I know you can.