Alumni Spotlight: Team Spurgeon
The Spokane Chiefs’ 2022 training camp will feature 82 players and prospects divided into four teams, each named after notable Chiefs alumni. Two goaltenders and two defensemen were chosen as the teams’ namesakes in an effort to recognize current Chiefs Mason Beaupit and Graham Sward after they were selected in the 2022 NHL Draft, with Beaupit going to the San Jose Sharks (4th round, 108th overall) and Sward going to the Nashville Predators (5th round, 146th overall).
The fourth and final team is named after former Spokane Chiefs defenseman Jared Spurgeon, who played 266 games with the team from 2005-10, tied for 22nd most in franchise history. Over those five seasons, the 5-foot-9 blueliner racked up 170 points on 37 goals and 133 assists, locking himself in at seventh all-time among Spokane defensemen in scoring.
Spurgeon holds a few records among Spokane defensemen, including:
- T-23rd – most points in single season (51 in 2009-10)
- T-25th – most goals in single season (10 in 2008-09)
- 21st – most assists in single season (43 in 2009-10)
Spurgeon was part of the 2007-08 Chiefs that won the WHL Championship as well as the Memorial Cup Championship, and earned the team’s John “Hitman” Hern Defenseman of the Year Award and the Ken Rabel Most Sportsmanlike Player Award that year. He won each award a second time, in 2009 and 2010 respectively.
Spurgeon’s Defenseman of the Year campaigns came during the Chiefs’ best two defensive seasons of all time — 160 goals against in 2007-08 and a franchise-low 145 goals against the following year.
Spurgeon was also selected by his peers as the Players’ Player in both 2009 and 2010.
The Edmonton, Alberta native was one of seven defensemen named to the Spokane Chiefs’ initial list of Top 25 Chiefs in 25 Years during the organization’s 25th anniversary celebration in 2010, which was his final season as a Chief.
Spurgeon was selected 156th overall by the New York Islanders in the 2008 NHL Draft. After his last season in Spokane, he played 53 games in his rookie campaign with the Minnesota Wild and is currently the team’s captain (since 2020-21). Spurgeon currently has 772 career NHL games under his belt going into the 2022-23 season, with 345 points on 99 goals and 246 assists.
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Ticket packages for the 2022-23 regular season – including the popular Game of the Month Package which includes Opening Night – are on sale now! For more information, visit spokanechiefs.com or call a ticket account executive at 509-535-PUCK.
The Spokane Chiefs are a member of the U.S. Division of the Western Hockey league, the world’s finest development league for junior hockey players. Since 1985 the Chiefs have been a pillar in the Spokane community, offering family-friendly entertainment and a winning tradition which includes: two Memorial Cup Championships in 1991 & 2008, two WHL Championships in 1991 & 2008 and four Western Conference Championships in 1991, 1996, 2000 & 2008. Over 60 alumni have gone on to play in the National Hockey League.