BOWMAN MOVES ON UP
After a five goal and 10 point week, including his first hat-trick of the season, Drayson Bowman has moved up the Chiefs all-time list in both categories. Bowman’s 108 career goals put him eighth all-time and 211 points place him in 17th, one point shy of 16th all-time.
If you broke the Chiefs 24-year history into two different eras, 1985-86 through 1994-95 (the final year of the Spokane Coliseum) and 1995-96 through today, Bowman’s numbers look even more impressive.
Comparing his numbers to players who played a majority of their careers in the Spokane Arena, Bowman has been out scored by just Greg Leeb’s 127 goals and Trent Whitfield’s 114. Both Leeb and Whitfield played three of their four full WHL seasons in the Spokane Arena and one in the Coliseum. Jason Podollan’s 145 career goals are second all-time and he is the only other player in the top 10 who had played in both the Coliseum and Arena. 215 of his 271 career games were played in the old “Boone Street Barn”.
Leeb, Podollan, Whitfield, Brandin Cote, Chad Klassen, Derek Schutz and John Cirjak are the only players in the last 14 years with more points that Bowman.
Why the split? Prior to moving into the Spokane Arena, the Chiefs had a 100 point scorer in seven of their previous nine seasons, including years where they boasted multi-100 point players. Their leading goal scorer had more than 40 in each of the nine years and broke 60 four times. Since, the game has taken on a defensive tone and the Chiefs haven’t had a 100 point scorer and just two players top 40 goals, including Bowman’s 42 last year.
Bowman has 10 goals and 19 points in the 10 games since returning from the World Junior Hockey Championships and is leading the team with 25 goals and 52 points.
