CHIEFS CONTINUE TRIP THROUGH EAST
The Chiefs continue their longest road trip of the season when they hit the remaining four teams in the East Division over five nights this week. Spokane is currently 2-0 on the trip thanks to wins in Swift Current, 7-2, and Regina, 6-5 in overtime, last Friday and Saturday night.
Nineteen-year-old Marek Kalus returned to the lineup on Friday night and had an assist in the Chiefs win at Swift Current. For Kalus, it was his first game of the season after missing the previous 25 with an upper-body injury.
Spokane set a season high with 60 shots in Saturday’s win at Regina, SK. Tyler King, from nearby Pilot Butte, SK, scored the game winning goal, Spokane’s first in overtime this year.
With Blake Gal’s next career game he will enter into the franchise’s top 10 list in career games played. He has appeared in 280 games, which is second to Brenden Kichton’s 289 games (eighth all-time) on the active roster.
The Chiefs will return to the Spokane Arena on Friday, December 14th when they host the first of three straight home games versus the U.S. Division.
THIS WEEK
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4TH – at PRINCE ALBERT RAIDERS – AIR-4:30 – GAME-5:00 – RADIO-1510 KGA
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5TH – at SASKATOON BLADES – AIR-4:30 – GAME-5:00 – RADIO-790 KJRB
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7TH – at BRANDON WHEAT KINGS – AIR-5:30 – GAME-6:00 – RADIO-1510 KGA
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8TH – at MOOSE JAW WARRIORS – AIR-4:30 – GAME-5:00 – RADIO-790 KJRB
NEWS AND NOTES
NACHBAUR’S 1,000TH…Spokane Chief Head Coach Don Nachbaur picked up a 5-2 win over Tri-City in his 1,000th WHL game on November 30th at home. He became just the fourth man in the history of the league coach in 1,000 games. To this point of his career Nachbaur is 536-382 with 84 games finishing in a tie, overtime loss or shootout loss. Nachbaur coached 408 games in Seattle winning 202 times and 423 games in Tri-City with 229 wins. Nachbaur was the head coach of Team WHL for the Subway Super Series and went 1-1 in the two games versus Team Russia. Nachbaur will also be an Assistant Coach on Canada’s National Junior Team for the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship in Ufa, Russia. Steve Spott, head coach and general manager of the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers, will be the head coach. Former captain and assistant coach Kevin Sawyer will join the organization in an interim basis as a Coaching Assistant while Nachbaur attends to his duties with Hockey Canada. Jon Klemm will be the head coach while Nachbaur is away, beginning December 8th. Nachbaur will not return until early January.
SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS…Spokane set a season high with 60 shots on December 1st in a 6-5 overtime win at Regina. It’s the most shots they have had since putting 56 up on November 6th, 2011 in an 8-1 win over Everett. The last time Spokane topped 60 was against Chilliwack in the 2010-11 season when they did it twice in a 11 day span. They had a franchise record 78 on March 16th, 2011 at home in a 2-1 shootout win and 63 in game one of the first round of the playoffs in a 3-2 overtime win on March 25th.
ROOFTOPS…Todd Fiddler has nine goals, 11 points and is +6 in his last six games. He has goals in three straight games. He recorded his first career hat-trick in a 3-2 win at the Seattle Thunderbirds on November 17th. Fiddler is tied for second in the WHL with 21 goals, including a league leading three shorthanded, and now has 20 goals and 26 points in his last 17 games. Between Spokane and Prince Albert last year Fiddler played 73 games. Overall he had 12 goals and 28 points after tallying 8-10-18 in 38 games with Spokane.
AVIANI FLEW…Mike Aviani had a four point night, two goals and two assists, in a 7-2 win at Swift Current on November 30th. He has two goals, seven points and is +5 in his last three games. Aviani now has seven goals, 23 points and is +15 in his last 17 games. He is also a team leading +23.
KING ME…Tyler King recorded an overtime winner on December 1st at Regina. In his last two games, King has two goals, three points and is +4. King has five goals and 13 points this season after posting one goal and two assists last year as a rookie.
BACK-TO-BACK…The Chiefs posted back-to-back shutouts for the seventh time in franchise history and for just the second time with two different goaltenders. Eric Williams made 26 saves in a 5-0 win over Everett on November 3rd and Garret Hughson stopped 22 in a 4-0 win over the Silvertips on November 6th. It is the first time since Kevin Opshal and Jim Watt stopped 31 and 25 shots, respectively, in November, 2004 versus Portland and Everett that two separate goaltenders had shutouts. James Reid is the last Chief goaltender to have back-to-back shutouts, doing it in December, 2010 versus Vancouver and Seattle.
THAT WAS FAST…The Chiefs scored two goals 15-seconds apart and had three over a 1:11 span in an 8-2 victory over Seattle on October 30th in the Spokane Arena. The franchise record for fastest two goals by the Chiefs was seven seconds set on November 21st, 2011 at Portland by Blake Gal and Anthony Bardaro. The franchise record for fastest three goals is 51-seconds set on February 6th, 1986 by Rick Hebert and Terry Perkins, who had two.
GAL GAB…Blake Gal has two goals, three points and is +4 in the four after returning to the line-up from injury. Gal had missed 14 games with a lower body injury. The 20-year-old has played 280 career games, 11th in Spokane Chiefs history.
HOLM-SCHOOL…Mitch Holmberg has three goals, one in each of the last three games, and five points in his last five games. Holmberg played both games of the Subway SuperSeries for Team WHL. Holmberg has five three point nights this season including a one goal and two assists on October 23rd at Prince George (6-1 win). Holmberg led Spokane with 11 goals in the playoffs, last season including two in overtime.
IN YOUR KICHTON…Brenden Kichton has five goals, 17 points and is a +15 in his last 12 games. Kicthon recorded his 50th career goal and 200th career point on October 30th in an 8-2 win over Seattle. Kichton recorded two goals and two assists in a 5-3 win over the Victoria Royals on October 5th. Kichton has become the all-time leading scorer as a defenseman in Chiefs history and now has 216 points, which is 20th overall. With five more assists he will move into fourth all-time in franchise history in that category. His 289 career games are eighth in franchise history. Kichton was named Captain of the Chiefs in a pre-game ceremony prior to their home opener on September 29th, 2012. Last season Kichton was named the WHL’s Western Conference Defenseman of the Year as he led all blueliners with 74 points, including 17 goals and 57 assists. Kichton was selected in the fifth round in 2011 by the New York Islanders.
GOW SCHOLASTIC PLAYER OF THE YEAR…Reid Gow has three goals, seven points and is a +7 in a five game point scoring streak. Gow has points in 16 of 23 games this season with three goals and 16 assists. Gow was selected as the winner of the WHL’s Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Trophy for the Scholastic Player of the Year last season. Gow earned a cumulative 95% in his core classes. The defenseman from Killarney, Manitoba scored 22 points, including 20 assists, in 54 games last year. Gow recorded a career high four assists, in a 7-2 win over Tri-City on October 1st, 2011.
WALLY’S WORLD…Dylan Walchuk’s 20 assists in 26 games are already six better than he had in 34 games last season as a rookie. Walchuk had 10-14-24 last season. He has 7-20-27 in 26 games this year. Walchuk scored the game winning goal versus Prince George on October 20th with just 24-seconds remaining to preserve a 3-2 victory. In 2010-11 he led the Vernon Vipers of the BCHL in points with 24-32-56. He added another 13-7-20 in 24 playoff games as Vernon finished as a runner-up in the Royal Bank Cup Championship, the Canadian Junior A National Title, one year after winning it.
IN THE CREASE…Eric Williams recorded his first shutout as a Chief with a 26 save effort on November 3rd, 2012 in a 5-0 win over Everett. In his last 10 games Williams is 7-2-1-0 with a 2.40 goals against average and a .924 save percentage. Williams was acquired in a trade in December, 2011 from Prince Albert. Williams finished last post-season with the league’s third best goals against average at 2.22. He won his first five playoff starts and had a .927 post season save percentage.
HUGH-G EFFORT…Garret Hughson earned a shutout with 22 saves in just his third career start in a 4-0 win over Everett on November 6th. Hughson won his first career start with 14 saves in a 6-4 win over Prince George on October 20th.
INJURY REPORT…Tanner Mort (upper body, indefinite)
NHL DRAFT…Brenden Kichton (New York Islanders, 5th round, 2011)
