SPOKANE-PORTLAND PLAYOFF HISTORY
In 1986, Spokane’s first appearance in the playoffs, the Chiefs finished 34 points behind the Winterhawks in the standings but took a 4-3 lead in a wild best-of-nine first round series. Portland won the last two games of the series, including game eight in the Spokane Coliseum in front of a then record crowd of 5,388. Game nine was a 7-3 Portland win.
In 1987, the Winterhawks swept the Chiefs in five straight. Spokane earned a six game win in the more conventional best-of-seven in 1992.
The next five series featured four that went the distance, including the 1996 first round. Portland was the sixth and final seed in the West while the Chiefs enjoyed a franchise record 50 win season and finished the year as the top ranked team in the CHL. The Winterhawks won the first three games , stunning the Chiefs at home with a 3-2 overtime win in game one and a 7-4 victory in game two. Game three in Portland resulted in a 6-4 Winterhawk victory.
Pushed to the edge of elimination, Spokane started their comeback with a 5-3 win in game four. In game five, back in Spokane, the Chiefs and goaltender David Lemanowicz earned a 5-0 victory.
Portland was 31-seconds away in game six from staging the upset before Joe Cardarelli scored his second goal of the game to push the game into overtime. 3:50 into the second overtime Randy Favaro won it, sending it to the seventh and deciding game. Game seven in the Spokane Arena sold out in three hours. The Chiefs’ Darren Sinclair scored 58-seconds into overtime and turned the story line from biggest upset in WHL history to it’s greatest comeback.
Two years later, it was the Winterhawks who would finish the regular season as the top team in the WHL with a 53 win and 111 point season. Spokane faced Portland in their first Western Conference Final match-up and it was the Chiefs who struck in game one with a win on Winterhawk ice.
The Chiefs eventually needed a win at home in game six to force the game seven, won by the Winterhawks at home. Portland went on to sweep the Brandon Wheat Kings in the WHL Finals and win the Memorial Cup, back in Spokane on the Chiefs’ home ice.
Their next Western Conference Championship series took place in 2001, won by in five games by Portland.
In 2003 the Chiefs trailed 3-2 in the first round and won back-to-back games to advance into the second round.
Last year’s series made WHL history as the road team won each game. The Chiefs earned wins in the first two games o in Portland before the Winterhawks won three straight in Spokane. After Spokane won game six in Portland, the Winterhawks took a 5-4 overtime back in the Spokane Arena to advance.
1985-86 – Portland wins a best-of-nine, 5-4
1986-87 – Portland wins a best-of-nine, 5-0
1991-92 – Spokane wins a best-of-seven, 4-2
1995-96 – Spokane wins a best-of-seven, 4-3
1997-98 – Portland wins a best-of-seven, 4-3
2000-01 – Portland wins a best-of-seven, 4-1
2002-03 – Spokane wins a best-of-seven, 4-3
2009-10 – Portland wins a best-of-seven, 4-3
