Canadian vs. the Yanks

... the Spokane Chiefs just go and surprise the hell out of you.

Yes, folks. I could smell the ice the Calgary Flames play on. I was so close. Stuff of dreams.

Last night saw the last game in Alberta for the Chiefs for a while and they made it an interesting one. The Chiefs were headed into Calgary off of a disappointing loss in Red Deer the night before and set back into 4th place in the U.S. division and 5th in the Western Conference... the Calgary Hitmen are in a tight race for first in the Eastern Conference. Realistically, we had our concerns coming into this game. Again, we were proved right and wrong about many things.

On a personal note, this roadtrip to Calgary had many wins for me:

1. It's the home of the Flames. My forever-loved team of the West. Obviously. I made a vow earlier in life to step foot in the Pengrowth Saddledome someday. I didn't think I'd cash that in so soon... Even if it wasn't for a Flames game, it was wonderful experience nonetheless. I was also about 10 seconds away from purchasing my first René Bourque shirt… good thing I left the credit cards at home for this trip. It could have destroyed this place worse than a clearance sale at Macy’s…
2. I also decided a while ago to visit as many WHL arenas as possible in the next few years just for the adventures... since April, I've visited; Kamloops, Kelowna, Seattle/Kent, Everett, TriCity, Vancouver and now Calgary. It does seem a little crazy but it's the adventures in life that make it awesome and if hockey happens to be involved... even more amazing. I enjoy driving… I enjoy seeing new places. I just can’t lose here.
3. I've now determined that a Lethbridge/Cranbrook trip is very possible. It may happen…
4. I need to become a professional roadtripper

But back to the game… A solid 1st period effort saw the score tied at 1-1 and a very touching moment of the Beach Brothers sharing some quality time in the penalty boxes. Yes ladies and gentleman… Cody Beach. I forgot that he played for Calgary and when I saw him skate by in front of me I was very confused as to why Kyle was in a Hitmen jersey… HaHa. They look a lot alike on the ice.

The 2nd period was rather rough. No one scored but there were plenty of chances and the Hitmen tried their hardest to get a goal. James Reid would have none of that. He showed solid confidence and crazy Jedi-like skills in the net for his home crowd and the Chiefs. He was a major factor in this win.

The 3rd period was heartattack-tastic. Calgary scored on the PP to make it a 2-1 game and did everything in their power to prevent the Chiefs from scoring after that. They nearly succeeded. As the clock was winding down and Chiefs fans were flinching at every shot on goal… something magical happened. Mitch Wahl scored. I don’t even remember what happened. I just remember seeing Mitch spin, the puck hitting the net, the redlight going on and screaming “OH MY GOD! I LUV YOU MITCH WAHHHLLL” followed closely by “ABOUT F***ING TIME!” I felt very euphoric about watching Wahl score a goal on Flames ice for the Chiefs and in person. At this point we were all psyched for OT.

No need.

30 seconds later Tyler Johnson scored a very beautiful goal to win it for the Chiefs. I’d say there were about 30 Chiefs fans (or so) and you could see and hear them for the last 2 minutes of the game and for several minutes afterward. A road win is a wonderful thing but a win for the guys with that caliber of excitement and pulling it together in the end is what makes this game a little more magical. Or maybe it was my lack of anything resembling sleep that made it so amazing. No matter. I wouldn’t change a thing.

Upon running through everything that happened after the excitement wore off (there was a 9 hour drive home involved…) I have to give major kudos to Blake Gal, Brady Brassart and Levko Koper. Blake Gal is irreplaceable. He played the boards well, laid HUGE hits to help throw off the synchronicity of the other team and has developed some pretty amazing passing skills that he was showing off. Brassart continues to improve every game and I am sooooo looking forward to the day when him and Cole Hamblin play on a line together. Then there’s Levko Koper. No matter what was going on on the scoreboard, in the boxes or on the bench… he went out there and gave 1000000% every shift. Chasing pucks, finishing checks and getting the puck where it needed to go… I really hope he knows just how awesome he was.

Chiefs are back on the road Wednesday to head to Everett for the first time… and with Beach returning to his former house. It’ll be interesting to see what the fans reactions are. At the Tampa/Phoenix exhibition game, we saw a few Chicago/Everett Beach jerseys running around. Will his former fans welcome him back with cheers of happiness or jeers of snideness? I can’t wait to find out and cheer/scream/high-five every goal he wracks up.

**SIDE NOTE: The game in Edmonton Friday night boasted a hearty pro-Chiefs crowd. Friends and family members of many of the guys were in attendance. The most notable crowd was the Koper Clan. It was like a Koper-palooza and one cannot go wrong with that. [photo] Gary Peterson of Action Sports Images was on the trip with the guys and has several fantastic images. Here is his site… [link] Enjoy.

Tonight the Kelowna Rockets visited the Arena. The Chiefs managed to beat the Rockets again. I think this was one of the most physical games the guys have come across so far this season. Kyle Beach even turned down a few fights but Astles finally convinced him otherwise...

But the best news has to be that we have our entire team back for the first time this season! Jared Spurgeon made his return last night; Ryan Letts made his wonderful return tonight. After losing Reddington earlier this season to Lethbridge, we’ve been missing that fierceness on the ice and Spurg and Letts have surly brought that with them. Having Jared Cowen and Spurg reunited also seems to be helping Cowen, how do you say, suck less. Maybe it’s just a coincidence but I like to believe that the Jared’s are soul mates on Chiefs ice. Now that they are back together, we can expect great things. Between Letts and Blake Gal, people may become very familiar with slamming into the boards more often. Gal… that guy continues to impress the hell out of everyone. Speaking of those that are impressing…

The top lines now might be the most productive but don’t go counting out the behbey lines just yet. Guess who’s on a 2-game goal “streak”?

Brady Brassart. He scored again tonight. Lovely.

He also received the 2nd star tonight and he looked soooo shy. It’s fantastic to see the entire team producing from the top down. I hope that it continues now that they are all back together.

But back to the final score…

Chiefs 1 Rockets 0

That’s right, folks. James Reid with the shutout. His second one of the season. He looked so happy when the final seconds ticked off the clock in the third you couldn’t help but smile. And yeah... guess who's the goalie with the 2nd leading GAA in the league?

and all the girlies say "He's pretty fly for a white guy"...

The wins are feeling better and better and the team chemistry a little more genuine. We’re seeing less line shuffling. More hustle. These are all good things.

We kind of heart this team again…

They are kinda shiny.

The guys embark on a mini Eastern swing this week so that means lots of streaming games and no live hockey until the 25th (if we go to Everett). The team starts out in Edmonton the 20th, Red Deer the 21st and Calgary the 22nd. This will be Reid’s first trip to play at home in the Saddledome. We wish you the best.

We look forward to more good games and wins.

Go Chiefs Go.

Well to start off… in the NHL world, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Calgary Flames played each other tonight. My two teams… a game that I could not watch… I just know that the Flames won in the end. Either way it was a win I suppose. :/ Just glad that one is over…

The Vancouver Canucks were in Colorado to take on the Avalanche… who would have thought that the game would have ended this way? Canucks 8 Avs 2… ouch. And oh so very spunky… H. Sedin had a hat trick and (my favourite) Tanner Glass had a goal and an assist. I'm watching the game right now on the DVR so I'll relive all the epicness over the next few hours...

In Spokane, we had some of our own excitement in the WHL world. The Spokane Chiefs welcomed the Kamloops Blazers to the Arena. Like I called it Friday night… Kyle Beach had a hat trick tonight. Damn sexy. We (also) welcomed Jared Spurgeon back to the ice after being gone after shoulder surgery this summer… he posted 3 assists. Fantastic. James Reid also had an assist which is always lovely. Baby Brady Brassart also had his first career goal. We cheered extra hard. It was a good group effort tonight. But I have to give some credit to Leclerc who was in net for the Blazers. He faced 48 shots from the Chiefs… not too shabby. I really hope for brighter days ahead for the Blazers. They really do have a lot of talent. They just need to learn how to use it. Oh yeah... and Cowen did stuff. He fought and made people bleed.

Tomorrow Tonight the Chiefs host the Kelowna Rockets at the Arena. I’m so stoked to support the former “home” team a little. I’m hoping for a win for the Chiefs though… and call me crazy, but a Mitch Wahl hat trick soon. I really want one of those… Why?! Because I apparently believe. Craziness. Also, Ryan Letts should be back on the ice.

I'd also just like to throw this out there... what is with the Chiefs and their 'stache growing shenanigans? It's not playoffs and I have yet to hear of a Movember fund so... what's up? Not that I'm complaining, I was just curiouse. Someone tell me things...

From: @canescast: 3 former Spokane Chiefs combine for 1G 3A +5 6PIM in the Hurricanes win over the Calgary Hitmen Tuesday night.

I’m pretty sure this is how we all feel tonight.

I could rant for hours… but I won’t. I could also rave a little but... it's not needed at this point. The Spokane Chiefs hosted the Everett Silvertips. Needless to say another game that was very winnable was tossed out the door. The ‘Tips beat the Chiefs 5-2. But we’ve decided since there were two goals that should have counted, it was actually 5-4. There were a slew of unfortunate incidents that piled up for the Chiefs. Kinda makes me want to do this...

And maybe a little of this...

Ari Gold and me are like freekin twins some days.

To start, Mike Tadjdeh started in net. Now… I’m all for giving the backup goalie some ice time but not in the middle of the starting goalies streak and I find it slightly rude that just hours after being named the CHL Goaltender of the Week [link] that they start Tadjdeh over James Reid. The line juggling also continues… but let's get back to those goals that were never called. I’m pretty sure one bounced out of the inside of the crossbar… there was also another goal that appeared to go in… we all thought it went in… Coach thought it went in… I’m pretty sure Mike Boyle was going to jump out of the press box and strangle the officials on the ice… Coach asked for a goal review and the ref DENIED it! Pretty much skated by the bench and said “Bitch please!” Can you do that? Robbing Levko Koper of goals is not cool.

This was such a strange and effed up game. Mitch Wahl and Kyle Beach scored the only two goals for the Chiefs. Pretty damn sexy goals too. I fucking love you two. Too bad they couldn’t get the W. This means that the Chiefs now sit in the 4th place spot in the U.S. Division.

Ick.

What has happened here? We know we’ve got the skill to win… maybe we just need a new coaching technique…? That is one of the only things I can see that might be an issue. Kamloops is in town this weekend… maybe we can just give them our coach? Something needs to change. This team has the offense to be crazy unstoppable but… what gives?

Anyways… like I said. Chiefs lose. The Chiefs are now in 4th in the U.S. Division (6th in the West). Kamloops Blazers and Kelowna Rockets come to town this weekend. I’m so freekin excited to see Ryan Hanes again. He stole my heart in the pre-season. Glad to see he's back on the ice with the Blazers after an extended absence due to a concussion. And then behbey Bowman and the Brothers Bloodoff will be here Sunday with the Rockets. Who wouldn’t be excited for that?! It's going to be a good weekend for hockey in Spokane. Let’s hope that the Chiefs can figure things out… Spurgeon and Letts should be back this weekend. I hope this sparks something amazing.

**SIDE NOTE: The Rochester Americans won their 11th straight game tonight. [link] That’s right, bishes. 11 straight wins. That’s damn sexy. Keep it up boys. I can feel #12

That’s exactly what this team is… they get into penalty trouble, coach juggles lines to disrupt chemistry but they score amazing goals and give you hope… defined: hot mess.

The Spokane Chiefs won their 4th straight game tonight. A win streak? Really? I can’t wait until we get Ryan Letts and Jared Spurgeon back. It’s going to be fantastic.

Tonight the Vancouver Giants tried but they just couldn’t get anything past Reid. The Chiefs picked up a 2-1 win in front of a very non-red-out crowd tonight in Spokane. But a win is a win at this point. Hopefully the play gets cleaned up a little bit over the next few weeks. My brain is still a little fuzzy from the game. It was… slightly lackluster.This recap sucks. I'll admit it.

The only bright spot of the entire game… I think we can all agree… was Levko Koper’s break away goal from end to end that resulted in the first goal for the Chiefs. Holy shit. It was beautiful. Srsly. It was the Levko that we all know and love. Yes, Loveko returns to the arena and scores amazing goals. High fives. The other Chief to score... Mitch Wahl. I believe in you.

One thing that was not so amazing tonight was Kyle Beach turning in his scoring abilities so that the refs could call randomly bogus penalties to ship him to the penalty box. That was sweet of him. Gotta keep the refs entertained during the game too. /sarcasm

Jared Cowen also wasn’t quite the train wreck he usually is. He even managed to keep his stick intact the entire night.

I need to go to sleep. Next the Chiefs take on the Everett Silvertips who are 1) The team the Chiefs are right behind in the the standing and 2) Kyle Beaches former team. It’ll be interesting indeed. Even if it is a Tuesday… come to the game. It should be fantastic.

**SIDE NOTE: Everyone always made fun of me for being a Rochester Americans fan… last season was brutal but I held on. Guess what? The Amerks are on a 10-game winning streak. [link from Let's go Amerks] Granted it is not the lovely Tyler Plante in net for the Amerks due to his injury (gasp! I was right! [link]) but a 10-game win streak is damn sexy. Even if Brady Calla happened to spill his own blood... Yeah. Suck on that haters. Who's in 1st place? Yeah that's right. Go Amerks... and the 3rd place Abbotsford Heat. Hells yah. [link]