Dan Weaver

A shutout by a goaltender in his first playoff start and a hometown boy who came back to play the hero. Those were the story lines in the Spokane Chiefs' 2-0 win over the Kelowna Rockets Tuesday night.

If the Spokane Chiefs bounce back as quickly as their coach, they may get a chance to redeem themselves in front of the home crowd this week. Chiefs coach Mike Babcock allowed himself about 10 minutes to stew over a 6-3 home-ice loss to the Kelowna Rockets Sunday night, then turned his energy to tonight's sixth game of the Western Hockey League West Division quarterfinals.

On the brink of elimination. Despite Marian Cisar's efforts on this Chiefs goal to tie the game 3-3 in the second period, Spokane lost to Kelowna 6-3 and now trails the series 3-2. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

While Mike Babcock was shaking up his lines Friday night in a 6-2 win over the Kelowna Rockets, nobody was doing more to to make the experiments work than Derek Schutz. Schutz has been the Chiefs' most valuable forward through the first four games of the Western Hockey League playoffs that resume tonight, Babcock said. The Chiefs and Kelowna Rockets are back at it in Game 5 of their Western Hockey League West Division quarterfinal series at 6 in the Arena.

Spokane's Marian Cisar is upended by Kelowna's Karel Betik, but it was the Rockets who took a tumble as the Chiefs evened the WHL playoff series with a 6-2 win in the Arena. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Spokane goaltender Aren Miller wants to put a stop to losing when the Chiefs resume their series with Kelowna. Photo by Jason Clark/The Spokesman-Review

If three games constitutes a pattern, the Spokane Chiefs are in trouble, and not solely because they trail the Kelowna Rockets 2 games to 1 in their Western Hockey League quarterfinal series. The Rockets lead the series after their 5-2 win here Wednesday night. Two keys coming into this or any other playoff goaltending and special teams are being turned time and again by the Rockets. They're dominant both on the power play and the penalty kill.

Kelowna's Gavin McLeod attempts to cut Marian Cisar of the Spokane Chiefs off at the puck. Photo by Jason Clark/The Spokesman-Review

1. Leeb 2. Greg Leeb (20) scraps for the puck with a Portland Winter Hawk, while Spokane Chiefs coach Mike Babcock looks on from the bench. Photo by Jason Clark/The Spokesman-Review

To the well-worn D factors in the Spokane Chiefs Western Hockey League quarterfinal series with the Kelowna Rockets - defense, discipline and desperation - consider this one. Domination. After whipping the Chiefs 6-4 in Saturday night's first game, the Rockets have taken six of their last seven games with Spokane.

A turning point rarely comes with such clarity. This one - a penalty shot gone awry - sizzled through tiny Memorial Arena Saturday night like a burning fuse. With the first game of this Western Hockey League quarterfinal series tied at 3, Ty Jones took off from center ice on a penalty shot. He had the goaltender down and an open net in front of him but lost the puck trying for the backhanded sweep. The Kelowna Rockets took that as a sign that it would be their night.

1. Spokane hopes to get a top-notch performance from goalie Aren Miller. File/The Spokesman-Review 2. Babcock

The Spokane Chiefs and Kelowna Rockets will log plenty of miles on their buses during their first-round playoff series. The unusual format was announced Monday. It's a 1-1-1-2-1-1 schedule, meaning that if the Western Hockey League West Division series goes seven games, the two will play on back-to-back nights twice in different cities.

Three veterans picked off the prestigious awards Sunday night at the Spokane Chiefs annual awards banquet at the Ag Trade Center. Trent Whitfield, Greg Leeb and Perry Johnson were honored for major contributions to Spokane's second-best regular season in the club's 13 seasons in Spokane.

The Western Hockey League playoff picture is clearer today after Greg Leeb and the Spokane Chiefs wrapped up second place in the WHL West in their final regular-season game. The Chiefs, on Leeb's two goals, whipped the Tri-City Americans 3-1 before 10,455 Saturday night in the Arena. They'll open a best-of-7 first-round series in Kelowna, possibly Saturday night although dates have yet to be confirmed. Spokane's first home playoff game is a week from Tuesday night.

LaChaunce Shepherd of the USA lands a left on Francis Barrett of Ireland in their 147-pound bout. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Perhaps half of the 10 fighters who'll represent USA Boxing tonight in the Arena will wind up in the 2000 Olympics, the national team coach predicted Thursday. Al Mitchell, who coached this country's '96 Olympics team, heads the American contingent that will oppose Team Ireland in a dual match starting at 6.

FROM SPORTS REPLAY (March 13, 1998): A photgraph caption in Thursday's editions identifying Moe Smith as the promoter for tonights' USA vs. Ireland amateur boxing exhibition was inaccurate. Smith is a local boxing coach and promoter. Toby Steward is the promoter of tonight's match. 1. Mixing pleasure with business. Aaron Brown, 5, wears a grin as he tussles with U.S.-Ireland boxing promoter Moe Smith at the Lilac City Boxing Club. Photo by Jason Clark/The Spokesman-Review 2. Darnell Wilson is the top U.S. 156-pound amateur boxer. Photo by Jason Clark/The Spokesman-Review

Just before Wednesday night's game, Mike Babcock talked about a disturbing tendency in his Spokane Chiefs during the last 14 games. When they've lost, they've had only themselves to blame.

The first game is 58 days away. Three of the four teams that play in the event won't be determined for another seven weeks. Despite the unknowns, it's already the biggest paid sporting attraction in the history of the community, promoters claim. It's the Memorial Cup, the championship tournament of major junior hockey in the Arena May 9-17. Champions of the Western, Ontario and Quebec major junior hockey leagues will join the Spokane Chiefs in pursuit of the Memorial Cup.

The advance element of the U.S. boxing team arrives today in preparation for Friday night's dual match with Team Ireland in the Arena. Darnell Wilson, America's top-ranked light middleweight and at 31 the oldest U.S. competitor in the match, is scheduled to work out at 4 p.m. at Lilac City Boxing Club, 7313 East Sprague.

Borin Lach is Chief Leschi's Cambodian connection. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Andy Otis scores against Curlew. Photo by Roger Ames/The Spokesman-Review

They're in the Final Four because they defend. The St. John-Endicott Eagles have waded through two state tournament games defying the fundamental concept. Put the brown thing in the round thing. Coach Darrell Miller's kids do so many other things right that shooting is secondary to their success. Example: When the pressure was most intense Thursday night in a 46-37 win over the pressing St. George's Dragons, there was no shortage of SJE players calling for the ball. Nobody disappeared. That brought a smile from the bench.