Newest Chiefs welcomed
The Spokane Chiefs, new and old, found their way back to Spokane on Friday.
The team bus arrived in the early afternoon at the Spokane Arena with the coaches and most of the players after a 13-hour drive from Prince George, British Columbia, where Spokane won two games against the Cougars.
Coach Bill Peters went home ill with the flu, but assistant coach Steve Pleau stayed behind to meet the newest Chief, Stephane Lenoski.
Meanwhile, 15-year-old top draft pick Jared Cowen and his family were met at the airport by a pair of Chiefs and their billets as they arrived from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
The Chiefs will reunite and take the ice tonight against rival Tri-City in the first game of a home-and-home weekend matchup. The teams enter the weekend tied in the U.S. Division standings, making the points crucial.
Both teams will be missing players who are participating at the world junior hockey championships in Sweden. The Americans are without goalie Carey Price (Canada) and defenseman Juraj Valach (Slovokia). Spokane is missing defenseman Sean Zimmerman (USA).
The arrival of two blue liners was a welcome sight for Spokane. Lenoski and Cowen will jump right into action.
Cowen can only play in five Western Hockey League regular-season games as a 15-year-old. The WHL’s No. 1 overall pick will play two of those games this weekend as he makes his debut.
Lenoski, 20, was acquired Thursday from Chilliwack. He and his family spent 10 hours driving from there Friday. He has a roster spot with the Chiefs at the expense of a former teammate.
Lenoski and Corey Courchene played together in Brandon for three seasons before each found themselves with new teams to start the year. Courchene, 20, had to be released by the Chiefs after they acquired Lenoski. WHL teams can have only three “overage” players.
“It’s kind of tough. I haven’t talked to him yet,” said Lenoski. “What’s happened is nothing you can do anything about. It’s just the way hockey is sometimes.”
On the other hand, Lenoski said he’s excited about coming to a franchise which is in the thick of a division race. Expansion Chilliwack is in last place in the B.C. Division, but is battling Kelowna for a playoff berth.
“Spokane is having a great season,” said Lenoski. “It’s exciting to be able to come to a team that’s competing and be given a chance to make an impact in your last year.”
Lenoski was given a key role on the Bruins, matching up against the opposing team’s top lines and playing on the power play and penalty kill. He ranks 19th among WHL defenseman in scoring with four goals and 16 assists.
He said he had no reservations about coming to Spokane, having heard former Chief Myles Stoesz sing its praises while the two were teammates in Chilliwack.
“We used to bug him about it, because he loved it so much,” Lenoski said.
Ice chips
Derek Ryan set a franchise record Thursday with two goals in a 16-second span of the first period against Prince George. National Hockey League veteran Travis Green set the prior mark (18 seconds) with the Chiefs on Dec. 27, 1988. … Chiefs goalies Dustin Tokarski and Kevin Armstrong are 15th and 16th, respectively, in the WHL with goals-against averages less than 3.00. … Spokane’s Ondrej Roman (ninth) and Mitch Wahl (14th) rank among the top 20 in rookie scoring. Roman is the team’s leading scorer (32 points), trailed by Ryan (31). David Rutherford has a team-high 19 goals. … Spokane’s power play is seventh overall and its penalty kill is 12th.