Long and short of it: 3 Chiefs picked

Spokane Chiefs center Mitch Wahl only had to wait 10 minutes on Saturday.

Goalie Dustin Tokarski and defenseman Jared Spurgeon, on the other hand, sat by their computers, hitting refresh every couple of minutes. When it didn’t happen for a while, they got tired of waiting.

Tokarski hit the links and Spurgeon watched TV.

Shortly after Tokarski got on the golf course, his agent called. He had two words for Tokarski: Tampa Bay.

The Lightning took Tokarski in the fifth round, 122nd overall, during the second and final day of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa. The Calgary Flames selected Wahl in the second round, 48th overall, and the New York Islanders took Spurgeon in the sixth round (156th overall).

As a 17-year-old last season, Wahl finished second in scoring and led the Chiefs with 53 assists, seventh in the Western Hockey League. Wahl was tied for fifth in the league with a plus-33. He scored two goals and had four assists in four Memorial Cup games and was named to the tournament all-star team.

Wahl, who said the Flames had shown the most interest leading up to the draft, was in Ottawa for the big day. When he heard his name announced, his family and agents were there with him to celebrate.

“I’m pretty stoked about it,” Wahl said. “I wasn’t really expecting to go (Friday in the first round), so I thought maybe I had a chance to go pretty quick (on Saturday). I was ecstatic. We all jumped up and there were a lot of hugs going around.”

Wahl, the Chiefs’ first-round (fourth overall) pick in the 2005 WHL Bantam draft, will head back with his family to their Seal Beach, Calif., home today. He will attend a prospect camp for the Flames in July.

Tokarski, who was undrafted in the WHL’s Bantam Draft and added to the Chiefs 50-player protected list in November 2005, said it was one of the greatest feelings he’s had.

“I got nervous when I wasn’t picked in the first four rounds. I just figured, ‘Oh great, it’s going to happen again,’ ” said the Watson, Saskatchewan, native. “I thought I was going to have that shattering feeling of not being drafted again. When my agent called he just said, ‘Tampa Bay,’ and I was so excited.”

The Tampa Bay franchise recently got new ownership – which includes former Spokane Flyer and Hollywood producer Oren Koules.

Tokarski is coming off a season in which he set franchise records for the Chiefs, including finishing with a 2.05 goals-against average. He was named MVP of the Western Conference final and Memorial Cup tournament.

Spurgeon, the Chiefs’ 10th-round pick in the 2004 Bantam Draft, also found out in a phone call.

When he stopped watching the draft on his computer from his home in Edmonton, Alberta, his friend called and told him the Islanders had taken him in the sixth round.

“I was getting impatient, just sitting there and watching,” Spurgeon said. “It’s nice that they’ve given me the opportunity. It’s just one step toward my main goal (of playing in the NHL), but it’s a great opportunity.”

Spurgeon, an alternate captain last season for Spokane, was named the Chiefs’ defenseman of the year after leading all blue liners in scoring with 12 goals and 43 points. He finished third in the WHL with a plus-36.

The first round of the draft was Friday night.

The Lightning had the first overall pick, which they used on Sarnia’s Steven Stamkos from the Ontario Hockey League. The WHL boasted nine first-round picks this year, including Kelowna’s Luke Schenn (Toronto, fifth overall), Everett’s Kyle Beach (Chicago, 11th overall) and Tri-City goalie Chet Pickard (Nashville, 18th overall).

The Chiefs have seven drafted players that were on last year’s Memorial Cup championship roster: Wahl, Tokarski, Spurgeon, Drayson Bowman (Carolina’s third-round pick in 2007), Justin McCrae (Carolina, fourth round, 2007), Justin Falk (Minnesota, fourth round, 2007) and Ondrej Roman (Dallas, fifth round, 2007).