Spokane Chiefs notebook: Chiefs split with Prince George on road; reinforcements expected for home opener
The Spokane Chiefs opened the 2024-25 Western Hockey League season with a pair of road games against the Prince George Cougars over the weekend, earning a split with last season’s regular-season champion.
The Chiefs won Friday’s season opener with a 4-3 overtime decision, then the Cougars returned the favor on Saturday, handing their visitors a 3-1 regulation loss.
It was a strong showing on the road against a quality opponent, especially considering how young and shorthanded the Chiefs were, with one-fifth of their regular starting lineup attending NHL training camps.
Friday’s game showed particular resolve, coming back in the third period to tie it 3 with less than three minutes remaining in regulation on a goal by 16-year-old rookie Cohen Harris, his first in the WHL.
In overtime, fellow 16-year-old Mathis Preston took the puck at the Chiefs’ goal line and maneuvered up ice and into the Prince George zone. His shot was knocked away by goalie Joshua Ravensbergen, but the rebound went straight to 17-year-old defenseman Owen Schoettler, who dumped it into the wide-open net.
The Chiefs have a road game Friday at Wenatchee before opening their home schedule Saturday at the Arena against Tri-City at 6:05 p.m. – which will be the normal Saturday game time this season.
Reinforcements ahead
The Chiefs played over the weekend without center Berkly Catton, defensemen Saige Weinstein, Will McIsaac and Nathan Mayes, and goalie Dawson Cowan, all of whom were participating in NHL training camps.
The organization expects to have all but Catton back for this weekend’s games.
Catton, the No. 8 overall pick by the Seattle Kraken in the NHL draft this summer, has been opening eyes at the Kraken camp, first at rookie camp and then at the NHL camp.
McIsaac was drafted in the fifth round (145 overall) by the St. Louis Blues, and Mayes went in the seventh round (225) by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Weinstein signed an entry -level contract with the Colorado Avalanche as an undrafted free agent in October .
Comings and goings
The Chiefs have made several moves over the past couple of weeks to shore up the roster for this season and beyond.
They signed 2024 CHL import pick Asanali Sarkenov on Sept. 12. The 6-foot-4 winger made a name for himself at this year’s IIHF U18 World Championship in Finland by scoring a hat trick for Kazakhstan against Team Canada on April 30 and tied for the team lead in scoring (4-1-5) in the five-game tourney.
To make room for Sarkenov as one of the team’s two import players, the Chiefs traded Czech forward Lukáš Král to the Prince Albert Raiders for a seventh-round pick in next year’s draft.
The Chiefs also acquired 2005-born forward Matthew Edwards from the Vancouver Giants in exchange for a fifth-round pick in next year’s draft. Edwards, a 6-1 winger out of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, led the Giants in penalty minutes last season with 107 in 47 games.
They also signed 2023 fifth-round defenseman Nolan Saunderson to a WHL Scholarship and Development Agreement. The 5-11 blueliner out of Brandon, Manitoba, spent last season with the Brandon Wheat Kings’ U18 AAA squad.