Spokane Chiefs induct five former players, including retired NHL defenseman Brad Ference, into ‘List of Legends’

The Spokane Chiefs are celebrating their 40th anniversary this season, and during that time they have had many memorable players, including 66 who have made their mark in the NHL.

Five years ago, during their 35th anniversary season, the organization adopted a “Top 35 Chiefs in 35 years” list, featuring many of those players, as well as significant players in Chiefs history who have not reached the summit of the game.

On Friday, the organization honored five additional players, while rebranding it as the “List of Chiefs Legends” at a ceremony at the Arena.

The current team and coaching staff, family members and Chiefs personnel gathered at the main entrance as Brad Ference, Kailer Yamamoto, Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Ty Smith and Adam Beckman were inducted into the Chiefs List of Legends.

Ference enjoyed a nine-year professional career that included 250 games in the NHL with Florida, Phoenix and Calgary. He was the only inductee of the five available to appear in person for the event; the other four appeared via video.

Ference, who became a firefighter in his hometown of Calgary, Alberta, when his playing career was over, spoke about playing for coach Mike Babcock while he was in Spokane, and the memorable 1998 Memorial Cup tournament hosted by Spokane, where he was named to the Memorial Cup all-star team.

“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time, so yeah, it’s pretty cool to be back,” he said. “Especially when my kids never really got to see me play hockey or anything like that, even in the pro level. Spokane is always a special place for us.”

He joked that unlike the four more recent players, the Chiefs staff had to break out their VCRs to find footage of him playing for the tribute video.

“I probably have more actual videos than the Chiefs have on myself,” he said.

Ference confirmed Babcock’s reputation as a “tough” coach, but also said it was a different era. Babcock’s coaching career has been marred by allegations of player mistreatment, including verbal abuse and invasive behavior, leading to his resignation from the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2023 after reportedly violating players’ privacy.

“At the end of the day, I think they had our best interest at heart,” he said.

Each honoree went out of their way to mention Chiefs fans as being a significant thing they remember from their time with the team.

“(In the 1998 Memorial Cup) we played in front of a lot of fans here every night. It was packed, and it was pretty awesome to be able to be a part of that team,” Ference said.

Ference was the first Chiefs defenseman selected in the first round of the NHL draft, going 10th overall in 1997 to the Vancouver Canucks.

“You can get drafted first round, you can play World Juniors, you can play all that stuff, but still, the ultimate goal for all these young guys is they want to play at least one game in NHL,” he said. “I got to do that for a longer time than just one game.”

Ference said it was a privilege meeting the current players at the ceremony.

“One thing that I’ll probably say to the boys tonight is at the end of the day, soon as hockey becomes a job, it is a job,” he said. “You have to treat it like a job. But it’s also the best job in the world.”

Brad Ference (1996-99)

In 1996-97, Ference earned the WHL’s Western Conference top rookie honor and was named to the CHL All-Rookie team after posting six goals, 20 assists and 324 penalty minutes in 67 games. Ference is one of three blueliners in franchise history to be selected in the first round.

As a Chief, Ference averaged .58 points a game with 18 goals and 73 assists in 157 games. He is tied for the franchise record for most assists in a single game by a defenseman, with five.

Ference has the sixth-most penalty minutes in franchise history, and second most for a defenseman, with 680.

He is one of four Chiefs to play in back-to-back World Junior Hockey Championships (1998, 1999) for Canada, earning a silver medal at the 1999 tournament.

Kailer Yamamoto (2014-18)

Yamamoto finished his Chiefs career tied for fifth in franchise assists with 186, 16th in franchise goals with 105, and is tied with Greg Leeb for sixth with 291 career points.

His 1.27 points per game in his career are 11th in franchise history and only trail Adam Beckman and Berkly Catton for players who played more than 100 games after 1993.

Yamamoto is one of only seven Chiefs to lead the team in scoring in back-to-back seasons, a two-time Spokane Chiefs Player of the Year (2016-17, 2017-18), rookie of the year (2014-15) and Ken Rabel Most Sportsmanlike Player of the Year (2014-15). He led the team in scoring twice (2015-16, 2016-17).

The Mead High School graduate represented the United States at the Under-17 World Hockey Challenge, led the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament in scoring, winning bronze as an Under-18 player, and won a bronze medal with the U.S. World Junior team in 2018.

Yamamoto became the highest-drafted Spokane-born player when he was selected by the Edmonton Oilers 22nd overall in 2017. Yamamoto is in his seventh professional season and is in the Utah Hockey Club’s system.

Jaret Anderson-Dolan (2014-19)

The Chiefs’ first -round pick, 14th overall in 2014, scored 113 career goals – 12th in franchise history – and his 236 points are good for 18th all time. He made his NHL debut with the Los Angeles Kings in 2019 as a 19-year-old and played for Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship, where he wore an A.

As a Chief, Anderson-Dolan earned the rookie of the year (2016), coaches award (2017), Terry Bartman Players’ Player twice (2017, 2019), humanitarian of the year (2018), and was the Chiefs’ leading scorer in 2018 when he totaled a career-high 40 goals, 51 assists and 91 points. That season, he was named a first-team Western Conference All-Star.

He tied a then-franchise record by scoring goals in nine straight games in the 2018-19 season. That year, he scored 43 points in 32 games, including 20 goals.

Anderson-Dolan was selected in the second round (41st overall) by the Los Angeles Kings in the 2017 NHL draft. He is playing in the Winnipeg Jets’ farm system and is in his seventh professional season.

Ty Smith (2016-20)

Smith is the most decorated Spokane Chiefs player of all time. The first-overall selection in the 2015 WHL bantam draft was a two-time winner of the WHL’s Bill Hunter Trophy as defenseman of the year (2019, 2020), the CHL Defenseman of the Year (2019), the Daryl K. Seaman WHL Scholastic Player of the Year (2018), and a three-time first-team Western Conference All-Star (2018, 2019, 2020).

He won Chiefs Player of the Year once, the John “Hitman” Hern Defenseman three times, scholastic player twice, Ken Rabel Most Sportsmanlike Player twice, and rookie of the year. Smith’s 190 assists are fourth in franchise history, second most for defensemen, and 19th in scoring, also second among blueliners with 235 points.

Smith is one of four Chiefs to have represented Canada at the World Junior tournament twice, winning gold at the 2020 event. He also represented his country at the 2017 World Hockey Challenge and at the 2018 Ivan Hlinka tournament.

The Lloydminster, Alberta, native was selected 17th overall in the 2018 NHL draft by the New Jersey Devils. Smith was named to the 2021 NHL All-Rookie team and is in his fifth professional season in the Carolina Hurricanes system.

Adam Beckman (2017-21)

Beckman’s three short years still put him in elite company of Chiefs history. The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, native’s 1.28 points per game are the most for any player to wear a Spokane sweater since 1994, and 10th in franchise history. He recorded 97 goals and 99 assists for a total of 196 points in 153 games.

Beckman is the only Chief to lead the team in goals for three consecutive seasons (2019, 2020, 2021) and is one of seven Chiefs to lead the team in scoring in back-to-back seasons.

He finished second in the WHL for rookie scorers in 2018-19 with 32 goals and 62 points and was named Chiefs Rookie of the Year. The following season he earned the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the league MVP, joining Ray Whitney (1990-91) as the only other Chief to win the award.

That season, he became the third Chief to lead the league in scoring (Whitney in 1990-91, Mitch Holmberg in 2013-14) with his 48 goals and 107 points – nine more points than second place.

His final two seasons were cut short due to the pandemic, including missing postseason opportunities each season.