ICE Box

ICE BOX

THE SCORE - Spokane 4 - Kootenay 1

WHAT HAPPENED - Quite simple; stay out of penalty box = less goals against. You could boo Referee Cory McLean all you want but with the possible exception of perhaps Bauer's cross-checking penalty in the third, every one of the nine calls to against the Ice were deserved. And three straight in the third period trying to come back from a 3-1 deficit - all of which were in the offensive zone - doesn't help

THE FIRST PERIOD - Arguably the club's best - other than the previous night's comback in Lethbridge. Lots of shots, solid within their own zone and a physical presence.

THE SECOND AND THIRD PERIODS - The effort of the first period dissolved quickly after Justin Falk's deflected shot to give the visitors a 2-1 lead. The Chiefs awakened from the first period slumber to carry the play the rest of the game.

THE DEFENSE - The offensive inconsistency with this club will take care of itself. It's the blueline they should be worried about. Too many odd-man rushes, too many ill-advised pinches and not enough zone-clearing passes. It's a long list.

MR. PRONGER YOU HAVE A CLONE - Spokane GM Tim Speltz should get executive of the year just for convincing Jared Cowen to play in the WHL with the Chiefs. He could be in the top-five d-men in the WHL right now, he's that good. Someone try to find one mistake in the 28+ minutes he had on this night. Thought so.

THE CHIEFS - Could be a title contender with one more piece of the puzzle. Their big, they're fast and Drayson Bowman - former Kimberley Dynamiter - could have the best wrist shot in the league.

THE GOALTENDER - G Kris Lazaruk. He's going to be under a microscope everytime he plays and he had a better game tonight but still doesn't look comfortable. Surrendered four goals but only had a chance on two.

THE OVERAGERS - Captain Steve Da Silva's turn to sit out (and no, his knee is fine, contrary to a strange rumour floating around the building) but even with the two 20-year-old defensemen the blueline struggled.

THE CROWD - 3055 - average but not a lot of atmosphere for a Saturday night, unless you were one of the 50 or so Chief fans - they were the loudest by far.

REC PLEX THREE STARS - 1. Drayson Bowman Spo - Scary that this kid is only 18. 2. Chris Bruton Spo - Solid for the Chiefs with two helpers 3. Dustin Sylvester Ktn - The only Ice goal after two to tie and win it last night. Worked hard as always and probably could've had three.

UP NEXT - Kootenay (1-4; last in the Central) looks for it's first home win of the season. Saskatoon (1-4; last in the East) is a good bet. Tommorrow night 6PM at the 'Plex.

Game Summary

Chiefs 4 @ Ice 1

CRANBROOK, B.C. - Western Hockey League summary for regular season game between the Spokane Chiefs and the Kootenay Ice; September 29, 2007;
Drayson Bowman scored two goals and assisted on the game-winner as the Spokane Chiefs dumped the Kootenay Ice 4-1 in WHL action Saturday night.
After a scoreless first period Kootenay's Dustin Sylvester opened the scoring with his third of the season with the Ice on the power play at 1:08. Bowman wasted little time to tie it for the Chiefs scoring on a nice rush just over a minute later for his fourth on the season. Justin Falk wired the game-winner from the point with the Chiefs on the power play under a minute later that deflected of an Ice defender and past goaltender Kris Lazaruk. Bowman got a power play goal at 12:23 to give the visitors a 3-1 second period lead. Seth Compton scored late to give the Chiefs a 4-1 victory.
Rookie Jared Cowan along with captain Chris Bruton both notched a pair of assists on the night.
Dustin Tokarski stopped 25 of 26 shots he faced for his first victory of the season while Kris Lazaruk turned aside 26 of 30 shots in taking the loss.

First Period

No Scoring.


Penalties -- Greenan Ktn (hooking) 7:00, Stickland Ktn (cross-checking) 11:56, Esposito Spo (tripping) 16:11, Bruton Spo Maxwell Ktn (roughing) Falk Spo Bauer Ktn (roughing) 17:01.


Second Period
1. Kootenay, Sylvester 3 (Greenan, Bailey) 1:08 (pp)
2. Spokane, Bowman 4 (Wahl, Cowen) 2:28
3. Spokane, Falk 1 (Bowman, Bruton) 3:07 (pp)
4. Spokane, Bowman 5 (Cowan) 12:23 (pp)



Penalties -- Spurgeon Spo (elbowing) 0:13, Kurceba Ktn (tripping) 1:28, Stephens Ktn (holding) 7:18, Kurceba Ktn (unsportsmanlike conduct) 10:31, MacDonald Ktn (roughing) 16:22.


Third Period
5. Spokane, Compton 1 (Bruton) 17:53



Penalties -- Stickland Ktn (tripping) 0:15, Bauer Ktn (cross-checking) 5:56, King Ktn (tripping) 9:59, Compton Spo (roughing) 15:45, Koper Spo (tripping) 19:31.


Shots on goal by
Kootenay: 9 6 11 - 26
Spokane: 5 14 11 - 30

Goal -- Kootenay: Kris Lazaruk (L, 1-3); Spokane Spokane: Dustin Tokarski (W, 1-0)

Power Plays -- (goals-chances)
Kootenay: 1-4
Spokane: 2-9

Referee -- Cory McLean. Linesman -- Brad Yoshida, Cody Rude.

Attendance -- 3055 (4264)

Scratches --
Kootenay: Nathan Lieuwen (concussion - one week), Jordan Wilkins (healthy), Steve Da Silva (overage numbers).
Spokane: James Reid (healthy), Brett Bartman (healthy), David Rutherford (undisclosed injury).