A few weeks in review.

It's been a strange start for the Spokane Chiefs this 2009-2010 season. For starters, they actually have a captain. Last season, the decision was delayed... this season; the Chiefs have named a captain before home-opener night. Last season, the Chiefs had a Memorial Cup to defend... this season; they have an epic and disappointing end to playoffs last season with the Vancouver Giants to build from.

It appears that the only looming decision seems to be the dropping of an overager. Given that Dustin Donaghy and Brett Bartman have managed to stay healthy and are contributing and Jared Spurgeon is irreplaceable to the Chiefs defencive core... it looks like the possible man out here is [a still injured] Ryan Letts. We will defiantly keep a close eye on this because the loss of any of these 4 will leave some fans out of sorts.

On a strong positive note, the Chiefs have named 2009 first round (9th overall) draft pick of the Ottawa Senators, Jared Cowen, as captain. Seen as a surprising move in naming an 18 year-old (who missed half of last season due to injury) as captain but I believe it is well deserved. He has the work ethic and attitude to inspire just about anyone. Cowen has already shown us how far he's willing to go to inspire his team to win... We'll get to that in a second.

26 September 2009 - Third game of the season brought about opening night at the Spokane Arena against rivals the Tri City Americans. The night was primed to be bizarre and did not fail to disappoint. It was the debut of former Silvertips standout Kyle Beach in Chiefs land. Beach was welcomed during the opening ceremony with a mixture of claps, confused stares and BOOs. It appeared as if the management arranged the opening introductions to brush over the response because "Spokane's Own" Tyler Johnson was welcomed next. The home-town boy really gets the fans excited about hockey. Like most games early in the season, the game showcased the strengths and weakness of both teams. Beach started out the night with a penalty less than fifty seconds into the 1st period and earned a chorus of heckles but he worked to make up for it the rest of the game. Scoring goals helps win fans here and he did just that.

The biggest surprise of the night was the developing chemistry of the Mitch Wahl-Levko Koper-Kyle Beach line. Crisp passes and phenomenal speed... when this line has some more ice time under their belts they will be very dangerous. Goals for the night included M. Wahl (1), K. Beach (2), J. Cowen (1) and B. Bartman (1). The Chiefs managed a convincing 5-2 win over the Americans in front of a very (now) pro-Beach crowd of 9,504.

2 October 2009 - After a week off, the Chiefs welcomed the Portland Winterhawks into the Arena, along with more surprises. With newly re-acquired Curtis Mucha in tow, the fans already had their Mucha taunts prepared. To the surprise of several, the Winterhawks started Ian Curtis in net. I've watched Curtis several times during the preseason and he never fails to impress; I'm a fan. The people of Spokane learned one thing this night; the Portland Winterhawks are not messing around this season. They are huge up front, tough down low and can score goals from just about anywhere. Portland's' Nino Niederreiter was always in position and showed us just what he's all about this season; scoring goals. The buzz through the stands most of the night was about how good Portland is looking. The first part of the game, the Chiefs seemed to be just watching the Hawks... so were the fans.

Portland had a 4-1 lead halfway through the 2nd period. The Chiefs defence was crumbling and the only thing keeping them in the game was save-after-save from starting netminder James Reid. The Chiefs second period inspiration came from a surprising source. Defenceman and captain Jared Cowen stepped out onto the ice as a forward for one shift and made it his mission to inspire every single person on his team and in the arena. He chased the puck down low, made two HUGE checks and was confronted by Tayler Jordan at the blue line. Instead of backing down, they threw punches for at least twenty seconds before they were separated by the referees. Cowen immediately turned to his bench, lifted his arms to his team in a "COME ON!" motion then motioned the same to the crowd. Less than three minutes later, Kyle Beach found the back of the net. Even though the Chiefs dropped the game versus Portland 5-3, we learned a valuable tidbit of information; Jared Cowen is a captain who will do whatever it takes to inspire his team. It works. Don't you forget who Jared Cowen is, Ottawa.

3 October 2009 - The next night saw the Chiefs deep in enemy territory for an away game with the Tri City Americans. The Americans were coming off a crushing shutout handed to them by (Americans former goaltender Chet Pickard's little brother) Calvin Pickard and the Seattle Thunderbirds. All the weird bounces that hadn't worked the night before for the Americans, found the back of the net this night. Both teams showed up to play but it was the Americans' speed and ability to outmanoeuvre a lagging defence that won them this game. The Chiefs looked sluggish and disorganized and the Americans took full advantage. The only bright spot in this night for the Chiefs was developing super-star Levko Koper's 2 goals. The Chiefs dropped their second game in a row with a final score of 6-2.

I think the only thing we've learned so far this in this season is that the U.S. Division of the 2009-2010 WHL season is wide open. It's been a strange few weeks in Chiefs land. This weekend the Chiefs look to rebound from a fluky weekend by taking on the Prince Albert Raiders and the Seattle Thunderbirds at the Arena before preparing for a split-destination back-to-back set with the Kootenay Ice the following weekend.

Until next time... Go Chiefs Go.