The Spokane Chiefs, with no NHL draft picks on the roster, and the Victoria Royals, with nothing higher than a third-rounder, have put balance and depth back into vogue in the Western Hockey League.
The third-seed Royals lead the sixth-seed Chiefs 2-0 in the best-of-seven opening-round Western Conference playoff series with Games 3 and 4 tonight and Thursday in Spokane. If needed, Game 5 would be Saturday night at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
The series has been intense and tight with the Royals winning 2-1 and 4-3 last weekend at the Memorial Centre, both in overtime.
Even with teams so balanced, there is a talent hierarchy among the players.
Two-time Memorial Cup-champion Spokane general manager Tim Speltz, in his 24th season as GM of the Chiefs, wants to see it emerge. And he needs to see it right now. He knows the odds against coming back from a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs are steep.
The Royals have done a good job of holding WHL regular-season goals and points-scoring champion Mitch Holmberg to no points and high-scoring Mike Aviani to just an assist in the first two games.
“We’ve got some players who have not shown up,” said Speltz, following Sunday’s second game.
“We’ve got to get guys into playoff mode — quick.”
A chess match will be the key to the two games in Spokane. The Chiefs now get the last line change, meaning they can finally find ways to free Holmberg and Aviani from the suffocating clutches of the Royals’ checking duo of Logan Fisher and Taylor Crunk.
The 10,366-seat Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena has been reconfigured from last weekend’s NCAA West Regional basketball tournament bracket into hockey mode. That includes an unusual bench configuration that makes it even harder for opposing WHL teams to match lines with the Chiefs, especially when the face-off is in the offensive zone for Spokane. In most rinks, the home team bench is located nearest the end in which the home team defends the first and third periods. That is flipped in Spokane.
“They get last change in Spokane and that’s going to be very important. It will affect how we try to match lines,” said Victoria forward Ben Walker, one of the stars of the series to date.
“We have to bear down. The Chiefs are a hard team to play against … we squeaked a couple out in OT at home.”
The big question is just how long can 20-year-old veterans with high-end scoring skills — Holmberg and Aviani — be held down?
“We’ve been lucky so far to hold them at bay. We have to keep keying on them,” said Royals blue-liner and captain Jordan Fransoo, also a 20-year-old.
“But now it shifts to their arena. It’s a crazy building with lively fans.”
And don’t expect this series’ aggressive play, bordering on chippiness, to be toned down. It is likely to be amplified with the change of venue and the home side desperate to climb back into the series.
But mindless penalties could end up being costly to either side.
“We don’t want to play after whistles [be goaded into retaliation penalties],” warned Walker.
ICE CHIPS: While WHL playoff teams continue to wage war on the ice in the first round, non-playoff teams are cleaning house. The Saskatoon Blades parted ways Tuesday with both GM Lorne Molleken and head coach Dave Struch.
