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LifelongChiefsFan
03-22-2007, 01:37 PM
Spokane Chiefs look toward playoffs to put mark on improved season

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/tools/story_pf.asp?ID=180541


Jeff Bunch
Staff writer
March 22, 2007

As spring returned this week, hope was in the air of the Spokane Chiefs' offices. Owner Bobby Brett and general manager Tim Speltz are feeling a rebirth of the franchise that spent most of its recent history in the cellar of the U.S. Division. But they're clear the journey isn't over.

"You're never all the way where you want to be, unless you're winning the Memorial Cup every year and I don't know many people that have done that," said Brett. "Right now, I'm pretty encouraged. We've had a good turnaround year and we play in a very, very difficult division."

Brett and Speltz are familiar with both the highs and lows of major junior hockey. The Chiefs won the Memorial Cup in 1991, and hosted it in 1998, but haven't come close since.

"It's a cyclical business," Speltz said Tuesday. "I think when you look at it and if you're honest with yourself … things are never quite as good when you're winning and they're probably not as bad as they seem when you're losing."

This season's fourth-place finish is illustrative. It earned the Chiefs their first playoff appearance in three seasons, an improvement which may seem marginal on its face.

It's true Spokane moved up just one place in the standings (ahead of miserable Portland), but the team improved markedly from back-to-back 58-point seasons to finish with 80 points.

In the history of the U.S. Division (and the former West Division) that number has often been good enough for second place. It turns out other teams have raised the bar higher for the Chiefs.

"We're happy, compared to what we've been the last two years," Brett said. "It's a process and I think if we look at our team, we have a pretty strong team. … Put us in another division and we might have won the division over there."

Everett, Spokane's first-round opponent, is the top-ranked team in the Western Hockey League and has been a force in the U.S. Division every year of its newborn existence. Tri-City has ridden Canadian national junior team goalie Carey Price for seemingly forever and has been bold on the trade front. Seattle and Portland have built more from their farm systems and are competitive in most years.


Spokane has retooled its protected-player list in an effort to adapt to a changing WHL game – one that values a combination of size, speed and skill – while trying not to lose its leadership core.

"We look at our team – I think we're a pretty balanced team," said Brett. "It's not like we're an old team. We've got good young players. We have some good old players. So, I think it's been a good turnaround. Are we satisfied? No. But when I look at some of the young players we have, and how they've performed and matured, I think there's still better days to come."

Spokane is still somewhere between the bottom of its mountain and the lofty peak it wants to reach again, but it's certainly progress.

The Chiefs were quite a mess two years ago. The coach was suffering through another lost season and the fans were publicly requesting for Speltz to step aside and for Brett to do something.

Brett listened and promised things would change while affirming his support of Speltz. The changes took time and came in a manner that went beyond the players.

Coach Al Conroy was soon fired and Peters – a former assistant under revered coach Mike Babcock – was brought in to bring back "Chiefs hockey." Chris Moulton was then hired to become Spokane's director of player personnel, coming over as a front-office assistant from talent-laden Calgary of the WHL.

The hiring of Peters has proven to be one of the more significant moves. He was a known commodity to the Chiefs from his time as an assistant, but had little success as a Canadian collegiate head coach. Spokane has gradually improved over the past two seasons under Peters – including this season with former pro minor league head coach Steve Pleau as an assistant.

"We knew Bill wasn't a finished product when he was hired, yet for me Bill is still a coach who is keen and eager to learn," said Speltz. "… When you look at a team at the end of the year, I think a coach is always measured by: Did he get the most out of his players? And I think, for the most part, we did a good job of that. … I think he's getting better and improving in front of us, right in front of our eyes."

Peters' team had to overcome some long-term injuries to stars such as Adam Hobson and Michael Grabner, so this year's 80-point total wasn't a special one in the history of the franchise.

Spokane's average finish since 1985-86 has been just less than 78 points. It's nowhere near the best seasons of the 1990s: 97 points and Memorial Cup champs in 1990-91 under Babcock; 104 points and West Division champs in '95-96; 100 points and West Division champs in 1999-2000.

The glory days don't appear to be back in Spokane quite yet, but it's a step up from the basement. Brett refuses to concede big things still aren't possible.

"The glory days? You don't know, maybe we're going to be in the glory days this year," he said. "The glory days are always revolved around the playoffs and, no different from the NHL, a team can catch fire in the playoffs or a first-place team can get upset."

It wouldn't be unprecedented for the Chiefs' franchise.

During the 1996 playoffs, Spokane rallied from a 3-0 series deficit against Portland to tie things and force a Game 7 in Spokane. That game sold out in three hours the next day. The next two home games also sold out as the four games of the next series averaged more than 10,000 while the bandwagon got full.

Playoff ticket sales this week have been steady, based in large part on what this year's Chiefs have done – so far.

"We're very encouraged by the performance of our team this year, but the final chapter of the Spokane Chiefs for the season will be what we do in the playoffs. … Hopefully, we have a few more chapters left to write."

Brett and Speltz won't judge this season solely by the outcome of the upcoming playoff run, however long it goes, but it will be a key indicator.

"We've had a much-improved regular season to this point," Speltz said. "I think the playoffs will dictate … Have we come further than we think? Do we have a little further to go than we think?"

Those things become clearer at year-end from a broader perspective of recent history.

"Sometimes you know that margin for error – and that difference between being successful – can be very, very slight," Speltz said. "I think when we looked at the big picture of things, we thought we were close (the past year). … Personnel-wise, we didn't think we were at the top of the league, but we didn't think we were at the bottom either."

Now the team finds itself back in the playoffs and hoping to avoid a four-game sweep like the one Everett accomplished against Spokane in 2004. Brett and Speltz cite the team's success against Everett in this year's eight regular-season games (four wins for each team) as a reason for optimism.

"You go into it and you've got to take one day at a time and see where you're at," Brett said. "… I think you need to get through that, rather than speculate on 'what if.' … If we swept them, we'd be very happy."