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HAF
09-17-2007, 10:38 PM
from the Chiefs website:

BRUTON NAMED CAPTAIN
9/17/2007




The Spokane Chiefs have named 20-year-old forward Chris Bruton Captain for the 2007-08 season.

“For me, Chris was an obvious choice,” Head Coach Bill Peters said. “He is a player who puts the team’s goal first, ahead of his own personal goals. He wears his heart on his sleeve and has the respect of the coaching staff and dressing room”

Nineteen-year-olds Justin Falk and Seth Compton were also named Alternate Captains with 18-year-olds Drayson Bowman and Jared Spurgeon sharing an Alternate Captain role through the year.

Bruton is entering his fourth season in Spokane having played more WHL games (191) than any other current Chief. The Calgary native has scored 32 career goals, 75 career points and has registered 269 penalty minutes.

“I’ve always dreamt of being the Captain of the Spokane Chiefs and finish my career here. Now, it’s a reality and I’m excited about the responsibility,” said the former eighth round bantam draft pick in 2002.

“He understands what we need to do to be successful; we need contributions from our young guys and need to come together as a team quickly. We have established a competitive environment here and he enjoys that. He wants to come out and have his best season of his career team wise and personally.” Peters said.

Last season Falk, a 6’5” defenseman, led the Chiefs in total plus-minus with a +11 and recorded 15 points and 88 penalty minutes.

“Justin is a guy who continues to improve all the time for us. He had a breakthrough season last year and has earned this opportunity. He will log a lot of minutes on the back end for us. He is level headed and very intelligent and is someone who is committed to getting better all the time,” Peters said.

Falk was selected by the Minnesota Wild in the fourth round of this summer’s NHL Entry Draft.

Compton has played in 155 games over the past three seasons for Spokane and set career highs in goals (8), assists (9) and points (17) last season before a leg injury cut his year short.

Peters knows that Compton’s most important contributions won’t show up on the stat sheet, “Seth epitomizes what we’re all about with his work ethic and getting his nose dirty. He appreciates and understands what it takes to be successful. We really missed him down the stretch last year when he got injured. He leads by example in the weight room and on the ice.”

Both Bowman and Spurgeon were selected in the 2004 Bantam Draft, the latter in the first round and the former in the 10th.

‘With Jared and Drayson, they’re both going into their third full season with us and have been around long enough to understand how we function and what we expect. They’re a great bridge from the coaching staff to the young players,” Peters said.

“Everyone is held to a high standard, but for our captains, even a higher standard. They have to walk the talk and have to be our most committed guys,” Peters said.

“My responsibility is to help this team gel the right way and that they’re excited and happy to be here. I want to help keep guys in line and that everything is happening the right way,” Bruton finished.

The Chiefs will open the regular season on Friday night in Prince George at 7:00. Mike Boyle will go on the air with Comcast Hockey Tonight at 6:30 on KJRB 790 the Fan. The game will be the first of two on the weekend against the Cougars on back-to-back nights. In total, Spokane will play five road games before opening the home portion of the schedule on Saturday, October 6th against the Tri-City Americans. Opening night is presented by Bud Light and will feature a Magnet Schedule Giveaway presented by The Black Book by Hagadone Directories.

Tickets for all home games are available by calling the Chiefs office at (509) 535-PUCK or TicketsWest at (800) 325-SEAT.

LifelongChiefsFan
09-18-2007, 01:47 AM
I was glad to see they gave Bruton the "C." He's been one of the hardest working Chiefs over the years.

Here's a link to a short interview with Bruton: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkR8oVjGvh4