MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com - Kitchener, Ontario -- Only two years ago, the Spokane Chiefs were selecting first overall at the 2006 WHL Bantam Draft. While the opportunity to pick first overall is a good thing – the team selected defenseman Jared Cowen with the pick – it also means they endured a less than desirable season and missed the 2006 WHL playoffs.
In fact, the Chiefs’ 25-39-5-3 record and 58 points tied them for the worst regular-season mark in the WHL during the 2005-06 campaign.
Two years later, the Chiefs were selecting 21st in the opening round of the 2 008 Bantam Draft – the second-last pick of the round. However, they were also hoisting the Ed Chynoweth Cup as the WHL Champions after their best regular-season campaign in franchise history.
“It’s very satisfying,” said Chiefs’ head coach Bill Peters, who took over the team’s head coaching job prior to the 2006-07 season, and who is preparing his team for their first MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament since Spokane hosted the 1998 tournament.
“We’ve seen improvement throughout our line-up that has enabled us to be a very good team and get better and better as we went on,” said Peters. “I take great satisfaction that our 20-year-old guys all had career years, and the development of our 17-year-old group.
“When you see the individual improvements in all your players from day to day, you will see the improvement in the team as a whole, and that’s exactly what we’ve seen here, 221; added the second-year Chiefs’ bench boss.
After missing the playoffs in both 2004-05 and 2005-06, the Chiefs took a big step forward last season when they put together a 36-28-4-4 record and earned a playoff berth in the tough U.S. Division. Although they lost their first-round series to the powerhouse Everett Silvertips, the experience was a big stepping stone as they made their climb from being a good team to being the great team that won the 2008 WHL Championship with a 4-0 sweep of the Letbhridge Hurricanes in the Championship series.
20-year-old veteran forward Chris Bruton has been with the Chiefs since coming to the WHL as a 17-year-old in 2004-05. The 5’11, 190-lb center was there during the rough times of 2004-05 and 05-06, saw the team’s steady improvement in 2006-07, and was a driving for ce behind the juggernaut Chiefs’ team that posted 50 victories and 107 regular-season points in 2007-08.
“You can’t have the good without the bad, and I truly realize and understand that, now,” said Bruton, the Chiefs’ team captain and, along with fellow forward Seth Compton, their longest-serving current player.
“We had some really tough times early in my time here, and now we’ve had the chance to do what we all are here to do, which is winning a WHL Championship,” he said.
Bruton remembers the struggles the Chiefs had in his first two seasons. Now in his final year of WHL hockey, the Calgary, AB, product is enjoying the time of his life playing for a winning team.
“Having a winning team…there’s nothing more fun than that,” said Bruton. “When everything is going well for the team, you feel like you’re doing well, too, and things come easier for you.
“This year, with the season we had and the way we ended with the WHL title is just an unbelievable feeling,” he said.
Having hoisted the Ed Chynoweth Cup as the 2008 WHL Champions, the Chiefs still have their eyes on another prize – the storied Memorial Cup trophy.
With the 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament set to begin on Friday, May 16th, in Kitchener, ONT, the Chiefs are preparing themselves for yet another big test.
Joining the Chiefs at the tournament are the tournament host and OHL Champion Kitchener Rangers, the OHL Runners-up Belleville Bulls and the QMJHL Champion Gatineau Olympiques. The Chiefs may not have faced any of their three opponents before, but they do know that all three are going to provide some of the toughest opposition they’ve faced yet this season.
“We&# 8217;ve seen all three teams – we’ve watched DVDs of them – and you know that they will be elite teams, because you don’t get to the Memorial Cup tournament without being an elite team,” said Chiefs’ head coach Peters about their Memorial Cup competition.
“We had a good week of practice, and the guys have continued to show that emotion and excitement and intensity, so we’re going to be ready for what awaits us when we get to Kitchener,” he added.
Bruton also knows the Chiefs will be in for a strong test at the tournament. In such a short tournament, Bruton knows that they’ll need to be focused and ready from the drop of the puck, because even one loss can throw a wrench into a team’s plans to win the CHL’s Championship trophy. He is also confident that the Chiefs can be successful if they simply focus on their own game plan.
“We have to be ready early, because every game will b e so important with the tournament format they have,” he said. “We need to establish our game and worry about ourselves, we need to play physical, and use the depth we have.
“If we’re ready to go, we can feel out a team and understand what they’re about, and then let our game speak for itself,” added Bruton.
If you like the daily news of the Raw Feed, SUBSCRIBE TODAY to the nation's only alternative professional sports magazine, SZ, with original features and great action photography in baseball, hockey, basketball, and football. Just $11.99 per year for an e-zine like youʼve never seen!