Spokane Chiefs hope late-season resurgence carries over into first-round matchup against Prince George | WHL hockey
Mar. 26—As recently as Feb. 6, when they allowed the last-place Vancouver Giants to snap an eight-game losing streak, the Spokane Chiefs were on the outside of the playoff picture looking in.
But after an ultimately successful run of 11 games against teams in the bottom half of the Western Conference, the Chiefs finished in sixth with 74 points, one point behind fifth-place Kamloops. That earned them a first-round matchup against third-place Prince George, a team 16 points ahead of them in the standings. And the Cougars had the Chiefs' number this season, with two consecutive wins in Spokane in October and back-to-back home wins in early March.
PG outscored the Chiefs 16-8 in the four games. But a six-game win streak from Feb. 15-28 kick-started a change in momentum for the Chiefs, giving them renewed optimism for their first-round series, which starts with two games in Prince George on Friday and Saturday.
The series shifts to the Arena on Monday and Wednesday for Games 3 and 4. Game 5, if necessary, will be at the Arena on Thursday. "With this group this year, we've had a lot of adversity.
I think that's a good thing for a group to go through," Chiefs coach Brad Lauer said earlier this week. "Our expectations this year were extremely high for us and I don't think we got off to the right start. But it's good to see and watch your team go through situations, and watch them figure it out and understand the importance of it and come out on the other side.
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