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WHL Playoffs: Chiefs vs. Americans, Round One

By Melissa Kania

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Four wins and five points separate the Spokane Chiefs and the Tri-City Americans as the teams head into round one of the WHL playoffs, where they’ll face each other in a series beginning March 22.

• Series begins Friday, March 22 at 7:05 PM MDT in Spokane.

Spokane Chiefs (44-26-2-0, 90 points — 269 GF, 230 GA)

  • Top Scorer: Brenden Kichton (D), 22G, 63A, 85 points
  • Other players to watch on the Chiefs include right winger Mitch Holmberg, who had 80 points (39-41) in 66 regular season games this season, and left winger Todd Fiddler, who led the Chiefs with 42 goals.
  • Kichton and Holmberg combined for 22 power play goals this season, while Fiddler led the team with four shorthanded tallies.
  • Kichton was the top-scoring defenseman in the WHL this season.
  • Spokane won five of its last six games of the regular season. The Chiefs defeated Everett, Kootenay, Prince George and Tri-City (twice) before dropping the final game, 6-1, to Portland.

Tri-City Americans (40-27-2-3, 85 points — 246 GF, 227 GA)

  • Top Scorer: Justin Feser (C), 44G, 62A, 106 points
  • Right winger Malte Strömwall had 66 points (21-45) in 66 regular season games with the Americans this season, while center Connor Rankin had 58 points in 71 games.
  • Rookie Parker Bowles had 44 points (21-23) in 71 games during his first WHL campaign. Feser led the team with 13 power play goals and four shorthanded goals on the season.
  • Left winger Jesse Mychan led the team with 111 penalty minutes during the regular season.
  • Spokane won two of its last three games, defeating Tri-City 5-0 and 3-2 (overtime) before dropping the final game of the season, a 7-5 decision, to Everett on March 17.

The Season Series

Spokane won seven of 12 meetings between the teams this season, including the first three games against the Americans. Highlights of the season series include a 6-0 victory by Tri-City on February 16 and a 6-0 victory by Spokane on March 15.

SCHEDULE

Game #1: Fri Mar 22 7:05 PM Tri-City at Spokane

Game #2: Sat Mar 23 7:05 PM Tri-City at Spokane

Game #3: Tue Mar 26 7:05 PM Spokane at Tri-City

Game #4: Thu Mar 28 7:05 PM Spokane at Tri-City

Game #5: Sat Mar 30 7:05 PM Spokane at Tri-City * if necessary

Game #6: Tues Apr 2 7:05 PM Tri-City at Spokane * if necessary

Game #7: Wed Apr 3 7:05 PM Tri- City at Spokane * if necessary

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