Road to the Memorial Cup

[Felony]

Saturday-May 17, 2008


They may be playing far away from home, but for the Spokane Chiefs, this is pretty familiar territory.

The Chiefs played seven overtime games on their way to winning the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions and on Saturday they took advantage of an extra period effort to claim their first win the 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup.

Levko Koper spent most of the Chiefs opening game of the MasterCard Memorial Cup providing Spokane style stingy defense against the top line of the Belleville Bulls but it was his goal at 4:46 that made him a hero and gave Spokane a 5-4 win in their first game of the tournament.

Drayson Bowman had a hat-trick, including a goal that sent the game into overtime with less than three minutes remaining, and an assist to earn the game’s first star award.

“They did a great job against the (Shawn) Matthias line and it was icing on the cake to get the game winner,” Chiefs Head Coach Bill Peters said about the Koper, Tyler Johnson and Justin McCrae line.

“Spurgeon took a shot from the point and the puck rebounded to McCrae and it bounced back out to me and I buried it,” the Chiefs 17-year-old forward succinctly summarized.

Matthias, a world junior performer for Team Canada, had 32 goals and 79 points in 53 games this season, was held to one power play goal on the night.

The Chiefs and Kitchener Rangers, both 1-0 after overtime victories, will face off on Sunday afternoon at 1:30 pacific time to see who will take a strangle hold on the round robin portion of the tournament. Mike Boyle will go on the air at 1:00 with Comcast Hockey Tonight on 1510 KGA and Comcast Channel 78 will air the game live.

Before Koper and company crashed the party, it was the Bowman, Mitch Wahl and Chris Bruton line that helped Spokane take early command. Bowman’s first was helped by Bruton at 9:52 as the 20-year-old captain sent a breakout feed at the Belleville blueline to the Chiefs regular season leading scorer. With little room to move between the circles, Bowman shifted to the backhand and tallied the Chiefs first goal of the Memorial Cup tournament.

A Bull turnover landed on the stick of Wahl at 12:12 and he went top shelf with a backhand for a 2-0 lead.

George Burnett, the head coach of the Belleville Bulls credited his team with “at least 11 to 12 turnovers in the first period” which led to the big Chiefs lead through one.

Bowman’s second of the period came at 17:05 when Bruton’s initial shot was stopped and the 18-year-old jumped on top of it and slammed it home.

“I thought we worked a little harder in the second and created some turnovers of our own,” Burnett said.

Belleville fought back with three in the second, including their first of the game at 2:27 by Bryan Cameron. Shawn Matthias brought the Bulls within one at 13:56 with a power play goal coming off the right wall. The goal came on the game’s first penalty 12:31 into the period. Belleville knotted it at 19:03 of the second.

The Bulls took their first lead of the game with their fourth unanswered goal at 7:35 of the third by Cory Tanaka. Adam Perry fed the puck from the right circle across the puck to the waiting Tanaka, who earned his second of the night.

“We have to do a better job with the puck,” Peters said about the breakdowns in the Spokane zone. “You have to make quick plays and better decisions this time of year.”

“It was very similar to game three of the WHL Finals with Lethbridge, we’re down one and the game is clicking away,” Peters said. “I think we’re a mature group and can handle situations like that.”

Bowman evened it up with less than three minutes remaining by picking up a loose puck from out in front of the net and snapping it home. It was a Bruton shot that was stopped by Mike Murphy that allowed Bowman to get what would be his fourth hat trick of the season, the first in the playoffs.

“The goal that tied it up was an uncharacteristic one for us to give up,” Bulls Head Coach George Burnett said about the scramble in front of the Belleville net. Spokane outshot the Bulls 54-36 on the night giving Murphy 49 saves. Dustin Tokarski had 31 stops for his first career Memorial Cup win.

Peters erred on the side of optimism when it came to allowing Belleville back into the game when the Chiefs had a three goal lead through 20 minutes, “We gave it up but it doesn’t cost us in the end, I’m going to look at it that way,” he smirked.

The Chiefs (1-0) are right back in action on Sunday against the host Kitchener Rangers (1-0) (4:30 p.m. Eastern on Comcast channel 78), who won the tournament opener on Friday, while the Bulls (0-1) are off until Monday when they face the Gatineau Olympiques (0-1).

[Felony]

VIDEO VAULT

KITCHENER, Sunday, May 18, 2008 – Dustin Tokarski out dueled Josh Unice, making 36 saves in a goaltending gem to help the Spokane Chiefs win it 2-1 over the Kitchener Rangers and remain undefeated at the 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup Tournament.

The Spokane Chiefs moved to 2-0 in the MasterCard Memorial Cup with a 2-1 win over the host Kitchener Rangers on Sunday night as Dustin Tokarski made 36 saves and Drayson Bowman scored his fourth goal in two games.

Kitchener dropped to 1-1 and gives three teams in the four team tournament with one loss. Belleville lost to Spokane on Saturday night and the Rangers defefated the Gatineau Olympiques in the opener on Friday night. A win by Belleville in tomorrow night’s round robin game will give the Chiefs a spot in the Memorial Cup final on Sunday, May 25th.

“I’m rooting for who tomorrow…Belleville,” Chiefs head coach Bill Peters joked.

The Rangers scored first, just 4:21 into the game, while skating on their first power play of the night. A Chiefs shot from the point was deflected out into the neutral zone and Matt Halischuk won the race to the puck. His wrist shot beat Chiefs starter Dustin Tokarski to the stick side and gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead.

It was the only goal the Rangers would get for the rest of the night, “The advance scouting report we had on them was that hey can smother you and that is what happened tonight,” Kitchener bench boss Peter DeBoer said. “You’re not going to win many games this time of year scoring one goal.”

Spokane tied it up with an innocent flip from the blue line as Chiefs defenseman Justin Falk fluttered past Josh Unice and into the cage for the 19-year-olds first goal of the tournament. Spokane outshot the Rangers 18-10 through one.

The lone goal of the second was Bowman’s fourth of the tournament and came off a drop pass by Mitch Wahl. The 17-year-old drew the defense into the slot and left it for Bowman who had nothing but time and space to snap it past Unice at 5:24 of the period.

A pair of hooking calls, one by Stefan Ulmer at 18:46 and another by Falk at the buzzer put the Chiefs down two men to start the final period but Spokane was able to kill 1:14 of five-on-three hockey and the remainder of the penalty on the back half. “We just had to stay smart,” Jared Spurgeon said. “We stayed in our triangle and kept it simple.”

“They did a great job, as they always do, and kept shots to the outside,” Tokarski said.

“That was a bit more like Chiefs hockey,” the goaltender said as he compared Saturday’s 5-4 overtime track meet to tonight’s low scoring game. “We’re more of a systematic team and don’t like the run and gun. We buckled down tonight and played well defensively.”

“I think our team game will get better as the tourney goes along,” Peters said. “And there is room to improve.”

Spokane will watch Monday’s game before they play their final game of the round robin on Tuesday night against the Olympiques. As of now, the Chiefs have guaranteed at least a spot in the semi-final game on Friday night.

[Felony]

May 20, 2008
Kitchener, ON – The Spokane Chiefs wrapped up their round-robin schedule at the 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament with a perfect 3-0 record after defeating the Gatineau Olympiques 3-1 on Tuesday, May 20th, in Kitchener, ON.

It was easy to assume that Tuesday’s game at the MasterCard Memorial Cup was meaningless to the Spokane Chiefs. After starting the tournament with wins over the Kitchener Rangers and Belleville Bulls, the Western Hockey League champions had already clinched a berth in Sunday’s final game and could have mailed in an easy effort in their final round robin game against the winless Gatineau Olympiques.

But Chiefs’ coach Bill Peters said that there wasn’t one person in the Chiefs’ dressing room that would have accepted anything less than their best effort.

“Our players are competitive by nature and I think that’s why we’re a good hockey team,” Peters said. “It comes out intrinsically. I don’t have to get that out of them every night. If they’re going to play, they want to win. It’s the most competitive group I’ve been around in sports. I knew there wasn’t going to be a problem getting the juices flowing.”

Mitch Wahl scored the game-winning goal and added an assist while Drayson Bowman notched his tournament-leading 5th goal for the Chiefs as they win their third straight game at the tournament, and stretch their post-season winning streak to eight games going back to Game 7 of the 2008 WHL Kal Tire Western Conference Championship series versus Tri-City.

With the defeat to the Chiefs, the QMJHL Champion Olympiques fall to 0-3 at the MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament, and see their Championship aspirations come to an end.

Alexandre Quesnel opened the scoring for the Olympiques with a power play marker 15:57 into the first period, as he redirected a point shot that eluded Chiefs’ netminder Dustin Tokarski.

The Chiefs piled on the pressure in the second period, outshooting the Olympiques 18-7, and were rewarded with a pair of goals.

Bowman stepped into a slap shot on the power play from the top of the right circle and blew it past Ryan Mior, the Gatineau starting netminder, at 5:20 of the period, for his fifth goal and seventh point of the tournament, a prototypical Bowman goal.

“It was a great feed by (Chris) Bruton and that’s how we’ve been doing it all year, no reason to change to this point,” Bowman said.

Wahl put the Chiefs ahead with just under three minutes remaining in the second period. After defenseman Trevor Glass kept the puck in at the Olympiques’ blue line, Wahl scored his second goal of the tournament at 16:09 for the eventual game winner by carrying the puck across the slot, delaying, and snapping it against the grain that beat Mior to the blocker side.

Levko Koper sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 35-seconds remaining - his second goal of the tournament.

Tokarski was solid in goal for the Chiefs, stopping 26 of 27 shots in the contest for his third win of the tournament. 20-year-old Mior made 40 saves in what turned out to be his last game in the QMJHL as the Chiefs outshot the Olympique 43-27, continuing an impressive defensive effort that began on Sunday in a 2-1 win against Kitchener.

“Defensively we have been solid all year and our team realizes that the better we are defensively the more we have the puck,” Peters said.

The Chiefs will try and become the second straight WHL team to win the Memorial Cup when they play in the MasterCard Memorial Cup final on Sunday, May 25th. The Vancouver Giants won the 2007 MasterCard Memorial Cup on home ice as the tournament host.

The Chiefs’ opponent in the Championship game will be either the tournament host and OHL Champion Kitchener Rangers (1-1) or the OHL Runners-up Belleville Bulls. The Chiefs already defeated both teams in round-robin play with a 5-4 overtime victory over the Bulls on Saturday and a 2-1 win over the Rangers on Sunday.

Spokane will have the benefit of watching Kitchener and Belleville play a pair of games, Wednesday in the round robin finale and in Friday’s semi-final, before facing one of them on Sunday.

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"FREEDOM IS NOT A CONCEPT, ITS A WAY OF LIFE"

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13-19 JULY
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[Felony]

May 23, 2008

Justin Azevedo just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

No, the Kitchener Rangers’ star centre hasn’t grown any during the past three weeks, but his game has.

Azevedo, who was the OHL’s player of the year this season, has raised his level of play throughout the OHL playoffs and on Friday he may have turned in the best performance of his junior career.

Azevedo scored three goals and two assists to lead the Rangers to a 9-0 whitewash over the Belleville Bulls in the semi-final game of the MasterCard Memorial Cup.
The win gives the Rangers a berth in Sunday’s championship game against the Spokane Chiefs.

It may have been the Rangers most dominant performance of the season and it was the most lop-sided semi-final win in the history of the tournament.

“I think we did everything right today,” said Azevedo, who was a team-best plus-six in the game and took over the scoring lead in the tournament. “We established our forecheck early and we kept it up throughout the whole game. When we do that we’re usually pretty successful. It was an all-around solid game.”

Azevedo said that his line with wingers Nick Spaling and Matt Halischuk knew that they needed to take control of the game, especially after squandering a 3-0 lead and losing in overtime to the Bulls’ in the round robin finale on Wednesday.

“It was a huge game for me,” Azevedo said. “I knew I had to step up and play a big role. My linemates were outstanding tonight too. We all battled hard and we deserved that game today.”

Azevedo has already had some outstanding performances. He was the top scorer in the OHL playoffs and scored the overtime winner for the Rangers in the opening game against the Gatineau Olympiques.

“He’s an amazing guy,” Rangers’ coach and GM Peter DeBoer said about the five-foot-eight, 180 pound pivot. “You see his size and as small as he looks on the ice, he’s even smaller when you see him off the ice. He just refuses to lose when it’s a big game. Whenever we needed a big goal, that whole line has stepped up tonight. They led the way in taking our team to a level that they needed to dispatch a real worthy opponent.”

Nazem Kadri got the Rangers rolling early with his first goal of the tournament 46 seconds into the game. Halischuk, Azevedo and Spaling all counted in the first period and Azevedo added two goals and Mike Duco scored in the second. Halischuk scored his second of the night early in the third and Scott Tregunna rounded out the scoring with a powerplay marker with 17 seconds left on the clock.

Halischuk and Spaling both finished the game with five points.

DeBoer said that it was an impressive performance for his club.

“Every time we faced adversity or elimination this year our guys found another level,” DeBoer said. “I think they did that again tonight. It’s an amazing group and I’m just happy and proud to stand behind that bench.”

DeBoer also tipped his hat to the Bulls, who rebounded from a 3-0 deficit in the OHL Championship Series to force a seventh game and rebounded after being down by three goals on Wednesday.

“This is a team that continuously over the past three weeks got off the mat and kept coming back at us,” DeBoer said. “I hope that they haven’t taken enough out of us over the past few weeks that we have enough for Sunday. It was as gutsy a performance by an opposing team as I’ve seen in a long time.”

For the Bulls, it was a disappointing end to one of their most memorable seasons in franchise history. They set regular season team records for wins and points and matched the 1999 squad that also reached the semi-finals of the Memorial Cup.

“It’s a tough way to finish,” said Bulls’ coach and GM George Burnett. “We didn’t have much left. We had an incredible run and are devastated on how things ended here tonight.”

It also marks the end of several players’ junior careers including captain Matt Beleskey, who recently signed with the Anaheim Ducks, and star centre Shawn Matthias. Beleskey said that it was difficult way to end a standout season.

“Well it wasn’t our best game, that’s for sure,” Beleskey said. “We haven’t come out strong all tournament and when you are playing the best team in the country, they’re not going to let you back in every game. Tonight they just shut that door. We didn’t come out strong and they did.”

The Rangers’ win sets up a rematch of their round robin match against the WHL champion Chiefs, who clamped down for a 2-1 win on Sunday. Azevedo said that his team will follow a similar game plan that they did against the Bulls.

“We’ve got to do exactly what we did tonight,” Azevedo said. “Last time we played them I think they outworked us. If we want to be successful, we’ve got to take it to teams. I think last game they brought it to us and we didn’t really do much about it.”

<center>

KITCHENER, Ontario –
In an encased display of various vintage hockey sweaters and memorabilia, Dustin Tokarski finally finds what he has been searching for.

“You see that?” the Spokane Chiefs goaltender asks, pointing to a photograph in the upper left corner of the exhibit.

Pictured are the winners of the 2006 TELUS Cup – Canada’s national midget hockey championship. Tokarski was in net when the Prince Albert Mintos won that year and he’s been on the hunt for a reminder of that at the Hockey Hall of Fame for some time now.

“If you look at No. 4 right there, and then look down, you can see my (goalie) pad, right there,” he says while pointing to a small gap of space behind one of his former teammates. “That’s awesome. I’m in the Hockey Hall of Fame.”

Soon all of the Chiefs could be.

If they win their final game of the season in Kitchener, Ontario, this Sunday they will bring home the Memorial Cup – the biggest prize in North American junior hockey. It’s a trophy that the 60 teams that make up the Canadian Hockey League – an umbrella group to the Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League – set their sights on each season when training camps open at the end of August.

The Chiefs went 3-0 in their round robin schedule – beating the Belleville Bulls and Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League and the Quebec league champion Gatineau Olympiques – in the process of earning an automatic berth into Sunday’s final.

But before business resumed with practice and preparation on Friday, the Chiefs were able to take in some of the area’s sights. On Thursday the Chiefs were bussed to Toronto (an hour outside of where they are staying in Kitchener), where their day began with lunch at the Wayne Gretzky Restaurant and a visit to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

“It is my second time here and I’m just reliving the moment,” 19-year-old defenseman Justin Falk said in the trophy room. “It was a dream to come here as a kid and looking at the Norris Trophy just makes you want it that much more.”

The team also took in a Toronto Blue Jays game against the Los Angeles Angels at the Rogers Centre on Thursday night.

The team wasn’t exactly incognito though. During the third inning, a cameraman came by and a minute later the Chiefs appeared on the 807-inch Jay’s Vision screen – which is considered to be the largest in Canada – and were announced to the approximately 22,000 fans as Memorial Cup finalists.

“It was fun,” said Chiefs forward David Rutherford, who was decked out with teammates Trevor Glass and Justin McCrae as self-proclaimed "super fans."

"A couple of us went all out and bought some hats and foam fingers."

"It was real fun," Rutherford added. "The whole day was awesome. It was one of the best days we ever had as Spokane Chiefs. We couldn’t have asked for anything more at this point of the week."



Trevor Glass (left), Justin McCrae (center) and David Rutherford of the Spokane Chiefs became Toronto Blue Jays fans on Thursday.</center>

<center>"FREEDOM IS NOT A CONCEPT, ITS A WAY OF LIFE"

SPOKANE VETERANS ADMINISTRATION MEDICAL CENTER
to Co-Host 2009 National Veterans Wheelchair Games
13-19 JULY
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[Felony]

May 25, 2008

Captain Chris Bruton will play in his final game as a Chief today.

KITCHENER, Ontario – The moment isn't lost on Chris Bruton, but if it has truly hit the Chiefs captain that tonight he will suit up for his final shift in a Spokane sweater, he isn't letting on.

That makes perfect sense. Bruton will have ample time to look back and reflect on the ups and downs of a memorable four-year career in the Western Hockey League later.

Today it's business.

Today Bruton will lace his skates and put on his No. 12 jersey for the 289th time.

In a country where hockey is religion and in a town where the home team is today's enemy on the ice, Bruton and the Chiefs will try and win one more hockey game – and not just any game.

If they can come up with their second victory this week over the Kitchener Rangers and their 70th of the season, the Chiefs will be Memorial Cup champions for the first time in 17 years and just the second time in franchise history.

"It's very rare and it means a lot," Bruton said. "The organization has stuck by me and I've given a lot back to them, so it's worked out really well. I've fallen in love with Spokane, I've loved every minute of it – it's been the best way for my career to have gone and now it's a pretty good success story when we're here at the Memorial Cup

"I guess for any guy that's playing in his final game in the league, or for me as a Chief, I would want it to be the Memorial Cup, so I feel lucky."

Luck has had little to do with Bruton's career. Hard work, dedication and a true passion for the game were predominant factors. His love for the game is rooted throughout his childhood.

Growing up in Calgary, Alberta, Bruton and his two brothers would go out to a family friend's farm and play on outdoor rinks out on the slews.

"Ever since I could walk, I think I've been on ice. My dad coached us all throughout those years," Bruton said. "I have one older and one younger brother, so I used to beat the crap out of one and get beat on by the other."

Maybe that's what prepared him to battle through the difficult years.

The 21-year-old Bruton (20 by WHL standards) paid his dues in his first two seasons in Spokane. Originally an eighth-round pick in the 2002 Bantam Draft, he played 62 games as a rookie in 2004-05 on a Chiefs team that missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. The next year, they skipped the postseason again.

"Those years were tough for sure. It's always hard when you're losing," Bruton said. "But we worked through it, and that was the main thing."

The turning point came last season, when the Chiefs ended their playoff drought. They were knocked out quickly by the Everett Silvertips, but Bruton had big ideas for the final season of his junior career.

The way the Chiefs made their run to the WHL title this season was impressive, to say the least. The same goes for the career season Bruton has had. As a 19-year-old, he scored nine goals and finished with 21 points. This season, he scored 26 goals and finished with 63 points.

"I played with some great linemates," Bruton said of teammates Mitch Wahl and Drayson Bowman. "For me, I had my sights set on finishing strong, being a leader on this team and going out on the highest note possible."

The young Chiefs' success this season has been said by many to be a year ahead of schedule, but Bruton doesn't buy that for a second.

"I knew we'd be good, I told (Chiefs general manager) Tim (Speltz) last summer," Bruton confidently said. "It's because I knew what we had coming in and I knew the way the guys were. We're a mature group and we're competitive, and everyone was working really hard wanting to build off the last season."

But no one expected this.

"It's a dream – to play my final junior game on the last possible day of the season," Bruton said. "I mean I knew we'd be better this season, but this has been unreal."

So would hoisting the storied Memorial Cup.

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13-19 JULY
</center>

[Felony]

<center>
<b>Chiefs win the Memorial Cup - Kings of Junior Hockey!</b></center>

There was no point in changing their game plan now.

The last time the Spokane Chiefs met the Kitchener Rangers they grabbed a marginal lead and clamped down defensively to claim the win. They did the same thing on Sunday and this time, their efforts earned them the Memorial Cup.

The Chiefs beat the hometown Rangers 4-1 to claim their second Memorial Cup title.

“We stuck with our system all year and did it again tonight and we came out on top,” said sophomore forward Mitch Wahl, who was named to the tournament all-star team. “We’ve got a good defensive corps on our team and good defense leads to offence so that’s what we do.”

The Rangers – 2008 tournament hosts and OHL Champions – came out with a strong performance, they out shot the Chiefs 18-9 in the first period and scored five minutes into the game when Scott Timmins won a face-off in the left zone, swept the puck to Mike Masciolo on the goal line and Mascioli delivered a pass that Brandon Mashinter popped in from his park job by the crease.

The Chiefs settled down as the first period progressed, and began to exert some pressure of their own.

The line of David Rutherford, Ondrej Roman and Judd Blackwater may have been held off the score sheet through the round-robin despite their strong play and many great scoring chances. They were finally rewarded when it counted most as Spokane tied it up with a power play goal by Judd Blackwater, his first of the tournament.

The play was a prototypical Ondrej Roman feed from behind the net, skating with the puck; the left-handed shot reversed the play to Blackwater coming down the left wing. The 20-year-old tied it up at 16:10. “I saw the defenseman skating backward and thought I could beat him with my speed. Judd just stepped to the first post and yelled for the puck. It was a great play by him and I think a huge goal after they scored first.”

Drayson Bowman, Spokane’s leading scorer at the tournament, put the Chiefs ahead 4:11 into the second period with his sixth goal of the tournament. The 19-year-old Carolina Hurricanes draft pick picked up the puck at the top of the left circle, spun and fired a low wrist shot from the left circle that beat Unice on the far side.

Chiefs’ rearguard Trevor Glass, who was playing in his second straight Memorial Cup Final, made it 3-1 just 1:01 later with his second goal of the tournament on a shot down the seam in on the right side that beat Unice on the glove side.

The Rangers came out fast and furious in the third period, knowing they needed to find a way through Spokane’s clinical defensive system. “It was pure desperation,” Jared Spurgeon said. “We knew they were going to come out in the third period and give it their all but we played simple hockey and gutted it out.”

Yet, it was Tokarski who took over when the Chiefs’ defense was pressed.

Tokarski, who won a Telus Cup National Midget Championship in 2006 with the Prince Albert Mintos, turned aside 25 shots in the third period as the Rangers peppered the net and poured on the pressure.

The win capped a sensational season for the Chiefs, who also won the Western Hockey League championship.

“It’s overwhelming,” said Chiefs’ coach Bill Peters. “I’m so happy for our guys. They’ve been through a lot together. It’s the first time I’ve ever been able to walk off the ice and say that I won my last game. I’ve been close a few times but this is the first time. I have a lot of pride for our organization, our city and especially the 24 guys.”

Dustin Tokarski made 53 saves in the win and won the Stafford Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the tournament.

“It’s sweet,” said Tokarski, who was a perfect 4-0 with a 1.72 goals against average in the tournament. “It’s hard to believe. When this year started we wanted to be here and here we are hoisting that Cup.”

Bowman’s scored a goal in every game of the tournament and tonight’s marker proved to be the game-winner.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Bowman said. “I can’t describe it. The team played great tonight.”

The Chiefs had a four day layoff after cruising to a 3-0 round robin record and Bowman said the time off may have left them flat footed to start the game.

“At the start of the first we were on our heels a little bit,” Bowman said. “But we came out in the second and played our game and it worked out real well. It’s a big quality of our team. We’re used to getting the first one but when we don’t we battle back. We did a great job tonight.”

They follow the Vancouver Giants as back-to-back winners from the WHL. Peters said that his preparation before the tournament included talking to people like Giants’ coach Don Hay who had been in the tournament before. He said the advice he picked up along the way paved the way for their win tonight.

“We had a plan and obviously it worked,” Peters said.

Spokane also finished the tournament with a perfect 4-0 record, having beat the Belleville Bulls, the Gatineau Olympiques and the Rangers in the round-robin to earn the automatic berth in the Championship game. It was the ninth consecutive victory overall for the Chiefs, dating back to their Kal Tire Western Conference Championship series versus the Tri-City Americans.

“Its crazy, I don’t know how to explain it,” Chiefs 19-year-old Justin McCrae said. “At the start of the year I never thought I would be hoisting the Memorial Cup, but I couldn’t ask to do it with a better group of guys.”

Chiefs’ goaltender Dustin Tokarski is rated No. 9 among North American goaltenders by Central Scouting for next month's NHL draft and his stock should soar after his 53-save performance. The 18-year-old from Watson, Sask., was chosen the most valuable player of the tournament. The Rangers were all over him in the third period as they out shot Spokane 25-7, but Tokarski weathered the storm. "That was the longest third period of my life," he said. "When we got that fourth goal, it was an amazing feeling."

“It’s really special," said third-year Chiefs coach Bill Peters as he fought back tears. “You can’t put it into words – it’s overwhelming and it’s over nine months of hard work and I’m just so proud of how these guys conducted themselves all year.

“It’s a special group.”


<b>Ice chips:</b>
A U.S.-based team won the Canadian Hockey League championship for only the fourth time in history after Spokane (1991) and Portland (1993 and '98).

The Rangers were the favorite heading into this tournament, as they were the No. 1 ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League 15 of the last 16 weeks of the season.

Spokane may have been ranked No. 2 at season's end, but came into this tournament somewhat under the radar. The Chiefs don't have the high-octane offence that Kitchener has, but Spokane dismantled that attack Sunday by taking time, space and the middle scoring lanes away, while making the most of turnovers and power-play chances.

Spokane held Kitchener scoreless on four power-play chances.

The Chiefs were 2 for 4 on the power play and 4 for 4 on the penalty kill.

"They're a great team defensively," Halischuk said. "They block a lot of shots. We were around the net tonight and fired everything at them and unfortunately didn't come up on the right side tonight."

The Rangers carried the play for the first 10 minutes Sunday as they used their speed to relentlessly pressure the Chiefs in their own zone. They scored five minutes in to take a lead for the fifth time in five games in the tournament.

But Kitchener then ran into penalty trouble, which opened up the ice for the Chiefs. Two of their next three goals came on a man advantage and they led 3-1 going into the third period.

While the Rangers had problems defending leads earlier in this tournament, the Chiefs have no such trouble. They were 41-3 when leading after two periods during the regular season.

The Chiefs' checking line of Levko Koper, Tyler Johnson and Justin McCrae silenced Kitchener's top trio of Matt Halischuk, Justin Azevedo and Nick Spaling, who had combined for 28 points in the tournament prior to the final.

The Chiefs owned by brothers and former baseball players George and Bobby Brett, finished tied for last in the Western Hockey League two seasons ago and have put together a remarkable turnaround.


<b>Notes:</b> The 2009 Memorial Cup will be held in Rimouski, Que. . . . The WHL has won the Memorial cup 18 times, the OHL 11 and the QMJHL seven . . . Chiefs general manager Tim Speltz was the team's GM on the Cup-winning team of 1991 . . . The Memorial Cup trophy has been handed to the junior hockey championship since 1919 in honour of those who died in the First World War . . . Former Kitchener Rangers and Memorial Cup winners Derek Roy (2003) and Scott Stevens (1982) took part in the pre-game ceremonial puck drop. ...Total attendance for the tournament was 53,545.

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<center><b>2007 - Kings of Junior Hockey - 2008</b></center>

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KITCHENER, Ont. -- The 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup lived up to its slogan of "Beyond the Ordinary."

The Spokane Chiefs walked away with the Memorial Cup on Sunday, albeit in several pieces, which meant there was more of it for the Spokane Chiefs to hoist above their heads. Captain Chris Bruton lifted the trophy over his head twice and kissed it and then as he was about to hand it to teammate Trevor Glass, who lost in last year’s final as a member of the Medicine Hat Tigers, when the cup became separated from its heavy base, and fell to the ice in several pieces.

Bruton and Glass stood in shock at center ice, motionless seeing the trophy they worked so hard to win now in several pieces. The faithful at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium let the Chiefs know of their displeasure over the handling of the trophy.

While that prompted boos from spectators at Memorial Auditorium already disappointed that their home team lost, the good news is that it's a replica trophy.

The one that has been handed out to the junior hockey champion since 1919 is in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

"It just kind of crumbled in my hands and I'm sure I'll be all over You Tube and I'll get e-mails for the rest of my life over that, but I don't care because we won the Cup and that's all that matters," said Bruton.

"It's just as beautiful and maybe more beautiful that we have that top off and we can drink from the cup a little easier."

"They definitely made us know we broke it but I think it was loose before Bruton picked it up," Glass explained. "It’s just one of those things that happened and it’s not going to put a damper on our celebration.

"We might be the first team that gets to celebrate with two cups but we enjoyed it."

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Memories for a lifetime -

There will be no looking back and saying "what if." Days from now – even years from now – the Spokane Chiefs can look back and think, "remember when."

Overage team captain Chris Bruton will recall setting up two goals within a minute of his final game as a Chief.

Defenseman Trevor Glass will think about when he added insurance to a one-goal lead on the road to redemption in his second-straight Memorial Cup championship appearance.

Goalie Dustin Tokarski will reflect on the time when he turned away 53 shots to backstop his Chiefs to their second title in hockey’s golden month.

Everyone – management, coaches, staff, fans and, most of all, 24 Chiefs – will play back the emotional high of beating the tournament host Kitchener Rangers 4-1 and capturing the biggest prize in junior hockey: the Memorial Cup.

“My dad said something to me that really stood out,” said overage forward David Rutherford, who was on the Vancouver roster in 2006 but was scratched when the Giants played in the Moncton, New Brunswick, Memorial Cup tournament.

Rutherford, whose father died of cancer five years ago, was traded to Spokane after the 2006 season. “He told me everything happens for a reason – that was the last thing he said to me before he passed away,” a teary-eyed Rutherford added. “I think it’s fitting – that everything does happen for a reason. God, I’m ecstatic. It’s emotional. I can’t even say the words, but it’s a pretty dang good feeling.”

"You put your heart and soul into the game and last year the outcome didn't come and it was always in the back of my mind throughout the whole season," Glass said. "I definitely wanted to leave with no regrets and it's something you'll remember for the rest of your life."

“It’s really special," said third-year Chiefs coach Bill Peters as he fought back tears. “You can’t put it into words – it’s overwhelming and it’s over nine months of hard work and I’m just so proud of how these guys conducted themselves all year.

“It’s a special group.”

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Chiefs head coach Bill Peters received a text message before the game from an old friend and former colleague. Detroit Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock, who coached the Chiefs while Peters was an assistant in Spokane, passed along some memorable advice.

"Something about good luck, breathe deep and put your foot on the gas," Peters said. "I told our guys to put your foot on the gas, get it to the floorboard and take the other foot and stomp on it."

For Peters, seeing the trophy split in half was a memorable moment but nothing will be held closer to his heart than the memories his team provided him.

"Even if there wasn’t a cup and there weren’t rings and all that stuff, the memories this group has given me here over the last nine months will last a lifetime," he said. "I’m so proud of my guys."

The Chiefs have plenty to be proud of. Spokane was the first team in three tournaments to go undefeated while also becoming the first American-based team since the 1998 Portland Winter Hawks to win the Memorial Cup and only the fourth in history. Spokane also won the Memorial Cup in 1991.

Spokane may have been the most complete team in the Memorial Cup tournament. Chief’s goaltender, Dustin Tokarski, who was cut by two Western Hockey League teams before catching on with Spokane, took home the Most Valuable Player award after a 53-save performance in the final.

The Spokane defense was nearly impenetrable, giving little in the way of scoring chances or second chances in front of the net. Spokane shut down a very impressive line from the Kitchener Rangers in Justin Azevedo, Matt Halischuk and Nick Spaling. The top line had a very hard time creating opportunities in both games against the Chiefs, proving just how tough a defensive group they are.

One can’t help but feel for the host Rangers. Kitchener put on a great show but had a difficult time overcoming injuries. Goaltender Steve Mason, who is widely considered the best goaltender in junior hockey, was unavailable after having surgery following the second round. Meanwhile, defensemen Yannick Weber and Robert Bortuzzo were impressive despite playing injured in the tournament.

The Rangers appeared to have a difficult time finding their game in the tournament. They blew a three-goal lead in the opener against the Gatineau Olympiques, eventually winning the game in overtime. Their round robin play was solid, yet not on par with that of Spokane. Kitchener can take comfort in the fact they reached the final but were outmatched by the relentless Chiefs.

The Belleville Bulls, meanwhile, experienced heartbreak in their semifinal game against the Rangers. After battling from behind against the Rangers throughout their seven game playoff series and in the Memorial Cup, Kitchener found a lead, which the Bulls could not overcome, winning the semifinal 9-0. As Rangers head coach Peter DeBoer said, the Bulls’ performance was gutsy and their team should be proud of their accomplishment.

The Olympiques never found their game in Kitchener, falling behind and needing to deal with some injuries at key positions. Gatineau’s top line of Claude Giroux, Matthew Pistilli and Paul Byron left something to be desired from their performance, rarely finding the score-sheet while goaltender Ryan Mior struggled.

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Goaltender Dustin Tokarski turned in a tremendous 53-save performance and earned the Most Valuable Player of the tournament award as the Spokane Chiefs won their second Memorial Cup in franchise history. The Chiefs won their first Memorial Cup in 1991.

Dustin Tokarski of the Memorial Cup champion Spokane Chiefs won the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as the most valuable player of the tournament as well as the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy as the top goaltender of the tournament. Tokarski posted a 4-0 record with a 1.72 goals against average and .953 save percentage. After allowing four goals in their opening game win over the Belleville Bulls, the 17-year-old from Watson, SK allowed just one goal against in the next three games, including a 53-save performance in the championship game against the Kitchener Rangers on Sunday.

Team success has always been more important than personal achievement for Dustin Tokarski.

But when the NHL draft takes place next month in Ottawa, you can bet the ninth-ranked goaltender in North America – who backstopped the Spokane Chiefs to Western Conference, Western Hockey League and Memorial Cup titles this season – will hear his name called.

And it will be based on his individual achievements.

“Tik’s not ninth-ranked, he’s higher than that. Everyone knows that,” Chiefs captain Chris Bruton declared. “He’s a winning goalie, he’s proved that just now. He’s the No. 1 goalie in this league bringing us here.”

Tokarski, who split time with backup Kevin Armstrong during the regular season, stood tall and was a huge factor in the Chiefs’ 4-0 record on their way to a Memorial Cup title. Tokarski made 53 saves as the Chiefs defeated the Kitchener Rangers 4-1 on Sunday.

Prior to that the Watson, Saskatchewan, native finished among the top goalies through the regular Western Hockey League season and was named the Western Conference championship series MVP after the Chiefs beat the Tri-City Americans in a memorable seven-game series that included five total overtime and three double-overtime games.

On Sunday he added Memorial Cup MVP to the list of accolades. Tokarski stopped 143 of 150 shots he faced in the Chiefs run to the title.

“It’s unreal,” said Tokarski. “It’s been an amazing ride and to cap it off with a good game like that is just so amazing – for me but most importantly for the team. They scored on us in the first and the guys just battled back. Our defense played incredible.”

The feeling of becoming a Memorial Cup champion didn’t hit Tokarski until rookie defenseman Jared Cowen scored an empty-net goal with a minute left in the game.

“When he skated up the ice with those long legs and put it the net,” Tokarski said, “I knew we had it.”

The victory was the ninth straight for the Chiefs, who swept the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the WHL championship series on their way to the Memorial Cup. The last time the Chiefs lost was in Game 6 of their Western Conference championship series with the Americans. In their nine consecutive victories, Tokarski allowed 11 goals.

“They’re a great team, let’s not kid ourselves,” Chiefs coach Bill Peters said of the Kitchener Rangers, who peppered Tokarski with 25 shots in the third period on Sunday.

Tokarski made several saves in the final 20 minutes of play, including when he got his leg on the backward bounce of a Matt Halischuk shot with 7 minutes remaining in the game. Defenseman Mike Reddington was in on the play, clearing the puck before the Rangers were able to swat in the rebound.

“They were coming at us hard in the third period at times,” said Peters. “We were trying to get going, get our feet on the gas, and play in the offensive zone a little more, but they were desperate beyond belief and that’s kind of what happens.

“Tik was there when we needed him.”

All season – both he and Armstrong always were.

Rangers’ forward Justin Azevedo won the Ed Chynoweth Trophy as the top scorer of the tournament with 11 points while Matt Halischuk of the Rangers won the George Parsons Memorial Trophy as the most sportsmanlike player in the tournament. Tokarski also won the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy as the top goaltender of the tournament.

Tokarski, Azevedo, Bowman and Wahl were all named to the tournament all-star team along with defensemen Justin Falk of the Chiefs and Ben Shutron of the Rangers.

<b>Memorial Cup Awards</b>

Tournament MVP: Dustin Tokarski, Spokane Chiefs

As if there was any doubt. Tokarski is one of many feel-good stories on the Chiefs roster, being overlooked by many teams and not just in his WHL career. The product of Watson, Sask. rose to the challenge by providing his team with the stellar and reliable goaltending in the close games. Without Tokarski, the Chiefs likely don’t walk away with the Memorial Cup. The tournament MVP was big when it counted. Tokarski was fantastic in the third period of the championship game, making several big stops with players in tight. The Chiefs needed Tokarski to stand on his head and he was phenomenal in the game. With all he has accomplished after being cut from two junior teams, it was nice to see him step up and possibly raise his stock for the National Hockey League draft next month.

Top Goaltender: Dustin Tokarski, Spokane Chiefs

Tokarski was hoping the NHL scouts were keeping a close eye on his Memorial Cup performance. Of the four starting goaltenders, Tokarski’s play never wavered in the tournament despite facing loads of pressure in some of the games, including the third period of the final. Although smaller in stature, Tokarski should garner more interest as the draft rolls around next month, displaying a solid technical game based on positioning.

Top Forward: Drayson Bowman, Spokane Chiefs

Just call him the Ranger-killer. Although Azevedo and Halischuk finished with more points, Bowman’s clutch performance in the tournament will never be overlooked. Had it not been for Tokarski’s performance, Bowman likely takes home tournament MVP honors. Bowman will, however, have the distinction of scoring the championship-winning goal, while also chipping in the winner against Kitchener in the round robin game. Bowman had a memorable tournament for the Chiefs. After leading his team in points and scoring several big goals in the tournament, Bowman scored the biggest goal in the second period, lifting his team to the Memorial Cup championship. The only question mark about his future is how long it will be until the Carolina Hurricanes have him in their lineup.

Top Defenseman: Trevor Glass, Spokane Chiefs

Acquired from the Medicine Hat Tigers for his experience and dependable two-way style, Glass was a catalyst pushing the Chiefs to victory. Glass finally accomplished his goal of winning the Memorial Cup after losing in last year’s final. He may not put the points on the board, but his reliable defensive play was a big part of his team’s success. Not being known for his offence, it must have felt good for him to score the insurance goal in Sunday’s win. Glass made his second Memorial Cup final count, scoring the insurance goal in the second period to make the game 3-1 in his team's favor. Glass was a key piece of the defense that kept the Rangers' top line of Justin Azevedo, Nick Spaling and Matt Halischuk at bay.

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