Spokane, WA - 05/16/08 - For the Western Hockey league Champion Spokane Chiefs, their week has consisted of hurrying up and waiting. When they get done waiting, they will wait again. After arriving on Wednesday the Chiefs have had a pair of practices, an opening celebration and enough hotel lobby time to fill an entire season.

The Memorial Cup will begin tonight when the host Kitchener Rangers take on the Gatineau Olympiques, the seven time champions of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, meaning Spokane will have to wait another day to begin their portion of the tournament. The Chiefs will play the Ontario Hockey League Belleville Bulls on Saturday night.

"It has been a long last couple of days and we're all excited to play tomorrow and wish we could play tonight," Chiefs forward Seth Compton said. Although the four year veteran doesn't think an extra day off is all that bad, "It is a benefit for sure. Yesterday and today the team practiced real well and it is a real benefit to get acclimated to Kitchener before we get under way."

For Compton, the Chiefs presence at the tournament is a pleasant, but not unexpected surprise, "At the beginning of the season it is the ultimate goal and a dream. I knew it would be a good team looking at the roster and thought that it could be a possibility when the team went on the run in late October and early November. I think the guys started to believe we could take it all the way."

The aforementioned stretch saw Spokane reel off nine straight wins and take 17 out of 19 games over a seven week stretch. Through the post-season, the Chiefs have won 16 of 21 playoff games, including five in a row, over the last eight weeks. "Time has gone extremely fast," Compton said. "Two months is a long time and we can't believe it is the end of May, time is moving real fast. It has been one heck of a season and we'll enjoy the last couple of weeks and try to win the last game of the season and achieve the ultimate goal."

The team will stay at the hotel on Friday night, about a five minute drive to the Kitchener Auditorium, to watch the game tonight, "Everybody is pretty pumped to watch it," Compton said.

Team staff, including General Manager Tim Speltz, Head Coach Bill Peters, Assistant Hardy Sauter and goaltending coach Dennis Sproxton, will watch tonight's game from the stands.

The Rangers will be wearing special memorial jerseys tonight to help recognize Canadian veterans in a pre-game ceremony to help open the 90th version of the Memorial Cup.

At the opening celebration in neighboring Waterloo last night each team was recognized by numerous dignitaries, including commissioners from each of the CHL's leagues.

The city of Spokane was specifically recognized by the Canadian Minister of Veteran Affairs Greg Thompson who was in the city earlier this week to help re-swear 107-year-old John Babcock into Canadian citizenship, making him the oldest living Canadian veteran of foreign wars. For Thompson, it turned out to be full circle as he helped recognize a veteran who sacrificed for his countries earlier in the week and then get the chance to recognize what the Memorial Cup is played for, remembrance for the Canadian veterans of all wars. It was originally awarded to the winner of the Ontario Hockey Association's champion in 1918 in recognition of the servicemen fighting in World War I.

Spokane, WA - 05/15/08 - For the first time in Kitchener, Ontario the Spokane Chiefs hit the practice ice in preparation for the 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup.

"The guys were excited and the tempo was as high as I've ever seen it," Captain Chris Bruton said about the lively 30-minute skate at SportsWorld, an office site facility that the four participating teams will use for practices during the 12 day tournament.

A quick breakfast at the team hotel preceded their arrival at the Auditorium, the site of the tournament and their first game on Saturday night versus the Belleville Bulls. Rogers Sportsnet then pulled each player in to get their headshot for the week's broadcasts, which, after nearly two months of playoffs and the beards that go along with it, should be a colorful view of the WHL Champions. Some have thrown grooming out the window, which is a playoff rite of passage, and could lead to a motto of, "It's is so easy, a caveman could do it"

All four coaches participated in an afternoon press conference and each reiterated how tough it is to win the most prestigious trophy in junior hockey but didn't give any in depth look into x's and o's.

"At this tournament it is important to get better as you go along," Benoit Groulx, the head coach of the Gatineau Olympiques said. "In a short tournament like this you need to rely on your team and play your style of hockey."

Bill Peters, the head coach of the Chiefs, thought that the playoff stretch that Spokane has had will be a strength going into the tournament, "We did have a tough road to get to here, but they were good situations to go through. Game 7, like we played against Tri-City or the Kitchener-Belleville series, will make you a better team."

Spokane will have had the longest lay off of the four teams in the tournament, 12 days in between winning the WHL title and playing on Saturday night, but that should also play as an advantage, "You will see a fresh team when we get on the ice Saturday night," Peters said.

Spokane has a limited amount of Memorial Cup experience, all sitting in Trevor Glass' locker, but defenseman Jared Spurgeon has had the ability to lean on his brother Tyler who played for the Kelowna Rockets during their runs to the tournament.

"We definitely had some discussions and he told me what everyone else has said 'don't let there be one let down - be prepared.' So far, it has lived up to his stories and my expectations,"

Spurgeon doesn't anticipate the lay off being a distraction or allow for a let down, "It is such a great atmosphere that there is no way you can be down for this. We'll be as pumped up for this as we were for Tri and Lethbridge."

Stepping into the Kitchener Auditorium is like taking a step back into time. Numerous banners hang from the rafters, including Memorial Cup Championships and retired numbers. Seats seem to rise straight up and sit right on top of the ice.

"The building and environment, there is no better atmosphere in junior hockey," Belleville Head Coach George Burnett said.

The host Rangers and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champion Gatineau will kick of the tournament at 4:00 on Friday night.

Spokane will play their first game on Saturday at 1:00 Spokane time. Mike Boyle will go on the air at 12:30 with Comcast Hockey Tonight on 1510 KGA. Comcast customers can also watch live on channel 78.

The Chiefs will finish their day off with an Opening Celebration at 6:30 that all four teams will participate in.

Follow the Memorial Cup tournament with www.spokanechiefs.com or with Jessica Brown's blog on The Spokesman-Review's site. Mike Boyle is also keeping a blog at www.krem.com.

Spokane, WA - 05/14/08 - The WHL Champion Spokane Chiefs Hockey Club arrived in Kitchener, Ontario today under cloudy skies and had their first look at the Kitchener Auditorium, known as the AUD to the locals.

The Chiefs enjoyed a breakfast at the Spokane Arena before departing for the airport to load the charter plane that flew directly into Kitchener, a three and a half hour flight. For Spokane, whose shortest trip in the WHL is two hours to Tri-City and an eight hour drive to a conference opponent wouldn't be unusual, the flight isn't expected to take anything out of the team. Spokane will also have three days before they hit the ice for their first game of the Memorial Cup on Saturday versus the Belleville Bulls allowing them ample time to get over the three hour time difference.

Kitchener is located about three hours east of Detroit and is a neighboring community to Waterloo, the area is commonly referred to as K-W, and Guelph, who has an OHL team, the Storm, who lost in the Memorial Cup Final in 1998 in Spokane. Needless to say, road trips in the OHL are a little easier to look at than the 18 hour grinds that Spokane will take to get back to Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

After arriving, Memorial Cup staff met the team at the airport and helped load gear to get it to the Arena. The Memorial Cup in Kitchener has done a wonderful job of making sure that there are no worries for the participating teams and have provided a number of different liaisons for the organization.

Thursday will see the team's first practice in Kitchener at an off site facility, a press conference for the head coach of the Chiefs, Bill Peters and an opening celebration for the team.

Spokane, WA - 05/14/08 - TELEVISION
The Spokane Chiefs have announced that each game of the MasterCard Memorial Cup will be available to all Comcast Subscribers on channel 78 as well as to Comcast Digital Cable Customers with the Sports Tier package on NHL Network channel 419.

The WHL Champion Chiefs will play in the second game of the tournament versus the Belleville Bulls on Saturday, May 17th at 1:00 pm pacific. The tournament will begin on Friday, May 16th at 4:00 pacific with Gatineau from the QMJHL playing the host Kitchener Rangers.

"Comcast has proven to be a great partner and committed to bringing Spokane Chiefs hockey to its customers," Chiefs Vice-President Grant Riddle said. "Because of Comcast, our fanbase has been able to follow the Chiefs through this incredible post- season."

The following includes other programming options:

Direct TV - NHL Network is now available to DIRECTV customers subscribing to DIRECTV® CHOICE XTRA and above programming packages, as well as those with a subscription to NHL® CENTER ICE.

Dish Network - Get NHL Network with the basic HD programming package! Check out channel 559.

Time Warner Cable (Coeur d Alene) - not available

Community Cable (Liberty Lake) - not available

RADIO
Mike Boyle will call each game from Kitchener, Ontario on the voice of the Chiefs, 1510 KGA, Everything Sports. As in the regular season and playoffs, Mike will go on the air a half-an-hour prior to each game with Comcast Hockey Tonight.

INTERNET
Toronto, ON - The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) and Interactive Netcasting Systems Inc. (INSINC) today announced plans to broadcast the entire 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup via the Internet live on a pay-per-view (PPV) broadband basis.

Fans that are not able to watch the television broadcast on the NHL Network, RSN or RDS will be able to watch the Championship through this unique partnership.

Feeds will be supplied courtesy of RSN & RDS making games available with both English & French commentary.

All games will be available live on a PPV basis for $6.95 and fans will also have the ability to watch archived games for $3.95.

This program gives fans, as well as the family and friends of players the opportunity to watch the event no matter where they are in the world.

http://memorialc up.insinc.com

Spokane, WA - 05/13/08 - The WHL Champion Spokane Chiefs practiced throughout the weekend and will do so twice more on Monday and Tuesday in their preparation for the MasterCard Memorial Cup which begins on Friday, May 16th with the host Kitchener Rangers taking on the Gatineau Olympiques, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey Champions.

Spokane will travel on Wednesday to Kitchener, practice and participate in the opening ceremonies on Thursday and have the chance to watch the opening game of the tournament on Friday.

The Chiefs first game will be played at 1:00 (Spokane time) on Saturday against the Belleville Bulls, the OHL representative who has forced a game seven in the Ontario League Finals against the Rangers. Kitchener, who has an automatic berth into the tournament as the host team, won the first three games of the OHL Finals before Belleville won the next three to force a game seven on Monday night.

Spokane, who will play their three round robin games in four days, will take on Kitchener on Sunday at 1:30 (Spokane time) and Gatineau on Tuesday at 4:00.

As of now, all of the Memorial Cup games will be carried live by the NHL Network.

Spokane won the WHL title for the first time since 1991 when they swept the Lethbridge Hurricanes in four games and will be playing in the Cup for the first time since hosting the tournament in 1998.

In '91, Spokane won all four of their games on their way to the championship. The Chiefs won once and lost three times, including in overtime to the runner-up Guelph Storm in the semi-finals in 1998.

MEMORIAL CUP SCHEDULE
(all times pacific)

Friday, May 16th - Gatineau vs. Kitchener - 4:00
Saturday, May 17th - Belleville vs. Spokane - 1:00
Sunday, May 18th - Kitchener vs. Spokane - 1:30
Monday, May 19th - Belleville vs. Gatineau - 4:00
Tuesday, May 20th - Spokane vs. Gatineau - 4:00
Wednesday, May 21st - Kitchener vs. Belleville - 4:00
Thursday, May 22nd - Tiebreaker (if necessary)
Friday, May 23rd - Semi-Final - 4:00
Saturday, May 24th - Off Day
Sunday, May 25th - Final - 1:30

Practices, Interviews Take Up Player's Time

With their sweep of the Lethbridge Hurricanes complete last Wednesday, the Chiefs have had the luxury of a week off prior to traveling to Kitchener and the beginning of the Memorial Cup. Spokane will have had 11 days off before they hit the ice on Saturday, May 17th against the Belleville Bulls, the Ontario Hockey League's representative.

The Chiefs have taken up their time with practices at Eagles Ice-A-Rena after they outlasted the ice in the Spokane Arena. For Captain Chris Bruton and fellow 20-year-olds David Rutherford and Judd Blackwater they skated at Eagles for the final time in their junior career, a fact that they understood a day before they were set to depart for the Memorial Cup.

A number of hometown papers and radio stations have requested time with players including the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, Winnipeg Sun and the Brandon Sun. National papers like the Globe and Mail and The Hockey News have also had phone interviews with members of the team, including Dustin Tokarski, Tyler Johnson, Mitch Wahl and Curtis Kelner. When the team arrives in Kitchener, which is less than an hour from Toronto, more of the same will be expected for the team.

Thursday will be the team's first organized Memorial Cup activity. After the coaches press conference at 3:30 the city will be putting on the opening celebration at 6:00. The Chiefs will practice at 10:00 on Friday and then play their first game of the tournament on Saturday, May 17th at 1:00, Spokane time, versus Belleville.

Check back on www.spokanechiefs.com for more information as the tournament unfolds.

Calgary, AB - 05/12/08 - The BOSTON PIZZA WHL Player of the Week is forward Tyler Johnson of the Spokane Chiefs.

Johnson scored two pivotal goals to go with a +1 rating in two playoff games over the last week, helping the Spokane Chiefs win the 2008 WHL Championship series over the Lethbridge Hurricanes 4-0.

On Tuesday, May 6, the WHL Championship series shifted north of the border as the Lethbridge Hurricanes were set to host game three in the Enmax Centre with the Spokane Chiefs holding a 2-0 series advantage. Johnson picked up his fourth goal of the post season, which also was the game winner, as the Chiefs defeated the Hurricanes 2-1 in overtime to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.

The following evening, Wednesday, May 7th, at Enmax Centre in Lethbridge, the Ed Chynoweth Cup was in the building as the Chiefs had their first opportunity to close out the WHL Championship series in game four. Johnson netted his fifth post season goal, which inevitably was the game winner and the WHL Championship series winner, as the Chiefs downed the Hurricanes 4-1 to take the 2008 WHL Championship series 4-0. Johnson was also named the games 1st Star.

Before Chiefs Captain Chris Bruton was honoured with the first presentation of the Ed Chynoweth Cup as 2008 WHL Champions, Tyler Johnson was presented the 2008 WHL Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award.

As the 2008 WHL Champions, the Spokane Chiefs will compete as the WHL representative at the 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament in Kitchener, Ontario on May 16 – 25, 2008.

Johnson, a 17 year old from Spokane, Washington, is currently in his first season of play in the Western Hockey League and with the Spokane Chiefs.

The WHL has also nominated Dustin Tokarski of the Spokane Chiefs for the ADT CHL Goaltender of the Week Award. Tokarski posted a 2-0 record this past week, allowing just two goals on 41 shots for a 0.950 goals-against average and a .951 save percentage.

BOSTON PIZZA WHL Player of the Week - 2008 WHL Playoffs

Mar. 17 – Mar. 23: Dustin Sylvester, Kootenay Ice
Mar. 24 – Mar. 30: T.J. Galiardi, Calgary Hitmen
Mar. 31 – Apr. 6: Chad Greenan, Kootenay Ice
Apr. 7 – Apr. 13: Ryan White, Calgary Hitmen
Apr. 14 – Apr. 20: Zach Boychuk, Lethbridge Hurricanes
Apr. 21 – Apr. 27: Carter Bancks, Lethbridge Hurricanes
Apr. 28 – May 4: Judd Blackwater, Spokane Chiefs
May 5 – May 11: Tyler Johnson, Spokane Chiefs