I’m still two posts (for three games) behind on game posts, but I’m going to leapfrog Seattle and Portland for the moment, and put up my pictures from tonight’s Chiefs game.

I have had the distinct non-pleasure of seeing the Everett Silvertips lose three games this trip (and I only saw them three times), and I have to say, these guys are pacing themselves way too much. As in, they don’t even show up to the first period, and don’t find their legs until halfway through the second. It happened every game. And it certainly happened tonight in Spokane.

Let me tell you, Spokane is not a team you want to hold back against. The reigning Memorial Cup Champions (and if you don’t know what that means, do yourself a favor and click the link to find out) are a very tight team, with fast passing and creativity on offense.

Spokane has a nice arena, but it was sparsely populated for tonight’s gig. And that was a huge mistake on the fans part, since the Chiefs scored enough goals to win me some free eats for the thind time on the hockey tour (burgers at Tri City and Portland). And hey, I’m all for free food, but I’m all for a game as well, not a blow out. And the Tips were beaten before they even hit the ice.

You can click any of the smaller pictures for larger versions. I do this to save you some bandwidth.

Action!!!!
This is warmups, but this is roughly what the game looked like.

The Beer Garden. I wasn’t very impressed with the selection, but the view was great.

This can only end in tears.

What rivalry?

OK, how about some game pics?
Some youth hockey players joined the Chiefs for the National Anthem. First, the Austrian National Anthem was played, in honor of the singer. Then, the guy almost nailed the American National Anthem. Still, he was better than the woman in Bakersfield who blew the Canadian Anthem (“Oh, Canada. Sorry.”)

On to the game. This goaltender was so damn fast at getting back up from the butterfly. You see how he does it, one leg at a time, but he would go down and get back up so fast, it was like was simply sliding back and forth. The part I liked least about him was when he barked at his defenseman after the first goal scored against him. At that point , the game was beyond out of reach for the Tips. Stats are one thing, but if you are going to get this kind of goal support, you don’t have to worry about one goal (it was 7-0 Chiefs before they let one in, so come on).

OK, this is a funny sequence. The score was 5-0 Chiefs, and the Coach had enough from his starting goalie. Time to put the backup in. But the play started before the switch could be made. So the backup had to wait for a stoppage.

He’s just waiting there, waiting for a whistle so he can go out there. And what happened next was almost like it was scripted or fate. The Chiefs scored again before the whistle blew, making the game 6-0.

And his teammates don’t even get the door for him. Dude.

This one went in. This is the beautiful backhanded pass up the slot that was blasted in. Just a perfect play if I have ever seen one.

Fight!!!

Wait, what the hell? And why is there a bear who works at Subway watching? This is freaking me out. OK, real fight.

Back to the game.

And look, the Chiefs win. Final score, 7-2 (and the Tips were lucky to get two)

I got a chance to meet Wrap Around Curl very briefly, and she was nice.

Gamesheet. Note the three power play goals by the Chiefs, and the overlapping Tips penalties in the third period.

That does it for Spokane. Swag report has to wait, because I am super tired. But I’m not tired of hockey yet. This wraps up the west coast portion of the road trip. Next up is Rapid City on Friday. If anyone knows of a game happening in Billings, MT Thursday night, hit me up in the comments. I don’t care what level. I’m just not ready for this road trip to end.