I didn't know this but Dallas Stars Coach Dave Tippett and Spokane Chiefs head Coach Al Conroy are former linemates of the Flyers back in '93-94. Maybe JIP and others from Philly recall Conroy a bit. Anyways, Tippett to get his fix of hockey during the lockout, has been traveling about North America to take in some minor league games. So far he has been to Calgary, Lthbridge, Kelown and Spokane. He was in attendance last week up in Kelowna to watch the Rockets bomb my Spokane Chiefs-4-0, and which happened to be the Chiefs 7th loss in a row. In went into the locker room and gave my Chiefs a bit of a pep talk last weekend here I understand, the night Spokane played Seattle, who currently is in first place in the U.S. Division of the W.H.L. I don't know what exactly he said, but it sure helped as the Chiefs blew past Seattle that night 5-1. The following night they played Portland currently in 3rd place to a 0-0 overtime tie.
Dave, please come back more often!! He said he knew all to well about teams ups and downs in his many years as both a Coach and a player.
Tonight my Chiefs play the Everett Silvertips at the Arena, in their first re-match of the regular season since Everett knocked Spokane out of the playoffs last year in a 4-0 sweep. C'mon Chiefs!!!

Whatever Tippett said seems to have done the trick. During King losing streaks, game attendance takes a major hit; is it the same for the Chiefs or are fans less fair-weather types?

~Adam

Conroy was with the Flyers for parts of 3 seasons, 91-92 through 93-94. Tippett spent the last year of those 3 with the Flyers.

This information is from Flyershistory.com as I do not have a single memory of either of them.

Adam. considering the Chiefs are in last place, attendance here has been surprisingly good. Spokane is a hockey town. Biggest crowd of the season so far has been about 8,300. The average is about 6,000 right now, which is down some from last year, and I know there are some fans who are waiting for the Chiefs to make a move. No sellouts yet this season so far, but its still early.

Tippetts advice to the Chiefs keeps working. Last night Spokane shutout Everett 3-0!!! Woo-hoo!! In its last 3 games now we have knocked off first place Seattle, beaten second place Everett, and played 3rd place Portland to an overtime tie. Still in last, but moving on up baby. Go Chiefs!!

Put Tippett on the payroll!!

~Adam

Hey Puckman, sorry about your Chiefs last night! Were you there to cheer them on? When I got home, I tuned into 'Fan 960' which carries radio broadcasts of the Hitmen games, and caught the second and third periods (a handful of Hitmen games are also televised on a local non-network cable channel, but this game wasn't one of them). Spokane was ahead well into the third when Calgary tied it up and then scored with less than one second left in the game! Must have been a heartbreaker for Chiefs fans. They said the attendance at the Spokane Arena was about 5,000 which apparently is lower than usual, in part due to a college football game going on at the same time.

Upon checking the WHL schedule, it looks like that was the only game this season between the Chiefs and Hitmen. I thought they would have a re-match here at the Saddledome. The Hitmen play each US Division team only once, all on the road, and they are of course in the midst of that long trip right now (next up, Seattle). I hope to get to at least one or two home games this season, perhaps against one of the Saskatchewan teams (after all, like Adam, I'm a 'Saskatchewan-ite' according to that quiz on another thread )

No WHL games scheduled today because of our big Grey Cup game. The only other Sundays without games this season are Boxing Day and Super Bowl Sunday.

Marc: heartbreaker is right. Calgary scored at the 20:00 mark of the third period. Goal was allowed. This game is typical of what we have endured this seaon. Spokane spots leads, in this case, 3-1, only to allow game winners. Our defense is holier than swiss cheese. Actually attendnace was 6,100 not bad for last place. I was home watching the Cougs beat the Huskies.