Chapter 2

“For those of you listening to this game on NSN radio, the Spokane Chiefs are the home team, courtesy of their three round-robin wins, and will play from right to left,” Jim mentioned.

The players on both teams stood or leaned against the edge of the bench, and the referee at center ice raised his arm and dropped the puck. The fans in the capacity-filled arena cheered as the game began.

Mark’s clear, sharp voice described the play-by-play. “Referee Bob Cormier drops the puck, and the game is underway!”

“The Chief’s’ Bowman wins the face-off from Cross, the puck skirting back to left defenseman Justin Falk. Falk moves the puck towards center ice, where he’s met by Lindquist. Falk takes a hard hit from Lindquist as he passes it cross-ice to right winger Mitch Wahl.”

“Wahl is checked hard against the boards by the Falcons’ Mitch Thompson. Wahl regains possession of the loose puck and carries it over the Falcons blue line. P.K. Subban checks Wahl, and they battle for the puck along the half boards.”

“Thompson digs out the loose puck, flicking it off the boards and out over the blue line. Spokane’s defenseman, 24 Curtis Kelner, gains possession as his teammates clear the offensive zone.”

“Kelner gains the blue line and passes to Wahl. Wahl skates hard, closing in on Jason Bennett through the face-off circle and using Bowman as a decoy, and he lets fly a quick snapshot from a sharp angle past defenseman Subban that Bennett stops.”

“Bennett smothers the puck as Bowman crowds in, giving him an ice shower on the crest of his sweater. The referee blows the play dead, and Subban takes acceptation to Bowman’s actions, pushing him several times and guiding him against the backboards. The other Falcons close in on grabbing an arm or sweater of an opponent.”

“The linesmen are quick to intercede, preventing any flare-ups.”

“Mark, that was a good save by Bennett to get him in the game early. Only twenty seconds have elapsed, and we’ve already had a solid hit by each team,” Jim commented. “The players knew it was too early in the game to take any needless penalties, and both teams made wholesale player changes.”

“The Chiefs’ line of Tyler Johnson, Chris Bruton, and Ondrej Roman is countered by the Falcons’ Mark Adams, Dale Corbett, and Nick Upton. The players form up for the face-off to the left of Bennett.”

“The lineman blows his whistle as a warning and drops the puck. Corbett wins the draw, moving the puck back to Scott Warren. The players skate into position with the Chiefs defending. Warren carries the puck from behind his net and passes it to Mark Adams as he crosses through the right face-off circle. Adams pushes hard, outskating a hard body check by Bowman. Adams passes to Corbett as he crosses center ice. Corbett moves the puck and brushes off a stick check from Roman.”

“Corbett fires a hard wrister that handcuffs Dustin Tokarski. The Falcons Upton lashes at the loose rebound as defenceman Jared Cowan knocks him to the ice. Tokarski smothers the puck, and the Ref blows the play dead.”

“Upton is quick to his skates and pushes Cowan, objecting to his rough play.”

The players immediately paired off, and the linemen quickly moved in to prevent any potential fights.

“Mark, the refs will soon be calling penalties if the players have a scrum after each stoppage in play,” Jim remarked.

“Indeed, Jim. Otherwise, we could be in for a much longer game than normal.”

Though the game was only over a minute old, both coaches changed their lines. Brad, Mike Johnson, and Jake Campbell were quick onto the ice, with Mario Giroux and Rayous Grobenov on defence.

“Hayward, Johnson, and Campbell make up the forward line against Spokane’s number 20, David Rutherford, number 17, Justin McRae, and 25 Levco Koper, with 18 Jared Spurgeon and 3 Trevor Glass on the back end.”

As the players skated into position, Jim informed the viewers,” Tokarski and Spurgeon are both in their draft years, and I’m sure the scouts have been watching their play during this year’s Cup run.”

Mark resumes, “The face-off is to Tokarski’s right. The players are poised as the lineman prepares to drop the puck. Johnson has a false start, is waved out of the face-off circle, and Hayward moves in to replace him.”