Score says it all for Sauter, Chiefs

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
Hardy Sauter, the head coach of the Spokane Chiefs, doesn’t think he’ll have to say much to his club prior to tonight’s WHL game at Interior Savings Centre.
The way he sees it, 8-1 says it all.
The Chiefs last visited Kamloops on Jan. 26. They left on the wrong end of an 8-1 count, the host Kamloops Blazers having spanked them rather badly.
“That’s for sure,” Sauter said Tuesday from the team bus as it headed north. “It wasn’t too long ago we were getting our (butts) handed to us. That’s a fact.”
Sauter played Captain Hook on that night, sending both of his goaltenders — Michael Tadjdeh and James Reid — into the fray twice each. Neither was able to stop the bleeding.
Since then, however, the Chiefs are 8-2-0-0 and have forced their way back into the Western Conference pennant chase. They are fifth right now, but, at 35-20-3-1, are just three points out of third.
“It was definitely embarrassing,” Sauter said. “I don’t know that I would call it a wakeup call, but it was embarrassing, for sure. The next night we went into Chilliwack and played a very, very solid game. Since then our guys are making sure that we’re putting in the work.”
The Chiefs beat the Bruins 4-1 on Jan. 27, starting a stretch of 10 games in which they’ve won eight times.
“We’ve won a couple of big games the last week,” Sauter said, referring to home-ice overtime victories over the Tri-City Americans and Everett Silvertips. “Our guys, as of late anyway, are in the right frame of mind.”
The Chiefs have been getting great mileage out of two veteran forwards — winger Kyle Beach has five goals in his last two games, including the OT winner in each of the last two games, while centre Mitch Wahl has 14 assists in his last six games.
Sauter said Beach has been especially effective for the last “four or five games.”
Before that, the coach said, “his play — I don’t know if it was a reflection of the group or the same as the group — was just OK. But the last four or five games the team is playing much, much better. And he’s playing a lot better as well.”
As for Wahl, well, he has been one of the WHL’s top playmakers for the last couple of seasons and now is eight points behind Vancouver Giants centre Craig Cunningham, who leads the WHL with 86 points.
“Mitch has been going real, real well for about three weeks now,” Sauter said. “When he’s playing hard and he’s playing smart he’s as good as there is at our level. Points are one thing, but he’s been playing really hard in every aspect of our game, in every zone.”
The Chiefs come in having won four in a row and Sauter admits: “We’re playing well.”
He also knows that doesn’t mean his side just has show up to get the two points.
“It’s going to be a race to the finish,” Sauter said. “The thing I like the most is that Kelowna, Kamloops and Chilliwack, who are low in the standings, play every team hard. There’s no gimmees.
“If you go in thinking you’re going to win a game just because you show up, you’re dead.”
The Chiefs need only think back to Jan. 26 to realize that.

gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com