By PATRICK KING
Sportsnet.ca
After being considered a virtual lock to repeat as Memorial Cup champions a year ago, the Spokane Chiefs are floating below the radar this season.
Two years ago, the Chiefs shocked the junior hockey world by beating the host Kitchener Rangers twice to capture the Memorial Cup. As impressive as their run to junior hockey glory was then, many believed the best was yet to come for a team with so many returning players.
The Chiefs were the odds-on favourite last season but fell short of their championship goal, losing in overtime of the seventh game to the Vancouver Giants in the second round.
As the nature of junior hockey is cyclical and rebuilding nearly inevitable, the Chiefs were regarded as a fairly strong team entering this season but not the same championship-caliber team as a year ago.
How quickly things can change.
If actions speak louder than words, the Chiefs sent a message to the rest of the league a week ago by trading for power-forward Kyle Beach. While many players have graduated from junior from that Memorial Cup-winning squad, the Chiefs will undoubtedly be in the hunt for the league title again this season.
The wildcard is Beach, who was nearly invisible in last year's playoffs with the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Known around the league as an agitator with soft hands, Beach gives the Chiefs a physical presence that can play alongside playmaking center Mitch Wahl.
"We had a chance to see him play a lot when he was in Everett and for me he's a very difficult guy to play against," Chiefs general manager Tim Speltz said. "He's physical and he can beat you a number of ways. He's the complete package."
Speltz said his team was looking to add a top-six forward while also getting bigger up front. Beach addresses both of those needs as he looks to fill the huge void left by departed sniper Drayson Bowman.
Beach wasted little time making an impact, scoring twice and adding an assist in his Chiefs debut on Saturday.
While there's no question Beach has the skill to dominate, his lack of discipline can hurt his team at the wrong time. His career has been overshadowed by alleged character flaws, something that didn't scare the Chiefs away.
"I think from our standpoint, we were looking at it that Kyle, as all players do, has matured from when he was a young guy," Speltz explained. "Those things you hear about and people maybe embellish them a little and whether things are much exaggerated, you don't know.
"He knows what the expectations are and more than anything if he wants to be a pro he's going to do everything he can do to be a Chicago Blackhawk next year."
The biggest acquisition for the Chiefs, however, may have been in the form of a player returning to junior. Defenceman Jared Cowen, the ninth-overall pick by the Ottawa Senators in last summer's draft, missed the last few months of last season after tearing his right ACL in late January.
Cowen emerged as one of the top shutdown defenders in the league last season. He's a smooth skater who can dominate physically and should be intimidating to play against. As such, the Chiefs named him their captain upon his return from Ottawa.
"His natural leadership ability is uncanny," Speltz said. "I think he's going to be a quiet leader that leads by example and will say the right things when they need to be said."
While some players are disappointed by returning to junior hockey after getting their first taste of the National Hockey League, Speltz doesn't foresee that as being a problem with Cowen.
"All of us realize that the main reason he's back is probably because of the injury," he said. "He didn't play a regular season game of hockey from the end of January 2009 to his first NHL pre-season game. I think that's unrealistic that an 18-year-old was going to step in out of those conditions."
Cowen was one of the many surprises two years ago when the Chiefs won the Memorial Cup. Although he had been drafted first overall by the Chiefs in the 2006 Western Hockey League bantam draft, it's not often a young player has such an impact on a championship-winning team.
"It was no secret what he had done playing through the playoffs and to the Memorial Cup," Speltz said. "His best hockey was on the biggest stage."
It would be easy for the Chiefs to use Cowen's injury as an excuse for falling short last season. However, the team is more than happy to have him back in the lineup this season as one of a handful of players remaining from their Memorial Cup-winning team in 2008.
"(The Memorial Cup experience) is something you can't replace and you can't put a price tag on," Speltz said. "We're fortunate to have it and we expect that we have a strong leadership group moving forward."
Spokane may not have been receiving the recognition they deserved before the season. The addition of Beach to a core including a healthy Cowen makes them a championship contender once again.
