Hail to the Chiefs
Published 9:13 pm Sunday, May 25, 2008
The CHL season came to an end today when the Spokane Chiefs defeated the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers to hoist the Memorial Cup. It’s the first time a U.S. Division team won the Memorial Cup since Everett began playing in 2003.
Gotta give credit to Spokane for a tremendous postseason run. Perhaps after the way the Chiefs swept Everett out of the playoffs in the first round we all should have seen this coming. After trouncing the Tips, Spokane easily topped defending Memorial Cup champ Vancouver, swept Eastern Conference champ Lethbridge to win the WHL title, then swept through the Memorial Cup, going a perfect 4-0.
The only team that gave the Chiefs any kind of trouble in the playoffs was Tri-City, which lost a seven-game series in which five went to overtime. It therefore seems pretty clear that Spokane and Tri-City were the two best teams in the CHL this season. Of course, both play in the U.S. Division with Everett.
So does this result change the way one should view Everett’s season? The Tips were generally labeled a disappointment after being the consensus pick to top the U.S. Division during the preseason. But Spokane and Tri-City turned out to be a whole lot better than anyone realized, and during the regular season Everett held its own against both. If nothing else, it underscores just how challenging the season was for the Tips, and personally I think it makes Everett’s season look a little less disappointing. Do you agree?
