Into February and down the stretch of the WHL season we go!

A sellout crowd of 8,249 packed Angel of the Winds Arena on Saturday night to watch two top teams in the Western Conference square off, with interested Kraken fans also getting the chance to see first-round draft pick Berkly Catton in action in the area once again.

But once the puck dropped, much to the dismay of the home crowd, it was all Chiefs all night. Spokane continued its rough-and-tumble play against Everett on Saturday, as the Chiefs dominated for a 10-3 rout, showcasing their offensive firepower all night long and showing they will be a force to be reckoned with come playoff time.

Game recap

Spokane (32-16-0-0) entered the game fresh off a 5-1 win over the B.C. Division-leading Victoria Royals, while Everett (35-8-4-3) had routed the lowly Kelowna Rockets 7-3 on Friday. Spokane had previously beaten Everett 3-2 on ‘Wednesday Night in the Dub’ the week before.

The Chiefs got off to a fast start with three unanswered goals to start the first and finished with six by the end of the first period. Spokane got two from league-leading goal scorer and recent Penn State commit Shea Van Olm, who extended his total to 37 goals for the season.

From the opening puck drop, it looked as though the Chiefs were the dominant team. Despite both teams missing key forwards in Mathis Preston, Smyth Rebman, and Sam Oremba, Spokane still appeared to be the more cohesive and offensively sound team throughout the game.

Spokane ended the game with 10 goals on 28 shots. Catton added a goal and an assist in the win, but it was his newest line-mate in Andrew Cristall who truly stole the show.

The Catt Attack 😼 #SeaKraken

Him and the @SpokaneChiefs have put up 10 on Everett tonight 👀 pic.twitter.com/4kVi3HJ2Hs

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) February 2, 2025

Cristall finished with one goal and five assists, contributing to Spokane’s strong performance. Since his acquisition, the Chiefs have gone 6-3-0-0, impressing against some tough competition. Coach Brad Lauer believes his arrival was just what the team needed.

“When we picked up an elite player like that, it definitely put a big spark in our group,” Lauer said. Cristall has a remarkable 25 points in nine games since joining Spokane. The Washington Capitals prospect is in the top five in all three major statistical categories in the league with 32 goals, 53 assists, and 85 points.

Before Cristall’s trade in January, the Chiefs had scored 10 or more goals in a game just three times since 2015. However, since the trade, Spokane has already matched that number, with three games of 10 or more goals on the road over the past month.

Despite being high atop the WHL standings, Everett has shown signs of vulnerability recently, playing four games in five days twice in the last two weeks. With multiple injuries and a heavy schedule, Spokane capitalized on a tired Silvertips team.

“They’re a tired club,” Lauer added. “We’re all playing lots of hockey this time of year, but we did a lot of good things early on, which gave us opportunities to score, and we took advantage.”

One Chief who made the most of his opportunity was 15-year-old Ossie McIntyre. In just his fifth career WHL game, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 WHL Bantam Draft scored his first goal in the league.

#WHL Ossie McIntyre has his first WHL goal!!

It is 6-2 Spokane 😳 pic.twitter.com/uS5Iz9CDmB

— Cameron Riggers (@CameronRiggers) February 2, 2025

“The young guys are finding their way and doing some good things, and the team is playing good hockey right now,” Lauer said. “That’s what you want heading into the stretch, making sure you’re doing the right things.”

The Chiefs currently sit in third place in the Western Conference behind Victoria, but it’s important they get as many points as they can; after the first round of the playoffs, the WHL re-seeds the teams based on record, meaning if Spokane and Victoria were to advance to the second round, Spokane would currently have home-ice advantage.

Although the Chiefs are 13 points behind Everett, and it might be a little too late to catch up in the standings, the recent losses could signal trouble for the Silvertips come playoff time. The aforementioned Van Olm knows the Chiefs have had Everett’s number of late.

“The last three or four years, Everett’s kind of beat on Spokane,” Van Olm said. “I wasn’t around for all of that, but I know there’s guys that are on this team that were, and it means a lot to those guys. I think coming into their barn and having a night like tonight feels great.”

Before Wednesday’s game against the Medicine Hat Tigers, the Silvertips hadn’t allowed more than four goals at home all season. But now, they’ve allowed seven-plus goals in consecutive games against teams chasing them for the top overall spot.

As previously mentioned, Everett has been dealing with a plethora of injuries to forwards Austin Roest, Kraken prospect Julius Miettinen, and most recently Dominik Rymon.

Once those key players return to the lineup, Everett will be a stronger team, but the recent games at Angel of the Winds have highlighted areas for improvement on both sides of the puck.

“It was one of those nights where we didn’t have a lot,” said Silvertips coach Steve Hamilton. “We just couldn’t get it going, and it combined for a bit of an ugly night.”

Both teams will wrap up three games in three days on Sunday. Everett hosts Kamloops, while Spokane travels to Langley to face Vancouver.

Header photo courtesy of Evan Morud and the Everett Silvertips