levko the lionhearted.

Sports Management Worldwide (SMWW) / International Scouting Services (ISS) 2009 Draft Prospect Performers of the Week presented by the Pipeline Show & Hockey Now ending Sunday, February 15, 2009.

Each week, International Scouting Services (ISS), Sports Management Worldwide (SMWW), Hockey Now, and The Pipeline Show recognize the Top Draft Eligible player from each of the WHL, OHL, QMJHL, & USHL leagues for the upcoming 2009 NHL Entry Draft based on their play over the course of the week. Players are nominated and the selected by graduates of the SMWW Hockey GM & Scouting with each of the winners receiving a gift acknowledging their selection.

WHL – Levko Koper, Spokane Chiefs
Left Wing
Born Oct 5 1990 — Edmonton, ALTA
Height 6.00 — Weight 190 — Shoots L
Levko Koper earns his first nomination as draft performer of the week after registering 2 goals and 8 points in 5 games for Spokane. Koper currently sits second in team scoring with 19 goals and 33 assists for 52 points, a career high, in this his third season in the WHL.

via World of Junior Hockey

I tucked a bunch of good stuff after the jump so the front page isn’t clogged up.

Keeping Up with the Kardashians Chiefs.

Alright kittens, it’s time for me to cover some actual hockey. Even hockey related to my team. So, let’s put aside the Project Runway and Sean Avery and get down to some Chiefs business. I have held off on updates, now there is a pile. Shall we continue? It’s the Get in the Box link round up…

First order of business, uhm, we don’t have a coach at the moment. Yes, I am aware we upped Bill Peter’s contract back in like, March for three more seasons. And we were all thrilled because of the amazing turnaround the Chiefs have made. While I am glad he will be moving up the coaching ranks. It still is disappointing because we won the Memorial Cup and he said “peace out, ciabattas.” It’s like, you have a string of great dates with some superfox and you are just drunk on all the hardcore making out. Then you call and find out they have a girlfriend after all. Ugh. Men.

Hold it right there…An update. Thanks to Dylan for sending me this story. We have a coach, peeps. Hardy Sauter, who served as assistant coach with Peters. This bodes well, I think…

Also, Jace Coyle has been traded to the Medicine Hat Tigers. Cuts had to be made, he was a decent kid who didn’t get a chance to see a lot of play. In return, we get some Bantam picks. Whatever. At least we didn’t trade for half a Snapple and some Doritos?

BTW, where have all our boys gone? Jared Spurgeon was at Islander camp. Click here for a video of little Jar Jar. It’s a shame his helmet obstructs the hair. Judd Blackwater was invited to the Chicago Blackhawks summer fun. Sadly, the Blackhawks do not believe in letting the public know how their potential baby Blackhawks did. Chris Bruton (El Capitan) snagged an invite to the Calgary Flames camp. Here is a video of Brutzy. He is such a well spoken individual and I miss him already. He is rather handsome now that the playoff beard is gone. As for what he decided, well, he is getting schooled. Brutzy will be going to Acadia University and playing with the Axemen. At camp with Chris was Mitch Wahl, who kept his teeth hidden away during this interview and I never knew his voice was so manly…

In case you didn’t know, they are going big time. Dustin Tokarski is at Camp Canada showing them how one properly holds it down in the pipes. We already know what he has been up to in Ottawa… Drayson Bowman is reppin’ USA at Lake Placid along with Tyler Johnson and Mitch Wahl. Jared Cowen got an A (not of the scarlet variety) at the under 18 Canada camp.

[Jared Cow Cow. Back, left. image via hockeycanada.ca]

They are getting contracts, son! Smokin’ hot David Rutherford signed with an ECHL team, the Charlotte Checkers. He is another Chief I will miss. He is so lovely at agitation, very Avery. There was that time he received a two minute penalty for hair pulling. Oh yes please… Drayson Bowman sorted things out with the Carolina Hurricanes and is close to scoring a slot on their roster. But I have a feeling Bows will enjoy one more season with the Chiefs.

Ugh, is summer over yet? While it’s all hot out, be sure to pick up a Tokarski Saves shirt You would look great rockin’ one at the beach. You can even get it in tank top version, to tan even more of your surface area. Seriously, buy some merch. Funny thing, my job caught on fire. There was an incident at Sonic, not my fault. Anyways not entirely sure when I am working again. Sooooo, help keep a girl stocked on Dr Peppers. Eyebleaf picked up a hoodie. Trust him, he is a goalie. He approves.

god bless us, everyone.

Metsola got light up like a Christmas tree. I think we may have broken him actually. The first 3ish minutes goals were slide in by Mitch Wahl and Judd Blackwater. Then a ‘Cane hit one in. Whatever, they can have one. Though they tried to claim one before that, kicking the puck past Dustin Tokarski, which after review was waved off. David Rutherford scored in the second. Which was a quick and quiet period. Third period; Drayson Bowman scores and Ondrej Roman score.

Overall the game was neat and clean with very few penalties. I think the Chiefs perhaps were checking like they meant it. Something I politely request a bit ago. I thought the Hurricane fans in attendance was impressive given the epic length of the trip to Spokane. Roughly 8.5 hours.

For serious, how are you going to call your team the Hurricanes? Ain’t no way that Lethbridge is tropical. Or coastal for that matter.

Final damage; 5-2 Chiefs. The best of 7 series is at 2-0 Chiefs.

Why you should love Dustin Tokarski (stats taken from tonight’s program);

Chiefs goaltender Dustin Tokarski was named the Western Conference Championship MVP with four wins, two shutouts, a 1.21 GAA and .953 save percentage. In his last nine games, Dustin Tokarski has three shutouts and a 1.07 goals against average and a .956 save percentage. During the span, Tokarski had a stretch of 186:15 without allowing a goal breaking the previous record of 180:54 set in 1995-96 by David Lemanowicz in the regular season. Tokarski’s mark is fifth all-time in WHL playoff history.

Other bits;
Dear Habs,
Thanks for breaking my fucking heart. I gave you my heart and you gave me a pen! And by “pen” I mean an unreliable Carey Price in the third period!
Love,
Heather

So, for hot, sweaty Stanley Cup action I pick four teams to support; Caps, Flames, Habs and Rangers. Not exactly in that order. But there is some logic behind it. I am not one for the Avs. Forsberg pisses me off. Hating the Red Wings is like, a given. I refuse to accept Hockey Jesus as my Savior. Danny Briere is like, too emo to even function. Oh and Dallas and San Jose; it never fucking snows in your locales. Ever. The Caps gave up a fight. Ovie was actually playing in a ton of pain. On painkillers in fact, but he didn’t want to talk about it. The Flames were stonewalled. The Habs put their money on Price, who at the end of the day still is a rook and prone to mistakes. And the Rangers are about toast. Avery had an unfortunate injury but played with internal bleeding. What have you done lately? So now, who do I support? No one, probably. I am bitter and hate everyone.

for serious, the roof is on fire.

Ahhhh. So nice to be home in my arena. With lots of legroom. And not having to wait ten minutes to take a piss.

Fun stuff. The arena was on fire tonight. Not figuratively like “oh the Chiefs are smoking the Ams!” It was on fire, as in the giant scoreboard shorted and caused a fire of unknown size. And roughly eight firefighters were crawling around the rafters. The game was not stopped. I talked to a section leader and I guess they were ready to evacuate the arena. But alas, no. The game barreled on.

Which is good. No momentum was ruined. Ondrej Roman scored in the first period from David Rutherford and Judd Blackwater. This line is amazing, and has been stellar. The playoffs really has been Roman’s Empire. Then in the third period Rutherford scored from Seth Compton and it was glorious.

Dustin Tokarski was his usual golden self. I was actually sorta paying attention to his ticks tonight. That kid must take forever to wash his hands. I don’t care, he gets the job done.

shut ‘em down

Alright, so the Chiefs shut down the Giants. Down and out, even. 4-0. Game Six will be on Monday in Spokane and Seven on Tuesday if needed. Right now the series stands at 3-2 Spokane. This just might be doable. Clearly, David Rutherford has been the star of this post season action.

The lines were shuffled up last night and for the better. Roman had two assists in the first period. Helping out Justin Falk and Rutherford. Rutherford and Falk helped Drayson Bowman in the third. Tyler Johnson closed the game with an empty netter.

Tokarski saves! Stopping 22 of the Giants shots.

Keep it up, boys. I might allow those wretched play off beards.

how did I get here?

That was some Freaky Friday action. It was just like watching the game the other night except this time it was the Chiefs scoring all the goals. In fact, the final score was 4-1. So really, it was Groundhog’s Day, but this time everything was fixed and went in our favor.

David Rutherford posted two goals. Which is nice because the ‘Couv’s goalie, Tyson Sexsmith is one of his good friends. Clearly, Rutherford knew how to get up in his Kool Aid. Also, I am fairly certain Sexsmith’s mask has scantily clad women painted on it. Perhaps it’s the Playboy version of Johnny Canuck.

Mitch Wahl scored and Levko Koper had an empty netter in about the last thirty seconds. After the game, the Giants decided to clear the bench and scream at the refs for their calls. Really, the refs were incredibly fair tonight. I was impressed and all the Giants should have gotten penalized for being unsportsmanlike when the buzzer sounded.

So with the series tied, it’s time to play in Vancouver. Best of luck boys and all that. Oh and I understand for this round of playoffs y’all aren’t shaving. Uhm, please shave. You all look homeless. And unclean. You were all pretty and clean for the first round and you swept the Silvertips. So lets shave off the goatees. Most of you are too young to grow them anyways. I will bring you some Gillette and a razor.

All hail Saint Tokarski, for he saves us all.

Download this: Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta.

About last night

I did not listen to the Chiefs game last night because I was too deep into the Avs/Canucks massacre. Luongo was having a terrible night and really just needs a break. Sanford is a mediocre back up goalie and the ‘Couv cannot expect Luo to carry the team all the time.

Back to the Chiefs;

Scoring in the first period was Levko Koper. Ondrej Roman scores in the second from David Rutheford and Judd Blackwater. Silvertip Gendur also scored in the second. Drayson Bowman smacks one in the third from Chris Bruton and Mitch Wahl. Then Judd Blackwater slides in an empty-netter from Jared Cowen and Jared Spurgeon. Final score 4-1 Chiefs. Dustin Tokarski stopped 28 of 29 shots.
Friday is a must win situation Everett. Which has me wondering if they will be out for blood. Or if this will not be the case given the Remparts incident.

Download this: The Champ by Ghostface Killah

be cool;

Chiefs take on ‘Tips tomorrow in Everett. Which for some odd reason has me biting my nails at the moment. I am sure Tokarski will be in the pipes, Rutherford will continue his aggressive skating. Homeboy wants some goalssssss. So in essence, everything should be fine. Whatever  you boys have been doing, keep it up. Just be cool. You got this.

Did I mention David Rutherford dyed his hair black? I can’t say that I like it. He looked foxier with the dark brown with blond.

eye candy.

Some visual aides from last night. I think they might be need in some LOL treatment.

bring the ruckus

The playoffs were kicked off by well, kicking the shit out of Everett. The first period saw the Chiefs 3-3 on the power play. Bowman, Rutherford and Blackwater scored in the first. A ‘Tip snuck in a top shelfer beginning of the second, but Bruton returned the favor. Everett scored in the third. But all was well as Bowman smacked in his second for the evening.

Everett was out for blood as usual. Harty  (by Harty I mean Crowley) tried to start a fight with Bruton but he was smart enough to skate off so Harty was in the box on instigating. Clearly, the Chiefs have their head in the right place. It was quick and muscular play tonight. Tokarski was brilliant in the pipes, he had amazing defense to work with. I was impressed with how hard the boys were skating, particularly Rutherford.
Final score: 5-2 Spokane.
Chiefs are at home again tomorrow against Everett.
download: bring da ruckus by wu tang clan

hey, it’s me calling

Hey uhm, Portland? Sorry if that was kinda awkward. Listen, I think we should try and be friends? This whole fooling around thing and being fuck buddies was kinda awesome. We need some time apart. We had a good time tonight, right? I mean I scored on you with Bowman from Bruton and Roman. Then Koper from Johnson and Falk. And it was awesome. And then in the second, Rutherford, Bowman and McCrae all got between your pipes. Roman snuck in the third. Portland, it was a lot of fun. You’re a great chick. But I just need some me time now. Thanks for being so understanding. And doing my chemistry lab. Talk to you soon!

-Chiefs

Download this: Where Are My Panties by Andre 3000

Bow in the presence of greatness.

Holy shit. Chiefs beat the Ams, on a buck night. In a shut out to be precise. Tokarski was unmovable object, he let nothing get by him.

Roman scored the lone goal in the first. Rutherford scored in the second. Rutherford also punched Colton Yellow Horn. And Rutherford ditched the blond hair. About time. Compton and Bowman smacked goals in the third.

Some Spokane fans sat behind the Ams bench armed with stadium horns and cow bells. The Ams coach was freaking out demanding security to boot them. But security laughed him off and told the fans not to touch the glass.

It was quite the game of penalties. The first one makes me smile. When I told one fan that Yellow Horn thought he looked like Brad Pitt, he laughed and said “Yellow Horn looks like he ate Brad Pitt.”

1 – TRI Yellow Horn, 4:24 – Major-Fighting , 5 min
1 – SPO Rutherford, 4:24 – Major-Fighting , 5 min
1 – TRI Reese, 4:43 – Cross Checking , 2 min (PP)
1 – TRI Wilgosh, 7:43 – Holding , 2 min (PP)
1 – TRI Hoff, 8:12 – Delay of Game , 2 min (PP)
1 – TRI Wilgosh, 13:21 – Tripping , 2 min (PP)
1 – SPO Bowman, 17:52 – Hooking , 2 min (PP)
2 – SPO Cowen, 3:31 – Holding , 2 min (PP)
2 – SPO Falk, 5:24 – Tripping , 2 min (PP)
3 – TRI Hoff, 4:21 – Hooking , 2 min (PP)
3 – SPO Bowman, 5:00 – Tripping , 2 min (PP)
3 – TRI Reddick, 8:31 – Tripping , 2 min (PP)
3 – TRI Hughesman, 11:06 – Checking from Behind , 2 min
3 – TRI Hughesman, 11:06 – Roughing , 2 min
3 – TRI Yellow Horn, 11:06 – Roughing , 2 min (PP)
3 – SPO Koper, 11:06 – Roughing , 2 min
3 – SPO McCrae, 11:06 – Roughing , 2 min
3 – TRI Procyshen, 14:11 – Inter. on Goaltender , 2 min
3 – SPO McCrae, 14:11 – Hooking , 2 min
3 – SPO Kelner, 19:01 – 10-Minute Misconduct , 10 min
3 – SPO Glass, 19:58 – Delay of Game , 2 min (PP)

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Notice;

Alright, so there is no hockey this week because of the State B jizzmops. Basketball, what a terrible sport. And fuck March Madness. Reasons for me to hate March: the basketball jingoism and discussions of “brackets.”

Quick aside: there are some of my peeps putting together a street hockey gang of sorts this summer. We even have a regulation net [That was stolen off the side of the road in Cheney this one time]! Given the fact I am absolute crap on skates, I am designated manager because I yell a lot. However, if you or anyone you know is down for some semi-hilarious to serious street hockey let me know. We will take info and put you on a list.

Did I mention we beat Kelowna at Kelowna the other night? Tokarski in pipes and Rutherford with 2 goal. Schwing.

Visual aides.

Rutherford, pimp extraordinaire.
Another Donaghy fight. Just a memo, don’t ever fuck with the kid who broke his hand in a fight then switched fists in the brawl.
Kelner and Letts on pink ice night.

Chocolate rain, y’all

Ok, so hang with me. Just a bitttt hungover. Otherwise I would have posted last night. But I didn’t want to embarrass myself the next morning with drunken blogging. I have been there. The typos ain‘t pretty.So last night completely and utterly ruled. A bit of playing the Tri Cities at home problem may have been solved. First, you rain down four goals in the first period. Second, you destroy the spirit of Tri Cities goalie Chet Pickard. Third, continue to allow David Rutherford to be a p-i-m-p.First period saw goals from Seth Compton, David Rutherford, Chris Bruton and Drayson Bowman. Which saw me gloating and screaming at the Ams fans a few rows in front of me.If you wear a Colton Yellow Horn jersey. Expect shit talking. No one likes that guy. Second period no goals from Spokane but two from the Ams. Whatever, I would just point at the scoreboard. Third period one goal from the Ams and two more from Spokane. Another goal for Rutherford and Mitch Wahl scored an empty netter Chalupa getter goal.The ice was pink and the Chiefs had pink stick tape in support of curing breast cancer. Though I think if the Chiefs were serious they would have the boys in pink jerseys and then auction those off. Because it would rule to have a pink jersey. Even though I hate girlie jerseys. If it’s for a good cause, hells yeah I am in. But if they were to auction them off, do not allow billets or parents of the players to bid. It seems tacky and sucks for fans.

The funny part is how much the Ams out shot us, but we were more successful with our shots.

McCrae is out with the flu. Get better, yo. Campbell’s soup and America’s Next Top Model reruns do wonders for your health.

Pictures to come later.

All hail St. Tokarski.

Download this: Chocolate Rain by Tay Zonday Dude, I will never get over this song. Ever.