So the other night I’m looking over the final scores of the last nine Chilliwack Chiefs games, all of which were wins.
Without looking at the box scores I couldn’t remember a moment in any of the nine games that the Chiefs had trailed.
It turns out they had.
In the first game of their current win streak Wenatchee opened the scoring. The Chiefs tied it early in the second period and added three more to win 4-1.
They haven’t trailed since.
Adding up the minutes and seconds, the Chiefs have either been tied or had the lead for the last 517:02 that they’ve played.
I stared at the number for a while trying to decide how impressive it was.
It certainly sounded good but I have never looked at streaks like this before so I wasn’t sure.
The Penticton Vees have won 22 straight games. I looked over those games and they got over 400 minutes twice but not near the Chiefs current number.
During the 2011-12 season the Vees set a BCHL record with 42 straight wins. They had two lengthy streaks (535:09/520:11) during which they didn’t trail during that historic run, both of which were better than the Chiefs current streak.
Both those streaks were ended by the Chiefs, who then went on to drop both those games by scores of 6-2 and 5-1.
The only other streak that came to mind was the Vernon Vipers 21 game streak during the 2009-10 season. They also put up a similar number, one that bettered the Chiefs current mark, going 520:18 without trailing.
Based on these findings, I think we can say that the Chiefs current streak is very impressive.
But I wasn’t even sure it was a team record. The only time the Chiefs could have put up a longer streak was during their team record 12 game winning streak during the 1995-96 season but it was not going to be easy to find those pre-internet numbers.
So did I waste most of my day Wednesday trying to figure it out?
Of course I did.
Based on the scores of those games I thought there was a chance they had topped it back then. That team took a 250 minute streak into a 12-3 win over Langley. Surprisingly it didn’t last long as Langley scored the first three goals of that game.
So yes, the Chiefs current streak is a team record. The league record may never be known as some of those old box scores are impossible to find.
The Chiefs put their streaks on the line tonight (Friday) when they host the Powell River Kings.
Saturday Wenatchee visits Prospera Centre.
Purchase two tickets for Friday’s game and you get a free ticket for the game on Saturday.
Be sure to check out the Chiefs store this weekend – all merchandise will be 20 per cent off and the two retro jerseys the Chiefs wore last season will be priced at $39.95.
