Holding a 32-19 record, the Chiefs are safely in third place in the U.S. Division with a five game lead over Everett. Though the Chiefs appear to be in a slump. Chief’s Center Mike Aviani believes that they need to work on their consistency.

“I think we had a pretty good start but I definitely think we’re slumping right now,” Aviani said. “We’re a little inconsistent at times. We’re really good one night and then the next night, we’ll be a little slow, so I think we need to work on that.”

Don Nachbaur, the head coach of the Chiefs, is confident that they have a good chance at the playoffs.

”We’ve earned the right to be in fifth place in the conference and it’s going to be up to us to hang on to that or improve on that. But you have to be consistent on winning.” Nachbaur said. “We’ve probably exceeded some expectations coming out of the gates with 31 wins this time of the year, we’re pretty happy about that.”

To add pressure to playing on the Chiefs, half of the team is in high school. The team is in a rebuilding stage with a lot of young new players on the team.

“We knew that it was going to be a process bringing the new guys up to speed and to win games.” Nachbaur said. “You have to master leaving your books at home and turning on your hockey game, and that’s the kind of focus you need to play at this level.”

Defenseman Reid Gow has stepped up into the leader position and became captain. Players  have admired him for his motivation.

“He’s always pushing guys, he’s always knowing when we can be better, or when we’re playing well. He never lets guys take a shift off.” Aviani said.

Nachbaur mentioned several other players that had stepped up into leadership roles this season.

“We’ve had great energy from Aviani, Holmberg, Williams, and Gow,” Coach Nachbaur said. “Guys that have provided key plays all year long and have helped us win games as well as progress through the season.”

Mitch Holmberg leads the Western Hockey League in goals, while Mike Aviani leads the league in power-play goals.

“I think every year we’ve been pretty good, just a little different… This year obviously , Mitch is kind of leading the way in scoring,” Aviani said. “The past couple years, we’ve had a little more depth, but I think we all believe in each other, we know we’re a great team and guys could step up at any moment.

“There’s no reason we can’t hold on to that position. We believe we can, so we’re going to just keep working hard.”

The Chiefs will host their rivalry game this Saturday Feb. 15th against Tri-Cities at Spokane Arena.