PHOTO BY DREW SELLERS / SEATTLESPORTSONLINE.COM

BY BEN MILLER / SEATTLESPORTSONLINE.COM

KENT -- Watching Spokane Chiefs goaltender Dustin Tokarski go to work in front of the net can be like watching a gold glove first baseman scooping up errant throws from his fellow infielders. The puck comes up, his glove is there. The puck goes left, no problem. Comes in low, he’s got it.

As a result, one place it rarely goes is between the goalposts. Scoring on him isn’t impossible, but as all the forwards in the Western Hockey League can tell you, it sure isn’t easy.

"I’ve put in a lot of work," Tokarski, who is in his third year with Spokane, said. "I focus and put in 100 percent work ethic, battle and never say never."

Tokarski gives up just 1.97 goals per game, good enough to lead the WHL and besting the team record of 2.05 he set last season. Even in a game like Wednesday night against the Thunderbirds, where he gave up a pair of scores in a 3-2 win, he made Seattle’s offense work.

On their first goal, the Thunderbirds had a breakaway that was blocked by Tokarski at point-blank range, then it took three more blazing shot attempts off of deflections before they were finally able to get it past him.

"He’s a very good goalie," said Thunderbird defender Jeremy Schappert. "He’s very well positioned and he’s got a great glove."

After giving up two goals in the first seven minutes of the first period, it seemed like Seattle might have figured something out. But the rest of the game, Tokarski was back to his usual tricks - taking on fast breaks with confidence and calmly controlling deflections around the goal.

While some may have cracked under the pressure of an early scoring barrage in a playoff game, Tokarski didn’t even think about it.

He has more than gotten used to big-time atmospheres. In the last year, he helped lead Spokane to the WHL championship and the Memorial Cup – which is the Canadian junior hockey national championship – while also serving as the primary goalie for the Canadian Junior World Ice Hockey team that won the championship against Sweden in early January.

"You gotta be on your game more," Tokarski said about the playoff atmosphere. "It’s huge, that uncanny leadership [that you get] from that."

The 19-year-old figures to play in plenty of other big games throughout his career. He was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the fifth round of the 2008 NHL entry draft.

Spokane general manager Tim Speltz said that Tokarski is the best goaltender in the history of the franchise. That includes former Chief Trevor Kidd, who starred in the net for Spokane while being selected as the No. 11 pick in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft.

"Trevor Kidd was sensational, he was a standup goalie," Speltz said. “Back then the game was quite a bit different, but for me, in this era, there's no question Dustin Tokarski is the best by a long way.”

The one thing about his game that has plagued him in the eyes of the scouts is one thing he cannot control: his height. At 5-foot-11, he doesn’t stand tall at a position where good, natural size is a prerequisite. Of the 12 goalies taken before him in the 2008, 11 of them stood 6-foot-1 or taller.

But Tokarski doesn’t care what people think about his size. He just cares about getting the job done.

"You know what? I just keep the puck out of the net, so I don’t know why there’s a difference," he said. "I’ve been told that my whole career, and I just keep on trucking."

With a 3-1 series lead over the Thunderbirds, the Chiefs keep on trucking as well. The only heights they are concerned with are the ones that Tokarski has been taking them to since he arrived.