Class of 2022 – Spokane Chiefs
Throughout the month of August, we’re celebrating the class of WHL Graduates from the 2021-22 season. Join us as we go Club by Club in recognizing the achievements of the 20-year-old players from this past season moving on to access their WHL Scholarship or to professional hockey.
We continue our 22-part series with the Spokane Chiefs and their graduating duo of Bear Hughes and Nick McCarry.
Bear Hughes
Hailing from nearby Post Falls, Idaho, forward Bear Hughes spent his entire WHL career with the Spokane Chiefs after joining the Club at the conclusion of the 2018-19 WHL season.
He made his debut at Tri-City March 15, 2019, scoring twice against the Americans the following night before helping the Chiefs reach the Western Conference Championship series versus the Vancouver Giants that spring.
Hughes parlayed that experience into a full-time role with Spokane in 2019-20, amassing 47 points in 61 games for the Chiefs and earning a fifth-round selection by the Washington Capitals in the 2020 NHL Draft.
His third and final WHL season with Spokane was his best, offensively. Hughes led or held a share of the team lead in goals (24), assists (43), points (67), power-play markers (seven) and game-winning goals (five) while serving as captain of his hometown WHL Club. He also became the last Chiefs player to wear the number nine sweater, switching to number eight when Spokane retired the number nine in honour of Memorial Cup champion and two-time Stanley Cup champion forward Tyler Johnson.
Like Johnson, Hughes will move on from the Chiefs to professional hockey; he’s set to join the Hershey Bears of the AHL this fall.
🍀 | Goals so nice, he did it thrice!
Congrats to team captain Bear Hughes on his first career hat trick! He also reached (and passed) 100 @TheWHL career points last night 🔥#GoChiefsGo | @walottery pic.twitter.com/40EUZNIbBB
— Spokane Chiefs (@spokanechiefs) March 13, 2022
Nick McCarry
Forward Nick McCarry collected over 100 points during his WHL career, which began in Medicine Hat after he was signed by the Tigers in September of 2017.
The left-shooting forward made his WHL debut in his hometown of Calgary November 10, 2017, joining the Tigers on a full-time basis just over a year later.
His first WHL point was a goal, which opened the scoring for Medicine Hat January 19, 2019 in a 5-3 victory versus the Swift Current Broncos.
In 2019-20, McCarry scored 13 times; he added seven more tallies in 20 appearances for the Tigers during the shortened 2020-21 campaign.
He would move on from Medicine Hat in the summer of 2021, signing with the Kamloops Blazers ahead of the 2021-22 campaign. In 34 games with Kamloops, McCarry put up 28 points, but was shipped to the Spokane Chiefs in a WHL Trade Deadline deal that saw the Blazers land fellow WHL Graduate Luke Toporowski.
In Spokane, McCarry was a near point-per-game player, totalling 35 points in 36 games to up his 2021-22 totals to a career-best 23 goals and 63 points.
He’s set to use his WHL Scholarship in the fall after committing to Carleton University.
Ravens Men's Hockey is pleased to announce the commitment of @spokanechiefs forward Nick McCarry 🏒
McCarry of Calgary played over 170 games in @TheWHL with Medicine Hat, Kamloops & Spokane recording over 100 points.
📰 | https://t.co/jutITDk2NN pic.twitter.com/d3LWF2TonR
— Carleton Ravens (@CURavens) July 5, 2022
