Brandon Manning was out with a knee injury.
Ryan Howse was also sidelined.
Needing to win on the road Saturday against the Spokane Chiefs to stay alive in the playoffs, the Chilliwack Bruins were without their two best players and suffered a predictable fate, losing 6-4 to the Chiefs, who wrapped up the Western Hockey League playoff series 4-1.
Manning and Howse, both from Prince George, were co-winners of the Bruins' most valuable player award this season. Manning finished with 53 points in 53 games and, with 21 goals, tied with Brayden McNabb of the Kootenay Ice for third among WHL defencemen. Injuries forced Manning to miss 19 games. He was troubled with a bad hip muscle toward the end of the season and will have to undergo surgery in the off-season to correct the problem.
Manning signed as a free agent in January with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Howse, a third-round pick of the Calgary Flames in 2009 who has since signed with the Flames, picked up where he left off in Chilliwack after a 47-goal season in 2009-10. He finished this season with 51 goals and 32 assists for 83 points, second in goals to Tyler Johnson of Spokane, the WHL leader with 53.
