Game 31: Trail at Quesnel

Don't forget to listen to our broadcast live on Mountain FM! If you aren't in the Kootenay Boundary you can listen through the BCHL Fanzone.

That was a bit of an adventure. Unfortunately we ran into some bus problems yesterday when we were supposed to leave Trail at 9am. Didn't end up leaving until 11pm! Nothing you can do. Our bus driver Daryl and the gang at Columbia did the best they could for us, but in the end the part we needed just wasn't in town. Had to wait for a new bus and we were on our way to drive through the night.

I'm one of those guys who can sleep anywhere, anytime. I was exhausted by the time we got going and I'm not sure I was awake for more than 2-3 minutes of the entire trip. That's the way to do it. Sure it's a 10-11 hour drive but doesn't feel like it if you can sleep most of the way. The boys got a nap this morning/afternoon. They had a couple of good meals. We're ready to go. We were also invited to stop by Brad Davis' house today. His parents were very friendly and welcoming so a big thank you to them.

This is an incredibly big game for the Smokies. They wanted more than 1 of 4 points from Merritt on the weekend and are now unfortunately in a position where either Prince George or Quesnel could catch them for 5th spot in the Interior. This is a spot the Smokies have pretty much owned for a couple of months now. With two teams this close to them they're in danger of falling to 7th unless they have a good showing tonight in Quesnel and the next two days in Prince George.

Thursday, December 6th, 2007: Trail (14-13-1-2) at Quesnel (13-17-0-2)

(Click here for the boxscore)

Quesnel has won 4 out of 5 games between these two teams, including all three games they played at Cominco Arena. During the last northern swing Trail handled Quesnel on the Saturday but lost on the Sunday afternoon. Assistant Coach Brian Youngson says their biggest problem against the Millionaires has been effort level. He also says on our pre-game show that they will be disappointed with anything but 6 points this weekend.

Chris Santiago makes his debut in the line-up for Trail. He's looking to turn his season around as he's sitting at 11 points right now but obviously has the talent to produce more than he has. Looking forward to seeing his speed and skill in game action.

Quesnel features a Castlegar native in their line-up. Tanner Hlookoff had left Quesnel due to the expansion draft, but he's back with the team now and excited about the program developing and heading in the right direction. The 19 year old defenceman is a former Castlegar Rebel and one of this team's veterans.

A big game and they're giving away and ATV tonight! Don't expect too many updates from me tonight as I'm doing a life broadcast you can listen to on Mountain FM in the Kootenay Boundary or online in the BCHL Fanzone.

LIVE GAME NOTES

...Just a brutal period for Trail. Rollhesier got run out of the game after 8 minutes and 3 goals in 8 shots. Becker scores two for Quesnel. Gagnon and Hertz score as well. Nice set up by Williams on the Hertz goal. Trail started the game with no legs. I wonder if they're not recovering from that late bus ride? Either way that's the worst result they've ever had from 20 minutes of play this season. Can they rebound? Certainly would show some guts if they did, but it seems like things are just not going in the right direction today.

....They were much better in the second. Controlled the play had their chances. Corcoran scored on a one timer from Aiken. But Warner's missed pinch caused a 2 on 1 and goal for Williams. Smokies played better but didn't gain any ground.

...The Smokies couldn't seem to get any momentum going. The pucks were bouncing off their sticks all night. Certainly the effort was much stronger in the second and third period. However, I do want to give credit to the boys for being unwilling to let the game go without showing they had some pride. After five third period fights we saw the Smokies send a message to their teammates that no one is ready to walk quietly into the night. Is it better than winning? Of course not. It was still good to see the guys show they really cared and weren't going to just limp out of Quesnel without showing it. Davis, Hill, Mailey and Ourosov all dropped the gloves. For Davis it was two fights in the period in front of his home town crowd. The second one challenging Lee Klapp, a guy who had a significant heigh and weight advantage on him. Gutsy.

Ultimately the slow start was too big of a hole to dig out of. Lets hope they take some positive energy into Prince George.

On a side note I thought that I was AWFUL last night on air. If I'm going to talk about how a team performs I should certainly be willing to rip myself. I don't think I've ever had a game as bad as that one. Even when I did games in school. I just felt like I was completely off all game long. Maybe the bus ride got to me too? Either way, to anyone listening to last night's game my apologies! I promise to do my best in PG to improve on this weak effort on my part. I know the Trail fans and parents are counting on me to give them a picture of what's happening and hopefully I do that more often than not.

FINAL SCORE: Quesnel 5 Trail 1