Shawn Mullin's Trail Smoke Eaters Blog: More New Smokies

Here's a shot Randy Emery took of new Smoke Eater Jayson Reardon at the spring camp. How dedicated is that guy? He's even attending the camp to take photos. Nice going, Randy. Congrats on your Pens whipping my hometown Sens. That was ugly.

I only have so much time to track down all these guys! Coach Ingram announced three more verbal commitments today. I've been able to track down and interview each guy so far, but we're going to have to spread the interviews out a little. Today I aired interviews with two of the newest Smokies and I'll post a link to that audio here.

TOMORROW ON OVERTIME

We'll have an interview with Jayson Reardon, the 6'1 Lumby native who had more goals than any other defenceman in the KIJHL last year.
Coach Jim Ingram will name the new Captain of the Smoke Eaters. Big shoes to fill with Kevin Limbert leaving. Who will be the new leader of the team?
More profiles and previews for AM Ford Fight Night this Saturday night at the Cominco Arena in Trail. Events like this one help go a long way towards helping raise some money for the hockey team. Come out and enjoy it! I'll post some of the fighter profiles I've done for Mountain FM with the other interview audio I'm adding.

INTERVIEW AUDIO

MORE NEW RECRUITS

The Smokies invited 54 players from the spring camp they held in Princeton to their main training camp this August. However, some of those guys are going to end up finding somewhere else to play before it comes to that. The final number probably won't be that high.

Coach Ingram announced three more verbal commitments today. They've added two forwards and another KIJHL defenceman. The Smokies are really targeting KIJHL talent so far this off season. With the three top scoring rookie defencemen committing this weekend, they've also brought in a championship winning all-around blue liner and a BCHL experienced veteran scorer from the local Junior B league.

RILEY LOYST

Loyst is a 1989 born forward who topped the powerhouse Nelson Leafs in scoring last season in the KIJHL. He put up 24 goals and 58 points after leaving Merritt to rejoin the Leafs. Loyst also scored 7 on the power play and had 78 penalty minutes. At 6'1 and 195lbs he's got some size and likes to play a gritty game. Loyst told me he gets a lot of his goals by playing hard, digging pucks out of corners and going to the net looking for rebounds. Loyst scored 39 points as a KIJHL rookie in 05-06. You can see his numbers for that year by clicking here.

Loyst played a full BCHL season in Merritt, but says he felt like he was used exclusively as a physical player and didn't get opportunities to display his offensive talents. He scored 5 goals and had a single assist in 44 games that year. Loyst told me he has regained his confidence after a strong year in Nelson and wants to prove he can be a complete player in Junior A. As a 19 year old he will also likely be asked to bring some leadership into the room. Some fans will automatically question why a guy would leave a Junior A situation to go to Junior B, but anyone who was welcomed back to the Nelson Leafs with open arms is going to be a character guy. From talking extensively to Coach Wheeldon in Nelson I know how important that is to his program, and I also know how important it is to Coach Ingram as he builds the Smoke Eaters roster.

Now as a 19 year old Loyst has another shot in the BCHL. Lets hope he has the kind of success a guy like Stefan Decosse did when he made the jump at a similar age.

JEFF ZMURCHYK

Zmurchyk's offensive numbers don't stick out the same way Reardon, Smutek and Koshey's do. He scored 2 goals and had 7 points for the KIJHL champion Fernie Ghostriders last season. Listed at 5'11 and 160lbs he's not a particularly large defenceman either. In Jeff's case, the numbers don't tell the story. He's rock solid in his own zone and on the transition game. Zmurchyk has good speed and makes quick, smart decisions. His offensive numbers were also lower than they could have been because as a rookie he played on a championship team with a lot of veterans.

As the season went on the 1990 born Fernie native was given more ice time and more opportunities. His hard work and some injuries in the playoffs thrust him into a very important role. Zmurchyk was dynamite in the Beaver Valley series. More than one scout and coach raved about his play in the games I saw. His coach, former BCHL bench boss Will Verner often complimented Zmurchyk's strong play when I interviewed him during the series. As a rookie thrown into a high pressure situation he thrived and help lead his team to the KIJHL crown. How much did Jeff elevate his game in the playoffs? He scored 7 points all season, but he scored 6 points in the playoffs. In more than half the games he scored just as many points while finding another gear. That's a recipe for a winner.

Zmurchyk also took a road trip with the Smokies as an AP player. He played a smart, simple game and didn't look out of place. The coaching staff was instantly impressed and have had their eyes on him ever since. He was a target of theirs and I know they're very happy to have Jeff in the fold.

CJ LEGASSIC

CJ had a connection to the Smoke Eaters through his former coach that played with Jim Ingram and a Smokies scout that used to coach with his Ridge Meadows Flames in the PIJHL. Those connections made first contact, and Legassic did the rest with his work at spring camp. The Smoke Eaters were very impressed by what he brought to the table and committed to him right away. CJ told me that Coach Ingram called him a "greasy" player. Only in hockey is that a compliment. I know I won't be telling my boss he's a "greasy" morning show host.

I loved this guy's attitude when I got the chance to talk to him today. Look forward to that interview Tuesday on Overtime. To sum it up, he's a player who will do absolutely everything he can do to get that puck in the net. CJ told me he volunteers and loves to go stand in front of the net. That from a guy who is 5'10 and 170lbs. He played with two 20 year old veterans this year with the assigned task of being first in the zone on the forecheck and digging the puck out of the corners for them. Legassic credits his linemates for his 20 goal, 52 point rookie season in the PIJHL. However, how many of their goals would they have scored without his work in the high traffic areas? The impression I get is that he was more important to that line than he lets on.

Legassic was the third leading scoring rookie in the PIJHL this season. He was also 16th overall in league scoring. While he describes himself as a guy who can be a gritty two-way player, he also has real potential to contribute on the scoreboard. He also really wants to be in Trail. CJ told me that living in Maple Ridge he has always wanted to play in a smaller city where local hockey is king. The impression I get from talking to CJ is that he's exactly the kind of player Ingram wants in the orange and black this year. He's got the attitude, the enthusiasm and the willingness to pay the price. Lets hope he can take those qualities to a high level of play in the BCHL.

NOTES

...What happened to the Ottawa Senators? Is Stanley Cup hangover becoming a serious issue in the NHL these days? Carolina and Edmonton were both brutal last season. Anaheim had a slow start this year and may not survive against Dallas. Tampa and Calgary were both early round busts the year after their trips to the finals. Conditioning is such a big factor in the game these days. The impression I got in talking with Shawn Horcoff last year was that it wasn't so much the extra games that was the problem, but that he missed those two months of off season training. Could this be a factor for every winner? How do you combat Stanley Cup hangover? Any ideas?

...Really looking forward to AM Ford Fight Night this Saturday. It was one of my favourite nights of the year last April. There's nothing quite like seeing two guys or gals go into the ring and just fight it out. It's the oldest form of entertainment and it hasn't lost its' luster. Hope to see you there on Saturday night.

...Also on Saturday there's a great fundraising event happening in Nelson. The Courtney Cup is a fundraising event for Nelson paramedic Courtney Allen who is battling Scleroderma, a debilitating disease that leads to hardening and tightening of the skin and connective tissues, damages blood vessels, and in more severe cases affects internal organs such as the pancreas, kidneys, heart and lungs. The paramedics and the Nelson Blueliners women's hockey team are getting together to play the Nelson Police and the Nelson RCMP in a charity hockey game. It's Saturday night at the Nelson Community Complex. There's a silent auction, 50/50 and a beer gardens. It's a great cause and if you're in the Nelson area it'd be great if you went out to support it.