Pre-Camp Audio

Smoke Eaters training camp gets officially started tomorrow morning at 11:30am. While it may seem like a quick return to hockey for some, I feel like the wait has been way too long. It may be August but I'm really excited for another year of Smokies hockey. The team held a "Summer Skate" on Monday and Tuesday with players from around the region who wanted to make an impression on the team. It was also a chance for some new faces to get onto the Cominco Arena ice for the first time. I had a chance to watch the early scrimmage on Monday. Andrew Pickering was the first player to catch my eye at camp. Seems to have a good shot and quick release, plus he was working hard and smart on the back check. Hard to even know who you're looking at when you're just seeing them for the first time and don't have a list of numbers though. I'm excited to see these players that we've only just been talking about all summer.

I talked to Jim Ingram, Marco Raimondo and JF Boisvert after the first scrimmage. We'll have more audio from Day 1 of camp tomorrow night on Overtime. Here's a link to the first few interviews of the new season.

• Coach and GM Jim Ingram on the mini-camp, main camp and back-up goaltender.
• New goaltender Marco Raimondo on his expectations for the year.
• New forward JF Boisvert on his first trip across Canada.

I also ran in to former Smokies Captain Kevin Limbert who is just a few days away from leaving for Yale. I want to wish all the former Smoke Eaters and BCHL stars good luck wherever they ended up this year. I know I'll be doing my best to keep you all up to date on how they're doing.

I promised that picture from Alaska but I don't have it on this computer right now. We'll get that up here sometime in the next couple of days. Expect more audio as well. This is an exciting time as the Smokies have a lot of roster spots to fill and the camp should be very competitive.

11:30am to 10pm tomorrow! See you there.