WHO: Penticton and Trail
WHAT: Trail's home opener and first game of the regular season
WHEN: 7:30pm tonight
WHERE: Cominco Arena, audio on the BCHL Fanzone, video on BCHL PPV
WHY: Hockey's back!
Here we go! The defending champion Vees are in town ready to play their second game of the BCHL season against a new look Smoke Eaters team. Penticton kicked things off with a tough 4-3 win in Westside last night. Andreassan, Vandenberg, Perdicaro and Milan scored for the Vees. Sean Bonar stopped 23 of 26 shots in goal. That means Anthony Borelli will likely see his first BCHL regular season action tonight for the Vees. Penticton only has eight returning players from last season's championship team. However, everything we've heard indicates they've recruited very well and should be a contender again this year. Former Smoke Eater Nathan Westover returns to Trail again to play his old teammates. Well, what's left of them anyway.
Eight is a small number for Penticton, but Trail's is even smaller. The Smoke Eaters only have five players back from last year's team. Koshey, Brown and Zmurchyk played some AP games so you could stretch things and make that eight at the most. It's a whole new team with 13 BCHL rookies on the 23 man roster. The veterans will be spread throughout the line-up while a solid veteran duo will provide stability in goal. Both Marco Raimondo and Paul Barclay have had a season of BCHL experience under their belt so don't expect much of an adjustment period for them like there may have been last season.
The 13 rookies up front and on D may be another story. They looked sharp and cohesive in exhibition play. However, a powerful Penticton line-up is a little different than pre-season teams from Powell River and Merritt. There may be a learning curve for these guys, but they are a talented and hard working group. The dressing room chemistry is strong and up beat. The vibe around the team is excellent. Lets hope that can carry over into a strong, competitive season. After months of recruiting, training, trying out, trading and preparing the time is now. Put up or shut up. Lets see what these guys are made of.
LINE UP
Tonight's scratches are F James Kellington, D Jayson Reardon and D Steve Koshey. With the depth Trail has on D this year they carded eight of them so they could see how they handle the regular season action. Might also pump up the value of some of the lesser known guys for trades down the road. For now I know they love what they see and want everyone left to get a good shot. Kellington will certainly get back into the line-up. He dealt with a minor injury in camp and is probably just working back to 100%.
Up front the lines will look like this:
Chad Gehon - Andrew Pickering - JF Boisvert
CJ Legassic - Ryan Bulach - Paul Mailey
Justin Brown - Travis St. Denis - Brian Kang
Sean Nugent - Riley Loyst - Patrik Martin
On defence tonight we'll see Brandon Clark, Graeme Strukoff, Skyler Smutek, Patrick Raley, Jeff Zmurchyk and Danny DeKeyser.
I'm not sure who is starting in goal, but from what I understood before camp the #1 job was Marco Raimondo's to lose. It'll probably depend on if he's fully recovered from being sick throughout camp. Paul Barclay will certainly challenge him for games given how well he played in exhibition.
We're just about two hours away now. I can't wait. I get the honour of introducing the team on the ice again this year. Hope to see you all at the game and feel free to come say hi. Smokies hockey, Gary Morisette doing the anthem, guitar hero at the intermission, $25,000 shoot out, music, big screen, spud shack, sud shack... are you ready or what?
DROP THAT PUCK!
WHAT: Trail's home opener and first game of the regular season
WHEN: 7:30pm tonight
WHERE: Cominco Arena, audio on the BCHL Fanzone, video on BCHL PPV
WHY: Hockey's back!
Here we go! The defending champion Vees are in town ready to play their second game of the BCHL season against a new look Smoke Eaters team. Penticton kicked things off with a tough 4-3 win in Westside last night. Andreassan, Vandenberg, Perdicaro and Milan scored for the Vees. Sean Bonar stopped 23 of 26 shots in goal. That means Anthony Borelli will likely see his first BCHL regular season action tonight for the Vees. Penticton only has eight returning players from last season's championship team. However, everything we've heard indicates they've recruited very well and should be a contender again this year. Former Smoke Eater Nathan Westover returns to Trail again to play his old teammates. Well, what's left of them anyway.
Eight is a small number for Penticton, but Trail's is even smaller. The Smoke Eaters only have five players back from last year's team. Koshey, Brown and Zmurchyk played some AP games so you could stretch things and make that eight at the most. It's a whole new team with 13 BCHL rookies on the 23 man roster. The veterans will be spread throughout the line-up while a solid veteran duo will provide stability in goal. Both Marco Raimondo and Paul Barclay have had a season of BCHL experience under their belt so don't expect much of an adjustment period for them like there may have been last season.
The 13 rookies up front and on D may be another story. They looked sharp and cohesive in exhibition play. However, a powerful Penticton line-up is a little different than pre-season teams from Powell River and Merritt. There may be a learning curve for these guys, but they are a talented and hard working group. The dressing room chemistry is strong and up beat. The vibe around the team is excellent. Lets hope that can carry over into a strong, competitive season. After months of recruiting, training, trying out, trading and preparing the time is now. Put up or shut up. Lets see what these guys are made of.
LINE UP
Tonight's scratches are F James Kellington, D Jayson Reardon and D Steve Koshey. With the depth Trail has on D this year they carded eight of them so they could see how they handle the regular season action. Might also pump up the value of some of the lesser known guys for trades down the road. For now I know they love what they see and want everyone left to get a good shot. Kellington will certainly get back into the line-up. He dealt with a minor injury in camp and is probably just working back to 100%.
Up front the lines will look like this:
Chad Gehon - Andrew Pickering - JF Boisvert
CJ Legassic - Ryan Bulach - Paul Mailey
Justin Brown - Travis St. Denis - Brian Kang
Sean Nugent - Riley Loyst - Patrik Martin
On defence tonight we'll see Brandon Clark, Graeme Strukoff, Skyler Smutek, Patrick Raley, Jeff Zmurchyk and Danny DeKeyser.
I'm not sure who is starting in goal, but from what I understood before camp the #1 job was Marco Raimondo's to lose. It'll probably depend on if he's fully recovered from being sick throughout camp. Paul Barclay will certainly challenge him for games given how well he played in exhibition.
We're just about two hours away now. I can't wait. I get the honour of introducing the team on the ice again this year. Hope to see you all at the game and feel free to come say hi. Smokies hockey, Gary Morisette doing the anthem, guitar hero at the intermission, $25,000 shoot out, music, big screen, spud shack, sud shack... are you ready or what?
DROP THAT PUCK!
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