After a 1-1 weekend against Salmon Arm and Vernon I had a chance to talk to the line that helped lead the Smokies to victory this weekend. Ever since they've been put together the Bulach/Mailey/Boisvert line has been getting the job done at both ends of the ice for the Smokies. The change has helped Boisvert leap to the top of Trail's scoring race. Injuries forced each of them to play with some different guys at times over the weekend, but they produced in every situation. Tonight on Mountain FM's Overtime we took a look back at the two games with each member of the line. Here's what they had to say and some other audio from the weekend:
- Forward Paul Mailey
- Forward J.F. Boisvert
- Captain Ryan Bulach
- Assistant Coach Barry Zanier
- AM Ford Trail Smoke Eaters Hockey: Trail 3 Salmon Arm 5
- AM Ford Trail Smoke Eaters Hockey: Trail 5 Vernon 2
The Smoke Eaters have a rough outing against Salmon Arm, but those same Silverbacks were also the first team to beat Penticton in regulation. Trail rebounded nicely from the loss and played a terrific game against Vernon on Saturday. The Smokies took until January to get a win in Vernon last year, and that took a 40+ save performance by Grant Rollheiser. This time the Smokies controlled the game from whistle to whistle. They had a bit of a let down in the second half of the second period, but they weathered the storm and came back with a huge goal to put them up 4-2.
Next up for the Smokies? Oh just four games in five days. Back to back home games against Merritt on Wednesday and Thursday, Prince George on Saturday and Quesnel on Sunday. For anyone expecting Merritt to be push overs they should think again. The Cents took 5 out of 6 points on the weekend. Teams can get into funks and look a lot worse than they really are. If Merritt has turned a corner here the all ready extremely tight Interior Conference just got tighter. I don't envy Ryan Pinder as he tries to put together power rankings this week.
WEEKEND THREE STARS
1) Paul Mailey (2G, 2A)
2) Ryan Bulach (1G, 2A)
3) JF Boisvert (1G, 2A)
Other Notables: Nick Sandor (2G, 1A), Paul Barclay (1-1, strong game against Vernon)
Lastly I want to wish a speedy recovery to Marco Raimondo, Justin Brown, Riley Loyst and Chad Gehon who all missed some game time over the weekend with injuries. All four are very valuable pieces of the Smokies line-up. Marco will likely be out 4 to 8 weeks. Brown I heard more like 4 weeks. Loyst could be back soon. Gehon's injury is not expected to be a long term problem. Lets hope so! Injuries sure took a big bite out of last year's team and you'd hate to see that again.
Coming up on the blog this week we'll get an update on more former Smokies including Grant Rollheiser and Ryan Hill, I'll tell you about my European Smoke Eater discovery and we'll open the floor to NHL predictions for this season. Yeah it started on the weekend, but the North American season really doesn't start until Thursday.
See you Wednesday and Thursday Smokies fans!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment