Road Trip Three Stars

(Steve Koshey, Ryan Bulach and Chad Gehon)

Taking a look back at the four game road swing the Smokies just had with my three stars of the trip.

Honourable Mentions: Marco Raimondo and Paul Barclay (both played strong games but split the work load and only won one out of four games), Nick Sandor (2G 3A), Jadon Porterfield (1A with two fights and a lot of terrific work), Grame Strukoff (3A), Paul Mailey (3A), JF Boisvert (2G 1A), Adam Gummer (2G 1A)

Third Star: Steve Koshey (2G 3A) With an injury to Brandon Clark, Koshey was given more responsibility over the weekend. He responded admirably with perhaps his best games in the BCHL. Koshey has a ton of talent and perhaps his excellent three game effort will lead to the confidence he needs to establish himself as one of the league's better puck movers.

Second Star: Ryan Bulach (2G 4A) Bulach is only credited with 3 assists right now, but he should have at least 4 if not 5. Combine that with his leadership, face off wins and defensive play... that's why he's Trail's Captain and consistently one of the most valuable players. Bulach was one of the Smokies (along with Patrik Martin, Paul Mailey and a few others) who helped calm the game down in Merritt when things looked like they were getting way too loose. His play this season has been another step up for a player who has consistently improved thanks to hard work and hockey smarts.

First Star: Chad Gehon (2G 5A) Gehon is Trail's offensive catalyst and one of the league's top point producers. He always comes to play against his former team especially. Gehon put up four points against Merritt and looked great re-united with his KIJHL teammate Ryan Bulach on a line with Nick Sandor. Bulach and Gehon were top scorers on a championship team in Sicamous. They haven't played together regularly with Trail, but perhaps this could be the start of a very successful line. In 39 games Gehon has more points (54) than any Smoke Eater put up in all of the 07-08 season. He needs to continue his production if the Smokies want to move back up the standings.