Westside at Trail Game Day

After what was a very strange game Friday night at the Cominco Arena, the Smokies will try to break their five game losing skid against one of the two teams (Penticton is the other) that they may face in the first round of the playoffs. Trail got down 2-0 against Vernon last night after a fist period that included a goal from the red line. After that the Smokies tied Vernon in the final 40 minutes (discounting the empty net goal) and showed a lot of fight and heart. Paul Mailey was especially tenacious last night.

It was one of those games teams have when they're on a bad streak. Everything that can go wrong will go wrong. A goal on a dump in, a blocked shot turning into a breakaway, Martin taking two strange minor penalties for back to back Vernon PP goals just after Trail ties the game... it was like the hockey gods were against them last night. How frustrating was it seeing the third period get taken away from the two teams by referee Erik Laughton's parade to the penalty box? Just as the game was picking up steam he practically ruined it with call after call while both benches were left scratching their heads. Not a good time for him to have such an awful game as Commissioner John Grisdale was in the house taking in the festivities and getting ready to meet with the Smokies board. Maybe it was nerves? We all have some off nights.

Speaking of games going wrong when you're on a losing streak, that reminds me of last Thursday's game in West Kelowna. The Smokies had three leads and blew them all despite playing a very good sixty minute effort. They showed they can play toe to toe with Westside, and despite a 5-1 season series lead for the Warriors all the games between the two sides have been damn entertaining. Lets hope for Trail's sake that the Smokies can jump on a Westside team that is coming off a frustrating loss where Prince George's Kevin Genoe stole a game from them at home.

Here's how the season series breaks down...

Sept 13: Westside 4 at Trail 2
Oct 25: Trail 3 at Westside 5
Nov 22: Westside 4 at Trail 6
Nov 23: Westside 3 at Trail 2
Dec 14: Trail 4 at Westside 5
Feb 5: Trail 3 at Westside 4

The Warriors have a 5-1 record against Trail and have outscored the Smokies 25-20 in those games. This game tonight also marks the first return of former Smoke Eater Chad Gehon to the Cominco Arena as a Warrior.

TOP SCORERS

1. F Ron Kelly (WES) 3-6-9
2. D Cory Pritz (WES) 3-5-8
3. F Trevor Bailey (WES) 5-2-7
4. F Kyle Singleton (WES) 3-3-6
4. F Chad Gehon (TRA/WES) 2-4-6
6. F Ryan Bulach (TRA) 1-5-6
7. F Jordan Gagne (WES) 3-2-5
7. D Brad Pumton (WES) 1-4-5
7. F JF Boisvert (TRA) 3-2-5
7. D Danny DeKeyser (TRA) 2-3-5

GOALTENDERS

1. Devon Murtagh (WES) 2-0, 2.50GAA, 0.898%
2. Marco Raimondo (TRA) 1-2, 3.82GAA, 0.882%
3. Paul Barclay (TRA) 0-3, 3.95GAA, 0.887%
4. Kevin Jebson (WES) 2-1, 4.38GAA, 0.838%

LINE UP

TRAIL

Scratches:

WESTSIDE

Scratches:

BROADCAST

There is no home radio broadcast, but the game is available on BCHL PPV with my broadcast (and we seem to have corrected any feed problems) and in the BCHL Fanzone with both home and road feeds.

Final note, it's V-Day so don't forget to let the person you care about know how much you do. I know I'm feeling lucky.