Showing posts with label Beckwith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beckwith. Show all posts

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Beckwith Traded, Wheeldon Returns




The Trail Smoke Eaters have sent 20 year old goaltender Garrett Beckwith to the AJHL's Drumheller Dragons in a future considerations deal. The other shoe had to drop here. There was no way the Smokies were going to bring two 1990 born goaltenders into camp in September. A choice had to be made and the Smokies are going with Kiefer Smiley.

In this case I'd say that decision was made when Kiefer played lights out hockey in the last two months of the season. He was especially good in the playoffs and gave the injury-plagued Smokies a real chance in all the games against Westside. I'm sure Smoke Eaters fans are hoping what we saw of Smiley at the end of the season was a return to the form we saw from him as an outstanding rookie with the Cowichan Valley Capitals. If he is able to build on that Trail will have a very talented veteran to lean on this season.

As for Beckwith, I'm sure he's hoping that last season was just a slight bump in the road of what has been an impressive young career. I heard rumblings of some people wondering if he would go back to the KIJHL's Nelson Leafs, but what does he have left to prove there? It'd be near impossible to top a 2008-09 season in which he lost twice all year and took his team to a championship.

Garrett will get a chance in Drumheller to prove himself at the Junior A level. We saw some signs of that last year. However, what could any goaltender do with the kind of mistakes we were seeing on the ice early last season? After a rough start to the year confidence was likely a factor for both netminders. Garrett is a very talented and athletic goaltender. You can see it in the video I made for him to help with college recruitment. It's just a matter of putting it together with consistency. If he does, the Dragons will be very pleased with the deal they just made. Doesn't hurt that he's a quality young man as well.

Good luck to Garrett this year and I'm sure fans in Nelson and Trail will be watching the box scores.

WHEELDON TO THE ICE

Just when he thought he was out... they pulled him back in.

Former Nelson Leafs Coach and GM Simon Wheeldon has signed on as the Coach of the Major Midget Kootenay Ice. Chris Wahl has some details here. I was away yesterday but you can hear Chris' interview with Simon on Overtime tonight.

I'm sure most people thought that if Simon were going to take another coaching gig it would be with a BCHL or WHL team rather than midget. So what happened? Wheeldon resigned as Nelson's coach because he wanted to spend more time with his family. He has another full time job and was being stretched quite thin. However, the Major Midget program in the Kootenays was in real trouble. We were getting down to the final hour basically. If Wheeldon hadn't stepped up the program may have died. Once it was gone it would've been very tough to get it back.

It is still a huge time commitment, but I think it'll probably be a little less taxing. Most of the players are living with their parents. There is no trading involved here. I don't think the job is quite as complex. That being said, if Simon commits to doing something he is going to do it at 100%.

The realities of Major Midget in this area is that we don't have as much of a population base to draw from as some major markets. We are also far more spread out so it's hard to get some of the best talent from the East Kootenay to come play here. Is the team from this area ever to likely win a championship? Probably not, but they can compete. Brent Petrick had them playing .500 hockey in the second half of the season with a commitment to hard work and team play. Wheeldon has a terrific record behind the bench and should be able to build on Petrick's work with the program.

Simon is used to winning, but that is not the primary role of a coach in Major Midget. His job is to get these local young talents ready for Junior B, Junior A and Major Junior. Given the great work he has done with the Leafs I suspect the program couldn't ask for a better hire. The only question is how long is he prepared to do the job and will this program survive if they are desperately searching for a coach every summer?

KROMM DAY

Lastly I just wanted to say kudos to those who organized Bobby Kromm day at the Cominco Arena. I couldn't make it but apparently there were quite a number of people there to show their respect to the legendary coach. Look out for more planned tributes to the 1961 Smoke Eaters this year! Join our facebook group (link on the left side of the page) to stay on top of it all.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Mountain FM to broadcast KIJHL semi-finals



For the second straight season the Nelson Leafs and Fernie Ghostriders will meet in the KIJHL semi-finals. With the end of the Smoke Eaters season we at Mountain FM will continue our commitment to local hockey by picking up the broadcasts of Nelson's road games in this series and any other future series should they advance past Fernie. That won't be an easy task.

Nelson and Fernie have been the two most dominant teams in recent KIJHL history. As I said they met in last year's KIJHL semi-finals and the 2007 KIJHL finals. The Leafs knocked the Ghorstriders out of the playoffs last season ending their run of two consecutive KIJHL championships. The Leafs went on to win the league title themselves. It was revenge for Nelson after Fernie came from down 2-0 to win the 2007 series between the two clubs. Between them they have won the last 3 league crowns.

It's also an interesting match up for Smokies fans for a number of reasons. For one, former Smoke Eater Scott Jago is one of Nelson's key veterans. Trail had APs on both teams as well. The Leafs supplied Gavin Currie, Michael Spring, Phil Patenaude, Bennett Hambrook and Taylor O'Neil to the Smokies at various times. Fernie sent Jesse Niemi and Keanan Patershuk to Trail during the year. All of those APs made solid contributions to Trail's line-up including a 5 point weekend for Niemi. Finally, there are alumni from both teams on the Trail roster. Garrett Beckwith and Tommy Rizzardo are former Leafs while Josh McEwan and assistant coach Brian Youngson are former Ghostriders.

How do the two teams match up? It's hard to say. However, Fernie has breezed through the first two rounds of the playoffs while Nelson has had very difficult seven game wars with Beaver Valley and Spokane. You would have to think with only one day off between game 7 against Spokane and game 1 against Fernie that the Ghostriders will have a physical edge to start the series. Of course sometimes the team that is just coming off a series win could have a momentum edge over a team that has been resting for close to a week. We'll see how it goes! Should be very interesting tomorrow night on Mountain FM. If you're feeling adventurous you could even jump in your car and head up to Fernie for the game. I hear the atmosphere there is terrific and I know I'm looking forward to it.

Thanks again to the Leafs for letting me tag along and to the Ghostriders for accommodating me at the rink so that we can bring this coverage to Kootenay Boundary airwaves. Game time tomorrow night is 6:30 with the pre-game show getting started at 6:15.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Christmas Eve Audio



This audio has nothing to do with Christmas in particular it's just the day I'm posting it. I had the chance to chat with Castlegar's Luke Walker and his father Gord after Luke was selected to the American World Junior Championship team's roster. I also caught up with several Smokies after their win over Victoria on Saturday. Here is that audio. Make note of the video game trash talk by Strukoff. I think he and Oursov have to have some kind of tournament to settle this once and for all. Happy Holidays to all Smokies players, staff, volunteers and fans!

American Junior Team Forward Luke Walker

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Former NHLer Gord Walker

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Smokies Captain Paul Mailey

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Smokies All-Star Graeme Strukoff

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Smokies Goaltender Garrett Beckwith

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Smokies Coach and GM Jim Ingram

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Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Post Weekend Audio



Smokies Goaltender Garrett Beckwith

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Smokies Assistant Coach Brian Youngson

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Nelson Ford Trail Smoke Eaters Hockey: Salmon Arm 5 Trail 2

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Sunday, December 6, 2009

Post Game: Vernon 3 Trail 2 (OT)

Here is the summary posted on the Smokies official website. It's the recap from the BCHL site updated with some Trail only information. I thought tonight's game was a terrific 60 minute effort from the Smoke Eaters. The shots in the second period don't flatter them, but I felt it was much closer than that total would indicate. Trail was in this one the whole way.

While Beckwith was terrific, it wasn't a one man effort. The whole team gave it their all and limited the quality chances from Vernon. However, the Vipers skill took over in the 4 on 4 overtime. It's still an effort that is way ahead of what Trail has done against the Vipers previously. The games against Penticton and Vernon were both big improvements for the Smoke Eaters. That's something to build on heading into Wednesday's game with Westside.


Trail, BC - The BCHL’s top team, credited with only three losses all season, were almost handed another rare defeat, as the hometown Smoke Eaters gave league-leading Vernon everything they could handle before the Vipers ended the upset bid in overtime and skated away with a 3-2 win in Trail.


Scott Jacklin opened the scoring for the home side on the powerplay late in the first period. It was the second straight game opening goal by Jacklin. Trail held the 1-0 lead into the second frame, but not for long, as the Vipers’ Kevin Kraus tied the game with a goal a minute into the period. But it was at that point that Smoke Eaters’ goaltender Garrett Beckwith stole the show in front of nearly a thousand spectators. The New Jersey native was pelted with 23 shots in the middle frame and only allowed two goals amidst a 21-save period.


Despite letting in a Bryce Kakoske goal, which put Vernon ahead 2-1, Beckwith's team responded to his stellar performance and tied the contest 18 seconds later with Matt Wilkins tipping in a Tom Rizzardo point shot. The goal ultimately sent it to overtime after a scoreless third period with chances at both ends of the ice. Connor Jones spoiled the party with his game winner with 1:24 remaining in the extra frame to push the Vipers’ remarkable record to 29-2-0-1.

They will try to improve on that mark on Tuesday when they host the Merritt Centennials. The Smoke Eaters, who suffered their second overtime defeat, will stay at home and await the Westside Warriors, who come to Trail for a Wednesday night tilt.

ON THE TRAIL:
Curtis Tonello played his first game at the Cominco Arena in a Smoke Eaters uniform and impressed the crowd with his steady play ... Ben Matthews, Sam Mellor and Rizzardo earned assists in the game for Trail ... Beckwith stopped 39 of 42 shots for Trail. Blake Voth turned aside 23 of 25 Trail shots ... After the teams combined for four power plays in the first period there was only one the rest of the way. Trail held the dangerous Vernon man advantage off the board and on the first two power plays they didn't get a single shot ... Graeme Strukoff was still out with an injury for Trail. It is not known if he'll be ready to return for Wednesday's game against the Westside Warriors. Any child 12 and under will get into that game for free if they're with a parent.

Click here for the game summary

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Road Trip Three Stars


(Smiley against Quesnel - Photo Randy Emery)

The flu bug that hit some of the Smoke Eaters seems to have hit the broadcaster as well. I'm not nearly in as good a shape as the guys are too so I probably can't fight it off quite as well! With all the H1N1 concern Mountain FM has kept me on the bench for a couple of days to make sure I don't spread this thing around the office. That's why there was a "best of" Overtime on tonight in case you noticed.

I do want to quickly address the road trip. It couldn't have got off to a more frustrating start. Everyone was really let down by the compete level from the club in the first period against Williams Lake. The Smokies then played 8 consecutive solid periods on the way to picking up 4 out of a possible 6 points. That tripled Trail's road win total and has to be considered a big success.

What happened? In talking to several of the players and coaches it seems a sit down meeting on Friday morning gave the guys some perspective. Smokies trainer Steve Mears spent his career in the military and knows all about what it takes to be part of a unit. When you have someone else's life in your hands you can't afford to play by your own rules. I don't know what went into the meeting, but apparently a big part of it was getting some of that military perspective and really learning to trust your teammates. Every guy I interviewed (hope to have those for you in the next day or so depending on how I improve) mentioned that they felt like the team really came together after that meeting and the final two games of the trip.

There is a lot of talent on this Smoke Eaters roster. So much so that I was stunned by the slow start. I knew it would be challenging to play 20 of their first 29 on the road. I knew it would be challenging to break in so many new defencemen. However, I think we all knew this roster was better than their results so far. Perhaps they now realize more than ever that each individual player can't just get it done with their own talent. Each guy has to buy in to the team and become part of that one unit for this young club to have the kind of success that all Smokies fans are hoping for. I think we've seen a giant step forward in that direction.

So that being said it is difficult to single out anyone as the "stars" of the road trip, but it's something I like to do after most long trips. I think the biggest thing about their two wins was that buy in to the team concept and trust in one another. However, there were certainly some individuals who stepped up in a big way.

1. Darnell Dyck: Dyck was the first star against Prince George and the second star against Quesnel. That makes him the natural selection. Here is a guy who came to Trail with something to prove. He told me after the trade that brought him here for goaltender Paul Barclay that he wanted to prove he could be a "top 6" forward at this level. Dyck got off to a little bit of a slow start. However, as some key guys have gone down to injures Darnell has leaped at the opportunity to get more ice time. Game by game he has proved himself to Coach Ingram and earned bigger and bigger opportunities. Now Dyck is taking shifts on the power play, penalty kill and on one of the top lines. How did he respond? By scoring the winning goal on Saturday (as called by assistant coach Brian Youngson) and picking up 5 total points in the two Trail victories. Darnell went from a single point in September to 11 in October. That's as many points as he had all of last season. Dyck has arrived.

2. Kiefer Smiley/Garrett Beckwith: What a cop out, eh? Well it's hard to separate them after they both played such big parts in the Trail wins. After the Smokies got down 3-2 in Prince George, Beckwith stopped 22 straight shots to close the door and give them a chance for a come back. In Quesnel, Smiley made several key saves in the first half setting the table for the blow out victory. I'm sure he took a lot of pride in stopping 35 shots against his former team. That is the kind of goaltending Trail needs to win. There are no successful teams in the BCHL with average goaltending. Trail's four recent wins all came with strong performances by one of Beckwith and Smiley. That's what has to happen for the Smokies to continue their recent success with games coming up against Salmon Arm and Vernon.

3. Jesse Niemi: I don't know if Niemi was the third best Smoke Eater on the road trip. He probably wasn't as we didn't really see him log a ton of ice time or play on special teams. However, you have to appreciate how well he performed under the circumstances. Here we have a 20 year old from the KIJHL's Fernie Ghostriders who has never played a regular season BCHL game. He took two years off of hockey before returning to give it another shot late last season. Now he finds himself as a rare over age AP on a 12 hour road trip with a bunch of strangers. So what did Niemi do? He went out and scored 5 points in 3 games. Only Dyck could match that among the Smokies regulars over the same span. Right now he is only officially credited with 3 of those points, but upon further review he'll have 2 more assists added to his total from the Quesnel game. Niemi also did all of that after sustaining an upper body injury in the game against Prince George. I know they are proud of him over at the Ghostriders blog. He told me in an interview that he didn't want to regret not giving the BCHL a shot even if there were long odds of him making much of an impact. The Salmon Arm native can more than hold his head high after that weekend.

NOTES

...Trail isn't alone in having lost to Williams Lake. The first year Timberwolves have a 3-1-1-0 record in their last five games. Goaltender Sean Donnelly is certainly a big part of their recent success. However, this is also what happens when a team full of rookies starts to believe they can play at this level. There is a big adjustment for any Junior B or Midget player as they make the leap to the BCHL. The Timberwolves are starting to make that adjustment and more importantly are starting to play like they believe they can beat anyone. With wins over Powell River, Trail, Quesnel and Prince George in October they have served notice that there will be no easy points in their barn anymore.

...Trail wasn't the only team to get some help from the KIJHL on the weekend. Goaltender Billy Faust went from Nelson to Penticton with Sean Bonar off at the World Junior A Challenge. Faust stopped 17 of 18 Merritt shots to get a win in his first BCHL start. They've also had 16 year old Castlegar Rebels defenceman Ryan Renz in their line-up. He like Smoke Eaters defenceman Eric Walker is from Castlegar. Not a bad duo of 16 year olds representing my current home.

...Meritt turned to Chase goaltender Riley Wall with injuries to their two regulars. Wall lost both games but kept his save percentage just a tad bellow 90% against Penticton and Surrey, two of the top ranked teams in Canada. Wall was an AP with Trail last season.

...Westside turned to Nelson Leafs forward Shawn Hochhausen and Spokane Braves forward Dylan Tappe to fill in for some of their missing players. Neither picked up a point in the home and home series with Salmon Arm, but I would expect them both to find their way into the league next season. I didn't know you could use 17 year old Americans as APs in the BCHL as I thought they had to be in their 18 year old season to play in Canada. That being said, Tappe is one of the best young forwards in the KIJHL. There will be a lot of eyes watching some of the high scoring players on Simon Wheeldon's Leafs and Mike Bay's Braves this season.

...Quesnel also had some KIJHL help in their line-up as Jesse Niemi's Fernie teammates Brendon and Bond Hawryluk played for the Millionaires. Brendon has a goal in 3 games while Bond is pointless in 4. As you can see very few players make the kind of impact that Niemi made as affiliates. Trail also used Leafs forward Gavin Currie earlier this season and he had an assist in 2 games.

...Quesnel made a deal after their 3 losses on the weekend sending defenceman James Bettauer to Burnaby for 20 year old forward Jon Puskar. Bettauer was with Chilliwack in the WHL last year and was part of Penticton's BCHL championship club as a 16 year old. While the trade takes 24 points off of the Burnaby roster, I suspect they are looking to shake things up and tighten things up in their own end after a very rough October. Puskar adds depth to a Quesnel forward group that was relying too heavily on two or three players. Should be a good deal for both teams. We still haven't seen any real blockbuster deals since the season got going. I expect those shoes will start to drop even before we get to the January trade deadline.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Post Game Audio: Trail 5 Burnaby 4 (OT)


(Tye Lewis and Jimmy Geerin - Photo Randy Emery)

Click here for video highlights from Saturday's game. Here is some audio that aired tonight on Mountain FM's Overtime as the Smoke Eaters get set for their re-match with Merritt on Tuesday night. Don't forget our broadcast of Nelson Ford Trail Smoke Eaters Hockey will be live on Mountain FM at 6:45. Incidentally, one of the interviews in this post is with former Smoke Eater Dylan Herold from before Saturday's game.

Smokies Coach Jim Ingram

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Captain Paul Mailey

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Forward Tye Lewis

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Forward Darnell Dyck

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Goaltender Garrett Beckwith

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Burnaby Captain Dylan Herold (Pre-Game)

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NOTES

...Eddie Gregory has the Burnaby perspective from Saturday's game and the rest of their Interior trip. Their winless visit to this part of the province reminds me a lot of when Victoria had the same trouble last season. Burnaby is a very good team and will I'm sure continue to be a force in the Coastal Conference. They've got 17 guys who are at least 6 feet tall! Gregory says they likely really missed their Captain Dylan Herold on Saturday. It's nice to see his career has reached the potential many thought Dylan had after two seasons in Trail. I hope that progression keeps up.

...Speaking of former Smoke Eaters, Merritt picked one up just before their game against Trail. The Cents dealt defenceman Brad Bourke to Prince George for forward Andrew Pickering. Both players are 20 year olds whose starts don't quite match up with what they are capable of producing. Pickering at different points of last season was a point per game player for both Trail and Prince George. Bourke has 22 points in 30 games after being moved to Merritt from the AJHL. So far this year Pickering has 4 points in 8 games while Bourke played much of the first month at forward and hadn't really found his game under the new Merritt staff. I think this kind of a deal could be very good for both sides as it may be a classic example of a change of scenery and new opportunity re-igniting a player's season. I know last season I was very impressed by both players and expect they will both be key cogs with their new teams. Looking forward to catching up with Andrew in Merritt and to seeing how he'll fit in with this scrappy Merritt squad. Click here for the Cents blog take on the trade and click here for the Sprucies blog take on the deal.

...The Vernon Vipers finally lost! For the first time since the fourth game of the BCHL finals last season Vernon tasted defeat on Saturday. What an impressive run for a team that is really an example of a well oiled machine. As for the Vees, they appear to have been badly out shot in the game, but they got a couple of key things that count more than shots. Denver Manderson and Sean Bonar proved their worth as clutch players with the game winning goal and shut out respectively. The Vees are a very skilled team who also showed on Saturday that they can grind it out with the best. I expect that match up will be a very good one all year long. Click here for the VDHF blog report and click here for all the fallout on Ryan Pinder's Boston Pizza Vees This Week broadcast. By the way the Vipers and Vees are ranked 1 and 2 in the country this week. Who said the Interior Conference was tough?

...Some credit to the Kootenay Major Midget team this week. After a 9-0 loss to the Okanagan Rockets on Saturday they pulled up their socks and battled their butts off in a 4-3 loss on Sunday morning. There are a ton of challenges in putting together a Major Midget team in this area and these boys deserve a ton of credit for battling hard. If they keep heading in the right direction like that the wins will come.

...Former Smoke Eater and Rossland native Patrik Martin had two points as his Simon Fraser University team hammered Selkirk College 11-0 in BCIHL action on the weekend. The Selkirk squad has a lot of talent and will find their way, but SFU looks like an early favourite.

...In the KIJHL, Erik Wentzel returned to Castlegar from Williams Lake and promptly scored a hat trick in an 11-1 win over Columbia Valley. Spencer Brodt had 5 goals in Castlegar's two weekend victories. They were the team of the weekend in the Neil Murdoch Division and are now tied with Nelson for second in the division. They both also have three games in hand on Spokane. Beaver Valley lost both their weekend games, but after getting down 6-0 after the first period in Spokane the Nitehawks fought back to get within a goal. They ended up losing 8-5 on a couple of last minute goals, but it took a lot of heart for them to battle back like that when the game appeared to be over early. We are blessed with a lot of great hockey in the West Kootenay Boundary! I think all of Nelson, Beaver Valley, Castlegar and Grand Forks will provide us with some great drama and entertainment this year.

...I can't believe how many Vancouver Canuck fans are freaking out already. After three games I would say it's just a little bit early to panic!

Monday, June 29, 2009

Warriors Announce Trade with Smokies



The Westside Warriors have announced that they've traded goaltender Devon Murtagh to Trail for future considerations:
The Westside Warriors continue to make off season moves, trading 20 year goaltender Devon Murtagh to the Trail Smoke Eaters for future considerations. Murtagh, a Kelowna resident, played in 13 games, recording 8 wins, 2.80 goals against and save percentage of 0.894.

"Devon is a great teammate, works very hard and as a 20 year deserves a chance to play. With Kevin Jebson retuning we felt it was important to trade Devon before the start of the season. The entire organization thanks Devon for his contribution and commitment and wish him the very best in Trail,” stated GM Gary Gelinas.
That again is from Westside's website. There's no official word from the Smoke Eaters on this deal. I expect to talk to Jim Ingram about it later this afternoon. Murtagh is another former Nelson Leafs goaltender along with new recruit Garrett Beckwith and former Smokie Grant Rollheiser. Obviously the Smokies have a lot of confidence in the way they develop goalies in Nelson!

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Beckwith Speaks


The newest Smoke Eater was a guest on Mountain FM's Overtime tonight. I also talked to Jim Ingram about his new goaltender. Lots of interesting stuff here in my view. He talks about deciding to play in Trail, what he learned this season and describes his unique style. For more information here's the post I had on Saturday.

Garrett Beckwith

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Smokies Coach Jim Ingram on Beckwith

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Saturday, April 25, 2009

Beckwith to Trail


(Beckwith during his stint with Westside)

Big news today for Smokies fans; they've received a commitment from KIJHL goaltender of the year Garrett Beckwith. The 1990 born New Jersey native will join the Smoke Eaters next season to form what should be a heck of a tandem with Paul Barclay. I imagine they'll push each other hard to earn starts, and that can only mean good things for Trail.

Beckwith started last season with the Westside Warriors. They opened the year with he and former Nelson Leafs goaltender Devon Murtagh, but then quickly added Kevin Jebson in a trade. Jebson took over the starting role while Beckwith and Murtagh were spot starting and taking turns as back up.

Beckwith's first BCHL start was actually a 4-2 win in Trail for the Warriors, so he's got a win at Cominco Arena already. His next action was a 7-5 win over Merritt in relief of Jebson. Beckwith only gave up a single goal despite his team being down 4-1 when he got into the game. In two games he allowed three goals and won both times. The numbers (while a small sample size) are excellent. He was 2-0 with a 1.75 goals against average and a 0.927 save percentage in two BCHL games. The reward for his fine play? He never played another game for Westside and was released to Nelson of the KIJHL.

Beckwith didn't sulk though. He went to a power house Nelson squad and put up unbelievable numbers. He lost once (in a shoot out) in 20 regular season games with a 1.84 goals against average and a 0.924 save percentage. He was just as good if not better in the playoffs. Beckwith won all fourteen of his starts to lead Nelson to a KIJHL championship with a 1.99 goals against average and a 0.921 save percentage.

Garrett also went 3-1 at the Cyclone Taylor Cup, but unfortunately for the Leafs their only loss happened to be in the championship game. The Richmond team that beat them went on to win the Keystone Cup to become Western Canadian Junior B champs.

When you put his entire season together, Beckwith played 40 games and only lost once in regulation and once in a shoot out. That's unheard of.

This move also means that Trail has recruited the top goal scorer in the KIJHL (Matt Wilkins) and the top goaltender in the KIJHL. Not a bad start to the off season with talk of a whole lot more good news to come.

In talking to Jim Ingram today he told me that more than anything else it was Beckwith's competitiveness that got the Trail coach's attention. Beckwith will not give up on any puck or any game. He plays a unique style that's hard for even him to describe, but it's one that Smokies fans are going to enjoy watching. Beckwith is also an excellent puck handler who will bring that added dimension to the team.

I watched him play quite a number of times during Nelson's playoff run and that's why I'm convinced this is an excellent move by the Smokies to more than solidify the goaltending position. I firmly believe that Beckwith and Barclay will be as good as any goaltending team in the Interior. If Garrett is anything like the last Nelson Leafs goaltender to join Trail (Grant Rollheiser) than there's lots to look forward to!

Tune in to Mountain FM's Overtime on Monday night for interviews with Jim Ingram and Garrett Beckwith. They both have some interesting things to say and you won't want to miss the interviews. If you don't live in our broadcast area, I'll have the audio up sometime after Monday. I've also got some interviews with Kevin Limbert, Grant Rollheiser and Cam Brodie coming up sometime this week.


(#30 Beckwith and the Leafs celebrate the KIJHL Championship)