Unacceptable

(I'll just note at the top of the blog that as usual this is my opinion and in no way does it represent the opinion of the Trail Smoke Eaters or Mountain FM. Just a reminder.)

We could talk a lot about what happened in the Trail/Vernon game tonight. However, all of those thoughts are going to be put on the back burner after the dangerous and unacceptable hit by Vernon's Captain Chris Crowell. At 13:06 of the third period, the Vipers were killing off a 5 minute major penalty to Kyle Bigos for elbowing. Crowell came charging from the right side as Trail's Ryan Hill cut through the middle with the puck. Crowell attacked at full speed with his elbow up. The hit knocked Hill out, and left him laying on the ice in a very scary visual.

The other Smokies on the ice basically had to carry him to the dressing room. It was obvious Hill didn't know where he was and could barely put any weight on his skates. I don't know the extent of Hill's injury. We can only hope for the best. However, the extent of his injury should not be the determining factor in the punishment Crowell should face. If Hill is lucky enough to recover quickly, that doesn't change the brutal and unnecessary nature of the hit.

I got to see the replay of the elbow up in the Smoke Eaters video booth. It wasn't pretty. I have no idea what in the world Crowell was thinking. He must not have been. It was a long, obvious charge and hit with a blatant elbow. It's like he could smell blood and just couldn't stop himself. I don't know Crowell and I'm not going to comment on him as an individual or even as a player really. All that matters to me for the moment is what I saw on the ice in tonight's game. This kind of hit wouldn't have been acceptable if his team was down 5-0 or in a close game, but when you're winning 5-0? When the game is all but over. What kind of statement does that make? You have a dominating win in the bag, but still feel you have to send a message with a cheap shot like that?

There is no doubt in my mind that Crowell will be suspended. He didn't receive a match penalty, but any look at the replay of the elbow will give the BCHL reason enough to force the Vernon Captain to sit out for a few games. However, I'm not sure a few games is enough. This is exactly the kind of head shot that ends careers. We're dealing with young men who are trying to use hockey to make a better life for themselves. They want a chance at a better education. They want a chance at pro hockey. One full speed charge and elbow to the head could take that opportunity away from Ryan Hill. This is the kind of hit every level of hockey is trying to eliminate. In my view, the BCHL must send a strong message here. They can't tolerate it.

I am not throwing this all in the lap of the Vernon Vipers organization. They've been all class in any dealings I've had with them. I don't think their coaching staff told Crowell to go and run somebody. However, I have to wonder what some of the guys are thinking out there. How do you take two 5 minute major penalties for elbowing within less than 2 minutes of each other? Why did Dylan Herold get hit with a butt end? A 5-0 lead should be a situation where you put the game on cruise control and work hard on protecting your new goaltender's shut out. They played a very strong hockey game, and should have been proud enough to let that effort stand as a strong message. The individual players responsible for those incidents have to take responsibility for controlling themselves.

The two major penalties that Bigos and Crowell took not only cost Andrew Hammond a shut out, but it nearly gave the Smoke Eaters new life in the game. Two quick goals from Trail could've turned to 3 or 4. Hockey is a funny game, and a little bit of momentum can turn the healthiest leads into the unlikeliest collapses. Fortunately for the Vipers, the Smokies wern't able to take advantage of the rest of their 5 on 3 before Kellen Jones made it 6-2.

Smokies fans in the crowd were calling for blood after the hit on Hill. It's an interesting debate. Coach Ingram called a time out after the second major penalty was called. I don't know what he said, but I can _guess_ that it had something to do with concentrating on trying to take advantage of this great opportunity on the power play. Would it not have been better revenge to come back from down 5-0 than to get in a meaningless fight? After two quick goals it looked like that come back was possible.

Some fans would've liked to see Trail run someone like Bishop or one of the Jones boys before the end of the game. Eye for an eye and send a message. There's always been a school of thought that if they do it to you, you have to do it back. Otherwise there's a risk that more teams will start to take advantage of your players. On the other hand, if you think that kind of a hit is unacceptable, how do you justify doing it yourself? If the health of the young men is what's important, can you justify a hit that would possibly injure someone else just because they're on the team that hurt your guy?

I'll be honest with you, at the time I wanted to see revenge. I wanted to see someone on Trail run someone on Vernon to get the Vipers back. That's a fan's instinct, and I bet for the players and coaches that instinct was just as strong if not stronger. But I also think that it was probably the classier and smarter move to not respond with their own cheap shot. Brad Davis did fight Palazzo at the end of the game. It was his second fight after an earlier dance with Bigos (picture by Randy Emery). Davis is always ready to answer the bell and stand up for his team. However, that was more than 6 minutes after the incident, and Palazzo just didn't seem interested in getting into the scap despite his height and weight advantage. Davis got a slashing major and game misconduct on the same play. I can't comment on that because I didn't see the slash. It almost surely means that Davis is going to be suspended again. I'm still glad he made sure there was some physical reaction before the game was done.

I think it is reasonable that the Smokies would prefer to concentrate on trying to come back and get their offense going. Others will say that they needed to respond immediately. I know there are those who believe this team needs a heavyweight goon to react to things like this. The nuclear deterrent on this team used to be Cam Brodie. He made a mess of Grossman's face earlier this year after a hit on Scott Warner. However, with the injury to Brodie, the Smokies are going to have to rely on team toughness. Improving the power play would certainly be one way to make teams pay for cheap shots. Kevin Koopman's one timer for a goal certainly showed us what is possible now that he's on the first PP unit. I also like what I see from Raley in terms of his ability to move the puck. The point is looking a little more active with the man advantage now that they're out there with Warner and Geerin.

Returning to the Crowell hit; I think that has to be a long suspension. I don't wish Crowell ill will, and I'm sure he's a nice guy, but the league has to make it abundantly clear that they won't tolerate blatant head hunting. Ryan Hill deserves better, and so does anyone else who could be victimized by a shot like that.

GAME NOTES

(Click here for the boxscore)

...The Smokies lost 7-2. It was their first lopsided loss to Vernon this year. 3 of the other 4 games were decided in Overtime, and all 4 were decided by one goal. It's been a very entertaining and memorable season series despite Vernon's 5 wins.

...Trail seemed to have the momentum in the first period before Brisebois scored twice. They had been out chancing and out playing the Vipers to that point. The second goal was particularely deflating as Paul Barclay had been knocked down seconds before the goal. A Viper was either shoved or fell into Barclay and took the Trail goaltender out of the play. Brisebois threw the puck into an open net before Barclay could get back in position. It was a very tough pill to swallow for the fans and the team. I certainly think there should have been a whistle when Barclay was clearly knocked out of the play. When they didn't initially blow the play dead I'm not sure what referee Tyson could've done. You can't really turn back time.

...Grant Tyson received more than the usual cat calls from fans tonight. I don't think anyone could say that the ref cost Trail the game. When your team gets 8 power plays (including 2 majors) and theirs only gets 3, it's hard to lay the blame on a ref. The Smokies had lots of chances with the man advantage. They just couldn't get anything by Hammond until the third. There sure were some glorious chances. One puck that just sat along the goal line and wouldn't take that extra step. Ourosov had a terrific chance (picture by Randy Emery) that Hammond stole away. Get one of those goals early and this is a different hockey game. Momentum!

...Barclay game up 7 goals on 28 shots. On the surface that sounds pretty bad. However, things just fell appart for everyone in the third period. I don't think this one night should erase the strong performances he had on Wednesday and Friday. If not for Barclay on Friday the Smokies don't get a point.

...The Smokies aren't having much sucess against their own conference at home. They only have 1 win in their last 8 home games, and it was against Nanaimo. 7 out of Trail's 9 home wins this season have come against Coastal Conference teams. Their only wins at home against the Interior were back to back victories over Salmon Arm and Penticton on Novembe 17th and the 23rd. The Vees are back in town for a Tuesday night game. Those are usually tough nights to get a good crowd. But the Vees are a fun team to watch and it's one of only 3 games in Trail this month. I hope people come out and give the guys the support they need to get things going.

...Kevin Koopman scored his first goal as a Smoke Eater. It was a wicked one-timer on the 5 on 3 power play. That shot from the left point should serve as an excellent weapon for Trail the rest of the year. Koopman and Warner are starting to develop some pretty good chemistry. They both got points on both Smokies goals. They have some nice options now as Warner can send a nice low wrister from the middle, or he can set up Koopman for a big blast off his back foot. With Decosse working the boards, Limbert digging pucks free and Corcoran ready to snipe that puck from anywhere... I can see some good things happening with the first PP unit. It also makes the second unit stronger. Guys like Aiken, Shade, Bulach, Ourosov, Mailey... they could all jump onto the first unit or play a strong role on the second unit. There are more options on the point now that Raley can jump in there, Geerin has seen a lot of PP time, Hill played a lot there lately (though who knows how long he'll be out) and Kinnebrew was starting to get some PP ice as well. They certainly need the man advantage to come alive in this playoff race.

...Andew Hammond looked solid in his debut for Vernon. He stopped 27 of 29 shots including a great save on Steve Ourosov in the second period. Hammond didn't look particularely fantastic, but he got the job done in a reliable and mostly mistake free way. I don't know if he's a game stealing goaltender, but he seems like the type who won't lose you any.

...Kellen and Connor Jones combined for 4 points tonight in their third return to Trail this season. The Montrose natives and former Beaver Valley Nitehawks were held pointless in their previous two games at Cominco Arena this year. Their line with Bischop is certainly one of the scariest offensive units in the conference. Bischop notched his 41rst goal of the season in just 44 games. That impressive total leads the BCHL. His 70 points and 14 power play goals are both good enough for third place in the league. I think it'd be fair to say that if you can shut down that line you would have a pretty good chance against the Vipers. Easier said than done. Kraus and Palazzo are quickly getting used to the look of the BCHL sin bin. Palazzo took 9 minutes of penalties in his first game as a Viper. He took two minors (roughing and slashing) as well as a fighting major at the end of the. Kraus went off for boarding and roughing afte the whistle. They both got their first BCHL points and Kraus particularely looked solid in both weekend games against the Smokies.

...Looking back to the game on Friday night (Click here for the boxscore), Trail showed a lot of heart and guts coming back from down 2-0 to beat Vernon. They were pretty badly outplayed in the first period. However, the penalty kill did a terrific job as the parade to the penalty box continued the rest of the game. A few pretty questionable calls in that game. A hit by Kevin Limbert got 5 minutes and a game, while a hit that cut open Dylan Herold for stitches got nothing. They held Vernon to 1 goal on the man advantage, and came back in a big way. Decosse made a terrific move on the penalty shot he took. Gore was completely fooled by the backhand fake. Corcoran then put on good pressure shorthanded, stole the puck and scored on a beauty move to his backhand. Whenver Corcoran gets some room these days he's going to make it count. Barclay was awesome in the game. He saw the puck well all night and controlled his rebounds better than he has all year. If not for Barclay's 38 saves, it could've been a very different story.

...A comment on a previous blog asked me about Paul Levarsky. He left the Smokies to play hockey in Slovakia. He apparently had nothing but good things to say about his time in Trail, but was just convinced this is the way he had to go.

...With Quesnel's loss and Prince George's win today we're seeing a little seperation in the 5/6/7 spots. The Spruce Kings are 3 points ahead of Trail with a game in hand. The Smokies are 5 points ahead of the Millionaires with 2 games in hand. In baseball terms they're 3 1/2 games ahead of Quesnel. With 16 games left to play there's still lots of time for things to change. Anywhere higher than 5th is looking like a remote possibility now, but Trail could still finish out of the playoffs if they don't get their share of wins the rest of the way. Once you make the playoffs all bets are off. We've seen the Smokies beat Salmon Arm, Westside and Penticton. We've seen them take Vernon to overtime 3 different times. I'm still confident any playoff series would be a real war.

...We did a paper airplane toss for Pacific Coastal Airlines today. It was fun, nice to get on the ice and do some stuff in the intermissions. People responded well to it. The gentleman who won the round trip tickets to Vancouver happens to have a father who needs to go to the big city for surgery. I couldn't think of a more deserving winner! He told me that his first throw didn't make it over the glass, but a kid gave it a second toss that got the job done. Now dad gets to fly to surgery in style thanks to his son's night out at the Smokies game. Good story.

...Finally, speaking of good stories, I had a chance to talk to Scott Jago today. He's in great spirits and has an awesome attitude. I'm not really an athlete so I can't really relate, but it sounds like it's just weird for any athlete to just sit at home and be inactive. For me that's pretty much every night. It's great to hear that Scott is feeling well enough that he has hit the ice again. He's been playing some pick-up 4 on 4, and now will be looking to practice with the Rebels. It's impossible to say whether he'll be able to make it back into Castlegar or Trail's line-up this year, but just the fact that he's going to give it a go is good enough news for me. I know every hockey fan in this area is looking forward to seeing him back in action.

Next Trail game is at home on Tuesday night against Penticton. Then we had off to the Island for another long road trip. What a month! I'm not sure if I should even unpack. Fine by me! Oh, I guess I should do some laundry eh...

Trade Deadline Madness (Part 1, The Smokies)

On Thursday evening at 6pm the BCHL trade deadline passed for another year. Junior A teams from all across Canada were working madly to try and improve their team. Either they're going after a championship, re-stocking for next year or just trying to survive. It amazes me how much movement there is in junior hockey. From players asking for trades, to teams that are just looking for that next piece of the puzzle, there is pretty constant activity. I sometimes wonder if that's really the best thing for the development of young men. You would think that as you are going through school and developping as a hockey player, stability would be an ideal scenario. However, personalities and situations being what they are, guys are moving all over the place. It seems like players in this league are destined to be moved at least once or twice. It's not just the teams that are looking to turn around their fortunes, you look at teams on top like Penticton who are constantly making tweaks to their roster.

You have to be always on the look out for the next new talent or you're going to be left behind. There's more movement in the BCHL than the pros!

All of the trades today have yet to filter in. Some I know unofficially but can't really pass on as of yet. Lets start our coverage of the trade deadline by reviewing the moves of the Trail Smoke Eaters.

The Smoke Eaters have been put in a very difficult situation this trade deadline. Certainly Jim Ingram has been looking to make some improvements to his club all year long. He's added and subtracted pieces as he got to know the players and the league better. I've personally really liked a lot of his moves this year. Guys like August Aiken, Ryan Hill, Jimmy Geerin, Brad Davis, etc... have made very positive contributions to the play and even more so the attitude of this team. They're a hard working, blue collar group. Almost every trade has reflected a move in that direction.

However, ever since the start of December things have started to happen that have forced the Smokies to use this deadline as a way to cover losses rather than make significant gains. That's the reality of hockey sometimes. Cards were burned up without return when Jamie Paulsen asked to be moved and Paul Levarsky left the BCHL to play in Slovakia. Cards were burned up in a trade when Nathan Westover asked to be moved and was replaced by Jimmy Geerin. The Smokies have all become fans of Geerin's, but again the move forces the use of another card and limits trade deadline options. Another card wasn't so much burned but de-activated with the long term injury loss of defenceman Cam Brodie. He's gone at least 6 weeks and it could be longer.

Suddenly the Smoke Eaters go from a full roster with some extra bodies to a team with 4 healthy defencemen and 12 healthy forwards. Oh, and only two cards left for new guys.

That means as the trade deadline approached, Coach Ingram needed two more defenceman, but didn't have any extra roster players to give up to get them. Deal a forward and you're down to 11. Trade a defenceman and that negates the addition. They certainly couldn't deal a goaltender.

Extra spots here and there can certainly be filled by AP players. We're all hoping that Logan Proulx will be back to game action soon, and he could be brought up as an AP from Midget for 5 regular season games and the playoffs. Several Nitehawks has spent time with the Rebels this year. Ingram has some contacts and knows the players on Vancouver Island. As a result, the Smokies should be OK if there are a couple of unexpected injuries here or there. However, the unfortunate departures of a few players over the last month or so didn't give the organization much flexibility when it came to improving the club at the trade deadline.

You could try to blame the coaching staff for guys who leave or ask to leave. However, it happens everywhere. There are guys on this team who asked to leave other teams. No matter how successful a team or a coach is, some people don't feel like they fit in or are getting the opporunities they want or deserve. It's just too bad for Trail that it all happened after the early December card deadline.

That left the Smokies working overtime the last few days to find defencemen to help this team into the playoffs.

The first addition is a terrific one. Trail picked up Merritt's former captain, Kevin Koopman. Click on his name there for a profile of Koopman from the BCHL website. This year on a last place Merritt team he's put up 7 goals and 7 assists in 28 games. That's a very solid 0.5 PPG pace. He only had 2 points in 9 games with Vernon, but he was clearly in a bigger position with the Cents than he was with the Vipers. Having watched Koopman several times this year, I'm really excited to get to see him as a Smoke Eater. Koopman seems to play a very smart, simple and effective game. He's calm with and without the puck. He skates well, jumps into the rush when he has a chance to, and moves the puck effective on the PP. He's also a big guy at 6'3 205, so he should help clear the front of the net. That's something the Smokies had a lot of trouble with against Powell River and to some extent against Salmon Arm. It's something Cam Brodie does well and Koopman will hopefully full some of that void.

Koopman also have some ties to the Trail area. He was a star a couple of seasons ago for the Beaver Valley Nitehawks. In fact, he played with current Smokies Stefan Decosse and Patrick Martin on that team. Click here to take a look at that stacked KIJHL roster. Koopman put up 39 points in 38 games from the back end. That as a 17 year old. He also had 13 points in 15 playoff games. His production didn't dip when the games got tight.

The one unfortunate thing about Koopman in the eyes of Smokies fans is that he's off to school next year. Koopman's fine play has earned him a scholarship to Brown. Unless they change their minds and defer him for a season, Koopman will only be a Smoke Eater until the end of this season. You wouldn't get a player of his abilities for future considerations, no matter how good, if he was coming back next year.

We still don't know what it'll cost to get Koopman. Right now we're looking at a "future cosiderations" and in the BCHL that can be anything from cash to a pick of anyone on your roster before the next season. In this case it isn't cash, but we're obviously not going to find out what player(s) Merritt could get anytime soon. When we do, we'll have a better idea how good a trade it was.

Koopman takes care of one spot on D, but there's still another hole to fill. I personally saw Ingram on the phone almost constantly when he was within cell range on the bus. Today I know was a very busy and stressful day for Coach/GMs across the league. The stress seemed to be over for Trail when they made their trade early this afternoon.

Opting to sacrifice a full line-up of forwards in order to land a defenceman they really liked, Trail dealt '89 F Chris Santiago to Victoria for '88 D Chris Markiewicz. Santiago has shown real flashes of talent since coming over to Trail in the David Arduin deal. However, he never scored a goal as a Smoke Eater and never really broke out of the slump he had fallen into in Westside. The guy has all the tools, and I really hope he puts things together in Victoria. Santiago is only 18 and has lots of time to find that scoring touch again. He should be around next year as Victoria gears up for the RBC. He's also closer to his Langley home so that will probably be a nice change for Chris.

Markiewicz has put up 7 points in 26 games this year with Victoria. He had 22 in 52 games last year. He's big enough at 6'0, 190lbs. He's also a 19 year old so still could've come back for another season next year. Victoria has only been to Trail once, so I don't have a lot of first hand knowledge of his game. However, he was the guy the Smokies wanted and someone who apparently can play well at both ends of the rink.

Unfortunately, with less than two hours to go before the trade deadline, Markiewicz informed the Smoke Eaters he wouldn't be reporting to Trail. His reasons for doing that havn't come out publically yet so I won't say, but it's not a particular slight on the Smokies. It's just an unfortunate situation that didn't give Coach Ingram much time to act.

Since Markiewicz wasn't carded with Trail yet he didn't cost them that last card. However, unless he was going to sit the rest of the year, the Smokies had to move him in less than two hours. They also still had a card to fill.

Working non-stop until 6pm, Coach Ingram and Brian Youngson talked to several teams in Alberta before sending Markiewicz to the Brooks Bandits. It's a future considerations deal and Trail will be getting a player from them for next year's team. Working something out for a guy who could come to Trail this year would probably have taken a lot longer than 2 hours given the possibility of anyone switching leagues deciding not to report.

In terms of filling their void on the blue line, the obvious depth Vernon was building at that position put them in a situation where a BCHL player was probably not going to get the ice time he deserved. They picked up a couple of veterans and didn't have much room left for everyone they had carded. That allowed the Smokies to pick up 89 D Patrick Raley from Vernon for future considerations. Raley is an 18 year old who put up 9 points in 39 games this season. That puts him fourth among currently active Trail defencemen. It means he could possibly see some power play time in Trail that he may not have seen in Vernon. He's also got two years of BCHL eligability after this season. Raley is listed at 5'11 and 200lbs, so he's got some size as well. He's a right handed shot. We've seen the composition of Trail's defence go from 5 righties to 4 lefties and now back to 4 righties. There've been a lot of changes on the blueline this year.

Raley also joins the American contingent of the team. It's always kind fo fun when the two sides chide each other a little bit. Especially when Canada invariably beats the US at events like the Workd Jr A Challenge and the World Junior Championships.

Good on Vipers Coach and GM Mark Ferner for giving Raley a chance to play more with Trail when he knew that the guys he brought in would make that difficult in Vernon. Guys around this league do understand this is a development league. No one wants to leave someone in a situation where their growth might be stunted by a lack of playing time. Raley has shown he's a BCHL defenceman after playing 39 games this year and impressing the coaches in Trail. He'll get his chance to continue that career with the Smokies for possibly several years to come.

Now Trail's line-up is at 11 forwards, 6 defencemen and 2 goaltenders. They have no cards left and are one player short of a full game time roster. However, it's easier to deal with a shortage at forward than it is on the blue line. They also have a lot of guys ready to AP for them if needed. Again, Logan Proulx is hopefully not too far from hitting the ice. He'll be available as an AP from midget.

It's just too bad the Smokies gave up Sanitago for a guy who ultimately decided not to report. It happens all the time in junior hockey, but it's another spot of bad luck for a team that could use a few breaks.

Koopman and Raley are here. I would expect both to be in the line-up for the home and home with Vernon. Koopman will likely wear #7 while Raley is expected to put on the #3 jersey. For Raley it's a quick turnaround from being a Viper to playing the Vipers. He'll be on the ice that he's called home all season, but this time as the enemy. That's hockey.

Incidently, Trail's team really is looking good for next season. I know no one in the room wants to look that far ahead, but it's nice to see some real potential in not just this year but the following years as well.

At forward they could have Corcoran (20), Bulach (20), Mailey (18), Ourosov(17), Martin (20), Herold (19) and Davis (20) back with the team next year. Logan Proulx will be 17 and could return as well. Both Proulx and Ourosov may end up in the WHL next year, and guys like Corcoran and Bulach could end up with scholarships before the year is done, but it's looking pretty good for now.

They'd have even less work to don on D with Warner (20), Brodie (20), Geerin (19), Hill (20) , Kinnebrew (19) and Raley (19) all available for next season. This is assuming they would all come back. That's certainly not usually the case. However, they could have 5 out of 6 defencemen back for next season. That would be great for chemistry. It'd also be a very solid, veteran group.

Finally, they're in a great position to potentially have two 19 year old goaltenders back for next season. Rollheiser and Barclay have both had their growing pains as rookies, but they've also both put together a lot of very good performances. They also compliment each other well by brining different styles to the rink. It's a different challenge when you get a different look in the Trail net. As long as both guys come back next year, I am fully confident that the goaltending in Trail would be among the best in the league.

For now it's off to Vernon for the first of a home and home. Hope to see you all on Saturday night back in Trail when you could win two round trip tickets from Pacific Coastal Airlines!