Smokies make five player trade

The Trail Smoke Eaters made a major five player deal today with the AJHL's Brooks Bandits. Matt Wilkins, Darnell Dyck and Mitch Kaufmann are headed to Brooks for Cullen Bradshaw and Steve Dobbin.

Bradshaw was Brooks' top scorer with 65 points while Dobbin was third on the team with 46 points. Dyck scored 29 for Trail while Wilkins had 25 in 37 games and Kaufmann added 17 in 32 games. Everybody in the deal can make a major contribution to their team.

It's a clear signal from the Smokies that they're looking to be competitive next season. Bradshaw and Dobbin are both entering their 20 year old seasons and expected to play at their highest level. Given that they were top scorers on their team in their 19 year old seasons one would expect they have the ability to be go to guys for the Smokies as well. Add them to a core of returning players that already includes several top 6 forwards and there's lots of reason for optimism.

As for the guys heading the other way... it's always disappointing to see promising and talented guys who want to be here move on. That's the reality of trying to make your team better. You have to give up something of real value to try to push to that next level. I'm sure that trading away Wilkins, Dyck and Kaufmann was far from easy for Coach Ingram. I know the team will miss what those guys brought to the table.

Darnell was probably the biggest character on the team who knows how to get under the opponent's skin better than anyone in the league. He also proved last year that he can be an offensive player as he increased his production from 11 points with Surrey to 29 with Trail. With some great moves and a very good shot he could take his game to an even higher level with the Bandits.

Wilkins had a rookie season unfortunately interrupted by a broken jaw in the fall. Up to that point he was hovering at a point per game pace, but it took him a little bit to get back to that when he returned. Matt also admitted to me that earlier in the season he deferred a little too much to the veterans and didn't take his shots. When he started to later in the year and especially in the playoffs... boy he was dangerous. Matt was the top goals per game scorer in the KIJHL as a 17 year old so the sky is the limit in Brooks.

Kaufmann heads back to the AJHL after he won a championship in that league two years ago. He brought a steady all-around game to the Smokies and has a bullet of a shot on the one timer. I think Kaufmann is a guy who with the experience he has gained is going to be able to run a power play in Alberta.

Brooks is lucky to have them.

But as I said you have to give something to get something. Bradshaw's point totals with the Bandits last season would have had him third on the Smokies in scoring behind Jacklin and Sandor. He fits right into that top group of forwards who would make a difference both at even strength and on the power play. He wasn't just a set up guy either as he put 28 goals home last year.

Dobbin also played at a high level with a point total that would have had him tied with St. Denis for 4th on the Smokies if he had been here last season. Obviously there are some questions about how the guys will adapt to the BCHL and a new team, but I'm looking forward to seeing both in Smokies colours.

This move gives Trail the kind of depth at the top of their line-up that would allow them to role out 3 very strong scoring lines. Depth wins championships whether you're Vernon or Chicago. Add that to all the new recruits that are going to be coming to camp and there's a lot to look forward to.

I'll have comments from Coach Ingram on this tomorrow night on Overtime. I'll also have an interview with Bradshaw on coming to Trail. We'll eventually get that audio on the blog as well.

Best of luck to Darnell, Matt and Mitch. You were all class acts and will be terrific in Brooks. Looking forward to seeing you again at the exhibition tournament in September.

BCHL scoring leaders by age group

1989

1. Mark Zengerle 74
2. Denver Manderson 69
3. Trevor Bailey 53
4. Brooks Robinson 49
5. Mitch MacMillan 46
6. Trevor Hertz 41
7. Braden Pimm 40
8. Nick Sandor 39
9. Taylor Holst 35
10. Brendan Ellis 35
11. David Dziurzynski 35
12. Tyler Gubb 34
13. Tye Lewis 34
14. Luc Olivier Blain 34
15. Grant Toulim 34
16. Corey Chakeen 33
17. Andrew Wallace 33
18. Jordan Heywood 33
19. Alex Allan 32
20. Jonathan Milhouse 32



1990

1. Mike Collins 49
2. Colton Beck 42
3. Sam Muchalla 42
4. Mitch Krgovich 40
5. Scott Jacklin 39
6. Chad Niddery 37
7. Andrew Pettitt 36
8. Connor Jones 36
9. Kellen Jones 36
10. Alex Szczechura 34
11. Cody Bremner 33
12. Greg Noyes 33
13. Jordan Grant 32
14. Travis Statchuk 32
15. Kevin Ross 32
16. Cole Wilson 31
17. Dustin Johnson 30
18. Cory Kane
19. Brandon Fagerheim 29
20. Colton Sobchak 29



1991

1. Beau Bennett 53
2. David Killip 50
3. Cam Reid 45
4. Garrett Milan 31
5. Dustin Mowrey 30
6. Richard Vanderhoek 28
7. Trent Murdoch 27
8. Joel Lowry 27
9. Steve Koshey 27
10. Jeff Jones 25
11. Andrew Gladiuk 25
12. Tyler Krause 24
13. Jackson Garrett 23
14. Darnell Dyck 21
15. Dennis Robertson 20



1992

1. Dylan Walchuk 38
2. Sam Mellor 33
3. Travis St. Denis 33
4. Mark MacMillan 33
5. Teal Burns 30
6. Joey Laleggia 28
7. Grayson Downing 25
8. Tim Daly 17
9. Wesley Myron 16
10. Michael Betz 15



1993

1. Victor Newell 23
2. Lyndon Martel 16
3. Manraj Hayer 14
4. Colton Sissons 13
5. Spencer Graboski 11
6. Luke Fenske 11
7. Eric Walker 6
8. Sam Grist 5
9. Stefan Nicholishen 4
10. Max Fielder 4



DEFENCEMEN

1. Brendan Ellis 35
2. Greg Noyes 33
3. Jordan Heywood 33
4. Kevin Ross 32
5. Wes McLeod 29
6. Derek Hills 28
7. Joey Laleggia 28
8. Steve Koshey 27
9. Brad Pawlowski 26
10. Elliot Raible 26
11. Darcy Huisman 26
12. Victor Nowell 23
13. Josh Pineiro 23
14. Dan Nycholat 23
15. Justin Fillion 22

Thoughts? Nice to see the Smokies with at least one player among the top scorers in each age group. When you realize that only one top scorer (Sandor) on the Trail roster is a 20 year old there is a lot of hope for the core of this team. I'm not just talking about for future years either. Any good team at this level will have guys contributing in all age groups. That balance allows you to build a solid foundation year in and year out.

Post Northern Trip Audio

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Nelson Ford Trail Smoke Eaters Hockey: Trail 1 at Williams Lake 6

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Nelson Ford Trail Smoke Eaters Hockey: Trail 4 at Prince George 3

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Nelson Ford Trail Smoke Eaters Hockey: Trail 8 at Quesnel 2

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Smokies Forward Travis St. Denis

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Smokies Forward Darnell Dyck

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Smokies Coach and GM Jim Ingram

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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.

Post Game: Trail 8 at Quesnel 2

Quesnel, BC – Travis St. Denis wanted to get in on the fun. Out of the line-up for Saturday's win in Prince George due to a suspension, the Trail native made sure to congratulate every member of the Smoke Eaters (6-14-1-1) as they came off the ice. On Sunday in Quesnel, St. Denis made his contributions on the ice. The shifty forward scored twice and added 2 assists in an 8-2 victory over the Millionaires.

It was a successful return to Quesnel for former Millionaire Kiefer Smiley. The Smokies goaltender stopped 35 of 37 shots he faced. Goaltending was perhaps the key difference in the game as Quesnel's Taylor Pears and Luke Siemens allowed 8 goals on only 2 more shots against.

For the second consecutive time Smokies forward Nick Sandor opened the scoring in the first minute of the game. After Quesnel responded with an Eliot Raibl power play goal, Smiley shut the door for the rest of the first period. Late in the frame Darnell Dyck directed in a St. Denis pass off his skate to give Trail a 2-1 lead.

16 year old Quesnel forward Spencer Graboski tied the game in the second, but it only took 36 seconds for Trail's only 16 year old to respond. Castlegar native Eric Walker wired a slap shot by Siemens for his first career BCHL goal. It gave the Smoke Eaters a 3-2 lead and held up as the game winner.

Tye Lewis, Marc-Antoine Chaput and Darnell Dyck also had 3 point games for the Smokies. Dyck was named a star for the second straight game and appears to have arrived as a major contributor in the BCHL. Chaput followed Wade Bennett's footsteps as a Trail defenceman who has found offensive success playing as a forward. Bennett missed Sunday's game with the flu.

Affiliate player Jesse Niemi continued his successful road trip with the Smokies as he had 1 official assist but will likely also be credited with 2 others upon further review. That would leave the 20 year old forward with 5 points over his first 3 BCHL games. Niemi will now return to the KIJHL's Fernie Ghostriders bolstered by the knowledge that he can perform at the next level.

The win was a good way for the Smoke Eaters to start November. A new month also marks a far more even schedule. After playing 15 of their first 22 games on the road, Trail will have 5 home games to 6 road game this month. Their next action is at the Cominco Arena on Friday and Saturday night against Salmon Arm.

ON THE TRAIL: Ben Matthews returned to the line-up after battling the flu all weekend. A very sick Wade Bennett missed his second straight game while several other players gutted it out at less than 100%. Trail could have injured Smokies Justin Brown and Graeme Strukoff back as soon as this weekend. Matt Wilkins is still a couple of weeks away ... After only a single point in September, Darnell Dyck scored 11 in October. That was good enough for 5^th on the team behind Nick Sandor (15), Scott Jacklin (13), Tye Lewis (12) and Sam Mellor (12) ... The win evens the season series after Quesnel beat Trail 5-1 at the Cominco Arena in September ... The Smokies will be back up north soon as they make another trip to Williams Lake, Prince George and Quesnel in 3 weeks. They'll then host Quesnel and Prince George the week after that.

Click here for the boxscore

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!

Smokies Stew, BCHL Notes

The Trail Smoke Eaters have acquired defenceman Chris Stew from Surrey to complete the Paul Barclay/Darnell Dyck deal from earlier in the summer. It's listed on the BCHL website as Stew to Trail for future considerations but Stew is in fact the future considerations. The deal ends up being Barclay to the Eagles for Dyck and Stew. Stew is listed at 6'1 and 185lbs on the BCHL website while the PIJHL website gives him an extra 5 pounds. He scored 2 points in 30 games as a BCHL rookie last season. Stew also played 24 games for Port Moody in Junior B last year and scored 17 points. He had 10 points in each of his previous two PIJHL seasons, but seemed to find his offensive stride as a veteran with the Black Panthers. Enough that he got the call to the Eageles where seemingly he played limited minutes. This is another opportunity for him to prove himself at the Junior A level.

Stew's name is now added to what should be a very competitive camp on the blue line. Only two guys are back from last year's Smokies teams with several spots up for grabs. These guys will need to convince management they can do the job or they may have to make a move or two. There is a lot of talent coming in and Smokies fans will see that when camp starts. I can't believe how soon that will be. I just wish I was going to be here for camp! Instead I'll be off at a friend's wedding in Ottawa. Don't worry, we'll keep you up to date on the blog.

NOTES

...EDIT: Tickets are in fact not on sale yet. They'll be selling them at the door. However, you can still get a full tournament pass for $15. It runs on August 28th, 29th and 30th at the Cominco Arena. Penticton, Powell River and Brooks will all take part. Each team will play each other once over the three days. It'll only cost you $15 for the entire tournament or $5 per game. To get your full tournament pass head over to Re-Max All Pro Realty. That's a hell of a deal for 6 games. These won't be easy going exhibition games either. Players will be fighting for spots and trying to impress college scouts who will come out to Trail for the tournament. Don't miss it.

...Kelowna broadcaster Regan Bartel is reporting that former Smoke Eater Lucas Bloodoff and Trail forward Travis St. Denis' brother Kyle are both getting invites to NHL training camps. The two are teammates with the Kelowna Rockets in the WHL. I talked to Kyle today and he says his invite from the Dallas Stars was set up by Rockets owner Bruce Hamilton. The former Vernon Viper and Beaver Valley Nitehawk will turn some heads with added responsibility this year if he can stay healthy. Lucas will join his brother Evan at the Phoenix camp as Evan was drafted by the team this year. Both Bloodoff brothers (from Castlegar) will win points with hard work and smart hockey.

...Former Smoke Eater Skyler Smutek is on the move. Quesnel picked up the one time Spokane Brave and Jeff Writght from Fort McMurray (who got Smutek's rights from Drayton Valley somehow) for Brad Ryan and Matt Brown. Skyler was an all star for the Thunder last year after being traded from Trail for Adam Gummer. I hope he will find a comfortable home up north as he's a nice young man with a lot of talent.

...Brooks Robinson is headed to Prince George after a series of trades. We saw him as a part of Team Canada West at the World Junior A Challenge in Trail two seasons ago. Brooks had kind of an off year in 08-09 but he's got a lot of talent. He played for Jim Ingram in Junior B and Trail's Coach speaks highly of him. However, it seems like basically a wash for Prince George when they gave up Alex Allan. It's one point per game player for another.

...Vernon got stronger as well by trading the rights to Brian Elser to Victoria for Jonathan Milhouse. He's another veteran point per game player that will help Vernon defend their Royal Bank Cup. With Sahir Gill and several older veterans leaving Milhouse will fill part of that void.

...Former Nelson Leaf Dylan Walchuk has committed to Northern Michigan University after a terrific season in the KIJHL. He was excellent in Nelson's run to the league title. Smokies fans got to see him in action as an AP for a few games. He'll be a good one for the Vipers next season.

...Check out Ryan Pinder's Vees Blog for an update on Penticton's prep camp in Osoyoos. I'll be there myself this weekend with my family for some late summer relaxing.

...Eddie Gregory on his Burnaby Express Blog has the scoop on the Dan Correale situation. I have a feeling we'll hear more about this before the season starts.

Murtagh, Dyck and Ingram Talk

(Murtagh stops Justin Brown - Photo Randy Emery)

After the two trades that brought Devon Murtagh and Darnell Dyck to Trail I had the chance to catch up with the two new Smokies and Coach Ingram to discuss the moves on Mountain FM's Overtime. As always you heard it first if you listened to the show weeknights from 6pm to 10pm on Mountain FM.

Devon Murtagh

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Darnell Dyck

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Jim Ingram on the trades

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Don't forget to get your tickets for the banquet on Friday. Tom McVie, Ray Ferraro, Cesare Maniago and Bobby Kromm headline what should be a terrific time. We're raising money for the club and for ALS research as well. Get your tickets at Re-Max All Pro Realty in Trail.

Barclay Traded

(Barclay and Dyck)

In a move that became almost obvious after Trail acquired Devon Murtagh from Westside, the Smokies have dealt goaltender Paul Barclay to Surrey for forward Darnell Dyck. Both Barclay and Murtagh will take up 20 year old spots next season while Dyck is a 1991 born forward. While Dyck only had 11 points in 53 games as a rookie, he showed his scoring touch with 41 points in 40 games for Fraser Valley in Major Midget as a 16 year old. He's also listed at 6'2 and 180lbs. Good luck to Barclay who gets to return close to home. I'll have more on this deal later as I'm pressed for time.