Game Day: Luke Pierce and All-Star Audio

The Smoke Eaters do battle tonight with the Merritt Centennials. It's the fourth meeting between the two teams so far this season. The Cents have won all three thus far, but the games were all in Merritt. This is obviously a big game for both teams as Merritt is just a single point behind Trail for the final playoff spot in the Interior Conference. Both teams are also on four game losing streaks. Trail dropped those games against the Okanagan power houses including a 3-0 loss to Westside on Wednesday. The Cents lost all three of their games on a recent northern road swing. Merritt has yet to win a game away from home and you have to think they feel like this may be a chance for them against a team they've had some success against this season. The Smoke Eaters can not afford to give Merritt another game. It's a big one tonight.

It's also a the return of the teddy bear toss in Trail. Bring stuffed animals to the game and fire them onto the ice when Trail scores their first goal. They'll be passed on to a worthy cause so that some kids get a nice surprise over the holiday season.

I had a chance over the last couple of days to chat with the new coach in Merritt (that's Luke Pierce in his playing days in the photo) and to do a couple of interviews on today's All-Star announcements.

Merritt Coach Luke Pierce

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Smokies Coach Jim Ingram on Strukoff being an All-Star

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Smokies Assistant Coach Barry Zanier on Westside game

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Burnaby Play by Play Broadcaster Eddie Gregory on Dylan Herold

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Trade Deadline Madness (Part 2, KIJHL)

Just a quick update with some moves from the KIJHL.

The big news for Smoke Eaters fans is that the Castlegar Rebels acquired Scott Jago's KIJHL rights from Fernie. Jago is a Castlegar native who played earlier this year for the Smokies. He left the team a couple of months ago for medical reasons. That kind of a situation is completely private so I have not made any efforts to get an update on Jago to this point. However, if Castlegar picked up his rights, perhaps that means he's looking at making some kind of return to hockey before the season is up. If that's true I'd be thrilled to see him back in action. Jago will certainly be back in the BCHL next year when he's healthy. He has just terrific hockey sense and I would be very surprised if he didn't return to Trail. By the way, you can see Castlegar's new uniform Friday night when they host Nelson at 7:30pm. Bring your radio to listen to our broadcast of the Smokies/Vipers game while taking in KIJHL action there of at 8pm in Fruitvale.

Grand Forks sent their top scorers to Kimberly. 19 year old forward Andrew Green and 17 year old forward Jerris Gregory go to Kimberly for 17 year old forward Konrad Sander. Green has 48 points in 40 games this year while Gregory has 31 points in 34 games. Gregory is the brother of former Smoke Eater Connor Gregory. Connor has 16 points in 31 games with the Border Bruins this year and will be playing for them in this weekend's KIJHL All-Star game. Sander has 10 points in 25 games for Kimberly. The Dynamiters are in a very tight battle with Spokane and Creston for the last playoff spot in the Neil Murdoch East Division. Grand Forks would likely be in the thick of things in any other division, but they are all but eliminated from the playoff race in the very tough Neil Murdoch West. The Border Bruins actually only have 4 fewer points than Kimberly while playing more often against the very tough Nelson, Beaver Valley and Castlegar teams.

It's too bad for Grand Forks fans that they won't be in the dance again this year. However, when you look back at a 33 point season in 06-07 and a 12 point season in 05-06, there is reason for optimism. They have been a better team this season and the program is turning around.

Finally, the Beaver Valley Nitehawks added 18 year old defenceman Eric Gethers. My research shows that he's a 6'0, 165lbs blue liner from all the way down in Ashburn, Virginia. He played 5 games for the Manitoulin Islanders of the Northern Ontario Junior A Hockey League in which he had 1 assist and 11 minutes in penalties. Gethers also played 15 games for the Lindsay Muskies of the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League. He had 1 goal and 2 assists as well as 8 penalty minutes. That doesn't tell you much except that he was a Junior A defenceman. Junior A in Ontario is not quite at the level of the BCHL in my opinion, but it's still Junior A hockey. From what I'm told, the Nitehawks could use an upgrade to their back end, and Gethers could be just what they're looking for.

Click here for a link to a Muskies message board. This post talks a lot about Gethers being a quality person more than it talks about him as a hockey player. Still, that's a positive sign for BV fans.

The KIJHL may not have reported all the deadline transactions just yet. If anything else happens for Beaver Valley, Castlegar, Grand Forks or Nelson I'll let you know. I also plan to go into the BCHL trades from yesterday as well when I have the time.

The biggest deal for Kootenay Boundary fans (outside of Trail's trades) was Christina Lake native Clinton Pettapiece getting dealt from Cowichan Valley to Westside in exchange for Alex Gellert and what's sure to be a heavy price in future considerations. Westside will have two dangerous weapons that local fans know very well. Pettapiece and former Smokie David Arduin could be a lethal combination on the power play.

Also, Vernon picked up goaltender Andrew Hammond from Surrey. They needed a starter after losing theirs to a mid-season college scholarship. We'll see if he gets the call against the Smokies. Should be fun to watch all the trades officially filter in. We'll get more details in the coming days.

Future and Former Smokies in the KIJHL

Some good news for a few former Trail Smoke Eaters in the KIJHL this week. Firstly, congratulations to Miles Houston and Connor Gregory for getting named to the Neil Murdoch Conference All-Star team. Houston has been terrific for the Leafs since being returned to Junior B. It's no co-incidence that the Leafs have been the best team in the league since Houston and Brock Monroe returned to their line-up after starting the season in Trail. If you look at the scoring on Nelson you can see that they're a team with outstanding scoring depth. Adding Houston and Monroe allows Coach Simon Wheeldon the freedom to play with four lines that can score. Before their arrival he wasn't getting that scoring depth he wanted and the team was a little more inconsistent. I'm not suggesting Houston and Monroe are the only reason why things have come along so well in Nelson lately - far from it - but I do think they are a big part of that success and Houston earned a well deserved place on the All-Star team.

For Connor Gregory it's a nice honour after what has been a frustrating couple of years for him. I'm really glad to see that the season has been a success for him personally thus far. Could he earn a trip back to Junior A hockey thanks to this result? I guess we'll find out soon enough.

A couple of Nitehawks that were AP players with Trail also got All-Star nods. Steve Koshey will play on D for the Neil Murdoch Conference. Layne Stopanski gets a nod up front. You can also see Justin Brown playing in the prospect game earlier in the day. On another note, Wade Waters will be one of the goaltenders on the Neil Murdoch team and that's a nice recognition of the year he's had since performing well at Trail's training camp. Congrats to all those who qualifed for the teams. There are representatives from all the Kootenay Boundary teams and you can get the full list over at the KIJHL website. The games themselves will be played in Creston this Saturday. You could catch the prospect game at 3:30 before returning in time for the Smokies hosting the Vipers on Saturday night.

Another former Smoke Eater found his way to Beaver Valley this week. Goaltender Devan Hartigan has been making a lot of moves so far this year. Hopefully he's found a steady home now with the Nitehawks. First Hartigan moved from Trail to Prince George. After a few games there he ended up in the KIJHL with Fernie. Devan decided to take another shot at Junior A hockey by going to Ontario, but after that didn't really work out how he wanted he's back in the KIJHL. Hartigan apparently had his choice of several different interested teams, but he wanted to be back in this region and to have a chance on a successful organization like the Nitehawks. I imagine a goaltender of his skill, work ethic and experience could be quite a boost for Beaver Valley. They're certainly not out of the race for first place in their division yet, and Hartigan could be that extra piece of the puzzle.

With that move the Nitehawks traded goaltender Sean Muller to Creston. Muller was with Trail the weekend that Paul Barclay was away and seemed like a good guy. He'll get a chance to play behind Wade Waters in Creston and I hope all goes well for him there.

Don't forget the Smoke Eaters take on the Salmon Arm Silverbacks tomorrow night live from Salmon Arm. We'll have the game for you on Mountain FM with AM Ford Trail Smoke Eaters hockey. The pre-game show gets underway at 7:15. Friday it's off to Vernon for another road game. On Saturday the Smokies are back in town for one of only 3 home games this month. They could really use a big crowd out there for that one to help lift the team while they go on their toughest run of the year. Plus you'll have a chance at some round trip tickets from Pacific Coastal Airlines. They're doing a plane toss on Saturday night and it should be a lot of fun... especially for the winner.

Not to mention the fact that the games against Vernon this year have all been classics. Two out of three have gone to double overtime between these very evenly matched teams. Don't want to miss that one.

Now since we're getting near the trade deadline and rumours are swirling, it's time for me to "work the phones."