Kellen Jones on Vernon's Championship

Congrats to the Vernon Vipers on a second straight Fred Page Cup victory. This is a league full of deep and talented teams. It is very difficult to repeat, but the Vipers found a way to get it done against a very game Powell River Kings club. Credit to both organizations who lost some key pieces and still managed to return to the league finals. Check out a very good article from Vernon on the game that picked up on the Labreche vs. Jones match up I talked about here. Very tough loss for Powell River. I had a chance to chat with Montrose's Kellen Jones of the Vipers on their Game 7 victory and preparing for the Doyle Cup.

Montrose's Kellen Jones on Vernon winning the Fred Page Cup

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Good luck to the Vipers as they represent our league in the Doyle Cup and perhaps eventually in the Royal Bank Cup again. As for Powell River, they serve again as an example of how commitment to developing a program in a small market under community ownership can still lead to success in this league. It's not all about location and private ownership. Kent Lewis and company have shown the way for other similar programs to follow. I know that's a fifth loss in the finals for the Kings and they're starting to feel like the Buffalo Bills. They can still hold their heads up high as they've accomplished a lot more than people expected over these past two years.

Today is also the start of the NHL playoffs. You can check out the Mountain FM Overtime Playoff Preview by clicking here. We've got a bunch of other archived interviews on the site as well including a chat with Don Hay. Tonight on Overtmie I'll have a chat with Trail minor hockey product and Kelowna Rockets Coach Ryan Huska on the three locals who played for him this year including former Smoke Eater Lucas Bloodoff.

Fred Page Cup: Labreche and Jones Interviews, Spring Camp Schedule

Mitch Labreche and the Jones twins might be getting sick of each other. The rivals have gone head to head in the playoffs for five consecutive seasons. That dates all the way back to when they both played as 15 year olds in the KIJHL for Nelson and Beaver Valley respectively. The Nitehawks beat the Leafs in 2006 on the way to a loss in the league finals before Nelson returned the favour and also lost in the finals the following season.

The West Kootenay products then took their rivalry to the BCHL. Labreche with Penticton and the Jones Twins went to Vernon. The Vees took down the Vipers in 2008 on the way to their BCHL Championship. Vernon then returned the favour on the way to their Fred Page Cup win last year. It's like their careers have been mirror images. They've each made a KIJHL final and lost... they've each won a Fred Page Cup... so who will win the rubber match with another BCHL crown on the line?

Kellen scored once and had an assist as Vernon took game 1 of the series 2-1. Connor also added a goal. Advantage Jones twins. We'll see if Labreche and the Kings (who played a very even game with Vernon from what I saw) can grab that desired split tomorrow night. I had a chance to talk to Mitch and Kellen before the series on Mountain FM's Overtime.

Vernon Vipers forward Kellen Jones

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Powell River Kings forward Mitch Labreche

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Good luck to both the Kings and Vipers in their quest for the league title. It looks like the series is off to a heck of a start.

SPRING CAMP

I caught the last game of the first day of Trail's spring camp today. From chatting with a few people it's my impression there is a lot of interesting young talent. How many of those guys will be ready for next season? Maybe not many. However, we may say a great number of them playing for local KIJHL teams to get set for that jump to the BCHL. We may also see a few of them force their way on to the Trail roster.

I was also quite impressed with Steve Koshey's transition to forward today. He scored 4 times in the game I saw. Maybe he should consider a full time jump... well somehow I doubt he'll do that. Still was very nice to see so many of the current guys involved. Also nice to see former Smoke Eater Paul Barclay on hand helping out with the evaluation of their goaltenders. He's a guy with a lot of passion and understanding for what it takes to play the game. Nice to see him involved again after his junior career ended this spring.

Here's tomorrow's schedule:

Practices

8:00-9:00am - White
9:15-10:15am - Blue
10:30-11:30am - Yellow
11:45am-12:45pm - Red

1:00-1:45pm - Goalies

4:00-5:30pm - White vs. Red
6:00-7:30pm - Yellow vs. Blue

Post Salmon Arm Audio

Nelson Ford Trail Smoke Eaters Hockey: Salmon Arm 8 Trail 7 (OT)

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Smokies Assistant Coach Brian Youngson

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New Beaver Valley Goaltender Paul Barclay

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Vernon Forward Kellen Jones on he and Connor winning the Mountain FM Athlete of the Year

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Trail Jays Season Over

I'm not working today and don't have a lot of details, but Mountain FM news reported today that the Trail Jays lost 12-6 to Treasure Valley last night and were eliminated from the American Legion Baseball Idaho State AA Tournament. The loss ends Trail's seasons and the junior ball careers of all their 1990 born players. This was Trail's first trip to state since 2002 and a season to be very proud of. It marks the peak of a great turn around under President Ed Ferraro and Manager Nick Schuerman. Congrats to all involved. We'll have more on this on Overtime this Tuesday.

Twin Falls Beat Jays

(Kellen Jones)

The Trail Jays lost 9-6 to Twin Falls this evening at the Idaho State AA American Legion Baseball double elimination tournament. Kellen Jones got tagged with the loss. Trail now moves to the loser's bracket and will play a do or die game against Treasure Valley tomorrow at 4pm. Cam Strachan is the probable starter for Trail. They need a strong effort from their #3. Treasure Valley and Trail are both top seeds from their region, but they both lost in the second round. Both are now on loss away from the end of their seasons. Tune in to Mountain FM news tomorrow for more details.

Trail Jays Win Opener

(Connor Jones)

Connor Jones went 8 1/3 innings today to get the win as Trail beat the Boise Centennial Cannons 11-5 in the opening game of the Idaho AA American Legion Baseball State Tournament. Brady Glover had 2 hits and 3 RBIs in the game for the Jays. Trail got up 10-0 but couldn't hold Boise off the board to secure an early mercy rule win. Kellen Jones gets the start tomorrow in their second round game. The tournament is double elimination. Pitching Cocah Collin Gibbs joins me on Mountain FM's Overtime tonight. The West Kootenay Diamondbacks head to the U16 Washington State Tournament on Saturday.

Bennett to Trail, Jays Earn Top Seed

(Wade Bennett with the LA Jr Kings)

The Trail Smoke Eaters have added another piece to their back end as we move towards what should be another excellent competition for blue line spots at training camp. Los Angeles native Wade Bennett has agreed to join the Smokies for next season. Wade is the older brother of Beau Bennett of the Penticton Vees. Ryan Pinder had the scoop on that signing a little while back. The Bennett brothers were both recruited by the USHL and instead decided the BCHL was the right path for them. It doesn't always go in the other direction!

I met Wade and his father at the Smokies alumni banquet. I got a terrific first impression from them and suspect this is a hockey family that does things the right way. Wade seems really excited to be coming to a hockey hot bed like Trail so he can take his game to the next level. After recently switching from forward to defence he had 5 goald and 11 assists in 77 AAA Midget games for the LA Junior Kings. The 1990 born D is listed as 5'9 and 168lbs but has likely put on some weight since then. Here are my interviews with Wade and with Jim Ingram on the subject...

Wade Bennett

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Jim Ingram on Bennett

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As you can tell from the interview Jim was really impressed by Wade's ability with the puck. I know he saw him in a tournament in early 08 and I believe Wade went to Vernon's training camp this past season. Here's hoping Wade can come in and help replace what Trail has lost on the blue line. As I've said before there are a number of interesting players coming to camp that we haven't announced on the blog yet. We know so far that Steve Kosehey, Graeme Strukoff, Brett Naka and Wade Bennett will be a part of the picture. That's two puck movers and two freight trains. There are several more that I know of who should make things really interesting come late August.

I think we could have another situation where there are up to 10 guys who could play in the league that the team will have to pick from. Of course a lot of fans still believe the team needs to make a move for at least another veteran on the back end. There's still lots of time before training camp, and often those kinds of moves don't get made until early in the season. The team is coming together well and I only heard positive comments about what Jim is doing when I was talking with some people at the BC Hockey Hall of Fame Summer Classic this past weekend.

Speaking of the Summer Classic that was a heck of a good time. Thanks to Ryan Pinder and all the people in Penticton for allowing me to take part. It was a unique broadcast where we had the chance to do some live interviews on the bench during the game. Nothing quite like having Pat Quinn staring down at you from the bench and telling you the other team's goal was your fault because you distracted him... obvious joke or not I can see how that man can get your attention!

Dany Heatley also made an appearance and showed off his ridiculous release. I think that was his first public event and first public comments this summer. Of course all he talked about was the game and the charity. As tempting as it was to ask him about the trade request stuff on our broadcast we knew he was there for a charity (Penticton Minor Hockey) and that had to be respected. As much as anyone can say about him he could have easily stayed home (he was a last minute addition), but instead gave his time to raise money for a good cause. I still think he should make some kind of a statement soon.

There were some big names there and they all did it to raise money and put attention on minor hockey. I was glad to be a part of that.

JAYS ADVANCE TO STATE

In American Legion Baseball, the Trail Jays advanced to the Idaho State Tournament. It was kind of a complicated story to be honest. The Jays beat Cranbrook and Lewis-Clark to start the double elimination North Idaho District Playoffs. The wins put Trail into the finals of the tournament and when Lewis-Clark made it through the loser bracket to get to finals as well it guaranteed Trail the top seed from their region. Lewis-Clark is hosting the State Tournament so they had a special "host" seed and as such it didn't matter who won the district. Since it didn't technically matter both sides agreed to just play one game for the championship. Trail lost that game 12-11 but didn't use their top pitchers when they had a lead late in the game. Normally they would've been due a second game because it was double elimination and they hadn't lost. It seems strange to me that winning your district isn't really significant. However, the State Tournament starts tomorrow and so the Jays wanted to make sure their top arms were rested.

For you BCHL and Vernon fans who have been following the blog for updates... Kellen Jones got the win in Saturday's game over Lewis-Clark and Connor Jones picked up the save. Jays Manager Nick Schuerman says he'll be counting on the twins for big innings if they have any shot of winning State. We'll keep you up to date on what has been Trail's best showing at this level in years. To think only 6 years ago the team was actually on a one year hiatus.

EDIT: Just wanted to add a list of the Jays awards winners for this season from their banquet last night.

• MVP: Connor and Kellen Jones
• Top Pitcher: Connor and Kellen Jones
• Top Hitter: Connor and Kellen Jones
• Defensive Award: Matt Larmour
• Most Improved: Jeff Sidey
• Coach's Award: Ethan Green

Life and Death

(The 1939 Trail Smoke Eaters)

First I want to wish both former Smokies Grant Rollheiser and Kevin Limbert a Happy Birthday today. It's hard to imagine two better examples of what a Smoke Eater can achieve than the Maple Leaf draft pick who won a national championship with BU last year and the former Captain who is making a big impact at Yale. I join all Smokies fans in wishing them both the best in the upcomming year.

With milestones in life we also talk of milestones in death... the celebration of the life of a member of the 1939 World Champion Senior Smokies. Click here for the article on Jimmy Haight from the Trail Rossland News. You should also pick up yesterday's Trail Times for a nice piece on Haight. The celebration of Jimmy's life will be held tomorrow at 12:30pm at the Cominco Gym. I wish I could be there. Instead I'll be part of the broadcast team for a big charity game happening in Penticton. Get more details over at Ryan Pinder's Vees Blog. It's a heck of a line-up (including former Smoke Eaters Coach Tom Renney) and any local hockey fan should seriously consider making a day of attending Jimmy's celebration then jumping in the car and and heading to Penticton for this game. Who said hockey season was over?

BALL RESULTS

The Trail Jays won the first game of the North Idaho American Legion Baseball district playoffs yesterday. Connor Jones got the win as the Jays beat Cranbrook 11-5. The win guarantees Trail a spot in the state tournament. Stay tuned to Mountain FM for more updates on the Jays and other local ball.

I promised news of a new Smoke Eater and I intend to get to that later today.

Corcoran to St. Scholastica, Kellen's No Hitter

I want to congratulate four year Smoke Eater Brett Corcoran on his recent commitment to St. Scholastica. Corcoran scored 77 goals and had 77 assists over his BCHL career. He spent 3 years with Trail before asking to play close to home for his final season. As a result he got dealt to Cowichan and eventually Surrey, but Corcs never felt at home until he was returned to the Smokies at the trade deadline. Brett finished his BCHL career where he belonged... in the orange and black. I'm really glad to hear that he's getting a lot of his education paid for as a result of all his hard work and dedication. I'm sure he'll be a big part of the Saints roster. Congrats Brett!

Here's an interview I did with Corcoran on Mountain FM's Overtime:

Corcoran on going to St. Scholastica

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JONES NO HITTER

You knew Connor Jones and Kellen Jones were excellent hockey players. The Montrose natives proved it by being Vernon's best players as they won the Royal Bank Cup this past season. Did you also know that they were top tier baseball players? If they didn't get hockey scholarships to Quinnipiac they could just as easily get them to play ball. Just to give you an idea, Kellen threw a no hitter on Friday against Coeur D'Alene in North Idaho American Legion Baseball action. His team needed the win to secure second place and Kellen deliverd under huge pressure. Connor was the catcher and scored the winning run of the game in extra innings. Kellen is the Trail Jays team leader in wins (tied with Connor), ERA, batting average and home runs. Connor is the spark plug of the offence and has almost identical pitching numbers. They are the key cogs for a team that Coeur D'Alene's manager called the best in their league. Check out the team stats here.

Connor, Kellen and the Jays start their district playoffs tomorrow. If they beat Cranbrook in their opener they'll guarantee themselves a spot in the state tournament. It's their final season with the Jays and their last chance to bring a state title back home to the Kootenays. Smokies fans don't usually cheer for the Jones Twins but I'm sure they'll be rooting for them, Manager Nick Schuerman, President Ed Ferraro (Ray's brother) and the whole Jays roster as they try and win one for Trail.

If you want to follow the Jays on their run to state keep it locked to Mountain FM. We also had announced another Smokies commitment on Mountain FM's sports casts and Overtime today. We'll have that scoop for you tomorrow as the Smoke Eaters have gone California dreaming again.