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

Bennett beats Mellor for rookie award

Not a huge surprise today as Beau Bennett won the BCHL Interior Conference Rookie of the Year Award. Smokies forward Sam Mellor had a fantastic season and earned his nomination for the award. However, Bennett won the league scoring crown with 120 points. It's pretty hard for any other rookie to compete with that!

I am intrigued that the official award winner list has Bennett listed in a tie with Salmon Arm forward Mark Zengerle for the league's top scorer. While they both finished with 120 points, traditionally the player with the most goals is given the edge. Older hockey fans will remember that's what happened when Marcel Dionne beat Wayne Gretzky for the Art Ross Trophy back in 1979-80. Both players had terrific seasons so I don't really have an issue with them calling it a tie. I just wonder if that's the usual protocol.

I actually found the amount of ties in the awards this year quite annoying. What is this t-ball? We don't have to make everyone happy! Voters were too wishy washy this time around. Honestly though, what a regular season it was. We saw some incredible point totals including 3 guys with over 100 points and a 60 goal scorer. Every nominee and winner deserves the recognition they got... even if Todd Miller CLEARLY paid someone off to get the broadcaster of the year award. I'm on to you, Todd! We all know how Vernon likes to grease the wheel. That's what the internet tells me anyway... Congrats to Todd who is super talented and a class act. Plus somebody had to take that award from Hammer this year because we all saw how big his ego got last time!

Of note for the upcoming Westside/Trail playoff series, Warriors defenceman Brendan Ellis was named the top defenceman in the Interior. What is it with the Warriors and top d-men? That's three straight years the winner of that award has played for Westside. He'll be a key guy for the Warriors against Trail starting on Friday night on Mountain FM.

Don't forget Trail's home games next Monday and Tuesday will start at 7pm rather than the usual 7:30. That should make it a little more family friendly. As for awards, tonight is the Smoke Eaters Awards Banquet at the Riverbell. It'll be interesting and hopefully as usual a good time... even if we're starting during the Canada/Russia game!

Again click here for the official list of award winners.

KIJHL PLAYOFFS

Just a couple of notes from the KIJHL playoffs. Beaver Valley had a 4-2 lead after the second but fell 6-4 last night to Nelson. The Leafs now lead that first round series 3 games to 1. Castlegar lost 4-3 in Spokane last night and the Braves have now drawn even. Game 5 is tomorrow in Castlegar and Nelson.

KIJHL Playoffs Tonight

Local hockey fans looking for a fix tonight can check out game 4 of the Nelson vs. Beaver Valley KIJHL first round playoff series. The Leafs lead the Hawks 2 games to 1 after a 3-1 victory last night in Fruitvale. Former Smoke Eater Paul Barclay is the Nitehawks goaltender while another former Smoke Eater Scott Jago plays for the Leafs. I had a chance to chat with staff from both clubs leading into tonight's game at 7pm in Fruitvale.

Beaver Valley General Manager Jamie Friess

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Nelson Coach and GM Simon Wheeldon

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As for the other local series, Castlegar is up 2 games to 1 on Spokane after the Braves shut the Rebels out 2-0 last night. For more on the Rebels check out my Mountain FM colleague Chris Wahl's blog as he has game recaps, previews, audio and more. Chris has also started doing webcasts for the Rebels. Nice to see them get into that game as the other local clubs have been doing a fine job of it already. Also this evening don't forget Canada against Germany in Olympic hockey action starting with the pre-game show at 4pm on Mountain FM.

Sam Mellor gets rookie nod, Monday Audio, KIJHL Playoffs

Congratulations to Smoke Eaters forward Sam Mellor. He was nominated today for the Interior Conference rookie of the year award. It's a well deserved honour after Mellor put up 28 goals and 35 points for 63 points as a 17 year old.

Mellor's totals were good enough for 27th in the BCHL and third among 1992 born players. The former Dynamiter in the KIJHL made a very quick transition to the Junior A level. While playing the whole season with Scott Jacklin and most of it with Nick Sandor he was able to actually improve on his Junior B scoring pace. I think it also helped that Jacklin and Matt Wilkins grew up with Mellor. The Kimberley Konnection all thrived this season while playing on the same team. I'm sure it's fun to get to play with your friends.

He faces some stiff competition for the rookie of the year nod. The other nominees are league scoring champion Beau Bennett and top scoring defenceman Joey Laleggia. All three players are certainly very deserving of the recognition.

Speaking of awards, the Trail Smoke Eaters will be handing out their year end awards this Wednesday night. Who will be this year's MVP? Should be a fun night and a good way to celebrate before the team sets out for West Kelowna and the playoffs on Friday.

MONDAY AUDIO

Was there a game last night? The team is looking to put the stinker in Penticton behind them as they prepare for the Warriors. The Smokies looked like a team that didn't have anything to play for in a 7-3 loss to the Vees. That being said, they didn't have anything to play for. The game didn't have any impact on the standings. Congrats to the Vees who were able to achieve a franchise record 100 points and to Beau Bennett for scoring the 4 points he needed to secure a BCHL scoring crown. They're an impressive team. It'd be nice to see them again as the only way that could happen is by meeting them in the conference finals...

Smokies Assistant Coach Barry Zanier on the Penticton game

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Nelson Ford Trail Smoke Eaters Hockey: Trail 6 Merritt 3

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KIJHL PLAYOFFS

An interesting start to local KIJHL playoff action this week. Former Smoke Eaters are doing battle as Paul Barclay and the Beaver Valley Nitehawks take on Scott Jago and the Nelson Leafs. Barclay has had a starring role so far as the Hawks earned a split in Nelson. The Leafs won Game 1 by a 4-3 score in overtime while BV took Game 2 thanks to Colton Donselaar's winner late in the third period. Game 3 of the series is tonight in Beaver Valley and you should do yourself a favour and check it out.

The other local series has Castlegar up 2-0 on Spokane with hopes of taking total control of that series tonight across the line. The Rebels have been very impressive thus far, but Spokane is a tough place to play.

Nelson Leafs Coach Simon Wheeldon

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Beaver Valley Nitehawks forward Colton Donselaar

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Fan Appreciation Night on Friday

The Trail Smoke Eaters are holding a fan appreciation night tomorrow against the Surrey Eagles. It's the final regular season home game for this year's Smokies and an opportunity to give as many fans as possible a good luck at the surging club. Tickets are only $5 each and any season ticket holders with extra tickets can give them to friends. There will be deals at the Sud Shack and all sorts of prizes to be won. It's also time for another early bird draw in the Smokies Truck Raffle so make sure you get your tickets.

The Smoke Eaters have points in their last 6 games and have an 8-6-0-3 record in 2010. If you gave up on the team in the fall now is a good time to give them a second chance. Some additional support tomorrow night could go a long way towards helping Trail push past Quesnel and Merritt for 5th place in the Interior.

Trail will also be forced to watch the out of town scoreboard over the final weekend as they try to secure 5th place. They're right now tied with Merritt and Quesnel. The Cents only have one game left (Saturday against the Smokies) while the Millionaires play twice more (Williams Lake and Burnaby) against some weaker clubs. The Smokies would lose a tie breaker against either team due to winning percentage.

All of that being said it's still in Trail's hands. If they can get at least 5 points in their 3 games they guarantee themselves 5th place. They didn't wait for anyone else to get them into the playoffs and they won't be able to wait around for someone else to hand them a higher seed. It's theirs for the taking.

NOTES

...Tomorrow is also the opening of the KIJHL playoffs. Check out Chris Wahl's blog for a look at the two local series. There are a bunch of Smokies APs involved in the Nelson/Beaver Valley series. Philip Patenaude, Gavin Currie, Bennett Hambrook, Taylor O'Neil and Michael Spring play for the Leafs. Colton Semenok and Layne Stopanski play for the Nitehawks. Beaver Valley was also a temporary home for Steve Oursov this season when he started off as an AP for Trail and played a couple of games for the Hawks.

Both clubs have graduated a number of players to the Smokies that will I'm sure be picking sides. Garrett Beckwith and Tommy Rizzardo are former Leafs while Justin Brown, Steve Koshey and Thomas Abenante are former Nitehawks.

The other local series sees the Castlegar Rebels matching up with the Spokane Braves. The Rebels feature former Williams Lake Timberwolves Keagan Little and Darren Tarasoff. Their MVP this season was former Merritt Centennial Ryan Aynsley. He finished second in KIJHL scoring behind Scott Morisseau of the Nitehawks.

Josh McEwan and Brian Youngson's old club the Fernie Ghostriders started their playoffs already with a win in Golden. Matt Wilkins and Sam Mellor's old team the Kimberley Dynamiters will start the first round tomorrow in Creston. Michael Betz's old team from Sicamous hosts the Penticton Lakers.

...A lot of people write off the underdogs as we head towards the first round of the playoffs. Tonight's game between Canada and the Swiss is a great example of why you can never count any team out. Some hot goaltending and tremendous work ethic took a highly over matched Swiss club to within a shoot out of getting a win against Canada. Watching the game you could see that the Swiss club did it by outworking their opponents and sticking to a very simple game. I think some Canadian fans are getting a little too worried though. It's just one game! A little adversity early can be good in a small tournament like this.

...Don't forget the Smokies will be handing out their year end awards next Wednesday. There are a couple awards with obvious choices. However, most of them should be pretty tough decisions for the coaching staff. There are still a few tickets left. Contact Tom at Re/Max or see him at the souvenir stand tomorrow night if you're interested.

KIJHL All-Star Game Tonight

The KIJHL is holding their All-Star game tonight at the Beaver Valley Arena in Fruitvale. I know tickets have gone fast but you should still have a chance to get in and see the game if you come out before the 7pm puck drop. It should be a great show.

There was a lot of talk at the banquet yesterday about how much this game could mean to the players involved. Often All-Star games are low on competitiveness and high on goofing around. The message at the banquet was that scouts are watching. One coach told me that one of their players got an opportunity to go to school partially because of the impression he made while participating in one of these games. Hopefully the message sunk in and we'll see a lot of fire from the players tonight.

There will be several local products on the Neil Murdoch squad. Familiar names to Smokies fans would be the likes of former Smoke Eater Scott Jago, AP Gavin Currie and Scott Morrisseau who just scored 2 goals against Trail as an AP for Merritt. One of the coaches for the Eddie Mountain team is also a familiar face as former Vernon Coach and GM Troy Mick will be behind the bench along with Princeton's Dale Hladune. Simon Wheeldon of the Nelson Leafs coaches the Neil Murdoch squad. Mountain FM will have live coverage of the game starting with our pre-game show at 6pm and play by play at 7pm. If you can't make us listen in. If you can make it you'd be doing yourself a big favour by coming down to the Beaver Valley Arena to watch the best of the best that the KIJHL has to offer and the future of the BCHL, WHL and college ranks.

All Star Game Intro

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Eddie Mountain Coach Troy Mick

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KIJHL President Bill Ohlhausen

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Beaver Valley Nitehawks Coach Terry Jones

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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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Post Game: Vernon 4 Trail 1, News and Notes

I thought the Smokies put up a terrific fight tonight against Vernon. That's a team that will probably only lose a handfull of games for the rest of the season. Trail battled them hard for a full sixty minutes. The Smokies have significantly cut down on their defensive errors and major blunders. Compare the game to a Smokies effort from two months ago and it's night and day.

Garrett Beckwith and strong positional team defence held Trail in the game through the first two periods. They gave themselves a chance to win down only 2-1. However, the Smokies made a couple of mistakes on pinches while trying to press for the tie game. Those mistakes turned into goals and put the game out of reach. If one or both of those pinches are instead successful we could be talking about a different result. That's hockey.

The main problem for Trail is that all these improved efforts against the league's top teams haven't turned into points. They're going to need victories over teams above .500 is they're going to make any kind of move in the standings. Right now they're seemingly a goal or two away from being able to do that. Their ability to get those wins will possibly be the difference between making and missing the playoffs.

As for the game coming up against Merritt tomorrow... I heard a lot of fans say it's a must win. I think it's an important game. To me if Trail plays the same way against Merritt as they do against Vernon or Westside they should be able to beat the Cents. If they play loose and relaxed like they did that last time Merritt was in town they'll allow the Centennials to continue a surprising dominance over the Smokies this season.

The Merritt game won't make or break this season. A couple of wins down the stretch over other sub .500 teams like Merritt and Williams Lake only leads to an early playoff exit or even missing out on the big dance. If Trail is really making the kind of progress I think they are, they're going to have to find a way to get points against the teams they aren't expected to beat. That way no single game will make or break anything. They must have higher ambitions than that.

Here's my recap from the official website:

Trail, BC - The improving efforts don't seem to be lending themselves to a lot of points for the Smoke Eaters this month. On Tuesday Trail battled the top ranked Vernon Vipers for 60 close minutes and came up short.

Similar efforts against Penticton, Westside and Salmon Arm this month have rendered similar results. Trail's overall game has improved significantly, but they are still a goal or two away in games against the Interior's top teams.

11 saves from Garrett Beckwith were key as the Smokies and Vipers ended the first period in a scoreless tie. Vernon would jump out to a 2-0 lead in the second before Thomas Abenante answered back for the Smokies. The Trail native knocked home a nice feed after Wade Bennett forced a turnover and sent the puck to the slot.

Down a goal entering the third period the Smoke Eaters started taking some risks to try and get the tying goal. Two missed pinches turned into goals for Cory Kane and Braden Pimm as Vernon secured the victory.

Beckwith stopped 36 shots in the loss while Graeme Gordon made 25 saves for the Vipers.

In what may be his final game in the Cominco Arena, Montrose native Connor Jones scored the game winner and added an assist for Vernon. Tuesday was the final game of the season series between the two teams. Connor and his brother Kellen will be leaving the BCHL to play NCAA hockey next season.

The next action for Trail will be Wednesday night at home against Merritt.

NOTES

...We named our first Mountain FM Athlete of the Year award winners tonight on Overtime. Vipers forward Connor and Kellen Jones are co-winners for 2009. They were key contributors on a RBC Cup championship team, a silver medal winning team at the World Junior A Challenge and an American Legion Baseball team that went to the state tournament. The Montrose natives did it all in 2009. Kellen even threw a perfect game. It'll be pretty tough for them to top that in 2010. I do know Smokies fans probably won't miss watching them burn their hometown team as they have so often in their three season BCHL career. Once they're in college I'm sure it'll be OK to cheer for them again.

Other athletes considered included Smokies forward Travis St. Denis, Phillies pitching prospect Chris Kissock, former Smoke Eater Scott Jago who came back from cancer to win a KIJHL championship in Nelson, Rossland cross country skier George Grey and Trail's Jason Bay. Bay set career highs in home runs and RBIs with Boston this past season. He had a couple of great seasons with the Red Sox and now appears headed to the New York Mets. If I were a local sports store I'd be stocking up on those Mets hats as soon as possible.

...Former Smoke Eaters Wade Dubielewicz and Travis Roche suffered their first loss at the Spengler Cup today. Dubielewicz got the hook in the second period as Canada fell 5-2 to Germany.

...Castlegar's Luke Walker and Team USA beat Latvia 12-1 today at the World Junior Hockey Championship. That's setting up quite a match up between the US and Canada on New Year's Eve.

...Castlegar native and Beaver Valley Nitehawk forward Aaron Hadley scored in his first game with Team Pacific at the World Under 17 Hockey Challenge. Pacific lost the game 6-2 to Russia.

...Speaking of the Nitehawks, they've carded former Smoke Eater Paul Barclay. The 20 year old goaltender was recently cut by Surrey in the BCHL because he was still injured on the December carding cut down deadline. Barclay is now healthy and ready to go. He told me in an interview there was interest from other Junior A clubs but for now he has decided that he'd rather be back in the West Kootenay. I'll have that interview up on the blog sometime later this week. In my view Barclay is instantly the top goaltender in the KIJHL and gives Beaver Valley a huge boost in a very tough Neil Murdoch Division. He had a save percentage over 90 with Surrey earlier this season. He should be lights out at the Junior B level.

24

As stated earlier this week in Jim Ingram's interview on Mountain FM's Overtime, the Trail Smoke Eaters roster is now down to 24 players. That's one more than they'll be allowed to have when the puck drops on the regular season next Friday in Merritt. The Smokies also still have the rights of Adam Gummer and Chris Stew to deal with at some point as well. Nothing is set in stone in junior hockey, but I figured we'd take brief look at who is left standing after what was a taxing training camp. I'll also take a look at the pre-season scoring leaders.

FORWARDS

(Riley Loyst had a strong camp - Photo Randy Emery)

• Paul Mailey (90) - fourth year as a Smoke Eater, Smokies Captain, Trail native
• Sean Nugent (89) - second year as a Smoke Eater, Alternate Captain, former Cowichan Valley Capital, played for Jim Ingram in the VIJHL
• Justin Brown (91) - second year as a Smoke Eater, Alternate Captain, former Beaver Valley Nitehawk in the KIJHL, played for the Major Midget Kootenay Ice, Trail native
• Nick Sandor (89) - second year as a Smoke Eater, former Alberni Valley Bulldog
• Riley Loyst (89) - second year as a Smoke Eater, former Merritt Centennial, former Nelson Leaf in the KIJHL
• Scott Jacklin (90) - second year as a Smoke Eater, former Cowichan Valley Capital, former Columbia Valley Rockie in the KIJHL
  
• Travis St. Denis (92) - second year as a Smoke Eater, played for the Major Midget Kootenay Ice, Trail native, nominated for BCHL Rookie of the Year in 2008-09, committed to Quinnipiac in the NCAA
  
• Colin Lidster (89) - first year as a Smoke Eater, former Salmon Arm Silverback, son of former NHLer Doug Lidster
• Darnell Dyck (91) - first year as a Smoke Eater, former Surrey Eagle, played for Fraser Valley Major Midget
• Tye Lewis (89) - first year as a Smoke Eater, former Omaha Lancer in the USHL, also played in the NAHL
  
• Thomas Abenante (90) - first year as a Smoke Eater, former Beaver Valley Nitehawk in the KIJHL, played for the Major Midget Kootenay Ice, Trail native
• Sam Olson (90) - first year as a Smoke Eater, former Grand Forks Border Bruin in the KIJHL
• Matthew Malenstyn (90) - first year as a Smoke Eater, played for Aldergrove, Delta and Squamish in the PIJHL
• Matt Wilkins (91) - first year as a Smoke Eater, former Kimberley Dynamiter in the KIJHL
• Sam Mellor (92) - first year as a Smoke Eeater, former Kimberley Dynamiter in the KIJHL, played for the Major Midget Kootenay Ice, committed to Alaska-Anchorage in the NCAA
  

DEFENCEMEN


(Steve Koshey against the Vees - Photo Randy Emery)

• Steve Koshey (91) - second year as a Smoke Eater, former Beaver Valley Nitehawk in the KIJHL, played for the Major Midget Kootenay Ice, Trail native
• Graeme Strukoff (91) - second year as a Smoke Eater, played for the Major Midget Fraser Valley Bruins
• David Piccard (90) - first year as a Smoke Eater, former Nelson Leaf in the KIJHL
  
• Wade Bennett (90) - first year as a Smoke Eater, played with the Midget LA Junior Kings
• Kodi Sawka (90) - first year as a Smoke Eater, played with the AJHL's St. Albert Steel, played with the NEAJBHL and Alberta Junior B champion Lloydminster Bandits
  
• Ben Matthews (91) - first year as a Smoke Eater, played with the Alaska All Stars
• Eric Walker (93) - first year as a Smoke Eater, played with the Major Midget Okanagan Hockey Academy team, nephew of former NHLer Gord Walker, Castlegar native
  

GOALTENDERS


(Devon Murtagh against Powell River - Photo Randy Emery)

• Devon Murtagh (89) - first year as a Smoke Eater, former Westside Warrior, former Nelson Leaf in the KIJHL
• Garrett Beckwith (90) - first year as a Smoke Eater, former Westside Warrior, former Nelson Leaf in the KIJHL

PRE SEASON SCORING

• Loyst (3G, 1A)
• Lidster (2G, 2A)
• Dyck (0G, 4A)
• Jacklin (0G, 3A)
• Lewis (0G, 3A)
• Sandor (2G, 0A)
• Malenstyn (1G, 1A)
• Mellor (1G, 1A)
• Piccard (0G, 2A)
• Abenante (1G, 0A)
• Koshey (0G, 1A)
• Walker (0G, 1A)
• Mailey (0G, 1A)
• Strukoff (0G, 1A)
• Nugent (0G, 1A)
• Matthews (0G, 1A)

Remember not everyone played all three games. This just gives you an idea of who was hot during the exhibition tournament. All these numbers get erased next Friday in Merritt. Tune in to Mountain FM for every road broadcast all season long.

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."