Mountain FM Ashes: Trail 4 Powell River 2

Mountain FM Ashes: Trail Smoke Eaters 4 Powell River Kings 2

First Period

1) Powell River [2:31] Cohen Adair (Unassisted)

Second Period

2) Trail [1:30] Scott Jacklin (Adam Boytink, Graeme Strukoff)

3) Trail [6:35] Scott Jacklin (Sam Mellor)

4) Powell River [10:08] Daniel Schuler (Brenden Forbes)

Third Period

5) Trail [11:44] Travis St. Denis (Scott Jacklin, Sam Mellor)

6) Trail [] Scott Jacklin (EN)

Power Play

Trail: 0/4
Powell River: 0/6

Goalies

Matt Larose stopped 16 of 17 shots he faced in half the game. Zach Perehudoff also only allowed one goal, but I don't have the shot totals for him. Garteig allowed 3 goals in the Powell River net.

Mountain FM Ashes Schedule

Thursday, September 2nd
4:30pm Penticton 3 Powell River 2 (OT)
7:30pm Trail 6 Brooks 2

Friday, September 3rd
4:30pm Penticton 6 Brooks 2
7:30pm Trail 4 Powell River 2

Saturday, September 4th
10:30am Powell River vs Brooks
1pm Penticton vs Trail

Tickets are available at the door or you can purchase a 6 game pack for $20 at Remax All Pro-Realty in Trail.

Powell River at Trail Live Blog

Mountain FM Ashes Audio Preview

The Mountain FM Ashes Trail Smoke Eaters Exhibition Tournament gets started today. Penticton and Powell River face off at 4:30pm while Trail plays Brooks at 7:30pm. It'll be Matt Wilkins and Mitch Kaufmann of the Bandits facing their former team in their former home rink. Cullen Bradshaw of the Smokies will play his first game in the orange and black against his old team as well. Should be interesting.

For live coverage of the Penticton game check out Ryan Pinder's Vees Blog for a live blog of all the action. I'll be trying to get something similar up and running here on this blog tonight. However, I'll be distracted a bit at first by doing the big ashes ceremony to start the game. For now here are some interviews I've done with three of the coaches and Pinder to preview the tournament. Check it out for $5 a game and $20 for the tournament.

Smokies Coach and GM Jim Ingram

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Penticton Vees Coach and GM Fred Harbinson

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Powell River Coach and GM Kent Lewis

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Penticton Vees Broadcaster Ryan Pinder

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The Mountain FM Ashes (Exhibition Tournament)

TRAIL, BC – The Trail Smoke Eaters Hockey Club is proud to announce that Mountain FM has come on board as the title sponsor for the Smokies annual exhibition tournament. The event is now known as the Mountain FM Ashes and takes place from September 2nd-4th.

The concept is based on a cricket series between England and Australia dating back to 1882. The winner of the series is awarded an urn carrying ashes of some form of burned cricket equipment. Mountain FM and the Smoke Eaters are now bringing a form of that tradition to the BCHL pre-season event.

During the tournament there will be a symbolic burning to create the ashes that will be awarded to the tournament winner. Since it is only a round robin event the winner will be decided by team records and a list of tie breakers.

“The team at Mountain FM is super excited about presenting the first annual Mountain FM Ashes,” says station program director and morning show host Drex. “It's a great concept for the Smokies and their pre-season tournament.”

“We hope the Smokies can bring it home.”

In addition to sponsoring the tournament, Mountain FM is also entering their 6th season as the radio home of the Smoke Eaters. The station broadcasts every Smokies road game at 104.1 FM in Trail and covers the team extensively on their nightly sports show “Overtime.”

Last year's event was the first of it's kind in Trail and drew over a dozen NCAA schools.

The tournament will include the Smoke Eaters, Penticton Vees, Powell River Kings and Brooks Bandits.

Powell River is the two-time defending BCHL Coastal Conference Champion. They were one game away from representing the BCHL in the 2010 Royal Bank Cup.

Penticton was the third place team in the final CJHL regular season national rankings. 18 Vees on last season's roster earned commitments from NCAA schools.

Brooks brings representation from the AJHL. They finished fifth in the South Division and advanced to the second round of the playoffs in 2009-10.

Here is the schedule for the event:

Thursday, September 2nd
4:30pm Penticton vs Powell River
7:30pm Brooks vs Trail

Friday, September 3rd
4:30pm Brooks vs Penticton
7:30pm Powell River vs Trail

Saturday, September 4th
10:30am Powell River vs Brooks
1pm Penticton vs Trail

Tickets are available at the door or you can purchase a 6 game pack for $20 at Remax All Pro-Realty in Trail.

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For more information on the 2010 Mountain FM Ashes Trail Smoke Eaters exhibition tournament, visit http://www.trailsmokeeaters.com/ or http://www.mountainfm.net/

Gelley, Smokies Camp, Tournament Schedule, KIJHL roster news

Here's a picture of Cole Gelley defending Graeme Strukoff last season at the Cominco Arena. Thanks to Randy Emery for that. As noted in Guy Bertrand's Trail Times article, Gelley and Strukoff were drafted one spot away from each other in the WHL Bantam draft several years back. Now they'll find themselves playing together. Here is the press release I wrote up for the Smokies website:

TRAIL, BC - Trail Smoke Eaters Coach and GM Jim Ingram announced today that the Smokies have acquired defenceman Cole Gelley and future considerations from the Surrey Eagles in exchange for defenceman Wade Bennett and forward Robert Lindores.

"Cole is a real good skating, puck moving defenceman that can quarterback a power play," said Ingram. "I think that's something we wanted to make sure we had (enough of) in the line-up."

Gelly, 19, recorded one goal, 19 assists (1-19-20) and 26 penalty minutes in 58 games with the Eagles last season. Gelley made his BCHL debut as an AP in 2007-08 and has played 101 career regular season games with the Eagles. Prior to that he played 75 games in Major Midget, recording 27 points (6-19-27) and 66 penalty minutes for the Vancouver North West Giants.

"It's a good opportunity and I'm excited to come up there," said Gelley. "I don't think my point totals really represent how much of an offensive player I am."

"I feel I have way more in the tank than that."

The move was partly necessitated by the number of returning 20 year old players on Trail's roster.

"There's no secret that we were top heavy with 1990 birth years," said Ingram.

This deal combined with the recent trade of Garrett Beckwith to Drumheller in the AJHL and the departure of Tom Rizzardo to Bizmark of the NAHL, trims Trail's number of 1990 born players from 10 to 7 before training camp. BCHL teams can only carry 6 of them once the puck drops for the regular season.

Bennett, 20, scored 3 goals and 19 assists (3-19-22) as a forward and defenceman with the Smoke Eaters last season. Lindores, 19, has scored 6 goals and 9 assists (6-9-15) over 89 career games with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs. He became Trail property as the future considerations in the Tye Lewis for Curtis Tonello trade.

As noted in the press release, the 20 year old log jam was reduced further as Tom Rizzardo has opted to play for Bizmark in the North American Hockey League. Tommy is a classy young man who has a lot of offensive talent. He proved that with Nelson during their KIJHL championship run in 2009. I hope he is able to translate that to the Junior A level with Bizmark.

That leaves Trail with seven 1990 born players in training camp. There's nothing wrong with a little healthy competition among veterans to make sure these guys aren't taking their spots for granted. We know camp is always competitive among rookies trying to make the club. This situation should make sure the vets are fighting for their jobs too.

The addition of Gelley ensures that barring any other moves the Smokies are going to have a veteran defensive unit this season. Gelley, Steve Koshey, Graeme Strukoff and Curtis Tonello are entering their third BCHL seasons while it will be the second for Eric Walker and Ben Matthews. There is room for one or two rookies to make the roster and learn with that group. However, that is a big step up from last September when the club was throwing 4 or 5 rookies over the boards every night. I'm sure goaltender Kiefer Smiley is thanking his lucky stars there will be some veteran help early on this year.

Training camp gets started on August 23rd with registration at 8:30am. The camp will run for three days and then the Smokies have a couple of exhibition games in Chase against Vernon.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

The second annual Smokies pre-season tournament will run from Thursday, September 2nd to Saturday, September 4th. Here is the schedule:

Thursday, September 2nd
4:30pm Penticton vs Powell River
7:30pm Brooks vs Trail

Friday, September 3rd
4:30pm Brooks vs Penticton
7:30pm Powell River vs Trail

Saturday, September 4th
10:30am Powell River vs Brooks
1pm Penticton vs Trail

I'll do my best to get the arena as much as possible for the games. You can also likely count on some live coverage of the games on Ryan Pinder's Vees Blog. He did some live blogging from it lats year.

KIJHL ROSTER MOVES

A couple of moves in the KIJHL last week. First a trade that saw Grand Forks send PIM king Jacob Halderman to Columbia Valley for defencemen Zack MacLellan and Jordan Groenheyde. MacLellan was Columbia Valley's All-Star game rep. Both teams finished last in their division last season and are hoping for bounce back seasons. Can't hurt the Border Bruins to get a couple of young d-men with experience in the league. They finished well last year and I'm really hoping to see them continue to push forward. The community will really get behind them if they continue making progress. Check out the Off the Wahl blog for more.

New Nelson Leafs Coach and GM Chris Shaw announced this week that they've received a commitment from four of last year's veterans to return in September. F Gavin Currie, F Cody Abbey, D Tyler Parfeniuk and D Taylor O'Neil will all be back in Nelson. O'Neil and Currie both played as APs for Trail last season. Taylor is the Leafs Captain while Currie was their top forward in 2009-10. They should form a very strong core for Shaw to build around.

New Castlegar Coach and GM Steve Junker also announced that they'll be getting a couple of veteran talents back this season. Tough forward Taylor Anderson and top defenceman Darren Tarasoff have committed to return to the Rebels. Anderson was third in the KIJHL in penalty minutes while Tarasoff spent most of last season with Williams Lake in the BCHL. They should both be leaders on Junker's first squad.

Both the Leafs and Rebels will likely get more of last year's players back, but as with all KIJHL teams it is a waiting game until BCHL camps are complete. I've yet to hear much about who is or isn't expected back in Beaver Valley, but I do know they're excited about a lot of the young local talent that will be a part of their club this season.

Mountain FM is the official media partner of the KIJHL and we will continue to be the primary source for KIJHL coverage in the Kootenay-Boundary. If anything our coverage will expand and evolve this season. I'm looking forward to it.

More to come on the blog this week including and interview with former Smokies Coach Tim Kehler on taking over the Salmon Arm Silverbacks this season.

Smokes Announce Exhibition Tournament

Trail, BC -- The Trail Smoke Eaters announced today plans for a second annual exhibition tournament at the Cominco Arena. The event will take place from Thursday, September 2nd through Saturday, September 4th.

Once again a trio of British Columbia Hockey League teams will be joined by an Alberta opponent. The tournament will include the Smoke Eaters, Penticton Vees, Powell River Kings and Brooks Bandits.

Last year's event was the first of it's kind in Trail and drew over a dozen NCAA schools.

"We want to see that number increase this year," says Smokies Coach and GM Jim Ingram. "We think we have a great young talent base with the three teams that are coming in here."

One change this year saw the tournament moved from the final weekend in August to the first in September.

"A lot cuts will have been made and that gives the schools a chance to see what the teams will actually look like."

Ingram doesn't just see it as a chance to showcase players to scouts.

"It's a great opportunity for us to showcase Trail," he says. "The teams last year absolutely loved it so we're happy to do it again."

Ingram notes there has been interest from other teams willing to participate in the tournament. For now the Smokies will keep it to four clubs, but the possibility is open for expanding the event in the future.

The Smoke Eaters will be showing off a large crop of returning players including three who were at a point per game scoring pace in the 2009-10 season. While players like Travis St. Denis (Quinnipiac), Sam Mellor (Alaksa-Anchorage) and Eric Walker (Northern Michigan) are already committed to NCAA schools; there are several other current Smokies and recruits who will attract attention from scouts.

The Powell River Kings are the two-time defending BCHL Coastal Conference Champions. They were one game away from representing the BCHL in the 2010 Royal Bank Cup.

Penticton was the third place team in the final CJHL regular season national rankings. 18 Vees on last season's roster earned commitments from NCAA schools.

Brooks brings representation from the AJHL. They finished fifth in the South Division and advanced to the second round of the playoffs in 2009-10.

For more information on the 2010 Trail Smoke Eaters exhibition tournament, visit www.trailsmokeeaters.com or www.bchl.ca.

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

Ingram talks Powell River loss

Smokies Coach and GM Jim Ingram on Mountain FM's Overtime

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Brown carries torch and road trip audio

Smokies forward and Trail native Justin Brown got the chance to carry the Olympic flame in Cranbrook this weekend. The injured Smoke Eaters alternate captain chatted with me tonight on Mountain FM's Overtime.

Smokies forward Justin Brown talks torch

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Congrats to Justin on what was I'm sure a pretty cool experience. Now we're just hoping to see him and all the other injured Smoke Eaters back in the line-up as soon as possible. Right now a total of seven Smokies are on the mend. Graeme Strukoff, Mitch Kaufmann, Thomas Abenante and Brown didn't make the road trip. Travis St. Denis, Curtis Tonello and Sam Mellor all got hurt during the trip. At this point only Abenante's injury appears to be season ending, but you never know what you're going to get until that hurt player steps back onto the ice. We'll see what kind of line-up the Smokies can put together tomorrow night against Powell River!

ROAD TRIP AUDIO

Nelson Ford Smokies Play by Play: Trail 5 Powell River 4

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Nelson Ford Smokies Play by Play: Victoria 4 Trail 1

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Nelson Ford Smokies Play by Play: Alberni Valley 4 Trail 2

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Nelson Ford Smokies Play by Play: Langley 8 Trail 5

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Former Smoke Eater Tye Lewis of the Alberni Valley Bulldogs

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COAST VS. INTERIOR

I mentioned on my twitter that I was going to look up the stats comparing the coast to the interior when it comes to penalties taken. The coastal teams average just under 1 more "time shorthanded" per game than the interior teams. The top 4 most penalized teams are coastal clubs (Langley, Burnaby, Nanaimo and Surrey) while the 4 least penalized teams are interior teams (Prince George, Trail, Penticton and Vernon). Langley (who Trail played on Sunday and will host Thursday) is either on the power play or shorthanded an average of 12.68 times a game, while Trail is on the power play or shorthanded only an average of 9 times a game. I don't think it's a co-incidence as it appears the game is called somewhat differently on each side of the province.

Video Highlights: Trail 5 Powell River 4 (OT)

Post Game: Trail 5 Powell River 4

Powell River, BC - Paul Mailey's goal in the second overtime gave Trail a dramatic 5-4 win over the second ranked team in the Coastal Conference. Mailey's goal came after Kings defenceman Reid Campbell lost his footing and turned the puck over to Trail's Captain. It was the 11th point for Mailey in his last 11 games.

The game was a back and forth affair that was tied after all three periods in regulation. Powell River took the first lead on a power play goal by Matt Garabowsky. The Smokies responded on a power play of their own and Nick Sandor notched his 25th of the season.

Trail then took three separate one goal leads on two goals by Sam Mellor and one by Mike Betz. It was the 5th goal in 3 games for Betz since returning to the line-up. Mellor also added an assist. Sandor was the only other Smoke Eater with a multiple point night as he added an assist to his first period goal.

Each time the Smokies took a lead the Kings came back to tie the game. Powell River's power play delivered 3 goals on 7 opportunities while Trail went 1 for 5.

Garrett Beckwith had a strong effort for the Smokies as he stopped 36 of the 40 shots he faced. Beckwith also made key saves at key times. He denied Nelson native Mitch Labreche with 30 seconds left in regulation and stopped a Jordan Grant breakaway in overtime.

The night didn't end well for Powell River goaltender Michael Garteig. After giving up the losing goal Garteig took a match penalty for attacking Smokies goaltender Kiefer Smiley. As Smiley was skating from the bench towards Mailey to celebrate the goal, Garteig twice slashed Smiley in the back of the leg.

The game was Trail's 4th win in their last 5 games and gives the Smokies sole possession of 6th place in the Interior Conference. Quesnel is 1 point ahead in 5th while Merritt is a single point behind in 7th. Prince George is now 6 points out of the final playoff spot and 7 behind the Smoke Eaters.

ON THE TRAIL: Injuries kept Graeme Strukoff, Mitch Kaufmann, Justin Brown and Thomas Abenante off the road trip. The Smokies only have 18 skaters on the trip and Travis St. Denis left tonight`s game in the third period with a lower body injury. He`s day to day ... The Kings and Smokies meet again this coming Tuesday in Trail ... Powell River has a couple of connections to the Smokies and the West Kootenay. Lebreche is from Nelson and a former Leaf, Chad Niddery played for Grand Forks in the KIJHL and Jordan Grant once played for Smokies Coach Jim Ingram in the VIJHL ... The Smokies will continue their road trip in Victoria on Friday, Port Alberni on Saturday and Langley on Sunday. All games will be available on Mountain FM.

Powell River Interviews (Pre-Game)

Powell River Coach Kent Lewis

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Powell River Broadcaster Dean Merrick

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Smokies Assistant Coach Brian Youngson

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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.