Jacklin and Birks Interviews

Smokies Forward Scott Jacklin

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Jacklin was fantastic last night with a hat trick and a terrific assist in a 4-2 win over Powell River. How good has the Jacklin/Mellor/St. Denis line looked thus far? They could be the top line in the league this season before it is all said and done. Both Trail and Penticton are 2-0 heading into their match up at 1pm today. The winning team is the first Mountain FM Ashes champion. Penticton went 3-0 at the tournament last year before it was sponsored by the radio station.

Here are some comments from Smokies Assistant Coach Bill Birks:



Come check it out today at 1pm when we had out the Mountain FM Ashes to the winner. I also wanted to say thanks for all the kind words today it has been overwhelming. I'm so honoured to have been a small part of this area's amazing sports tradition. See you at the rink!

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.

Smokies in Sweden

(Scott Jacklin and Graeme Strukoff in Sweden)

My apologies again for the lack of updates lately. With my additional responsibilities as Smoke Eaters marketing director and my full time job at Mountain FM it's been hard to find free time for the blog. I'll try to get back in the grove as I have a lot of stuff to cover that I missed.

I did want to say a special thank you to everyone who came out to the Smokies Alumni Banquet and Golf Tournament this year. We raised a lot of money for the club and the ALS Society. Norm Lenardon and all the Smokies volunteers worked so hard to make the event come together. Thanks also to the sponsors and the specials guests for making the night what it was.

Also I wanted to mention season tickets are now on sale and there are details on the official team website. There's a strong push this summer to really increase the number of season tickets. Encourage your friends to get in on it early!

One example of the many things I wanted to blog about is the experience Graeme Strukoff, Scott Jacklin and Sam Mellor had in Sweden. The Smoke Eaters veterans got a chance to participate in a series of exhibition games with the Swedish 17U and 16U teams... in Sweden. I caught up with each of them for a quick chat on Overtime.

Graeme Strukoff

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Scott Jacklin

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Sam Mellor

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Great to see Strukoff, Jacklin and Mellor representing the Smokies, the BCHL and Canada in general over in Sweden. It sounds like it was quite an experience and they learned a lot over there. It also sounds like all three are excited about the prospects for this year's Smokies club.

That is just the first of what should be several posts coming up talking about a few of the items I've missed over the last month. Stay with us!

Also I'm going to be joining Penticton broadcaster Ryan Pinder at the South Okanagan Events Center this weekend for their Summer Classic. It's always a lot of fun. Check out the website here. Maybe we'll see a few of you in the Okanagan on Saturday. You should also check out Ryan's interview with Paul Kelly on his blog. Just a little plug to make sure he puts the beer on ice this Saturday!