Thursday Notes (Brown, Lindores, Marketing)

A couple pieces of Smokies news to report today. First of all I'm disappointed to report that Justin Brown will be leaving the Smoke Eaters to start his education at UBC. I'm not disappointed in Justin or anything, just disappointed that we won't get to see him fully achieve his potential as a BCHL player. However, it is easy to understand his decision.

Anyone who knows Justin knows that he's an extremely sharp guy with a great future ahead of him. As much as hockey is a passion at some point we all have to set our priorities. For someone who is that good of a student it's hard to just sit back for 3 full years after graduation. On top of that Justin has been cursed by one injury after another during his 2 seasons of BCHL hockey. That includes a lingering concussion at the end of this season. I can totally understand his desire to start the next stage of his life.

Just like it was with CJ Legassic last year this is an amicable departure. Both guys are all class and simply doing what they felt was best for their future.

You can tell from the interview I did with Justin that it was a really tough decision. He specifically notes how well everyone in the room gets along and the potential for the Smokies to be very competitive in the Interior this season. I know it'll be tough for Brown to not be a part of that.

As for that potential I mentioned you only have to look to one point at the end of the season when Brown put up 8 points over 7 games. He was always a guy Coach Ingram looked to for leadership, hard work and two-way play. Brown never ran from that role... he embraced it. However, in that stretch Justin proved he could bring an impressive offensive game to the table as well. If he came back and was able to stay healthy there's no reason to think he couldn't be a consistent scoring threat.

Unfortunately this is the end of the road for Brown as an active member of the Smokies roster. As he says in his interview he has many fond memories from that time and will always be proud of wearing a letter with his home town team. I hope once he settles in at UBC we may see him again one day lacing up the skates for the Thunderbirds. Either way the bottom line is that he's going to be a success at whatever it is he does and the whole organization wishes him well.

Here's the interview...

Justin Brown on Mountain FM's Overtime

Click here to download

LINDORES TO TRAIL

One of the seemingly worst kept secrets around these parts has now officially come to light. I knew for a while that Robert Lindores was the "future considerations" in the Tye Lewis for Curtis Tonello deal between Trail and Alberni Valley. I didn't tell anyone but somehow it seems like a number of fans knew about it. Despite that, these things can often take a while to become official at the end of a BCHL season.

We haven't heard anything officially from the Smokies on the matter, but the Bulldogs put out a press release announcing the completion of the deal. I haven't talked to Robert so I don't have a tremendous amount to add to that. I will say that this is a player that I believe has more to offer than what we've seen from him in the BCHL so far. In his two seasons he has primarily been a third/fourth line guy who brings a physical and gritty game to his team. I've also heard that Lindores has a heck of a shot that he could use to become more of a goal scorer if given the opportunity.

The 6'1, 198lbs Port Alberni native will have to leave his home club after two seasons. That's not always a bad thing. There can be some pressures, spotlight and expectations that comes with playing in front of friends and family. Perhaps this will be the chance he needs to "bloom" as a player at this level. I think most would agree the potential is there. He only has 15 career BCHL points, but Lindores was a scorer in Major Midget. He was the top goal scorer and point getter on the North Island Silvertips (13-17-30 in 37 games) during the 2007-08 season. This is a guy who can bring more offence to the table if he's given the opportunity.

In the end you have to like the Lewis deal from Trail's perspective. Tye is a very talented player, but things just weren't working for the Smokies at the time of the trade. It made sense for them to move a couple of their vets to try and get a couple of assets for this season. Tonello made an immediate impact as a calming influence on the back end with untapped offensive ability. He'll be a huge player for Trail this year.

Lindores could easily do the same type of thing as a physical force up front with untapped offensive pressure. Both guys are the types of players who will help a deep roster of returning players compete harder in close games.

Meanwhile, Lewis helped push the Bulldogs to top spot in the Coast during the regular season and a great series against the Kings in the conference finals. It was a deal that appears to have worked for both sides.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

I won't get into details of the AGM too much on here. We talked about it a bunch on Overtime as it is. I did want to mention though that one thing that was apparent from the meeting is that we need to get more people into the building next year. Trail's core fans are as dedicated and reliable as any... there just aren't quite enough of them.

Trail's average attendance of 912 people basically tied them with Prince George for 5th in the Interior and 11th in the BCHL. That's not actively bad or anything, but it's not good enough. The Smokies face additional travel expenses thanks to our location here all by ourselves without a BCHL neighbour. If this team is going to go toe to toe with teams in the Okanagan the attendance has to be in the same league as those teams. There is no reason a city full of passionate hockey fans can't at least equal the 1047 fans they average in West Kelowna or the 1008 they average in Salmon Arm.

So how do we do that? I've taken on some additional responsibility with the club this year as the Marketing Director. That means I'll be working on corporate sponsorship and developing some marketing strategies for the club during the off season. That in addition with my full time gig at Mountain FM makes me a pretty busy man.

In this new role I'm constantly talking to different people brainstorming ideas to get the community more excited about the hockey club. The easy answer for better attendance is a winning product. I believe we'll have that this year. That being said, we can't count on that to change things alone. We're going to be doing some new things to especially try and bring more kids and young families to the rink.

Any ideas? I hope I have some, but I clearly don't have all the answers. If anyone out there has some suggestions for what they think we should do to fill those orange seats at the Cominco Arena feel free to let me know. I should note though that many of these ideas require more "people power" than we have so as much as I'd appreciate ideas I'd also love to see more people volunteer their time. That's what makes this team tick.

Also, if you're thinking about getting involved with the club as a corporate sponsor you can get that information by clicking here.

Plus you can support the Smokies by coming out to this year's Alumni Golf Tournament and Banquet. Details are available on the official website.

As is our new videos page.

While I'm busy linking to things I might as well also note that there's a ton of BCHL news up on the league website right now. New hires, contract extensions, promotions, scholarships, etc. Just enough to wet the hockey fan appetite for a while here in the off season.

OK that'll do it for today. Go Lakers!

Thursday Audio, Tonello Details

New Smokies Defenceman Curtis Tonello

Click here to download

Smokies Coach Jim Ingram

Click here to download

Friday Game Preview with Salmon Arm Broadcaster Patrick Haas

Click here to download

TONELLO DETAILS

So who is Curtis Tonello? The interview will give you some sense of who he is and what he thinks he brings to the table. However, to get a clear picture of what we're dealing with I think it's also important to take a look at his background. If you look only at his BCHL stats so far you'll see a guy with 2 goals and 10 assists in 72 games. That would indicate someone who probably isn't a fixture on the power play nor a guy who is going to come in and provide a ton of scoring help. That fits with what Coach Jim Ingram said he's looking for Tonello to do. The Smokies want him to be a guy who can come in here and make smart, simple and sound defensive plays. They want someone who can make quick and calm decisions with the puck. Basically they're looking for some veteran stability on a team which has had trouble keeping their opponents off the board.

However, there may be an unexplored offensive side to Curtis as well. He mentioned to me in the interview that he feels like he could contribute that way and a couple of sources have mentioned that he has a pretty darn good shot. Bulldogs play by play man Evan Hammond even told me that he could see Tonello has having the potential to be a #1 guy for a team in the BCHL if he lives up to his potential. Does anything in his past give us that idea?

We don't necessarily see that side in the PIJHL when Tonello was a 17 year old. As a rookie with Richmond he put up 13 points in 48 games on the back end. Those are not bad numbers -- especially for a guy who we know plays a solid game in his own end -- but they don't jump out at you as someone who will be on the power play. That being said, Tonello had some big games in the playoffs. He twice put up 2 points in a game as Richmond battled and beat Delta in the first round.

There's also some interesting information about Curtis on his profile from the Richmond website:

"Curtis was fortunate enough to make Best ever two years in a row. He played U16 and U17. He went to Salmon Arm to compete for his zone area. Curtis has been part of many successes during his hockey life. In Peewee playing for the N.S.W.C. his team won everything possible. They won the league, Provincials and the International Peewee Tournament in Quebec City. In 2nd year bantam Curtis's team won the league, the Chilliwack Tournament, Provincials and western canadians. His individual successes have been mostly during his last season with the Vancouver Canadians where he won Best Defencemen on his team and played in the Major Midget All Star Game."

What about in Major Midget? There we see more signs of someone who can produce if given a bigger role offensively. Tonello was the top scoring defenceman on the Greater Vancouver Canadians in the 2006-07 season when he put up 26 points in 40 games. That season he got to play with the likes of Evander Kane, Cam Reid and Brad Read. In fact, Tonello was significantly ahead of teammate Michael Boivin in scoring among defencemen on the Canadians. Boivin went on to score over 30 points for Nanaimo last season and earn a scholarship.

Am I saying that Curtis is going to come in here and suddenly match Steve Koshey point for point? Not necessarily. The point is that he has shown in the past that he has the ability to play the game at both ends of the ice. He had 23 assists in that Major Midget season. One of the things that I've been told about Tonello is that he has a good first pass. Perhaps that's why with more ice time he was able to pile up the "apples" in midget. Playing with some of the talent that Trail has up front we could see that happening for him now.

Ultimately I know what the coaching staff and fans are hoping to see from Curtis... solid play in his own end. They want to see him help make this team stronger in their own end. However, there is some evidence that this is a guy who could be an impact player in other ways as well. This league is all about opportunity. Last season the Smokies picked up a player from the Bulldogs who only had 3 points in his rookie year in limited duty. Nobody expected much from him. He now has 20 goals and 38 points in 32 games for Trail this season. Could Tonello be another Nick Sandor? It's something to watch as the Smoke Eaters head to Salmon Arm tomorrow and host Vernon on Saturday.

As for the departure of Tye Lewis, it's never fun to see a talented player go. The live blog chat we had featured a comment relating the Lewis deal to trades of David Arduin and Chad Gehon in the past two seasons. First of all, we shouldn't forget that the Gehon deal brought in a man who currently has 37 points and is one of the top forwards in the league. Secondly, Lewis wasn't Trail's leading scorer at the time of the deal. Scott Jacklin and Nick Sandor were both ahead of the dynamic Vancouver, Washington native. The other thing to note is that Trail didn't have the same kind of offensive depth last season or the year before when they made those moves. This year's Smokies have Sandor, Jacklin, Mike Betz, Sam Mellor, Travis. St. Denis, Darnell Dyck and Matt Wilkins all scoring at a 0.7 points per game rate or better. The top 5 in that list are all point per game players. Plus Paul Mailey (a 40 point guy last season) has 7 points in his last 9 games and seems to be finding his scoring touch again. Depth up front is not an issue for Trail.

So far this season the Smoke Eaters have 121 goals or 3.8 goals per game. That's better than every team in the Coastal Conference. That's better any of the other bottom 5 teams in the Interior. Trail can score goals. The issue is that the Smokies have allowed 160 goals so far. That's 5 goals per game or worse than every team in the BCHL but Merritt or Williams Lake. It's pretty obvious where they need to improve. Coach Ingram's move here was to work towards improving that number. They are making some strides. They cut that average goals allowed number to 4 in their last 6 games. However, if you're going to win games during a playoff race and in the playoffs themselves you need to keep the puck out of your net. That isn't just on the goaltenders or the defencemen, it's on the whole team, but this move is a step towards trying to do that.

Even if Tye Lewis is a more famous player than Tonello that doesn't mean this move doesn't make sense and doesn't help the Smokies. We'll find out. We'll also see what furue considerations the Smokies get come spring.

I think it's one of those deals that helps both teams. The Bulldogs have been terrific so far this year but have relied heavily on their top line. Lewis gives them the scoring depth they need to try and secure top spot on the coast. He's a very good addition to that team. It also might be great for Tye whose goal scoring had dried up a little bit over the last month before he scored the hat trick against Quesnel last week. I look forward to seeing him light it up over there while Tonello makes a solid contribution here. That's how trades are supposed to work.

Lewis to the Bulldogs for Tonello

The Smoke Eaters have traded forward Tye Lewis to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs for defenceman Curtis Tonello and future considerations. I have now just received confirmation from Smokies Coach and GM Jim Ingram on the deal. I'll be talking to him in more detail in half an hour or so. Obviously we'll have a lot more on this trade as details become available. In the meantime I want to certainly wish Tye well with the Bulldogs and welcome Curtis to Trail. Stay tuned to the Smoke Eaters Blog and Mountain FM for more information throughout the day.

UPDATE: Click here for Hammer's take. The interviews with Ingram and Tonello should now be available on the Overtime podcast. Let me know if you have any trouble. Tonello seems excited and ready for a new opportunity in Trail. The last time the Smoke Eaters got a player who felt he was underutilized in Port Alberni... he turned into one of Trail's best players. I'm not expecting Curtis to have the same kind of immediate impact Nick Sandor did, but it's all about opportunity at this level. We'll see if Tonello can make the most of it. More on the trade and other BCHL moves coming tomorrow.