Beckwith Traded, Wheeldon Returns

The Trail Smoke Eaters have sent 20 year old goaltender Garrett Beckwith to the AJHL's Drumheller Dragons in a future considerations deal. The other shoe had to drop here. There was no way the Smokies were going to bring two 1990 born goaltenders into camp in September. A choice had to be made and the Smokies are going with Kiefer Smiley.

In this case I'd say that decision was made when Kiefer played lights out hockey in the last two months of the season. He was especially good in the playoffs and gave the injury-plagued Smokies a real chance in all the games against Westside. I'm sure Smoke Eaters fans are hoping what we saw of Smiley at the end of the season was a return to the form we saw from him as an outstanding rookie with the Cowichan Valley Capitals. If he is able to build on that Trail will have a very talented veteran to lean on this season.

As for Beckwith, I'm sure he's hoping that last season was just a slight bump in the road of what has been an impressive young career. I heard rumblings of some people wondering if he would go back to the KIJHL's Nelson Leafs, but what does he have left to prove there? It'd be near impossible to top a 2008-09 season in which he lost twice all year and took his team to a championship.

Garrett will get a chance in Drumheller to prove himself at the Junior A level. We saw some signs of that last year. However, what could any goaltender do with the kind of mistakes we were seeing on the ice early last season? After a rough start to the year confidence was likely a factor for both netminders. Garrett is a very talented and athletic goaltender. You can see it in the video I made for him to help with college recruitment. It's just a matter of putting it together with consistency. If he does, the Dragons will be very pleased with the deal they just made. Doesn't hurt that he's a quality young man as well.

Good luck to Garrett this year and I'm sure fans in Nelson and Trail will be watching the box scores.

WHEELDON TO THE ICE

Just when he thought he was out... they pulled him back in.

Former Nelson Leafs Coach and GM Simon Wheeldon has signed on as the Coach of the Major Midget Kootenay Ice. Chris Wahl has some details here. I was away yesterday but you can hear Chris' interview with Simon on Overtime tonight.

I'm sure most people thought that if Simon were going to take another coaching gig it would be with a BCHL or WHL team rather than midget. So what happened? Wheeldon resigned as Nelson's coach because he wanted to spend more time with his family. He has another full time job and was being stretched quite thin. However, the Major Midget program in the Kootenays was in real trouble. We were getting down to the final hour basically. If Wheeldon hadn't stepped up the program may have died. Once it was gone it would've been very tough to get it back.

It is still a huge time commitment, but I think it'll probably be a little less taxing. Most of the players are living with their parents. There is no trading involved here. I don't think the job is quite as complex. That being said, if Simon commits to doing something he is going to do it at 100%.

The realities of Major Midget in this area is that we don't have as much of a population base to draw from as some major markets. We are also far more spread out so it's hard to get some of the best talent from the East Kootenay to come play here. Is the team from this area ever to likely win a championship? Probably not, but they can compete. Brent Petrick had them playing .500 hockey in the second half of the season with a commitment to hard work and team play. Wheeldon has a terrific record behind the bench and should be able to build on Petrick's work with the program.

Simon is used to winning, but that is not the primary role of a coach in Major Midget. His job is to get these local young talents ready for Junior B, Junior A and Major Junior. Given the great work he has done with the Leafs I suspect the program couldn't ask for a better hire. The only question is how long is he prepared to do the job and will this program survive if they are desperately searching for a coach every summer?

KROMM DAY

Lastly I just wanted to say kudos to those who organized Bobby Kromm day at the Cominco Arena. I couldn't make it but apparently there were quite a number of people there to show their respect to the legendary coach. Look out for more planned tributes to the 1961 Smoke Eaters this year! Join our facebook group (link on the left side of the page) to stay on top of it all.

Jones and Wheeldon Audio

Connor Jones on winning the Doyle Cup

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Simon Wheeldon on stepping down as Coach and GM in Nelson

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Nelson Leafs VP Mary Plomondon on Wheeldon stepping down

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Wheeldon Steps Down

I got this press release from the KIJHL's Nelson Leafs today on the future of Coach Simon Wheeldon:

“The Nelson Leafs Hockey Society has announced today that after five successful years Simon Wheeldon is stepping back as Coach and General Manager of the Nelson Leafs Hockey Club.

Simon was the first coach of the local KIJHL team to operate in the new Nelson & District Community Complex starting with the 2005/2006 hockey season. Since then, his positive coaching techniques and hockey concepts elevated the Nelson Leafs to the top of the league and raised the bar for professionalism throughout the junior hockey community. His achievements include four divisional championships, one league championship and three awards as coach of the year.

His decision to leave the bench was made to spend more time with his family. He will continue to reside in Nelson and act as an advisor to the team as and when necessary.

The Directors of the Nelson Leafs Hockey Society fully respect the tough decision Simon faced over the past few weeks and wish him and his family the very best. The Directors are now proceeding with the task of hiring a new Coach and General Manager for the oncoming 2010/2011 hockey season.”

Simon started a full time job in the financial sector last year. I'm sure that played a big part in this decision as trying to do both is obviously quite challenging. Congrats to Simon though on a terrific run with the Leafs. The KIJHL is richer from having had him as a part of the league. More later...

KIJHL Championship Audio

Congratulations are due to the Revelstoke Grizzlies for winning the KIJHL championship. They beat Nelson 4 games to 1 to complete a giant turn around after quite a poor season in 2008-09. Troy Mick and the rest of the ownership group deserve a lot of praise for showing how quickly a team can go from the bottom to the top with the right people in charge.

I also think Nelson deserves a big congrats for making it to the KIJHL finals for the third time in the past four season. I got a chance to call their roads games in the semi-finals and finals. They're a very talented and classy group of young men. They're also a very young group who perhaps fell victim to the veteran defensive core on the Grizzlies when they made it to the finals. I still would have to say the Leafs organization should be very proud of their record over the past four years.

The KIJHL does have to fix their playoff system though. It seems ridiculous to me that the top two teams in the Okanagan would get a bye while the top two teams in the Kootenays had to play in the first round. I'm not saying that Revelstoke's victory is tainted by this unbalanced format, but it's just not very professional in my view. Can you imagine the NHL's Eastern Conference giving a bye to their top teams but the West being forced to play? Of course not. It has to be fair and consistent throughout the entire league.

Both organizations had deep teams who played smart and skilled hockey. They are both examples of what the KIJHL strives to achieve. It was a pleasure being able to extend my own broadcast season by taking part.

Audio Highlights of Games 3 and 4

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Nelson Coach and GM Simon Wheeldon

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Nelson Forward Gavin Currie

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Revelstoke Coach and GM Troy Mick

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That ends another season of play by play for me here in the West Kootenay. I know my girlfriend will be happy to have me around more (at least I hope she will!) but I know I'll miss the headset after a while. A few months off is nice, but sometimes these off seasons seem to go on way too long. How about an August 1rst start?

Coming up I'll be doing an update on Smokies alumni (a BCIHL champion and a historic NCAA win) as well as a preview of the BCHL Championship with the local participants. Nelson's Mitch Labreche and the Powell River Kings will take on Montrose's Jones Twins and the Vernon Vipers. This is the fifth consecutive year Labreche and the Jones' will go head to head in the playoffs dating back to their days with Nelson and Beaver Valley in the KIJHL. I also want to do some more analysis of this year's Smokies club when I have some time.

Cunningham, Wilkins and Mellor interviews, KIJHL playoff results

Trail's Craig Cunningham had a weekend to remember in the WHL playoffs. The former Beaver Valley Nitehawk scored 4 goals and had 3 helpers in 2 games as Vancouver took a 2-0 series lead over the Kamloops Blazers. That's impressive stuff. Cunningham won the Giants MVP award this season and was named to the Western Conference first all star team. He has really found that extra gear this season.

Other local products didn't have quite as much success this weekend. Former Smoke Eater Lucas Bloodoff (and his brother Evan) found himself on the losing end as Kelowna dropped a couple of games in Everett. Lucas did have a goal and 2 assists in a losing cause. Castlegar's Luke Walker (Eric's cousin) and the Portland Winterhawks are going to have a big hill to climb as well after Spokane beat them twice in Portland this weekend.

As for Cunningham, it'll be hard for NHL scouts to ignore what he's done this season. Stuck behind a ton of talent on a deep Giants club over his WHL career, he nearly doubled his point total from 50 last year to 97 this year. He got a look in the NHL rookies tournament this past summer. I suspect he'll be a hard free agent to pass up this summer.

I had a chance to catch up with Cunningham on Overtime before the start of the first round...

Vancouver Giants MVP Craig Cunningham


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WILKINS AND MELLOR

After chatting with Scott Jacklin during game 2 of the KIJHL semi-finals in Fernie I then caught up with the other two members of Trail's Kimberley Konnection during game 5. Matt Wilkins and Sam Mellor joined me during the overtime intermission. I have a pretty good feeling the trio will re-unite as a line next season. Certainly it's something Coach Ingram has to be considering. Wilkins really showed what he can do during the playoffs. If he has a good summer I could see him hitting the same point levels Mellor and Jacklin have been hovering at.

Smokies forwards Sam Mellor and Matt Wilkins


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KIJHL FINALS

Chris Cucullu scored 3:53 into the second overtime to give Nelson a 3-2 win in game 1 of the KIJHL finals against Revelstoke. It was as even a game as you're likely to see. Both teams hit posts, both teams had strong goaltending, both teams struggled on the man advantage, both teams played solid D... and in the end it took a second extra fame to find a winner.

It's a very unique situation in the KIJHL finals because the only time they two clubs met was in the third game of the regular season. There was really no telling what to expect out there. What we saw was a couple of deep and talented teams that are going to challenge each other in a big way. If you're in the Kootenays do yourself a favour and catch game 2 on Monday night in Nelson.

I had a chat tonight with Billy Faust (who returned from injury to get the win), Cucullu and Simon Wheeldon.

Leafs goaltender Billy Faust


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Leafs fowrard Chris Cucullu


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Leafs Coach Simon Wheeldon


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DYLAN TAPPE

I told you yesterday there was a new Smoke Eater to talk about. Dylan Tappe is his name and his name is listed over at trailsmokeeaters.com -- but I haven't done the usual profile here yet. I'm still waiting to talk to Dylan before I do too much of a write up. I may do one tomorrow (with a Jim Ingram interview) even if I don't talk to him quite yet. I think this is a player Smokies fans should be excited about. I've had several people say positive things to me about the addition over the last couple of days.

More to come!

Mountain FM to broadcast KIJHL semi-finals

For the second straight season the Nelson Leafs and Fernie Ghostriders will meet in the KIJHL semi-finals. With the end of the Smoke Eaters season we at Mountain FM will continue our commitment to local hockey by picking up the broadcasts of Nelson's road games in this series and any other future series should they advance past Fernie. That won't be an easy task.

Nelson and Fernie have been the two most dominant teams in recent KIJHL history. As I said they met in last year's KIJHL semi-finals and the 2007 KIJHL finals. The Leafs knocked the Ghorstriders out of the playoffs last season ending their run of two consecutive KIJHL championships. The Leafs went on to win the league title themselves. It was revenge for Nelson after Fernie came from down 2-0 to win the 2007 series between the two clubs. Between them they have won the last 3 league crowns.

It's also an interesting match up for Smokies fans for a number of reasons. For one, former Smoke Eater Scott Jago is one of Nelson's key veterans. Trail had APs on both teams as well. The Leafs supplied Gavin Currie, Michael Spring, Phil Patenaude, Bennett Hambrook and Taylor O'Neil to the Smokies at various times. Fernie sent Jesse Niemi and Keanan Patershuk to Trail during the year. All of those APs made solid contributions to Trail's line-up including a 5 point weekend for Niemi. Finally, there are alumni from both teams on the Trail roster. Garrett Beckwith and Tommy Rizzardo are former Leafs while Josh McEwan and assistant coach Brian Youngson are former Ghostriders.

How do the two teams match up? It's hard to say. However, Fernie has breezed through the first two rounds of the playoffs while Nelson has had very difficult seven game wars with Beaver Valley and Spokane. You would have to think with only one day off between game 7 against Spokane and game 1 against Fernie that the Ghostriders will have a physical edge to start the series. Of course sometimes the team that is just coming off a series win could have a momentum edge over a team that has been resting for close to a week. We'll see how it goes! Should be very interesting tomorrow night on Mountain FM. If you're feeling adventurous you could even jump in your car and head up to Fernie for the game. I hear the atmosphere there is terrific and I know I'm looking forward to it.

Thanks again to the Leafs for letting me tag along and to the Ghostriders for accommodating me at the rink so that we can bring this coverage to Kootenay Boundary airwaves. Game time tomorrow night is 6:30 with the pre-game show getting started at 6:15.

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.

Leafs Audio

(Photo by J.R. Ross)

I had the chance to travel with the Nelson Leafs in their KIJHL championship series. Here's some audio from the victory. Trail fans will be familiar with former Smoke Eaters Miles Houston, Brock Monroe and Scott Jago. Seveal Leafs were APs with Trail this year including Michael Spring, Tommy Rizzardo, Jacob Perich and Dylan Walchuk. The Leafs are now off to the Cyclone Taylor Cup to compete for the provincial crown. Good luck to them! The Neil Murdoch Division continues to produce some terrific hockey year after year here in the West Kootenay Boundary.

Game 4: Nelson 6 Kamloops 5 on Mountain FM

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Game 3: Nelson 6 Kamloops 2 on Mountain FM

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Post Game 4 Interviews with the Leafs

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Nelson Coach and GM Simon Wheeldon

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Parade and Tail Gate Party Audio

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Defenseman Taylor O'Neil

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Forward Gavin Currie

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Defenseman David Picard

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Forward Cody Carver

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Defenseman Adam Makaroff

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Spring Camp, Wheeldon

Scroll down for the Smokies season in blog posts I put together today...

I talked to Smoke Eaters Coach and General Manager Jim Ingram about their spring camp on Mountain FM's Overtime tonight. The Smokies signed five players out of their spring camp last year and kept four of them for the whole season. Ingram says they take the camp very seriously as a tool for not only filling next season's roster, but also for starting relationships with players who could develop with the local KIJHL teams before making a jump to the BCHL.

Smokies Coach and GM Jim Ingram

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If you want more details on the Trail Smoke Eaters spring camp in Princeton check out the official website.

KIJHL PLAYOFFS

As I told you earlier this week, Nelson advanced to the KIJHL semi-finals with a series win over Castlegar. The Leafs now face the two time defending champion Fernie Ghostriders. Fernie beat Nelson in the finals in 06-07 and knocked Beaver valley off in the semis last season. They are a veteran team who knows how to win come playoff time while Nelson is a speedy, skilled young team that tore up the league in the regular season. Game 1 is Saturday at 7pm in Nelson with the second game on Sunday afternoon at 4pm. Here's Simon Wheeldon on how the teams match up...

Nelson Coach and GM Simon Wheeldon

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Hope to see you at the game tomorrow night! Also check out the peewee provincials in Rossland and Trail this week and the midget girls provincials in Nelson.