Friday Audio

New Smokies Broadcaster Jon Zacks on Mountain FM's Overtime

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Smokies Coach Jim Ingram

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New Smoke Eater Matthew Laboucane

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Smokies Captain Paul Mailey

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Smokies Forward Cullen Bradshaw

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Trail hosts Westside tonight in a 2009 and 2010 playoff re-match. It should be a good test for the Smokies against a perennial contender. Westside will be playing desperate after going winless in their first two games of the season, but the Smokies don't want to lose at home when they've got a 6 game road trip staring them in the face.

Make sure there is a bigger crowd there tonight and please welcome new broadcaster Jon Zacks as he checks out his first Smoke Eaters game. Also tonight it'll be my final episode of Mountain FM's Overtime so check that out from 6pm to 8pm on Mountain FM and The Bridge.

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 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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Ingram discusses the Vernon games

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

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Training Camp Audio and Schedule

Smokies training camp opens up on Monday morning at 8:30am with registration. There will be 60 players vying for 23 roster spots. They've been split into four teams that will start with practices on Monday and then play a series of inter-squad games. This should be an interesting camp as there are more veteran players here than there have been at least since Coach Ingram's first camp.

That being said, the scouting network has been scouring Western Canada for top young players and hidden gems. Just because a player was on a BCHL roster last year it doesn't guarantee them anything. The message of my recent chat with Coach Ingram is that everyone is going to have to earn a spot on this club. That may sound like a cliche, but with Trail's potential depth this season there is no room for passengers.

I had the chance to catch up wtih the coach, one of the new faces and a returning Alaskan Elk this week on Overtime.

Smokies Coach and GM Jim Ingram


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Smoke Eaters Forward Brett Slobodzian


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Smoke Eaters Defenceman Ben Matthews


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TRAINING CAMP SCHEDULE

Monday, August 23rd

10:00-11:00am- Practice Team Red

11:30-12:30pm- Practice Team White

1:00-2:00pm- Practice Team Yellow

2:30-3:30pm- Practice Team Blue

5:00-6:15pm- Game #1 Red vs White

6:45-8:00pm- Game #2 Yellow vs Blue

Tuesday, August 24th

9:00am-10:15am- White vs Yellow

10:45-12:00- Blue vs Red

1:00pm-2:00pm- Goalie Session

4:00pm-5:15pm- White vs Blue

6:00pm-7:15pm- Yellow vs Red

Wednesday, August 25th

9:15-10:15am- 3 vs 4

10:30-11:30am- 1 vs 2

2:00pm-4:00pm Smokie Inter-Squad Game

Sidhu Interview

New Smoke Eaters Defenceman Rajan Sidhu

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Kehler and Williams Interviews, Fight Rules

It's been a summer of change for Tim Kehler. The WHL's Swift Current Broncos didn't renew his contract as assistant coach after three seasons in Saskatchewan. However, it didn't take long for the former Smokies Coach to find a new home. Kehler is back in the BCHL with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. I had the chance recently to chat with him about returning to the Junior A ranks, his time in Trail, how he changed as a coach in the WHL and how much control he'll have over hockey ops in Salmon Arm. I also caught up with Silverbacks owner Randy Williams to discuss why Kehler is the right guy and general operations in Salmon Arm.

Salmon Arm Coach and GM Tim Kehler

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Salmon Arm Owner Randy Williams

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FIGHT RULES

I told you a couple of months back on this blog about the new fight rules in the BCHL. The league has now released details of their agreement with other Junior A leagues and Hockey Canada. I continue to have a problem with the term "bullying" as I frankly don't think that suits much of what we ever see in the BCHL. I applaud the leauges in doing what they can to limit dangerous hits. However, I am not sure the six fight limit is in the best interests of the game. It's better than Hockey Canada imposing much stricter rules, but I don't see the change as an overall positive.

We'll have an interview with Rajan Sidhu and a training camp preview coming up on the blog before the end of the weekend. You can check out the training camp schedule by clicking here.

Gelley Interview

Cole Gelley Interview

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Jim Ingram Interview on Gelley

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(Thanks to the Surrey Eagles for the photo of Gelley)

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!

Williams Lake Governor speaks out on suspension

Timberwolves Governor and Minority Shareholder Richard Kohlen

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It looks like there is more to this story than we're hearing so far. I just feel bad that Timberwolves fans had to pay the price for a problem that occurred within the ownership structure of the team. When Kohlen says that it was not an "open" process you have to wonder what he means by that. Does he feel like he was deceived in some way? I'm curious to see how much more of these details we'll end up hearing. If I were in the Williams Lake media I'd be digging deeper. This is only one side of the issue, but I appreciate him at least being willing to get deeper into this story than anyone else has yet.

NOTES

...Congrats to former Smoke Eater Andrew Pickering for getting the NCAA opportunity he has been working so hard for over the past few years. I know this has been at the front of his mind for a long time so I'm really happy to see it happen for him. In addition I'd also like to congratulate former Smoke Eater Braden Kinnebrew for committing to play for an NCAA Division III school in Vermont. Best of luck to both guys.

...There is a pretty cool story on the Puck Daddy from a man who knew Duncan Keith back in his BCHL days and has followed his meteoric rise to NHL stardom. If I were starting a franchise from scratch I think Drew Doughty is the only defenceman I would pick ahead of Keith. The Norris nominee may soon add a cup ring to that remarkable journey to the top.

...My Mountain FM colleague Chris Wahl has a story on his blog about Castlegar sustaining an $11,000 loss this year. The Fernie Ghostriders blog also had a story on that team losing money this year. They are only a couple of teams that were hit hard by the economic downturn and the loss of gaming grants in the same year. I imagine there will be quite a few teams trying to figure out how to get out of the red after the 2009-2010 season. Community support is going to be more important than ever for the survival of junior hockey.

...Wahl also has a note on his blog and I mentioned it on my twitter earlier today that the USHL is after some BCHL players again this year. However, it appears the Alberni Valley Bulldogs were the only target of their Entry Draft this time around. Lincon drafted both Bulldogs defenceman Nick Cecere and forward Mark MacMillan. Chicago drafted Bulldogs defenceman and Castlegar native Ryan Renz. Intersting for the Steel to dip back into the BCHL pond after they took Patrick Raley from Trail (and traded him to the NAHL) and Sahir Gill from Vernon (and he left the team in December) without much success last year. It appears the USHL thinks the Bulldogs are susceptible to a raiding with the loss of Coach and GM Nolan Graham. I hope Alberni Valley doesn't suffer the same fate that Trail did from this type of thing last season.

Gawryletz talks AHL contract

Former Smoke Eater Travis Gawryletz on his new AHL deal

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Birks and Junker Audio

There are a couple of new coaches in the West Kootenay. Bill Birks is a new assistant with the Smokies while Steve Junker is taking over as the bench boss and GM with the KIJHL's Castlegar Rebels. I had a chance to chat with both on Mountain FM's Overtime to get some insight as to what they bring to their respective teams. Both guys have a lot of passion and insight. I think each will be happy with the hire they made.

New Smoke Eaters Assistant Coach Bill Birks

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New Castlegar Rebels Coach Steve Junker

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Coming up on the blog I've got some audio with Mark Ferner and Connor Jones of the Vipers. I'll also put up an interview I did with former Smoke Eater Travis Gawryletz on his new AHL contract with Lake Erie.

I'm also expecting to hear about something of interest before the weekend so stay tuned.

Bill Birks joins the Smokies staff

The Trail Smoke Eaters announced today that Bill Birks will join the team as an Assistant Coach. Birks was previous an assistant to Al Glendinning in Merritt and has playing experience in the BCHL (check Bill out in the picture as a member of the Merritt Warriors) and in minor pro hockey. He played for the Chiefs! It'll give the next airing of Slap Shot on the bus some new meaning.

I haven't had the chance to chat with Birks yet, but Smokies Coach and General Manager Jim Ingram had a chat with me today about the hiring. The key seems to be the passion, dedication and hard work that Birks will bring the Smokies organization. Here is someone who loves the game and will give everything he has to the Smoke Eaters.

Welcome to the Trail, Bill!

Smokies Coach Jim Ingram on hiring Bill Birks

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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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