Game 2: Trail 6 Merritt 4

TRAIL, BC - The top line struck again for the Smokies in a 6-4 victory against the Merritt Centennials. Each of Scott Jacklin, Sam Mellor and Travis St. Denis scored and the line combined for 6 points. The three players are now tied for the BCHL scoring lead after the first weekend of the season.

Trail was also lifted by the first multi-point effort of Cullen Bradshaw's BCHL career. The 20 year old former leading scorer of the AJHL's Brooks Bandits put up 2 goals and an assist in his second game with the Smokies.

This victory over Merritt wasn't nearly as convincing as the first. It was apparent early the Centennials were a different club on the night as they got out to an early shot advantage and wouldn't go away all game.

Trail got the only goal of the first when the top line connected on Sam Mellor's second of the season. Merritt actually out shot Trail in the period 11-8, but the Smokies were able to kill off a 5 on 3 to keep the Cents off the board.

The teams traded goals in the second period with Bradshaw and St. Denis striking for Trail while Jeff Jones and Dustin Johnson answered for Merritt. It was a much more inspired effort from Merritt's top gunners in this game as they were united on a line rather than playing on separate units.

Trail appeared to put the game away in the third as Jacklin and Paul Mailey scored 1:39 seconds apart to extend Trail's lead to 5-2. However, the Cents wouldn't go quietly into the night as Johnson took advantage of a 5-3 to cut into the lead and Regan Soquilla scored a late short handed marker to get the hearts at the Cominco Arena racing a little faster.

The Smokies held on in the end as Bradshaw chipped his second of the game into the empty net to wrap up the victory.

Kiefer Smiley made 22 saves to pick up his second win of the season for Trail while Tyler Steel stopped 24 pucks in his first career BCHL start.

It wasn't as pretty as Friday, but the Smokies finished the weekend with 4 big points and 14 goals over 2 games. Their next action will be a home and home with Westside starting at the Cominco Arena on Friday.

ON THE TRAIL: The top line is a big part of the story early but 5 other Smokies also finished the weekend with at least a point per game ... Trail better enjoy home ice while they can because after Friday's game against Westside they play six straight games on the road ... Smokies fans can again catch their road games on Mountain FM this season at 104.1 FM in Trail. The games will be brought to you this year by the Arlington.

Home Opener: Trail 8 Merritt 2

TRAIL, BC - Trail got goals from 7 different players and points from 14 different players in an 8-2 opening night win over Merritt. The line of Travis St. Denis, Sam Mellor and Scott Jacklin did the most damage with a combined 9 points. St. Denis scored twice with Mellor had a goal and 3 assists and Jacklin contributed a goal and 2 assists.

Trail fans also got introduced to new members of the club as 7 of them picked up their first points as Smoke Eaters. Adam Boytink and Logan Proulx scored their first BCHL goals on the night as well.

It was a dominant display by the Smokies with scoring from all four lines. They also out shot the Centennials 43-20. Merritt will look to bounce back when the two teams meet again at the Cominco Arena on Saturday night.

Trail opened the scoring when Steve Koshey's point shot was tipped in by St. Denis for his first of the season. Curtis Tonello struck next on a point shot blast set up by rookie Dylan Tappe.

Merritt got one back when goaltender Kiefer Smiley misplayed the puck leading to Max Vallis scoring for the Cents. Smiley rebounded with a solid 18 save performance in picking up the win.

The Smokies added another marker at the end of the first period as Boytink knocked in the rebound of Jacklin and Mailey's shots.

Trail put the game away early in the second period as they scored twice in 41 seconds. Jacklin put in his first of the year from Mellor and Graeme Strukoff blasted a wrist shot top corner to make it 5-1 only 15 seconds later.

Goals from Proulx, Mellor and St. Denis would put the game further out of reach.

The play got chippy in the third period perhaps setting the stage for a physical affair when Merritt comes back to the Cominco Arena for a second game on Saturday night.

ON THE TRAIL: Members of the 1961 World Champion Trail Smoke Eaters signed new anniversary merchansie throughout the game. This season Trail is marking the 50th anniversary of that club with numerous celebrations. The captain of that team Cal Hockley dropped the puck in a ceremonial face off tonight ... Paul Mailey enters his fifth season with the Smokies and second as captain. As long as he stays healthy he'll become the all time leader in games played for the BCHL version of the Smokies. The other players wearing letters were Scott Jacklin, Graeme Strukoff and Logan Proulx. One of the letters will likely rotate though ... The game marked the 15th birthday of the BCHL Smoke Eaters who first dropped the puck at the Cominco Arena in September of 1995.

End of Season Audio, Playoff Predictions

Sorry for the lack of updates after the season came to a close last week. I was sick in bed all weekend and have been keeping busy at work. It's always easy to update things when there is something specific you're looking forward to... but the prospect of trying to summarize the end of the season is generally pretty grand.

I don't think I'm going to do it here yet either.

There are lots of things I would like to discuss. At some point in the future I want to do a post talking about each player and the strides they've made since August. Really when you look at how far the team has come it's pretty amazing. They were getting killed by the good teams back in September and October. Now we can look at the playoffs and only wonder "what if" because of so many injuries. That said, they still put up a hell of a fight. Only one of the games in the five game series didn't require an empty netter to finish it.

I know people hate hearing the "injury excuse" when a team loses. That's fine and I understand it. However, the Smoke Eaters were decimated by injuries in the first round. They came in to the playoffs without Thomas Abenante, Steve Oursov and Wade Bennett guaranteed for the entire series. They were also missing Justin Brown to start. He would later make a return but still not at 100%.

In the first game of the series Darnell Dyck got injured to the extent that he didn't play a shift in the next three games. He made his return in Game 5, but he was no where near 100% and wouldn't have played in a game 6 if there was one.

Curtis Tonello then got hurt in Game 3 and Trail was missing a key member of their back end for the rest of the series. One only has to have watched Trail's improvement in the last month of the season to see what a difference Tonello can make.

So in addition to all of those guys who missed time I can tell you that at least Travis St. Denis, Scott Jacklin, Graeme Strukoff, Mitch Kaufmann, Sean Nugent and Sam Mellor were all playing at significantly bellow 100%. That's just what I know about and I understand there were even more than that. These guys were all hurt to the level that they easily could have been sitting out of the line-up if the team didn't need them so desperately.

I can hear people saying already that every team runs into injury trouble in the playoffs and has to battle through it. That's fine and I agree, but Trail's situation was well beyond the normal playoff grind. It was in my opinion just too much to overcome in the end. Part of that is because Westside is such a deep team that they can throw all four lines over the boards and run a short team ragged.

Full credit to the Warriors for a well played series. I'm not saying Trail absolutely would've won if they had been at 100%. Instead I suspect we'd have seen a longer series. I just think we have to give this Smokies roster a ton of respect for digging deep within themselves and battling as hard as they did under the circumstances. They were very close and could have won in every game but one.

What a goaltending battle it was too between Kevin Jebson and Kiefer Smiley. Full marks to both for a terrific series.

Hopefully all Smokies fans recognize that effort and recognize how much potential there is in this roster for next year... and also thank the hard work and dedication of the Smoke Eaters who will leave the BCHL (Nick Sandor, Sean Nugent and Taylor Swaffield) after their 20 year old seasons.

Again as I said I'll have more to come in the days and weeks ahead. For now here's some audio from the end of the season...

Game 5 Audio Highlights from Nelson Ford Trail Smoke Eaters Hockey on Mountain FM

Click here to download

My "Thank You" at the end of the broadcast

Click here to download

Post Game 5 with Coach Jim Ingram

Click here to download

Nick Sandor before his final BCHL game

Click here to download

PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS

Just wanted to put in my 2 cents for the second round of the BCHL playoffs as they get started tonight. I did this last year and I seem to recall having pretty good results. I'm not going to check that out for fear of proving myself wrong!

First congrats to Quesnel for pulling off their first playoff series win in the BCHL from what I understand. That's a terrific achievement for the franchise. They really made strides by adding some scoring depth in the second half of the season. However, this is where the run comes to an end. As much as I'd like to see a lower seeded team shock the world I just don't think the Millionaires much up well with the Vipers. Unless Vernon runs into a rash of injuries and goaltending trouble I'm saying it'll be the Vipers in 5. There is just too much depth in the Vernon line-up. However, I don't think the games will be one sided. Quesnel knows how to battle and will lean heavily on their strong vets I imagine. They do need Halcrow to be in top form though. If he falters it could get ugly.

As for the other Interior series... it should be a dandy. The Warriors and Vees are both nationally ranked teams with terrific depth. I think Kevin Jebson may give Westside an edge in goal because of his big game experience and how amazing he seems to play in those clutch situations... but he hasn't looked great against Penticton so far this season. The Vees have the most dangerous players in the series (Manderson and Bennett) so Westside I think has to hope that their 2nd, 3rd and 4th lines can out perform Penticton's. The Vees have a ridiculous power play so the Warriors have to stay out of the box. Their discipline was a major factor in their loss in game 1 against Trail and they can't afford that stuff against a man advantage that operates at basically a 30 perecent clip. Westside also has to hope that Trevor Bailey finds his scoring touch again after only picking up a single point in 5 games against Trail. If Bailey and Cole Wilson are shut down again I can't see how they can get past Penticton. I'll take the Vees in 6. However, I am intrigued by the possibility of a game 7 in Memorial Arena. That barn might actually favour Westside if it gets that far.

I don't know have nearly as much to say about the coast as frankly my knowledge of those teams is not quite as deep. I'll take Alberni Valley in 5 over Nanaimo. I know the Clippers have found their playoff form and did a great job against Victoria. However, the Bulldogs have all the top offensive guns in the series. They also have the best defenceman and in my view the better goaltender. The Clippers are going to test the Bulldogs with their tenacious team game, but the talent levels just don't match up in my view. The other series could be very interesting as I like both Langley and Powell River. Each club has scorers, agitators, two way players and good goaltending. They work hard and it should be a war. I'll take the Kings in 7 partially because the Chiefs take too many penalties and that can kill you against a good team in the playoffs. That being said, I don't like either of their chances against Alberni.

KIJHL GAME 7

Finally I hope as many of you as possible head to Nelson tonight for game 7 of the Neil Murdoch Division finals. It's been quite a series. Games 5 and 6 went to double overtime and the home team has won each game so far. The Leafs are obviously hoping that trend continues, but even with a win tonight there's little time to rest before facing Fernie in the semi-finals on Thursday. Puck drop is at 7pm tonight in Nelson. It should be a terrific game!

Post Game 4: Westside 4 Trail 2

Trail, BC - If there's a team that is already familiar with having their backs against the wall this season it's the Smoke Eaters. They now have another opportunity to come back from the brink after a 4-2 loss in game 4 put them down 3 games to 1 in their first round series with the Westside Warriors.

One month ago the Smokies were injury ridden and in the midst of a 5 game losing streak with their playoff hopes looking bleak. Trail responded by earning points in 7 of their last 9 games and playing their best hockey of the season.

The orange and black find themselves in a similar situation heading into game 5 in West Kelowna. They're severely banged up and have lost 3 straight games, but it's way too early to count them out.

Westside managed to get ahead in the series by turning strong starts in game 3 and 4 into hard earned road victories. After controlling the play in the first period on Wednesday the Warriors got an early second period goal from Cam Reid to take a commanding 2 goal lead.

Trail answered immediately when Sam Mellor scored to turn the momentum in their favour. However, Kevin Jebson shut the door the rest of the way. The veteran goaltender stopped 30 of 32 Smoke Eater shots to give his team a chance to close the series out at home. Kiefer Smiley was also again strong as he stopped 30 of 33 Warrior shots.

The game was really a battle between two lines. Trail's top unit of Mellor, Nick Sandor and Scott Jacklin has produced all their offence in the last 3 games while Westside has been relying on Grayson Downing, Reid and Tyler Krause. Downing leads the series in scoring with 5 goals and 2 assists.

Special teams was again a difference maker in game 4 as the Warriors went 1 for 2 on the power play and Trail failed to convert their man advantage opportunities. The Smokies haven't scored with the extra man since their game 1 victory.

Game 5 is Thursday night at 7pm in West Kelowna.

ON THE TRAIL: The Smokies were again down to 10 healthy forwards for game 4. Darnell Dyck, Wade Bennett, Steve Oursov and Thomas Abenante all sat out with injuries. Defenceman Curtis Tonello also missed the game and was replaced in the line-up by affiliate defenceman Colton Semenok of the KIJHL's Beaver Valley Nitehawks ... Game 4 wasn't nearly as chippy as the previous night. There were a combined 120 penalty minutes on Tuesday compared to only 18 on Wednesday ... Trail welcomed the Canadian sledge hockey team to the Cominco Arena with a ceremony during the first intermission. Former Smokies assistant coach Mike Mondin is now an assistant for the sledge hockey club. They're the defending Paralympic champions preparing for the 2010 games in Vancouver.

Post Game 3: Westside 4 Trail 0

Sorry this is late as I was dead to the world last night when I got home after a 13 hour day. I've had some people e-mail me who are fans of both teams that were attacking the "cheap shots" and bad behaviour of each team depending who they support. What we're seeing here is a playoff series between two teams that really don't like each other. It has been intense and at times it has been dirty. I'm not a fan of cheap shots no matter who takes them, but that seems to come with the territory in this series.

I will say that I hope players will think twice before any "intent to injury" type plays. There is no place in the game for blindsiding a player at full speed who doesn't have the puck. Period. I don't care what jersey you're wearing that just isn't acceptable. There also isn't any place in the game for either team to get their sticks up at face level as much as we've seen in this series. By all means play with a hard and physical edge. I love that type of game. However, if you're going to do it... do it with class and respect.

Trail, BC - The Smoke Eaters didn't find much comfort in home cooking as Westside took game 3 in Trail 4-0. Alex Grieve scored less than a minute into the game and that was all Kevin Jebson needed. The Warriors netminder stopped all 31 shots he faced including breakaways by Josh McEwan and Matt Wilkins.

The game also took on a distinctly physical tone as referee Grant Tyson was forced to hand out quite a few misconducts to try and settle things down. In all the teams combined for 120 penalty minutes in game that only saw 7 total power plays.

It ended on a physical note as well. A shoving match beside the Westside bench between Taylor Swaffield and Joel Woznikoski escalated in the final minute but never did turn into the full blown brawl it could have. However, it is obvious how much distaste the two sides have for one another.

The Warriors finally struck on the power play for the first time on the series. Brendan Ellis fired one in off of Kiefer Smiley and Smokies defender Steve Koshey to make it 2-0 Westside. Ellis would later score his second of the game into the empty cage.

Grayson Downing scored Westside's other goal to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the second period. Downing added an assist for his 5th point in his last 2 games. He leads the series in scoring.

Once the Warriors took a 2-0 lead they did a solid job of clogging up the middle of the ice. For long stretches of the second and third period Trail was able to put some pressure on with their cycle game, but couldn't seem to create a lot of in tight opportunities.

The Smokies have failed to score now in five straight periods after scoring 8 times in the first 4.

Smiley was solid in making another 30 saves in the Trail goal. He has been their most consistent player of late with a playoff save percentage over 92%.

ON THE TRAIL: Injuries continue to mount for the Smokies. They started the series with only 10 healthy forwards and lost Darnell Dyck in game 1. Justin Brown returned to the line-up in game 3, but defenceman Curtis Tonello was the next to go as he didn't see the ice after the first period. Add Tonello and Dyck's names to Steve Oursov, Wade Bennett and Thomas Abenante on the injured list. That doesn't even include the number of players battling through painful injuries in the series as it has been a gutsy effort by the Trail roster ... The Smoke Eaters scored 3 power play goals in game 1 but have been held off the board in the next two games. They went 0 for 4 in game 3 ... Trail will welcome the Canadian sledge hockey team to the Cominco Arena during game 4. Puck drop is again at 7pm.

Post Game 2: Westside 4 Trail 2

West Kelowna, BC - Grayson Downing scored a third period hat trick to lead the Westside Warriors to a 4-2 come from behind victory over Trail in game 2 of their first round series. The best of seven is now tied at one.

The Smoke Eaters had a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes thanks to some early goals and strong goaltending. Kiefer Smiley was the biggest reason for the lead as he stopped all 30 shots he faced in the first two periods. In the end Smiley made 40 saves in a second star performance.

Sam Mellor opened the scoring for the Smokies on a blazing wrist shot from the slot set up by Nick Sandor. Trail's top line struck again later in the frame when Scott Jacklin fired a puck that appeared to change direction past Jebson.

The Smoke Eaters hung on to their early lead despite appearing quite fatigued in the second. Westside was able to roll all four of their lines partially thanks to a second straight strong performance from the unit of Morrisson, Sissons and French. However, the Smoke Eaters were really only able to muster 3 lines.

Recent injuries to Wade Bennett, Justin Brown and Steve Oursov have kept them all out of game action while Darnell Dyck saw very limited duty after leaving game 1 in the third period. Their status for game 3 is unclear.

Westside got on the board early in the third period on a nice play by Tyler Krause down low to escape a check and feed the puck out front to Downing. Smiley got a piece of it and the puck went off the post and in to cut Trail's lead to 1.

The Warriors evened the score a few minutes later when Max French tipped in a Matthew Mather shot.

The tie seemed to put a little extra spring in Trail's steps. The tired club took some energy from seeing their lead slip away and created some very good opportunities including a 2 on 0 for Mellor and Sandor that Kevin Jebson was able to turn aside in spectacular fashion. He stopped 26 of 28 Smokies shots in the victory.

Westside got a late winner from Downing as he wrapped around from behind the net and banged in the puck after a couple of whacks at it. The 17 year old then iced the game with an empty netter.

The series turns to Trail on Monday and Tuesday with the Smoke Eaters now holding home ice advantage because of the split on the weekend. The start time for those games has been changed to 7pm.

ON THE TRAIL: Both teams were unable to score on the man advantage. Trail was 0 for 4 while Westside was 0 for 3. The Warriors are a combined 0 for 6 in the series and have only scored once on the power play against Trail in the last 5 games between the two clubs ... The game was quite similar to the second game of last year's first round series in that Trail got the early lead and held on for much of the contest thanks to strong goaltending. The Warriors won that game in overtime on a Jordan Gagne goal. The difference is that this season Trail was able to put forth a much stronger effort in game 1 and claim a split on the road ... The goaltender last year for Trail was Paul Barclay who took Beaver Valley to a game seven against Nelson in the first round of the KIJHL playoffs. The Leafs won the deciding game 3-2 tonight in what was an absolute classic battle. Congrats to both teams on their effort and to the Nitehawks on a fine season for a very young club. Perhaps Trail could get a boost from a couple of Nitehawk APs on Monday ... The Smoke Eaters are hosting a viewing party for the gold medal men's hockey game later today (Sunday) at the Cominco Arena. It'll be free to get in with the game on the big screen and the concessions open. Puck drop is 12pm.

Post Game 1: Trail 6 Westside 3

What a game last night for the Smokies! It was a gutsy effort through 40 minutes to take a 3-2 lead into the third period. A lot of fans in the building last night talked about the impact the penalty calls had on the third... and of course any 5 on 3 or 5 minute major call is going to have some impact on a game. However, the Smokies without question earned their first playoff win under Coach Ingram. Now they at least guarantee themselves a split with a chance to go up 2-0 before even heading back to Trail.

West Kelowna, BC - Matt Wilkins opened and closed the scoring as Trail beat Westside 6-3 in the first game of their first round series. It was the first BCHL playoff game for Wilkins and his best outing as a Smoke Eater.

The Kimberley native opened the scoring after Sean Nugent won a puck battle along the wall and got it to him in the neutral zone. Wilkins wired a shot over the glove hand of Kevin Jebson to start the back and fourth scoring.

Alex Grieve answered for Westside by banking a reboud from the side of the goal off a sprawled out Kiefer Smiley. It was one of only 3 goals Smiley would allow on 36 shots in another terrific performance from the Smokies netminder.

Nick Sandor put Trail back ahead early in the second period after a Graeme Strukoff shot block turned into an odd man rush for the Smokies. Sam Mellor made a move towards the net and then put a perfect pass on Sandor's stick for the tap in.

The Warriors tied the game again at the end of a power play when Colton Sissons one-timed a nice pass from Dru Morrison. Their line along with Max French was perhaps Westside's most effective as they were dangerous every time they hit the ice.

Trail got a bounce to go their way when Paul Mailey's stick shattered on an attempted shot and he ended up putting the puck right on Travis St. Denis' stick for a power play goal. St. Denis had strong game that included hitting the post and getting robbed by Jebson on a partial break.

Mike Betz knocked his own rebound in mid-way through the third period to give Trail another power play goal and a 4-2 lead. Immediately after the goal Joel Woznikoski was called for high sticking a Smoke Eater as they tried to return to their bench. When he returned to the ice Woznikoski was immediately called for an elbow on Nick Sandor.

The major penalty gave Trail a 5 on 3 that they took advantage of with some nice passing by Steve Koshey and Scott Jacklin to set Mellor up. Woznikoski was also kicked out of the game for the elbow.

Westside gave Trail fans some anxious moments after Tyler Krause put a puck off of Koshey and in to cut the Smoke Eater lead to two. However, Wilkins was able to ice the game with an empty net goal after some good shot blocking by Trail in their own end.

The win was the first playoff victory for Trail under Coach Jim Ingram and their first at Royal Lepage Place since November 9th, 2007. Game 2 goes Saturday night in West Kelowna. The series then shifts to Trail for Games 3 and 4 on Monday and Tuesday night at 7pm.

ON THE TRAIL: Trail's forward group has been bit hard by the injury bug. They came into tonight's game with only 10 healthy forwards after injuries to Wade Bennett, Justin Brown, Steve Oursov and Thomas Abenante. Darnell Dyck also left the game and his status is questionable for Game 2 ... Trail out shot the Warriors 39-36 after putting 20 shots on net in the third period ... Sean Nugent had 2 assists and now has 11 points in his last 21 games. That compares to only 6 in the last 40 games. The veteran tough guy is thriving with added responsibility offensively ... Trail went 3 for 9 on the power play while Westside went 0 for 3 ... The Smoke Eaters are hosting an Olympic hockey gold medal game viewing party on Sunday at the Cominco Arena. It's free to get in.

Post Game: Trail 6 Merritt 3

Merritt, BC - Nick Sandor's back to back goals late in the third period put Trail ahead for good in a 6-3 win over Merritt. The goals gave Sandor 30 on the season and set up the Smokies for a first round series with Westside.

Trail got up 2-0 in the first on goals by Ben Matthews and Scott Jacklin. Alex Valenti responded and cut Trail's lead in half.

Neither team was able to find the net in the second period despite both Curtis Tonello and Nick Sandor hitting the post.

The Smokies extended their lead early in the third period on the Sean Nugent power play goal. He banged in the rebound of a Matthews shot for the only PP marker in the game. Trail went 1 for 5 on the man advantage and killed off all 7 Centennial opportunities.

Matt Wilkins hit another post for Trail before Merritt quickly answered with goals by Soquilla and MacMillan to tie the game at 3 with half a period to play.

Both teams had their opportunities to take a late lead before Sandor's goal gave Trail a 4-3 lead. He followed it up with an empty net marker for his 30th of the year. Jacklin also scored his second of the game into an empty net.

Kiefer Smiley stopped 44 of the 47 shots he faced for the win while Hamilton made 35 saves for Merritt. Matthews added 2 assists to his goal while Paul Mailey chipped in 3 helpers.

The Trail win combined with Quesnel's victory over Williams Lake settled the playoff picture in the Interior. The Millionaires will take on Salmon Arm, Trail plays Westside and Merritt matches up with Penticton.

ON THE TRAIL: Justin Borwn, Steve Oursov, Thomas Abenante and Mitch Kaufmann all missed the game due to injury. Oursov is out for the rest of the season. Tommy Rizzardo played his second straight game as a forward ... Mellor, Strukoff and Tonello also had assists for the Smokies ... The win was Trail's second straight against Merritt after losing the first 5 games in the season series ... The next action for Trail is Sunday night in Penticton. The game won't have any impact on the standings but it is important for Smokies forward Wade Bennett's brother Beau. The Vees sniper is 4 points behind Salmon Arm forward Mark Zengerle for top spot in the BCHL scoring race ... In the KIJHL playoffs on Saturday night the Beaver Valley Nitehawls got 29 saves from former Smoke Eater Paul Barclay in a 3-1 win over Nelson. Castlegar beat Spokane 8-4. The Rebels lead that series 2-0 while the Nitehawks and Leafs are tied at 1 game each.

Post Game: Westside 2 Trail 1 (OT)

Sorry for the delay. We got back at 4am last night after a very long day. Don't forget to join us for fan appreciation night on Friday at the Cominco Arena. It's a huge game against the Surrey Eagles with playoff positioning on the line. The guys have been playing tremendous hockey so I hope you'll come out and support them.

West Kelowna, BC - Cam Reid scored his second of the game in double overtime to give Westside a 2-1 victory over Trail. on Tuesday night With the win the Warriors avoided losing a third straight game against a streaking Smokies club.

Kiefer Smiley was again spectacular for Trail as he stopped 38 of 40 shots he faced to earn first star honours. Smiley turned aside 99 of the 102 shots he faced in 3 games against the Warriors over 5 days.

Trail opened the scoring when Sam Mellor tipped in a Steve Koshey point shot for his 27th of the season. Mellor scored in all 3 recent games against the Warriors.

Reid struck back a few minutes later on the power play. Trevor Bailey set him up on a nice slap pass to the side of the goal. It was Bailey's return to the line-up after he sat out the weekend games.

The Smokies were able to kill off the other 6 Westside power plays including 2 in the third period and a 4 on 3 man advantage on the first overtime. Trail's much maligned PK held the Warriors PP to a single goal over the 3 game span.

Kevin Jebson stopped 28 of the 29 Smokies shots. The 20 year old has only lost twice against the Smoke Eaters in his two seasons with the Warriors.

The Smoke Eaters have earned points in their last 6 games, but lost all 3 times they went to overtime.

ON THE TRAIL: Trail has the same line-up as they played with for both weekend games. There is no further update on Mitch Kaufmann's injury. Thomas Abenante is out of his cast and appears to be recovering quicker than expected ... Trail finished with 2 wins and an OT loss in 6 games against Westside this season. That's an improvement over just 1 victory in 11 games last season ... The win puts Trail's record at 8-6-0-3 in 2010 ... The next action for the Smokies is Friday night at home against Surrey. They'll finish the season on the road in Merritt on Saturday and Penticton on Sunday. Those games will determine the first round opponent. At this stage it will be either Penticton, Westside or Salmon Arm.

Post Game: Trail 4 Westside 1

Trail, BC - Kiefer Smiley made 37 saves as Trail beat Westside 4-1 on Saturday night. Smiley won't get credit for a shut out, but he stopped 61 of 62 shots he faced in 5 periods of work this weekend.

The Smokies swept the back to back home games against Westside. The two teams will play again on Tuesday in West Kelowna.

Sean Nugent and Sam Mellor opened the scoring for the Smokies with 2 goals in 32 seconds. Both men scored on Friday as well.

Nobody could find the back of the net in the second period despite the teams combining for 21 shots. Smiley and Westside goaltender Cam Gorchynski made sure both sides were still in it heading into the third.

Curtis Tonello gave his team some insurance with his first goal a Smoke Eater. Tonello has 12 points through 22 games in Trail, while he only had 5 in 24 games with the Bulldogs.

Kyle Singleton spoiled Smiley's shut out with a rebound goal mid-way through the thrid period. The Smokies netminder then had to come up with a couple of huge stops in the final 10 minutes to preserve the victory.

Nick Sandor scored his team leading 28th of the season into an empty net to secure the victory.

Scott Jacklin and Josh McEwan both has 2 assists for Trail. Wade Bennett was only credited with a single assist but made key plays leading to both the Nugent and Tonello goals.

Both teams had trouble on the power play over the weekend. They went a combined 0 for 14 on Friday and Saturday.

ON THE TRAIL: Mitch Kaufmann and Thomas Abenante are still out with injuries. Tom Rizzardo and Matt Wilkins were healthy scratches for the Smokies ... The Warriors were missing Trevor Bailey, Jason Nash, Max French, Michael Quinn and Izaak Berglund. Gus Correale and Brayden Sherbinin of the KIJHL's Nelson Leafs played as APs for Westside ... Westside now only leads the season series 3-2 with a sixth game coming up on Tuesday in West Kelowna ... Trail has points in all of their 5 games despite playing some of the top teams in the BCHL over that stretch. They're 7-6-0-3 in 2010 and have only played 2 teams bellow .500 over that span ... The win puts Trail 8 points ahead of Prince George for the final playoff spot in the Interior. The worst case scenario for the Smokies at this point is a tie for 7th with the Spruce Kings. However, they are now a point ahead of Merritt for 6th and a point behind Quesnel for 5th.

Post Game: Trail 4 Westside 2

NOTE: St. Denis has now been given credit for Trail's first goal. He tipped in the shot by Betz. Betz also has been credited with an assist on Brown's goal.

Trail, BC - Sean Nugent and Justin Brown broke a third period tie to lead the Smoke Eaters to their first win over Westside in a year and a half. The 4-2 victory gives Trail a 6 point cushion on Prince George for the Interior's final playoff spot.

Kiefer Smiley stopped all 24 shots he faced after relieving Garrett Beckwith in Trail's net at the start of the second period. The Smoke Eaters now have a win or an overtime loss in all of their last four games.

Trail opened the scoring when Mike Betz fired it through a crowd just seconds after the Smokies power play expired. Sam Mellor also scored for the orange and black in the first on a terrific feed from Scott Jacklin.

Kyle Singleton and Max French responded for the Warriors who twice came back from one goal deficits.

Both teams played a gritty and simple game throughout the final 40 minutes. It looked like neither side would find a way to break the deadlock until Josh McEwan stole a Kevin Jebson clearing attempt and set up Nugent for the winner.

Brown capped off a nice Steve Oursov rush by knocking his own rebound out of mid-air to put the game out of reach.

After getting out scored 3-0 on special teams against Penticton, the Smokies held the Westside power play off the score sheet on Friday night. The game also had a decidedly physical side and that intensity may boil over when they face off again on Saturday night at the Cominco Arenea.

ON THE TRAIL: Travis St. Denis looked solid in his return to Trail's line-up. The Smokies are still missing Mitch Kaufmann and Thomas Abenante to injury. Only Kaufmann is expected to return before the end of the season ... With 2 assists Nick Sandor was the only Smoke Eater with multiple points in the game ... Jebson stopped 25 of the 29 shots Trail fired at him. It was his first loss against Trail this season and only the second time the Smoke Eaters have topped him in his Warriors career ... Westside played the game without leading scorer Trevor Bailey. The 40 goal scorer is expected back in time for the playoffs.

Post Game: Penticton 6 Trail 5 (OT)

Trail, BC - It seems like sixty minutes is never enough for the Vees and Smoke Eaters at the Cominco Arena. They've needed overtime six of the past seven times Penticton has been in Trail.

After the Smokies won the previous five games that went to extra time, Tuesday night it was Penticton's turn.

Beau Bennett scored his second of the game early in the 3 on 3 overtime period to lift the Vees to a 6-5 victory. It was the culmination of a come from behind effort for Penticton and gave Bennett his 100th point of the season.

Beau's brother Wade actually got on the scoreboard before he could in this one. Nick Sandor, Wade Bennett and Justin Brown scored in the first five minutes of the game to give Trail a 3-0 lead on their first 3 shots of the game. Penticton goaltender Sean Bonar got the hook without ever stopping a puck.

Jake Johnson responded for the Vees on the power play before Scott Jacklin restored Trail's 3 goal lead. However, the momentum turned in Penticton's favour. The 3rd ranked team in Canada controlled the second half of the first period and cut the Smoke Eater lead to 4-3 by the time a very busy first twenty minutes was complete.

Penticton scored the only goal of the second period as Joey Laleggia extended his point streak to 15 games with a power play goal. Trail actually out shot the Vees 12-8 in the period but were unsuccessful on 3 power play opportunities.

The Smoke Eaters would get their lead back as Scott Jacklin scored his second of the game on a gritty effort early in the third period. However, special teams turned the tide again when Logan Johnston tied the game on a shorthanded goal.

Special teams were unquestionably the difference in the game as Trail went 0 for 4 on the man advantage while the Vees were 2 for 3. The Smokies continue to struggle at home with their man advantage as it operates at 15% at the Cominco Arena but over 23% on the road.

Trail got a strong effort from their top line as Jacklin, Sam Mellor and Nick Sandor combined for 9 points. Penticton leaned on Bennett as he had 3 points while Jake Johnson added a goal and an assist.

The tie gives Trail a 4 point lead in Prince George for the final playoff spot in the Interior. They're also only a single point behind Merritt for 6th. The next action for the Smokies is back to back home games against the Westside Warriors on Friday and Saturday night.

ON THE TRAIL: Justin Brown returned to the line-up but Trail was still without Travis St. Denis, Mitch Kaufmann and Thomas Abenante due to injury. Tommy Rizzardo was a healthy scratch ... Kiefer Smiley stopped 35 of 41 shots in the Smoke Eater net while Joel Rumpel was solid in relief for Penticton with 27 saves on 29 shots against ... The spreading was spread out throughout the line-ups of both teams. 10 different players had points for the Vees while 9 different players chipped in for Trail ... The Smokies are now 1-3-0-1 against Penticton this season and will visit the Vees on their final game of the regular season.

Post Game: Alberni Valley 5 Trail 4 (OT)

Well that one was tough to swallow for Smokies fans. They were only 20 minutes from a perfect weekend before Alberni's top end skill stole away a point. I know the club is disappointed they couldn't close out the win. However, 3 out of 4 points this weekend is nothing to sneeze at.

The Smoke Eaters needed to come out with a lot of passion and hunger this weekend with their playoffs lives at stake. They did just that. Trail went toe to toe with two of the BCHL's top teams and were with them the whole way. They also got scoring from the whole group rather than having to lean on any one guy or one line. The Bennett/Oursov/Wilkins line really seems to be clicking now. That's what you need so that if your top guys don't score a ton in one game you can look to your depth to get it done. Trail did that this weekend.

There were many positives from this weekend to build on as we head into Tuesday's game against the Vees. From the net out it was one of Trail's best weekends of the year. The schedule isn't easy, but these guys are proving they can play with and compete with anyone.

Hats off the Bulldogs as well who are obviously never out of any game. They have won 18 in a row on the road and 9 of those 18 games were decided by a single goal. That's the sign of a very talented club that knows how to win. If they make the finals this year it will be a huge test for whichever team makes it out of the Interior.

This is the kind of team I think the Smokies are capable of being. A lot of people will say "yah... next year" but don't count this year's club out. You learn a lot of lessons over a full season when you're a young team. The skill is not in question. It's just the consistency, the decision making and the lapses in work ethic we can see at times. If these guys are putting together their mental game it doesn't matter who they play... they can take down anyone in this league. Maybe after this weekend they'll realize it.

Here's my recap from trailsmokeeaters.com:

Trail, BC - It looked for 40 minutes like the Smoke Eaters were going to spoil Alberni Valley's party. Trail had a 4-2 lead and were a period away from breaking the Bulldogs' 17 game road winning streak.

Instead, Alberni came back with an overtime win that broke the record they had shared with two other teams. In addition to winning 18 straight road games the Bulldogs have also won 21 of their last 22.

The Smokies certainly didn't make it easy on them. Sean Nugent set up Mike Betz on the power play in the first period for the second straight game. This time the goal gave Trail a 1-0 lead after one.

Mark MacMillan set up Kevin Ross for the tying goal early in a wide open second period. The teams scored a combined 5 goals with Wade Bennett notching his first 2 BCHL goals for the Smokies. They also got one when Scott Jacklin tipped in a point shot by former Bulldog Curtis Tonello on the power play.

It was Jacklin's 20th of the year and 6th goal in his last 7 games. He becomes the third Smoke Eater to reach the 20 goal mark this season along with Nick Sandor and Sam Mellor.

The Bulldogs started their come back when Mitch MacMillan scored his league leading 60th goal of the season on a terrific set up by David Dziurzynski. Dziurzynski then stole a puck during a brief 4 on 4 and roofed his second of the game to tie it at 4 with 6:46 to go in the third period.

Dziurzynski struck again in overtime as he set up Mark MacMillan for the winner just over a minute into the 3 on 3.

Each team had their chances to win it in regulation and overtime, but both Kiefer Smiley and Scott Lewan came up with some big stops. Lewan made 28 saves for his 10th straight win, while Smiley stopped 37 pucks in a losing cause.

Matt Wilkins and Steve Oursov each had 2 assists for Trail. Betz added an assist to his goal for a 2 point night.

The Smokies are now 3 points ahead of Prince George for the final playoff spot in the Interior with 2 games in hand. They're also 2 points behind Merritt for 6th and 3 behind 5th place Quesnel.

Trail will host Penticton on Tuesday night.

ON THE TRAIL: Mitch Kaufmann, Justin Brown, Travis St. Denis and Thomas Abenante were all still out of the line-up with injuries. There is no time table for any of them although St. Denis appears to be the closest to returning ... 16 year old Keanan Patershuk of the KIJHL's Fernie Ghostriders played another solid game as an AP for Trail. The Kelowna native brought a physical edge and didn't look at all out of place ... The goals came fast and furious for Bennett in the second period. He had come so close but had yet to score his frist BCHL goal until tonight. While it took him 40 games to get the first one he only had to wait 8 minutes for the second ... Former Smoke Eater Tye Lewis got tossed from the game in the second period for a hit from behind on Steve Koshey. It was his only game at the Cominco Arena as a visitor ... Any Smokies fans who were scoreboard watching tonight got good news when Prince George lost to Victoria and Merritt dropped a home game against Cowichan Valley. Only 6 points separates the 5th and 8th team in the Interior with only a couple of weeks left on the BCHL schedule ... The Bulldogs broke the road winning streak record originally set by the New Westminster Royals in 1989-90. A comment on Evan Hammond's blog pointed out that one member of that team was non other than Smoke Eaters Coach and GM Jim Ingram. He came close to protecting his old club's place in history tonight, but I think the points for his current club were the only thing on his mind. Trail got 3 out of 4 on the weekend and that has to be considered a success.

Don't forget to tune in to Mountain FM's Overtime on Monday night from 6pm to get reaction from the game and the weekend as a whole. You can also check out Hammer's Bulldogs Blog for his perspective on the game. Sounds like their coach wasn't pleased with his team's effort for the most part. I don't think the Bulldogs were bad as much as Trail played well and tested them. The Smokies have been to overtime with Vernon and Penticton at home. Cominco Arena is not an easy place to play.

Post Salmon Arm Audio

Smokies goaltender Kiefer Smiely on his 100th game

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Trail Captain Paul Mailey

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Don't forget the Smokies host the Alberni Valley Bulldogs later today (tonight) at the Cominco Arnea. After last night's terrific effort I think we can expect another battle against the Dogs.

Post Game: Trail 3 Salmon Arm 2

Trail, BC - Smoke Eaters goaltender Kiefer Smiley celebrated his 100th BCHL game with a 3-2 win over Salmon Arm on Friday night.

Smiley made 23 saves and matched Tony Ierfino save for save in a dramatic third period. The Silverbacks netminder stopped 41 shots in a losing cause.

Ierfino kept Salmon Arm in the game as the Smoke Eaters carried the play through the first two periods. Despite doubling the Silverbacks in shots through two frames Trail only had a one goal lead.

Salmon Arm came on strong in the third period, but the Smokies shut the door and held on for a much needed victory.

Mike Betz, Paul Mailey and Steve Oursov scored for Trail.

The Smokies are still 2 points ahead of Prince George for the final playoff spot in the Interior Conference.

ON THE TRAIL: Graeme Strukoff and Curtis Tonello returned to Trail's line-up. Travis St. Denis, Justin Brown, Mitch Kaufmann and Thomas Abenante were still out of the line-up with injuries ... 16 year old Keanan Patershuk made his debut as an AP for Trail. The Kelowna native has 12 points in 43 games with Fernie in the KIJHL ... Strukoff, Tonello, Matt Wilkins, Wade Bennett and Sean Nugent had assists for Trail ... The Smoke Eaters earned went 2-3-1-1 against Salmon Arm this season ... The Alberni Valley Bulldogs make their only visit to the Cominco Arena on Saturday night ... The Smoke Eaters are 2 points ahead of Prince George for 7th but 3 back of Merritt for 6th and 4 back of Quesnel for 5th. The race is still tight between all four teams.

Zanier talks 4-1 loss to Langley

Smokies Assistant Coach Barry Zanier on Mountain FM's Overtime

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Ingram talks Powell River loss

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

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Post Game: Langley 8 Trail 5

I had one fan e-mail me to ask if I was just as annoyed with the amount of penalties in today's game as I was for yesterday's even though this time Trail had the majority of the power play chances.

It did annoy me sure and I said as much on the broadcast. It wasn't quite the same thing because the man advantages weren't all concentrated basically in one period. However, I will say I find that when there are so many calls like that it really takes the flow out of the game. It's just not interesting for me to see teams on the power play that often. Maybe that's just me as others seem to want the games called really tightly. I prefer more even strength play as I think it's usually pretty wide open 5 on 5 in this league. Here's the recap from this afternoon:

Langley, BC - Trail's offense finally woke up, but it was too little too late. After only generating 5 goals in their last 8 periods, the Smokies scored 3 in the third against Langley to start what would have been an improbable come back.

Goals by Steve Koshey, Scott Jacklin and Steve Oursov cut Langley's 7-2 lead to 7-5 with lots of time left. However, a Matt Wilkins penalty and the resulting power play goal by Brandon Thompson put it out of reach.

The Smokies certainly had their chances as they went 1 for 9 on the man advantage. Langley won the special teams war by scoring twice on their 3 power plays and adding a shorthanded goal by Trevor Gerling when the game was still close.

Brad McBride scored a hat trick for the Chiefs to pick up first star honours. Langley handed Trail their third straight loss to close out a road trip that started with a promising overtime win in Powell River. The Smoke Eaters will get another shot at the Chiefs on Thursday in Trail.

Mike Betz and Sam Mellor had the other Smoke Eater goals. Koshey added an assist to his goal for a 2 point night. Nick Sandor picked up 2 assists.

The next action for Trail is a visit from Powell River at the Cominco Arena on Tuesday night.

ON THE TRAIL: The injuries are piling up for the Smoke Eaters. Both Curtis Tonello and Sam Mellor left the game against Langley banged up. The extent of their injuries is not known at this point. Add them to an injured list that includes Travis St. Denis, Justin Brown, Thomas Abenante, Graeme Strukoff and Mitch Kaufmann. Trail is now down to 10 healthy forwards and 5 defencemen ... Smokies Coach Jim Ingram yanked his goaltender for the second straight game. In Port Alberni he sent Garrett Beckwith in relief of Kiefer Smiley while in Langley the roles were reversed. It wasn't a great night for any of the 3 goaltenders as the teams combined for 13 goals on 67 shots. The shots were quite even as the Chiefs had 34 to 33 for Trail ... The end of this four game road swing leaves Trail with only 3 games left away from the Cominco Arena. The Smokies will play 7 straight games at home over the next few weeks with an opportunity to solidify their playoff position.

Post Game: Victoria 4 Trail 1

Thanks to Bruce Stotesbury for the pictures from tonight's game in Victoria.

Victoria, BC - The Grizzlies put Trail's offense into hibernation on Friday night. Despite averaging 39 shots in their last 6 games, the Smokies could only put 17 on Victoria goaltender Ryan Holfeld in a 4-1 loss.

The Grizzlies got out to a quick lead with 2 goals in 61 seconds mid-way through the first period. The fast start allowed Victoria to play a shut down game the rest of the way in what was a smothering display of defensive hockey.

It looked like the Smokies would get out of a lopsided second period still only down by 2 when Brandon Fagerheim may have put the final nail in Trail's coffin by scoring with 16 seconds left in the frame.

With a 3 goal deficit to overcome in the third the Smokies just couldn't get anything going. Victoria held them to only 9 shots in the final 40 minutes.

Trail came to life a little bit when a Gregory Simpson hit from behind on Sam Mellor drew the ire of both Steve Koshey and the referee. The Smokies defenceman dropped the glove to defend his teammate and Trail was able to take advantage of the resulting power play. Scott Jacklin scored the goal by tipping in a point blast from Curtis Tonello.

The goal was Jacklin's 15th of the season and his team leading 9th power play goal. Mellor got the other assist on the play.

Garrett Beckwith made 27 saves on 30 shots against before heading to the bench for a 6 on 5 attack late in the game. Joel Lowry put an end to that attack with an empty net marker.

The win was the 7th straight for Victoria since their 4-0 loss on December 19th in Trail.

ON THE TRAIL: The Smokies list of walking wounded grew after their overtime win in Powell River. Travis St. Denis joins Graeme Strukoff, Mitch Kaufmann, Justin Brown and Thomas Abenante on the list of injured Smoke Eaters. Trail had to call up affiliate player Nikolas Vanstone from Kerry Park in the VIJHL to fill in for the injures St. Denis ... The game was Trail's first in Victoria since the 2007-08 season. It ties the season series at a win each ... It was a home coming for Sean Nugent who played lacrosse for the Victoria Shamrocks. Nugent showed the edge that makes him a tough opponent in both sports when he dropped the gloves in a lively tilt against Brad Pawlowski ... After allowing an early power play goal the Smokies penalty kill held Victoria's man advantage off the board on 5 more opportunities. Trail went 1 for 2 on the power play.

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.