Shawn Mullin's Trail Smoke Eaters Blog

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Tuesday Game Day: Trail at Westside

It's the final game of the season series between the two clubs and could be a factor in creating a re-match of last year's first round playoff series. If Trail gets a couple of more points and finishes 6th they'll play the Warriors. However, a win here could also propel them into a run that leaves them in 5th place and sets up a series with Salmon Arm. A loss could be a step towards finishing 7th and a series with Penticton. This could still go several ways.

I've read some talk on the internet about how the Warriors were using the weekend games to give their 3rd and 4th line guys some ice time. I don't think anyone who was at the games would question the level of Westside's competitive spirit or make that kind of comment about ice time. I didn't notice anything different about their ice distribution outside of injuries messing with the usual mix. This team was competing hard... they just got beat. I think it's fair to say Trail had more to play for and perhaps that gave them an emotional edge. That doesn't mean the Warriors handed those games over.

The bigger issue is not how hard the Warriors compete so much as how much did they miss Trevor Bailey. I don't know if he'll be back in the line-up for this game. If he is maybe we'll see if Bailey was the x-factor. Either way, the Smoke Eaters deserve credit for their wins now just as Westside did for their wins in the first three games of the season series. Now we'll see if Trail can take the kind of game they played at the Cominco Arena on the road. That'll be key if they're going to make some playoff noise. Here's how the season series breaks down...

RECORDS

Trail: 19-30-1-6 (7-6-0-3 in 2010)
Westside: 35-17-1-2 (9-6-0-1 in 2010)

Just interesting to note how Trail and Westside have both earned points in 10 of 16 games since the new year. If the season had started in January the Smokies would only be 2 points behind the Warriors in the standings. It's a smaller sample size, but it does show that Trail's young roster has made some big strides. Especially when you realize that 5/6 of Trail's regulation losses were during a streak where 6 regulars were hurt. These guys are a serious threat to good teams. At least they unquestionably are in their own building. They still need to prove they can get it done when jumping onto the bus.

POWER PLAY

Trail: 3/21 (14%)
Westside: 6/21 (29%)

TRAIL TOP SCORERS

Nick Sandor (2-3-5)
Scott Jacklin (1-4-5)
Mike Betz (1-3-4)
Paul Mailey (1-2-3)
Travis St. Denis (1-2-3)
Josh McEwan (0-3-3)

WESTSIDE TOP SCORERS

Trevor Bailey (3-3-6)
Quinn Gould (3-3-6)
Alex Grieve (0-6-6)
Kyle Singleton (2-4-6)
Brendan Ellis (2-3-5)
Max French (4-0-4)
Cam Reid (2-2-4)
Tyler Krause (2-2-4)
Grayson Downing (2-2-4)

GOALTENDERS

Kiefer Smiley (TRA) 2-2, 2.75GAA, 0.929%
Kevin Jebson (WES) 3-1, 3.01GAA, 0.924%
Cam Gorchynski (WES) 0-1, 3.01GAA, 0.909%
Garrett Beckwith (TRA) 0-0, 8.00GAA, 0.805%

ROSTER

TRAIL

WESTSIDE

BROADCAST

We'll have the game for you with Nelson Ford Trail Smoke Eaters Play by Play on Mountain FM in the West Kootenay and at www.mountainfm.net

Monday, February 15, 2010

Smokies clinch playoff spot

With Penticton's win over Prince George the Smokies have locked up a playoff spot. Congrats to the guys who earned their way in with excellent efforts against some of the BCHL's top teams. I'm on a two day break but just wanted to pass that word on. Well done! Used an iPod touch so that's why the entry is so brief... but these things are very cool.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

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.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Video Highlights: Trail 4 Westside 2

Saturday Game Day: Westside at Trail

Here's how the season series breaks down...

RECORDS

Trail: 18-30-1-6 (6-6-0-3 in 2010)
Westside: 35-16-1-2 (9-5-0-1 in 2010)

POWER PLAY

Trail: 3/18 (17%)
Westside: 6/17 (35%)

TRAIL TOP SCORERS

Mike Betz (1-3-4)
Nick Sandor (1-3-4)
Paul Mailey (1-2-3)
Scott Jacklin (1-2-3)
Travis St. Denis (1-2-3)

WESTSIDE TOP SCORERS

Trevor Bailey (3-3-6)
Quinn Gould (3-3-6)
Alex Grieve (0-6-6)
Kyle Singleton (1-4-5)
Max French (4-0-4)
Cam Reid (2-2-4)
Brendan Ellis (2-2-4)
Tyler Krause (2-2-4)
Grayson Downing (2-2-4)

GOALTENDERS

Kevin Jebson (WES) 3-1, 3.01GAA, 0.924%
Kiefer Smiley (TRA) 1-2, 3.41GAA, 0.893%
Garrett Beckwith (TRA) 0-0, 8.00GAA, 0.805%

ROSTER

TRAIL

WESTSIDE

BROADCAST

No home radio broadcast but the game is available on BCHL PPV.

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.