New Captain, Alternates and Audio

(Paul Mailey taking on all comers - Photo Randy Emery)

I've received lots of positive feedback today in my e-mail to Paul Mailey being named the new Captain of the Smoke Eaters. Mailey is the sixth local player to wear the C for the BCHL Smokies. He follows the legacy left by Corey Bell, Dallas Stanton, Brandon Gawryletz, Jon Hanley and Kevin Limbert. Thanks to Randy Emery for that info and as always his terrific photos. The Greater Trail region has always produced that hard working, blue collar type of player that lends itself to team leadership. Of course last year's Captain Ryan Bulach may as well have been from Trail given the way he played the game and conducted himself.

Mailey is an excellent choice for a number of reasons. As I mention in both interviews he's not as vocal as a guy like Sean Nugent, but he's someone who has earned the respect of the team over three BCHL seasons. He's been a Smoke Eater since he was 16 and grew up learning what that was all about. Mailey is also someone who works as hard or harder than anyone on the team. He has good grades, is in great shape and continues to improve as a player every year. You can see that from the increases in his point totals.


(Mailey and Jeff Zmurchyk sign autographs)

Now is also a good time to make him Captain because he is certainly expected to step up and be one of Trail's best players this season. He'll need to bring his offensive game up even another notch this year the way that Bulach did last season as Captain. Mailey was an alternate last year and knows what it takes to be part of the leadership core. He's played under three great Captains in Alex Greenlay, Limbert and Bulach. I think he'll do a terrific job.

I had a chance to talk to Coach Jim Ingram and Mailey himself about the selection. Ingram also discusses Patrik Martin's commitment to Simon Fraser University (more on that tomorrow with Martin and Jeff Dubois) and naming two of Mailey's alternate captains.

Jim Ingram on Captains

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Paul Mailey

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(Brown with an intense look - Photo Randy Emery)

The Ingram interview also let the cat out of the bag on Trail's new alternate captains. He only named two of them and will leave a spot open for training camp. Trail's Justin Brown certainly follows in the footsteps of past local leaders. He receives a lot of comparisons to Kevin Limbert because of his excellence academically and commitment to fitness. Brown was a rookie in the league last year who wasn't a lock to make the team. He took that spot and became a leader as a 17 year old. Brown also has the potential to become one of the better two way players in the league. There's no question in my mind that he's a future Captain.


(Nugent shows his brute force - Photo Randy Emery)

The other alternate is a no brainer in my view. Sean Nugent was a 19 year old rookie last season, but you wouldn't know it by the respect he commanded. Nugent will tell guys when they have to pick up their game... and if they dont, he might just rip their heads off. He can do that because he's one of the hardest workers out there himself. Listen to the interview with Coach Ingram to get some insight into that. Nugent doesn't get an off season as he goes right from hockey to lacrosse. That's part of what makes him as tough as he is. However, he makes the effort to do all the little things on the ice too. This isn't just a goon. He's a player that I think is capable of scoring 20 goals while being a huge physical presence for his team.

As for that third alternate spot... there is no shortage of possibilities. From veterans like Nick Sandor, Riley Loyst and Colin Lidster to someone that may not even be pencilled in for the roster yet. With Mailey, Brown and Nugent in place there is already no question the team will have a terrific leadership core in place. They're examples of hard work on and off the ice. Performance, practice, fitness and academics... you don't get much better than these three.

Trail's New Captain

Details, audio and the alternate captains coming up tomorrow on the blog. Tune in tomorrow night to Mountain FM's Overtime to hear from the new captain.

Grisdale on All-Star Game, Big Smokies News

There's been lots of talk about the BCHL's new All-Star Game format. I figured why not go right to the top again to get the league's perspective on why they've changed from an Interior vs. Coastal game to a defending BCHL Champion vs. All-Star Game. Here's the commish from last night's Mountain FM Overtime show...

John Grisdale on the All-Star Game

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That's the view from the BCHL head office. I suppose we'll see how well this move works when they try it out this winter in Nanaimo. I really do hope they can arrange the AJHL vs. BCHL game for the following season though.

As for the Smoke Eaters, Coach and GM Jim Ingram will announce this year's Captain and two of the alternates tonight on Mountain FM's Overtime. Tune in just after the 6 o'clock news tonight on 104.1 FM in Trail. I'll have that news on the blog eventually but you've got to tune into Overtime tonight if you want to know before anyone else! Also you should scroll down the page a little bit for some good news on a former Smokies alternate captain...

EDIT: Does anyone who understands blogger or webpages better than I do know how to change it so my photos have a border around them?

Martin to Simon Fraser

Congratulations are in order today for Patrik Martin. I got an e-mail confirming that the Rossland native and now former Smoke Eater has earned a scholarship to go play at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby. Martin was a heart and soul player for the Smokies over the last three seasons. Martin started his career with Beaver Valley in the KIJHL where he was part of a conference championship team and scored 35 points in 65 games over a couple seasons. In the BCHL he scored 28 points over 130 games, but that doesn't summarize what he contributed to the team. Martin was always a main stay on the penalty kill. He won what must have been a thousand puck battles in the corners and along the boards. He's only listed as 5'9 and 170lbs but fought some of the biggest and toughest guys in the league to defend his teammates.

Martin was also an alternate captain for the Smokies and easily one of the team's most valuable leaders. When he spoke people listened and he demanded respect. The coaches always knew they could lean on him when the chips were down. He also has some solid hands around the net. He scored a few of the prettier goals Trail has had since I've been here. I know he'll be missed at the Cominco Areana, but Simon Fraser got themselves a good one.

EDIT: Here's a link to the media release from Simon Fraser.

Keystone Cup to Kamloops?

EDIT: It's now official. Click here for the BC Hockey news release.

The Western Canadian Junior B Hockey Championship appears to be headed to Kamloops. The Fernie Ghostriders website had a post on it this morning reporting that the Kamloops Storm's bid for the Keystone Cup was successful. However, a few hours later that post was removed and replaced by one simply stating that Fernie would not host the event. The Kamloops rumour is still posted on the Ghostriders blog. It was known that Fernie, Nelson and Kamloops were the KIJHL teams bidding for the event along with one or two from Vancouver Island.

I made a call to the KIJHL officers and they hadn't heard anything yet. A call to BC Hockey has thus far gone un-returned. I then talked to Kamloops owner Barry Dewar who told me nothing was official yet and they were expecting an announcement this afternoon. Word is that Kamloops and Nelson were the finalists... just like they were the finalists in the KIJHL playoffs this past season. Looks like we may end up with a different result off the ice.

I also put in a call to Coach Will Verner of the Ghostiders. He told me on the record that they were told their bid was not successful. He couldn't officially say anything more at this point.

Seems to me that we're all just waiting for BC Hockey to make it official, but it looks like the Keystone Cup is headed to Kamloops. Tough luck for local hockey fans as it would have been a great show in Nelson. Especially after the event was in Thunder Bay last year, it'd be nice to see it in one of the smaller Junior B communities. However, if they do get it, I know Dewar and the Storm will do an excellent job as hosts.

All-Star Format Change

The BCHL has changed the All-Star Game format for next season. Click here to read the full news release from the BCHL website. The defending champion Vernon Vipers will play the BCHL All-Stars in Nanaimo. I have a couple of questions about the change. For one, will every team be represented as they have been before? If so that means there will be 16 players nearly filling the roster to just make sure all the teams have a player in the game. That means there could be some very deserving guys left off the team because they happen to play for the same team.

I'm also curious about what happened to the prospects game we heard a lot of talk about. There were rumours about the BCHL playing the AJHL in a game designed to attract scouts to watch the best unsigned talent in the league. Even if that wasn't going to happen I would think a prospects game is still the best way to go for a league that is trying to secure scholarships for their talent. Either way this certainly is a unique format that will hopefully be a little more interesting than last year's game. It certainly brings back memories of the old NHL All-Star games in the original six era. We'll have to wait and see how well it turns out.

Trail Jays Season Over

I'm not working today and don't have a lot of details, but Mountain FM news reported today that the Trail Jays lost 12-6 to Treasure Valley last night and were eliminated from the American Legion Baseball Idaho State AA Tournament. The loss ends Trail's seasons and the junior ball careers of all their 1990 born players. This was Trail's first trip to state since 2002 and a season to be very proud of. It marks the peak of a great turn around under President Ed Ferraro and Manager Nick Schuerman. Congrats to all involved. We'll have more on this on Overtime this Tuesday.