The rink was rocking Saturday night, and the Smoke Eaters were loving it.
The normally placid confines of Cominco Arena were quite raucous - even the Zamboni driver got a huge round of cheers - and of course it did not hurt the atmosphere that the Smokies scored on every second shot they took.
Too bad that unless they hire the college kids that were visiting that night it is unlikely the rink will be that noisy again any time soon. Long time fans are doubtless considerably more knowledgeable concerning hockey, but could learn a thing or eight from the Saturday night visitors about participation in the entertaining event that is a local hockey game at the highest level of play in the region.
I keep telling you the kids appreciate fan support and that truth was evident when the entire roster went over to salute the vocal visitors at game’s end. Of course it was an extremely rare maximum blowout scoreboard, but the kids from the States would have found lots to appreciate in less than a laugher - they were in the area, and the building, to have and provide some fun.
Of course the players appreciate the more somber regular Smokie crowds. It is just a lot easier to recognize the support they are receiving when it is loud and consistent - as it was Saturday.
It is unlikely that regular attendees will increase their decibel output just because everybody had more fun when the building was reverberating, and that’s okay. Support is support and there has been, if often barely, enough of that for Trail to maintain a franchise and allow lots of kids the opportunity to play and advance both their sporting and academic careers.
Those same kids, though, would appreciate being celebrated a little more loudly, or perhaps even being castigated for poor efforts a bit more overtly, in their home barn - we all should be certain of that.
The coolest thing about it all on Saturday was the the young visitors never went over the top, even during a game that did.
• I wish I did not have to keep saying stuff like this, but C’mon Folks!
In an era in which, “social media,” has been a powerfull enough influence that today marks the inauguration of an utterly self-aborbed serial bankrupt with nebulous ties to the truth into the most powerful position on the planet it behooves anyone with a web site to keep it current.
I clicked the history tab on the Smokies’ site just yesterday, in hopes of finding out if Saturday’s 19 was the highest goal output in BCHL Smoke Eater history.
No luck with that. What I did find is that Nick Deschenes is still the Trail coach and Adam Wheeldon is still the team captain. No update in three seasons, no mention of new owners, etc. All that extra full time staff, all those cyber-efficient young people in the area that would likely be glad to help - and yet portions of the website, totally revamped (in favour of phone users) less than two years ago, are years out of date?
Depressing.