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Trail Smoke Eaters drop weekend games to Warriors and Chiefs

The Trail Smoke Eaters lose their third straight game, look to right ship versus Wenatchee Wednesday
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The road ahead doesn’t get any easier for the Trail Smoke Eaters as they face off against the Wild in Wenatchee on Wednesday, after dropping a pair of home games on the weekend to the West Kelowna Warriors and the Chilliwack Chiefs.

Following a 5-2 loss to the Chiefs on Friday and a tough 4-3 setback to the Warriors Saturday, the Smoke Eaters are right back at it, hitting the road on Wednesday for their second straight mid-week game, this time against the Wild.

At 7-6-2-0, Wenatchee is parked one point behind the Smoke Eaters in the gridlocked Interior Division with that single point separating second and seventh place. The 11-7-0-0 Merritt Centennials are in top spot with 22 points, five up on Penticton, Trail, Salmon Arm, and West Kelowna all tied with 17 points, but with one or two games in hand.

“We know what this division is,” said Smoke Eaters head coach and GM Jeff Tambellini. “Last Saturday we sat in first place, and we know how fast that can change. We’re building this team so that when the playoffs hit we’re going in the right direction … There are no easy nights, and we have to be ready to compete or we’re going to get pushed behind.”

In Saturday’s match, the Smokies donned their 1930s retro jerseys, and the impressive new look gave the Smokies some jump in the first period against the Warriors. Trail grabbed a 2-0 first-period lead on goals from Mack Byers and Bryce Anderson, who scored his first as a Smoke Eater, and was assisted by new additions Layne Sniher and Max Kryski.

“That was probably the best 25-30 minutes our team has played this year,” said Tambellini. “To have Kryski and Sniher both come in the line up and go with Bryce Anderson, and they gave us so much depth just by allowing us to run four lines … that was the first time we’ve been able to do it this year.”

Trail had ample opportunity to extend the lead in the first-half of the second period owning a 24-11 edge in shots at one point, but a couple posts and stellar goaltending from the Warriors’ Connor Hopkins foiled the Smokies attack.

“We had opportunities to put the game away to make it almost 5-0,” said Tambellini. “The problem when you don’t hit on all those opportunities, if the other team can weather it and get through it, they build momentum.”

West Kelowna took that momentum and ran with it as Bennett Norlin put the Warriors on the board beating Smokies goalie Tanner Marshall five-hole 8:30 into the middle frame. Warriors forward Mike Hardman then tied the game at 2-2 with 3:41 to play, wiring a shot over the glove of Marshall.

Trail’s special teams have been a strength this season, but the Smokies gave up a critical two-man advantage for the second straight match. Anderson was sent off for tripping at 9:38, and just over a minute later Darcy O’Hearn was called for roughing. Ten seconds into the 5-on-3, Hardman blasted a one-timer past Marshall for a 3-2 lead at 8:40, and before the second penalty expired, the Warriors made it 4-2 on a Willie Reim point shot with 7:39 to play.

“The hard thing is giving up 5-on-3s. If you give up a 5-on-3, the puck is probably going in your net. You can weather the odd one and get through it, but the best players on the best teams find a way to make a play and score a goal. We’re giving teams a 5-on-3 opportunity when the game is on the line, which is the worst (time).”

The Smoke Eaters pressed in the waning minutes, and Kent Johnson tallied his eighth goal of the season with just under four minutes to play, but West Kelowna ultimately escaped with the 4-3 win.

Despite the loss, Tambellini was impressed with his recent acquisitions, Sniher and Kryski, and their potential to contribute.

“Max Kryski is a six-foot centre, who’s got WHL tendancies, where he plays extremely hard on the puck, he’s a worker, and we’re excited because he can also really make plays. And with Layne Sniher he was top-three in the Alberta Midget League in scoring and just seeing him for a day-and-a-half you can see why. So to make the change, and have Sean Donaldson move out and to bring in Layne, I think we’re a better team today.”

The Smoke Eaters outshot the Warriors 36-22 and went 1-for-3 on the power play, while West K was 2-for-4.

On Friday, the Smokies faced the 13-5-0-0 Chiefs in their only visit to the Trail Memorial Center this season, falling to the RBC Cup champions 5-2.

“Chilliwack, that was the best team we’ve seen,” said Tambellini. “They were the heaviest team we’ve played against this year, their forward group and their defence played extremely heavy and they had great goaltending. It was a good test for us.”

The Smokies line up was without new additions Kryski and Sniher on Friday, and an injury to Tyler Ghirardosi left the Smoke Eaters shorthanded for much of the game.

“We wish we had both those guys on Friday,” said Tambellini. “But it was good for us to see a group like that (the Chiefs) come in, and see how they had success.”

Chiefs assistant coach Cam Keith made his first visit to the Cominco Arena since he was fired in April, and his league-leading Chiefs controlled the play for most of the 60 minutes. The Chiefs hired Keith as an assistant just prior to the RBC Cup Championship in Chilliwack in May.

Ethan Bowen and Kevin Wall put the Chiefs up 2-0 midway through the first period, before Smokies veteran Carter Jones sniped his fourth of the season to cut the lead in half heading into the middle frame.

Wall and Bowen struck again putting the Smokies up 4-1, and Johnson made it 4-2 with 3:20 left in the second. Cole Donhauser capped off the evening with an empty net goal with 23 seconds remaining.

The Chiefs outshot the Smoke Eaters 34-25 and went 2-for-4 on the power play, and a perfect 5-for-5 on the PK.

Trail travels to Wenatchee on Wednesday, then returns to the Cominco Arena Friday to host the Prince George Spruce Kings at 7 p.m.

“We’re going to get Owen Ozar back for Wednesday night, and that’s going to help us, Spencer McLean is coming off the IR on Friday, so we’re finally getting to see what our actual roster looks like.”

Except for Ghirardosi, who will not play Wednesday, and is day-to-day for the weekend.

Listen to Smokies play-by-play announcer Trevor Miller call the Smoke Eaters-Wild game on mixlr.com/trail-smoke-eaters/ or watch the game on hockey TV at hockeytv.com.



Jim Bailey

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