After a 4-0 shut-out loss to the Vipers in Vernon on Wednesday, the Trail Smoke Eaters will need to regain their scoring touch when they host the Chilliwack Chiefs tonight (Friday) and the West Kelowna Warriors on Saturday at the Cominco Arena.
The 7-4-2-1 Smoke Eaters were shut out for the first time this season, and failed to keep pace with the Interior Division leading Merritt Centennials (10-6-0-0), who blanked the Salmon Arm Silverbacks 5-0 Wednesday.
Related read: Trail grinds out wins over Caps and Kings
Veteran Vipers forward Jagger Williamson scored twice, and Jesse Lansdell and Ben Helgeson added the other two goals, as the Vipers jumped out to a 3-0 first period lead on their way to their fifth win of the season. Vernon dominated in the early going, outshooting the Smoke Eaters 13-4 in the first period, and bringing and end to Smokies starter Adam Marcoux’s night in net.
“It was tough,” Trail captain Braeden Tuck told the Vernon Morning Star. “We would have liked to have had a better start. We knew it was a tough building to come into; we talked about it. We need to look in the mirror and see what we need to do better. We showed signs of life at some points, but we need to learn to do that for 60 minutes.”
The Smoke Eaters beat the Vipers 3-1 in their first visit to the Snake Pit back on Sept. 15, but parity reigns in the tight Interior, and every game is a battle. Vernon outshot Trail 32-26 and went 1-for-4 on the power play, while Trail was 0-for-4. Smokies goalie Tanner Marshall stopped 21 of 22 shots in the final two periods.
Trail will look to bring their ‘A’ game tonight against the defending RBC Cup champion Chiefs. Chilliwack assistant coach and former Smoke Eater coach and GM, Cam Keith, returns to the Cominco Arena leading the league’s top team with 24 points and a 12-4-0-0 record.
Chilliwack forward Kevin Wall (11-11-22) is the second top point-getter in the BCHL, with a dangerous supporting cast in Harrison Blaisdell (10-7-17), Matt Holmes (8-4-12) and Skyler Brind’Amour (3-7-10).
“They’re a good team,” said Smoke Eater coach and GM Jeff Tambellini. “They didn’t think they would be at this spot, but Brian (Maloney) has done a great job there coming off a national championship. They have a good young team, and I think a couple of guys have taken a really big step for them - Brind’Amour has been great the last couple of weeks, they got good goaltending so you get that from your top guys and keeping goals out of their net, that goes a long ways.”
In net, Chiefs goalie Mathieu Caron has been a workhorse this season, starting every one of Chilliwack’s 16 games, and posting a 2.41 goals against average and a .923 save percentage.
The Smoke Eaters, meanwhile, acquired 18-year-old forward Layne Sniher and future considerations from the Prince George Spruce Kings on Thursday in exchange for Sean Donaldson, who asked for a trade last weekend. The Smokies expect the Calgary native to be in the line up tonight, along with forward Owen Ozar, and will look to give the Smokies offence a much needed spark.
Related read: Smoke Eaters lose Donaldson, Ozar poised to return
The Smoke Eaters haven’t scored in five periods, and have gone 1-for-12 on the power play the past three games. Not that it’s cause for concern, as Trail still owns the League’s second best power-play at 25.4 per cent. Yet, the Smokies play West Kelowna on Saturday, and the conflicted Warriors own the league’s best power play with a 26.5 per cent scoring pace, but also have the BCHL’s worst penalty kill at 72.3 per cent.
“It’s going to be a good dance with them,” said Tambellini. “We’ve seen West K a handful of times, and those are never easy nights.”
Trail split their opening two games against the Warriors, and, following a 5-1 West K loss to Chilliwack on Tuesday, the Interior division team is currently in a four-way tie for fourth spot with a 6-7-0-1 record, but has played one more game than Salmon Arm, Wenatchee, and Vernon.
However, two Thursday acquisitions will undoubtedly bolster their line up. The Warriors acquired forward Eric Olson, 19, from the Brooks Bandits of the AJHL, and signed free-agent defenceman Kelvin Hair, 18, who was released by the WHL Okanagan Rockets. The Warriors also traded d-man James Philpott to the Drumheller Dragons to make room on their roster.
The six-foot, 180 pound Olson is a physical forward who netted 20 points in 56 games with the Philadelphia Rebels of the North American Hockey League, while putting up 119 penalty minutes.
Hair, a six-foot-three, 195-pound defender, played all of last season with the Rockets, appearing in 30 games.
“Eric is a strong two-way player, who we expect will add some veteran experience and leadership to our dressing room,” said Warriors head coach and GM Geoff Grimwood. “(And) Kelvin is going to bring size and puck moving ability to our blue line.”
The Smoke Eaters take on the Chiefs tonight (Friday) and the Warriors on Saturday with the puck drops at 7 p.m. at the Cominco Arena.
Smoke Signals: In a late press release Thursday, the Smoke Eaters announced the signing of 18-year-old forward Max Kryski following his release from the Prince George Cougars of the Western Hockey League (WHL).
Kryski is a veteran of 68 WHL games, all of which came with the Cougars, scoring eight goals and two assists for 10 points to go along with 26 penalty minutes. In four games this season, the five-foot-11, 185-pound forward did not register any points with two penalty minutes.