Apr. 25 / 08
By Guy Bertrand
Times Sports Editor

The Trail Smoke Eaters' head coach Jim Ingram made an important off-ice move this week, which will certainly have an impact on the ice during the next regular season.

Ingram announced that the third-year veteran Ryan Bulach will be wearing the captain's "C" in the 2008-09 season.

Bulach will become the team's 13th captain following in the footsteps of Kevin Limbert who is headed to Yale University next season.

'We're pretty excited to have Bully as our captain," said Ingram. "I like the way he goes about his business and conducts himself. He's got an intensity to him and demands a lot of himself. I like to see that in a captain because they set the bar."

For the past two seasons Bulach has been an example of work ethic. His play has grown during his stay in Trail. In his first season he collected six goals and 15 points in 52 games. Last season, his production jumped to 15 goals and 33 points in 56 games.

The only black mark was a season-ending shoulder injury in February which forced Bulach to watch the playoffs from the sidelines.

However, Ingram said Bulach showed his mettle by coming out to the Smokies Spring Camp in Princeton recently and volunteering to help out the team in any way possible.

"He just wants to play hockey, be on the ice and contribute.

I love that.

"You always want your captain to be an example and I'm more than comfortable pointing to him as an example. He does everything right."

In other Smoke Eater news, the pipeline between Trail and Alaska produced another scholarship this week when August Aiken comitted to the University of Alaska- Anchorage.

The California native, who was second in scoring for Trail last season, joins a long list of graduating players from the Smoke Eater program who have headed to the Land of the Midnight Sun to pursue hockey and post secondary education.

Meanwhile, Alaska native Casey Shade accepted an offer to play with the Wentworth Institute of Technology's Div. III team in Boston. Shade came to the Smokies 2005 camp as a walk-on and earned a spot.

Veteran Ryan Bulach will be the Trail Smoke Eaters' captain next season.