GAME SUMMARIES

Mar. 21 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 2 @ Williams Lake Timberwolves - 3

    If the Smokies were going to move on to the Interior Division Finals, they would have to do what they have been unable to do all season long, win a game at the Cariboo Memorial Arena in Williams Lake. After coming back from a 2 - 0 series deficit to force a fifth and deciding game, the Smokies put on a valiant effort right to the end but it was not in the cards and the Williams Lake Timberwolves will move on into the finals.
The Smoke Eaters took an early lead in the game with a powerplay goal coming at 1:22 of the opening period. Justin St. Louis (T. Gawryletz, Holmes) knocked in a rebound off a point shot for his third goal of the playoffs.
The Wolves came back to tie it up 4 minutes later on a goal by Dave Krisky (Ward, Starke).
The score would remain that way through the remainder of the first with both teams making 14 shots on goal.
The Smokies outshot the Timberwolves 18 to 12 in the second but the Timberwolves would get the only goal, a shorthanded marker on a 2 on 1 by Les Reaney (Fournier) midway through the period.
With both goaltenders making some key saves throughout the third, the period remained scoreless until the 19:27 mark when Les Reaney (unassisted) scored his second of the night into an empty net to make it 3 - 1.
That goal would actually stand as the winner as Trail never gave up and Ryan Hanley (B. Gawryletz, Newton) scored just 11 seconds later to cut the lead to 1 with 22 seconds to play. Hanley's goal gives him 6 in the post season along with 14 points.
With Trail pressuring in the Timberwolves zone, any further excitement was extinguished when Hanley was handed a double minor for roughing in the dying seconds of the game.
Trail was 1 for 5 with the man advantage while WL went 0 for 6.
Peter Vetri (WL) made 41 saves to win the series 3 games to 2 while Kevin Hachey (TR) made 35 in his final game with the Trail Smoke Eaters.
The Timberwolves will now move on to play the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in the Interior Division Finals. Good luck to the Williams lake Timberwolves and Thank You Trail Smoke Eaters for a highly entertaining and memorable year.

Mar. 20 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 6 vs Williams Lake Timberwolves - 3

    There will be a fifth and deciding game as the Smoke Eaters overcame a 3 - 2 third period deficit to take game 4 of the interior division semi-finals by a score of 6 - 3 and tie the series at 2 games apiece.
It was a rough start to the game as player after player was sent to the box in the opening minutes.
The Timberwolves drew first blood with a powerplay goal at 6:34 of the first period. Zach Geisler (Fournier, Peace) got the goal with a shot from the point to take the 1 - 0 lead.
The Smokies tied it at 1 with the man advantge as the Wolves lost control in their own zone and Jesse Newman (Eccles, R. Hanley) put a backhander through the 5 hole at 11:18.
Jake Morissette (Mazzei) gave Williams Lake a 2 - 1 lead after 20 minutes with a quick play off the face off that caught the Smokies napping.
The Smokies tied it again at the 12 minute mark of the middle frame as Beaver Valley callup Josiah Anderson (B. Gawryletz, Harding) redirected a shot from the point to make it 2 - 2 after 2.
The Timberwolves silenced the crowd midway through the third when Les Reaney (Fournier, Simoes) chopped a knuckle ball past Kevin Hachey to take a 3 - 2 lead with just over 10 minutes to play.
Beaver Valley callup Nick Carelli (Newman, Toews) drove to the net and tipped in a centering pass to tie it for a third time on the night and swing the momentum in the Smokies favour. That goal coming at 13:10.
A flying Mike Holmes (Walter, Carelli) cut around the defence and slipped it past Peter Vetri just 16 seconds later for the eventual game winner.
Brandon Gawryletz (Harding, Newman) afforded the Smokies a little breathing room at the 15 minute mark and Ryan Hanley (J. Hanley, B. Gawryletz) put his 5th of the post season into an empty net to finish it at 6 - 3.
Trail went 1 for 4 on the powerplay while the Wolves were 1 for 5.
Kevin Hachey (TR) made 41 saves for his second win in as many nights while Peter Vetri (WL) made 43 for the loss.
Both teams will board the bus for the long drive back to Williams Lake for Game 5 of the best of 5 series to be played tomorrow night (Mar. 21) at the Cariboo Memorial Arena.

Mar. 19 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 7 vs Williams Lake Timberwolves - 1

    The Trail Smoke Eaters survive to fight another day following a convincing 7 - 1 victory at home in Trail. The win cuts the Timberwolves series lead to 2 games to 1 and forces a game four in the best of five semi-final series at the Cominco arena Saturday night.
Trail was on fire in the first period and outshot their opponents 21 to 9 and took a 2 - 0 lead into the first intermission.
Travis Gawryletz (Newman, Toews) took a beautiful drop pass into the slot and rifled a shorthanded goal past Peter Vetri at the 9 minute mark of the first.
JJ Vanderstam (Jones, R. Hanley) made it 2 - 0 with a bank shot off the Wolves netminder at 15:13.
The Timberwolves played a stronger 2nd period but the Smokies would get the only goal as Brad Toews (Waycott, Holmes) tipped in a centering pass at the 7:34 mark.
Justin St. Louis (R. Hanley, Eccles) banged in a rebound to make it 4 - 0 just 2 minutes into the final period.
Williams Lake finally got on the board during a 5 minute powerplay with David Simoes (Murray, VanOosten) threading a slapshot from the high slot through a crowd.
The Smokies came right back however with a shorthanded marker on the same powerplay just over a minute later. Trail stole the puck in the Wolves zone and Troy Newton (Jones, R. Hanley) took the quick pass that sent him in alone to make it 5 - 1.
Troy Newton (Cox, Holmes) scored his second of the night on a breakaway just over a minute after that to prompt a goaltender change for the Timberwolves. Goaltender Peter Vetri got the yank in favour of backup Edouard Lessard.
Lessard didn't fair much better as Trail's first shot on him hit the twine at 9:43 of the third. Mark Walter (R. Hanley, T. Gawryletz) got the goal on the powerplay for the 7 - 1 final.
Ryan Hanley had a four point night with four assists.
The Smokies went 1 for 6 with the man advantage while the Timberwolves also went 1 for 6.
Kevin Hachey (TR) made 28 saves for his 4th win of the playoffs while Peter Vetri and Edouard Lessard (WL) were forced to make 43 saves on the night.
It's do or die again tomorrow night (Mar. 20) as the Smokies again attempt to stave off elimination in Game # four.

Mar. 17 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 2 @ Williams Lake Timberwolves - 5

    The Trail Smoke Eaters return home under the gun as the Williams Lake Timberwolves take a 2 - 0 series lead following a 5 - 2 win in game two of the interior division semi-finals.
The Smokies put forth a better effort tonight, outshooting the wolves 18 to 9 in the opening period, but still were not rewarded on the scoresheet as the teams skated to a 1 - 1 tie after one period and Trail fell behind 3 - 1 after two.
Zach Geiszler (Fournier, Reaney) gave the home team a 1 - 0 lead with a powerplay goal coming at 14:41 of the first.
Mike Holmes (Eccles) answered back for the Smokies with his first of the playoffs just 2 minutes later to tie it at one.
Dave Simoes (Greenlay) put the Wolves ahead 2 - 1 with an innocent looking shot from the point at 3:10 of the second period.
A shorthanded marker on a 2 on 1 break made it 3 - 1 Williams Lake after 40 minutes. John Mazzei (Morissette) got the goal at the 9:35 mark.
Another powerplay goal 1:44 into the final frame by Jake Morissette (Fournier) had the Smokies down 4 - 1.
Trail got that one back as Justin St. Louis (R. Hanley) took a centering pass for his 1st of the post season to breath some new life into the Smokies.
Trail put on a lot of pressure in the third but John Mazzei (Morissette) ended it with his second of the night into an empty net for the 5 - 2 final.
Trail was 0 for 4 on the powerplay while the Timberwolves were 2 for 6.
Peter Vetri (WL) made 38 saves for the win while Kevin Hachey (TR) made 27 for Trails second straight loss.
The Timberwolves have a chance to wrap it up in Trail in Game Three which goes Friday March 19th at the Cominco Arena. Game 4 if needed will be Saturday night in Trail.

Mar. 16 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 1 @ Williams Lake Timberwolves - 4

    Game one of the Trail / Williams Lake series started the same way it ended, with a scrap. Jon Hanley and Dave Simoes dropped the gloves just 4 seconds into the game and Brandon Cox and Aaron Peace finished off the 4 - 1 Timberwolve victory, with 30 seconds left in the game. In between was a clean skating hard fought battle.
The Timberwolves opened the scoring on a giveaway in the Smokies zone with Fruitvale native Jake Morissette (unassisted) jumping on the opportunity at the 14:41 mark of the first period.
Williams Lake took a 2 - 0 lead into the second period on another Smoke Eater turnover that sent Mike Fournier (unassisted) in alone with 3:18 remaining in the opening period.
Ryan Hanley (Newman, T. Gawryletz) got the Smokies on the board with a powerplay goal into the top corner coming at 6:29 of the second. That goal being Hanley's third of the playoff season.
The Wolves answered back with a powerplay marker of their own at 17:39 to regain the 2 goal lead. John Mazzei (Fournier, Morissette) put it into a wide open net following a goal mouth scramble to make it 3 - 1 after 40 minutes.
Aaron Peace (Morissette) added one more late in the third to secure a 1 - 0 series lead in the best of five series.
Trail was 1 for 5 on the powerplay while WL was 1 for 4.
Peter Vetri (WL) made 40 saves to take game one of the series while Kevin Hachey (TR) made 33.
Game two of the interior division semi finals goes tomorrow night (Mar. 17) at the Cariboo Arena in Williams Lake.

Mar. 11 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 3 @ Vernon Vipers - 2 OT

    Troy Newton scored at 4:34 of the first overtime period to give the Smoke Eaters a 4 - 1 first round series win over the Vernon Vipers. With the win, the Smokies keep the Trail playoff tradition alive of never having lost a first round playoff series in their 9 year history.
Game 5 of the interior division quarter finals had the Vipers down 2 - 0 with just over two minutes left on the clock but prevailed to keep their hopes alive with a pair of late third period goals to force overtime.
In a defensively minded first period, JJ Vanderstam (Newman, Hachey) drove to the net and took a perfect pass on a 3 on 2 break to put Trail up 1 - 0 at 18:28 of the opening period.
Similar to his game winning goal in Game 4 in Trail, Mark Walter (unassisted) cut off a clearing pass and moved into the slot to put a high wrist shot past netminder Mark Sibbald. That goal coming at 14:23 of the second period made it 2 - 0 Smokies after two periods of play.
Trail had a golden opportunity to move further ahead in the third as agitator Luke Pierce got into an altercation with Gary Sylvester that resulted in a 6 minute powerplay opportunity for Trail. That attempt was extended to almost 8 minutes as the Vipers were stung with another penalty just as the first attempt was ending. The Smokies were unable to capitalize however which breathed some new life into the Vipers.
That new life was rewarded at the 17:47 mark when Andrew Lord (Kipp, Santorelli) scored on the powerplay to make it 2 - 1 Trail.
With a face-off in the Smokies zone, 9 seconds left on the clock and the goaltender pulled for the extra attacker, Andrew Lord (Zulyniak) struck again, firing the puck past a screened Kevin Hachey with just 2 seconds left on the clock to force the extra frame.
Going in 1 on 1, Troy Newton (unassisted) got past the Vernon defenceman and put a backhander into the top corner for his first goal of the playoffs to give the Smokies the overtime victory.
Trail went 0 for 5 on the powerplay while Vernon went 1 for 6.
Kevin Hachey (TR) made 34 saves to take the series while Mark Sibbald (VE) stopped 29 as the Vipers season comes to a close.
The Smokies move on to Round Two and will face the Williams Lake Timberwolves starting March 16 in Williams Lake.

Mar. 9 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 3 vs Vernon Vipers - 2

    The Smoke Eaters head back to Vernon with a 3 - 1 strangle hold on the series following a narrow 3 - 2 win on home ice.
The Vipers got on the board first with a powerplay goal just 3:10 into the opening frame. Mark Nelson (Santorelli) got the goal on a rebound to give the visitors a 1 - 0 lead.
Ryan Hanley (Eccles, St. Louis) picked the puck out of a goal mouth scramble and slipped it into the open side of the net to tie it at one. Hanley's third of the series came at 7:28 of the first.
Landis Stankeivech (Lord) gave the Vipers a 2 - 1 lead heading into the first intermission on another big rebound at the 12:10 mark.
Just 18 seconds into the second period, Kyle Jones (Newton, Newman) simply put the puck on net from the side boards and slipped it past a screened Mark Sibbald to tie it at two. Jones 4th of the playoffs came while skating 4 on 4 and would stand as the only second period marker.
The Smokies looked a little flat in the third and at times had trouble clearing their zone but held the Vipers off the chart throughout the last 2/3rds of the game.
Mark Walter (unassisted) picked off a clearing attempt right in the slot and rifled it through the legs of Sibbald at the 10 minute mark of the third to seal the win for the Smokies.
Trail was 0 for 3 on the powerplay while Vernon went 1 for 4.
Kevin Hachey (TR) made 35 saves for his third straight win while Mark Sibbald (VE) made 29 for the loss.
It's do or die for the Vipers as the Smokies head back to Vernon for Game 5 of the interior division quarter finals at the Vernon Multiplex on Thursday Mar. 11th.

Mar. 8 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 5 vs Vernon Vipers - 3

    The Smoke Eaters take a 2 - 1 series lead over the Vernon Vipers with a 5 - 3 victory on home ice.
In a pretty even up first period, the Vipers came out with a 1 - 0 lead on a powerplay goal by Andrew Lord (Zulyniak, Thiessen) at the 7:11 mark. A good tilt in the first saw Mark Walter take on Luke Pierce with the edge going to Walter. Pierce was ejected for failing to tie down his jersey.
The Smokies were outshot 14 to 10 in the second period but it was all Trail scoring as the Smokies scored 3 times to take a 3 - 1 lead into the third.
Sacha Beauchemin's (Hughes, Toews) blast from the face off circle while on the powerplay tied it a one, 4:06 into the middle period.
Ryan Hanley (Beauchemin, Holmes) gave the home club the lead with another quick shot from the face off circle, on the powerplay at 18:10.
While skating 4 aside, Jesse Newman (Cox, Newton) made it 3 - 1 jumping on a rebound that got by goaltender Steve Belanger with less than one second remaining in the second period.
The Vipers cut the lead to 1 on a delayed penalty at 2:15 of the third with Aaron Volpatti (Harvey) getting the goal.
Andrew Lord (Harvey, Kindret) silenced the home crowd at 5:19 with the tying goal, his second of the night, on a 2 on 1 break.
The Smokies got that on back just 1 minute later however as Jesse Newman (Jones, Newton) one-timed a perfect pass from back of the net into the slot to regain the lead and give him two goals on the night.
With Trail playing solid defence and mostly dumping it into the Vipers zone, Kyle Jones (Newton, Bishop) tucked the final goal past Belanger with 1:22 remaining in the game for the 5 - 3 finish.
Trail went 2 for 6 with the man advantage while Vernon was 1 for 6 as well.
Kevin Hachey (TR) made 31 saves for his second win in as many games while Steve Belanger (VE) made 25 saves for his second loss.
Game 4 goes tomorrow evening (Mar. 9) at the Cominco Arena in Trail.

Mar. 6 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 4 @ Vernon Vipers - 1

    The Trail Smoke Eaters tied the Quarter final playoff series at 1 game apiece with their first ever win in the Vernon Multiplex.
In a defensive minded matchup, the Smokies took a 1 - 0 first period lead on the powerplay with Joey Hughes (St. Louis, R. Hanley) redirecting a point shot with just 9 seconds remaining in the period.
Gary Sylvester (unassisted) made it 2 - 0 Trail as he stepped out of the penalty box and into a lucky bounce that sent him in alone on goaltender Steve Belanger. That goal coming at 2:06 of the second period.
The Vipers had a good opportunity to get back into it when Mark Nelson was awarded a penalty shot 7 minutes into the third as a Trail player covered up the puck in the Trail crease. Smokies goaltender Kevin Hachey made the blocker save to secure the 2 - 0 lead.
Kyle Jones (unassisted) made good on a misplay by Steve Belanger and lifted it into a wide open net to gain a 3 - 0 lead at the 8 minute mark.
The Vipers started to take some undisciplined penalties and Kyle Jones (Newton, R. Hanley) scored his second of the night with a 2 man advantage at the midway point of the third.
Vernon finally got on the board and spoiled the Smokies shutout bid with a powerplay goal at 16:17 by Reed Kipp (unassisted) to finish it at 4 - 1.
Trail went 2 for 11 with the man advantage while Vernon was 1 for 8.
Kevin Hachey (TR) made 19 saves for the win while Steve Belanger (VE) made 24 in taking the loss.
The series now shifts to the Cominco Arena for games 3 and 4 on Monday March 8th and Tuesday March 9th.

Mar. 5 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 2 @ Vernon Vipers - 5

    The Vernon Vipers take a 1 - 0 quarter final series lead following a 5 - 2 win over Trail in a penalty filled game one at the Vernon Multiplex.
The Smokies gave up two shorthanded goals to give the Vipers a 2 - 0 lead after 20 minutes of play. Will Harvey (unassisted) surprised goaltender Kevin Hachey with a quick shot at 12:41 and former Smokie Dallas Costanzo (Nelson) scored with a long slapshot with 1:30 remaining in the period. Shots were 9 apiece after one.
Scott Dafoe (Pierce, Harvey) made it 3 - 0 just as Trail killed off a penalty at 6:55 of the second.
Trail finally got on the scoresheet with a 2 man advantage at the midway point of the middle frame on a goal from a sharp angle by Jesse Newman (Newton, T. Gawryletz).
Ryan Hanley (Jones, Holmes) cut the lead to 3 - 2 after 40 minutes with a powerplay marker coming at the 18 minute mark. The Smokies outshot the Vipers 15 - 9 in the second period.
The third was all Vernon, outshooting Trail 15 - 6 with Andrew Lord (Thiessen, Nelson) making it 4 - 2 on a delayed penalty and Ryan Kindret (Lord, Turville) scoring on the powerplay with 7:34 remaining in the game.
Trail was 2 for 11 with the man advantage while Vernon went 1 for 12.
Steve Belanger (VE) made 25 saves for the win while Kevin Hachey (TR) made 28.
Game two goes tomorrow evening (Mar. 6) at the Multiplex in Vernon.

Feb. 29 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 3 @ Quesnel Millionaires - 6

    The Smoke Eaters wrap up the 2003 / 04 regular season taking a 6 - 3 loss to the Quesnel Millionaires. The northern road swing yielded 3 of a possible 6 points and Trail finishes the season with a .500 record.
The Mills took a 2 - 0 lead by the 18 minute mark of the first on goals by Andrew Fisher (Westwood, McDonald) and Shawn Overton (Hogan, Sidhu).
Joey Hughes (Vanderstam) cut the lead to one with his 16th of the year with 28 seconds remaining in the opening period.
Shawn Overton (Blucke) with his second and Trevor Smith (Martens) gave the home team a 4 - 1 lead with goals coming at 12:37 and 16:05 of the second.
Kyle Jones (Beauchemin) finishes the regular season with 54 goals and 88 points as he cut the lead to 4 - 2 with 32 seconds remaining in the middle frame.
The Smokies showed alot more jump in the third and Jon Hanley's (Hughes) goal at 2:05 of the third had the Smokies hopes high.
That hope was dashed however when Shawn Overton (Hogan, Sidhu) scored his hat trick goal just as the Smokies returned to full strength following a Quesnel powerplay.
Jeff Gagnon added one more into an empty net for the 6 - 3 win.
Quesnel went 0 for 3 with the man advantage as Trail went 0 for 2.
Andrew Braithwaite (QU) made 32 saves for the win while Kevin Opsahl and Kevin Hachey (TR) made 41.
The Smokies now move on to face the Vernon Vipers in games 1 and 2 of the playoffs on March 5th and 6th in Vernon.

Feb. 28 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 4 @ Pr. George Spruce Kings - 3

    The Trail Smoke Eaters secure 5th spot in the interior division and a playoff date with the second place Vernon Vipers following a 4 - 3 win over the Prince George Spruce Kings.
The Spruce Kings opened the scoring on the powerplay with leading scorer Keenan Hopson (Stevens, Marshall) getting the goal at the 8 minute mark of the opening period.
Kyle Jones (Newman) stole a clearing attempt by the PG netminder and put it into a wide open net to end his recent scoring slump. That goal coming at 17:37 was scored shorthanded and tied it at 1 apiece heading into the first intermission.
The Smokies took the lead 3:47 into the second period as Kyle Jones (Newman, Holmes) put his second of the night into the top corner.
Brett Butterwick (Shuya, Marshall) tied it at 2 at 7:26 and Keenan Hopson (unassisted) scored his second of the game at the 11 minute mark to give the Spruce Kings a 3 - 2 lead.
While skating 4 aside, Kyle Jones (Newman, Bishop) got the hat trick goal at 16:20 to tie it at 3 after 40 minutes.
Jesse Newman (Jones, Holmes) scored the game winner at the 11 minute mark of the third, one timing a shot from the slot during a Trail flurry in front of the PG goal.
PG did have one goal disallowed and also rang one off the post in the dying minutes.
Kyle Jones and Jesse Newman both had 4 points on the night.
Trail was 0 for 6 on the PP while PG was 1 for 4.
Kevin Opsahl (TR) made 23 saves for his 6th win with the Smokies while Brandon Heighton and Andrew Bromby (PG) made 33.
The Smokies will play their final game of the regular season (Feb. 29) in Quesnel versus the Millionaires.

Feb. 24 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 0 @ Penticton Panthers - 3

    With the coach and eight regulars out of the lineup due to suspensions or injuries, the Trail Smoke Eaters were outworked through 2 periods and could not solve the opposing netminder in the third as the Penticton Panthers earned a 3 - 0 shutout in their final home game of the season.
Trail was outshot 16 to 9 through 20 minutes and Scott Roy's (Collins, Borba) powerplay goal at 16:47 gave the Panthers a 1 - 0 lead after one.
The Smokies were completely outworked in the second and gave up 22 shots to 9. Due to the outstanding play of goaltender Kevin Hachey, the Cat's only managed a single goal by former Smokie Jason Harding (Piller, Belanger) on a giveaway in the Trail zone.
Trail finally came to life in the third and despite some penalty trouble still managed to outshoot penticton 16 to 8. Goaltender Brad Thiessen barred the gates however and Marc Belanger (unassisted) drove the final nail in the coffin with a shorthanded empty netter with 28 seconds remaining.
Trail was 0 for 3 on the PP while Penticton went 1 for 8.
Brad Theissen (PE) made 31 saves to earn the shutout as Kevin Hachey (TR) made 46.
The Smokies will spend the final weekend of the regular season on a 3 game northern road swing to determine the final playoff spots.

Feb. 21 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 2 @ Salmon Arm Silverbacks - 5

    The Salmon Arm Silverbacks swept the weekend home and homer with Trail following a 5 - 2 victory in Salmon Arm.
The Backs took an early 2 - 0 lead by the 8 minute mark of the first period on goals by Craig Switzer (Barlow, Miller) and Ben Street (unassisted).
The Smokies got one back to finish the period down 2 - 1 on Travis Gawryletz (Holmes, Sylvester) 9th of the season.
The teams traded goals in the second with Rick Cleaver (Chucko, Zajac) getting a PP goal to give the Backs a 3 - 1 lead at 7:23 and JJ Vanderstam (Newton, St. Louis) cut their lead to 1 under 2 minutes later.
Salmon Arm added two more in the third with Kris Chucko (Switzer) scoring while playing 4 aside and Ryan McLeod (unassisted) scoring on the PP for the 5 - 2 final.
Trail was 0 for 5 on the PP while SA went 2 for 4.
Steve Christie (SA) made 26 saves for the win while Kevin Opsahl (TR) stopped 32.
Trail playes the Penticton Panthers on Tuesday Feb. 24 in Penticton.

Feb. 20 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 3 vs Salmon Arm Silverbacks - 6

    In the Smokies final regular season home game, the Silverbacks took Game One of the weekend home and home series between Trail and Salmon Arm by a score of 6 - 3.
In a very physical first period, Kris Chucko (Cleaver) gave the visitors a 1 - 0 lead at the 4:28 mark.
Justin St. Louis (Vanderstam, Newton) picked up a loose puck and slipped it between the goalies legs for his 27th of the season. That goal coming at 6:03 to tie it at one.
Two minutes later, Kris Chucko (Zajac) scored his second of the night on a breakaway to regain the lead.
The Smokies tied it at 2 with a powerplay marker at the 17 minute mark by Joey Hughes (Vanderstam, Newman) to close out the period.
Trail outshot the Backs 18 to 13 in the opening period.
The second period was scoreless but featured the heaveyweight bout of the night as Brandon Cox took on Kiel Sonne. Both participants landed a number of blows in the long drawn out fight to a draw.
Salmon Arm toook the lead againat the 8 minute mark of the third on a goal by Trevor Geiger (Gagnon, Street).
Mike Holmes (unassisted) picked up the puck in the corner and walked in to lift the equalizer over the shoulder of goaltender Patrick LePage. That goal was Holmes 8th of the year and came on the powerplay at 12:15.
Tyrell Mason (Cleaver, Chucko) scored the game winner for the Silverbacks on the powerplay just 53 seconds later.
The Silverbacks added 2 more, empty netters by Ryan McLeod (unassisted) and Trevor Geiger (Gagnon) to finish it at 6 - 3.
The Smokies were 2 for 6 with the man advantage while SA went 1 for 4.
Patrick Lepage (SA) made 44 saves for the win while Kevin Hachey (TR) made 35.
With the loss tonight and a win by the Merritt Centennials, the Smokies move into a tie with the PG Spruce Kings for fifth in the Interior, a single point behind the Cents.
Game 2 of the series with the Backs goes tomorrow night (Feb. 21) in Salmon Arm.

Feb. 13 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 1 vs Coquitlam Express - 3

    The Smokies continue to have trouble finding the net as they gave up their 2nd loss this week with only one Trail goal scored in each game.
Coquitlam opened the scoring on a 2 on 1 at 3:34 of the first period with Luke Vandekerkhove (Bradford, Mazur) getting the goal.
Alan Mazur (Giroday) made it 2 - 0 after 20 minutes on an odd goal where Kevin Opsahls initial save deflected straight up high and hit Opsahl's back on the way back down and dribbled into the net.
Kevin Hachey came on after that and following a scoreless second period was beaten at 2:13 of the third to make it 3 - 0 Express. Luke Vandekerkhove (Soares, Bradford) scored his second of the game on a 2 on 1 break.
Justin St. Louis (Cox, J. Hanley) spoiled the shutout bid at 10:43, picking up a loose puck and tucking it around the pad of goaltender Mark Dekanich for the 3 - 1 final.
The Smokies outshot the Express in all three periods with their best being in the second by a margin of 15 - 4.
Trail was 0 for 3 on the PP while Coquitlam was 0 for 2.
Dekanich (CO) made 43 saves for the win while Opsahl and Hachey (TR) made a total of 24.
Trail and Salmon Arm have a home and home series next weekend. Trail's final home game will be Friday Feb. 20th with the return matchup going the next night in Salmon Arm.

Feb. 11 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 1 @ Vernon Vipers - 4

    Special teams played a huge role as the Vernon Vipers downed the Smokies 4 - 1. The Vipers won the 6 game series between these two clubs by a margin of 5 to 1 including 3 overtime wins.
Following a scoreless first period, Jesse Newman (unassisted) sported Trail a 1 - 0 lead with his 18th of the year, a shorthanded marker coming at the 6:36 mark of the second.
The Vipers got that back on the same powerplay with Stewart Thiessen (Kindret, Zulyniak) tying it just 21 seconds later.
The game winner came at the 13 minute mark of the second on another powerplay goal by Andy Zulyniak (Lord).
The Vipers added 2 more in the third period. Rob Turville's (Lord, Claffey) goal came just seconds after another man advantage for the Snakes and Mike Santorelli (Wilkens, Nelson) made it 4 - 1 with Vernon's 3rd PP goal on the night.
Vernon was 3 for 6 with the man advantage while Trail went 0 for 3.
Steve Belanger (VE) made 23 saves for the win while Kevin Hachey (TR) made 33.
The Smokies return home to the only visit by the Coquitlam Express this season on Friday Feb. 13th.

Feb. 8 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 4 vs Penticton Panthers - 3 OT

    Kyle Jones becomes the Trail Smoke Eaters first ever 50 goal scorer in helping to defeat the Penticton Panthers 4 - 3 in double overtime at the Cominco Arena.
The Panthers opened the scoring just 32 seconds into the game with Matt Shultz (Collins) one-timing a pass from back of the net. That would stand as the only goal of the opening period.
Travis Gawryletz (Newton, Holmes) threaded a point shot on the powerplay to tie it at one at the 5:47 mark of the 2nd period.
Andrew MacKenzie (Towns, Belanger) got that one back for the Cats at 12:13 to make it 2 - 1 Panthers after two.
The Smokies tied it again on the powerplay 2 minutes into the third with Justin St. Louis (Jones, Newton) taking a perfect cross crease pass and making no mistake.
Kyle Jones (St. Louis) 50th of the season came on the powerplay just 15 seconds later, putting a nice deke on goaltender Brad Thiessen and tucking it into the bottom corner to give the Smokies the lead for the first time on the night.
Matt Piller ( Giroux) tied for Penticton it to force OT with another PP marker coming at the 12:38 mark.
Sacha Beauchemin (B. Gawryletz) was the overtime hero at 1:48 of the second OT period with a bank shot off Thiessen for the win.
The Smokies were 3 for 7 with the man advantage while the Cats went 1 for 1.
Kevin Opsahl (TR) made 33 saves for his 5th win with Trail and Brad Thiessen (PE) made 50.
With the win, the Smokies crawl back up the interior standings ladder from 5th place to a tie for 3rd with the Williams Lake Timberwolves.
Next up Trail travels to Vernon to take on the Vipers on Wednesday Feb. 11th.

Feb. 5 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 0 vs Nanaimo Clippers - 3

    The Nanaimo Clippers shutout the Smoke Eaters for the first time in the 2003/2004 season with a 3 - 0 victory. With the Smokies top two leading scorers on a flydown to the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, the remaining Smokies were unable to put any finish on their chances against one of the best defences in the BCHL. The game was pretty even until Nanaimo popped two in the opening minutes of the second period within 40 seconds of each other.
Tyler Mugford (Hurd, Moncur) batted in a bouncing puck on the powerplay to put the Clippers on the board at 1:56 of the second period.
Forty seconds later Brennan Francon (unassisted) muscled the puck out from behind the Smokies net and put it in on the wraparound to make it 2 - 0.
Brendan Kushniruk (Lefebvre, Moncur) rounded out the scoring with a one timer in the slot at 14:35 of the middle frame.
The Smoke Eaters outshot the Clippers 32 to 29 on the night but could not solve goaltender Dennis Berube.
There was a bit of a ruckus in the final minute of play when Jon Hanley was assessed with a 2 minute hitting from behind penalty on Chris Kestell. While pleading his case to the referee, Hanley was sucker punched by Kestell. Hanley was playing in his second game back after sitting out a month with a concussion following a cheap shot back on Dec. 28th vs Merritt.
Trail went 0 for 8 on the PP whlile the Clippers were 1 for 6.
Berube (NA) made 32 saves for the win while the returning Kevin Hachey (TR) made 26 in taking the loss. With the loss the Smokies drop into fourth spot in the interior division, and are a single point ahead of both PG and Merritt.
Trail returns to action Sunday afternoon against the Penticton Panthers at the Cominco Arena.

Jan. 31 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 9 vs Quesnel Millionaires - 4

    Jesse Newman earned 4 points with a goal and 3 assists to lead the Smoke Eaters to a 9 - 4 beating of the visiting Quesnel Millionaires. The Mills went goal for goal with Trail over two periods as the Smokies took a slim 5 - 4 lead into the third. A four goal burst in a 5 minute span put the game in the bag for Trail and allowed the Smokies to remain tied with Williams Lake for third spot in the interior division.
Jesse Newman (Hughes, J. Hanley) opened the scoring for the Smokies at 5:38 of the first period.
The Mills Jeff Gagnon (Smith, Baird) tied it at 1 with a powerplay goal at 8:33.
Joey Hughes (B. Gawryletz, Newman) scored shorthanded to regain the Trail lead at 12:23.
The Mills Jordan Baird tied it at 2 with another powerplay marker coming at 18:19.
Justin St. Louis (R. Hanley, Walter) regained the Smokies lead once again with under a minute to play in the first period.
With just 6 seconds left in the first, the Mills Shawn Overton (Boyetchko, Blucke) tied it again to make it 3 - 3 after 20 minutes.
The goal trading continued in the second as Mike Holmes (Eccles, Jones) made it 4 - 3 Trail just 15 seconds in.
The Mills Ryan Martens (O,Donnell) responded at 12:29 to tie it once again at 4.
JJ Vanderstam (Newman) gave Trail the lead for the final time on the night and scored the game winner at 17:43 of the second period.
The Smokies doubled up Quesnel on the shot clock in the third and scored 4 times in a span of five minutes.
Kyle Jones (Newton Eccles) notted his 49th of the season, Mike Holmes (T. Gawryletz, Eccles) scored his second of the night, Brandon Cox (Hughes, Newman) notched his second of the year and Sacha Beachemin (St. Louis) added one more on the powerplay for the 9 - 4 final.
The Smokies were 1 for 4 with the man advantage while the Mills went 2 for 6.
Kevin Opsahl (TR) made 29 saves for his 4th win with the Smokies while Chad Ferris (Qu) made 39 for the loss.
The Smokies take on the island division leading Nanaimo Clippers at the Cominco arena on Friday Feb. 6th.

Jan. 24 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 2 vs Salmon Arm Silverbacks - 3

    The Salmon Arm Silverbacks swept the weekend home and homer with a 3 - 2 win over the Smoke Eaters.
Trail had a good start to the first period but began to look tired and disorganized through the second and into the third.
Trail got a bit of a lucky break to open the scoring as a nice pass out of the corner found the skate rather than the stick of Kyle Jones (Holmes, Newman) at the 4 minute mark. That would stand as Jones 48th of the year.
Ryan Hanley (T. Gawryletz, Opsahl) gave the home club a 2 - 0 lead at the midway point of the period when he was allowed to walk in on the PP and slip it between the legs of goaltender Patrick LaPage.
The Silverbacks got one back on a goal by Travis Ramsey (Zajac) at the 15 minute mark to make it 2 - 1 Trail after one period of play.
The Smokies were flat footed for much of the second and Ben Street (Gagnon, Geiger) banged in a rebound at 10:36 of the second to tie it at 2.
Blaine Jarvis (Chucko) scored the game winner for the Backs on a 1 on 1 with a realatively harmless looking shot on net that fooled goaltender Kevin Opsahl at 5:24 of the third.
The Smokies picked up their game after that and outshot the Silverbacks 18 to 9 over the final 20 minutes but could not manage the equalizer.
The Smokies were 1 for 6 on the powerplay while SA went 0 for 3.
Patrick LaPage (SA) made 43 saves for the win while Kevin Opsahl (TR) made 39.
The Smokies are back in action next Saturday night (Jan. 31) at home to the Quesnel Millionaires.

Jan. 23 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 2 @ Salmon Arm Silverbacks - 4

    The Salmon Arm Silverbacks take game one of their home and home series with the Trail Smoke Eaters. Three quick 1st period goals would be all the Silverbacks would need as the Smokies gave up their 18th road loss of the season.
With both teams missing players due to injuries or suspensions (SA) the Smokies had four affilliates in the lineup including starting goaltender Ryan Riddle of the Beaver Valley Nitehawks. Riddle fell victim to the Silverbacks first shot on goal as Ryan McCloud (Jarvis) put the home team on the board just 37 seconds into the game.
Chris Chucko (Zajac, Ramsey) made it 2 - 0 at the 7 minute mark of the first and Ryan Mcloud (Switzer) scored the eventual game winner just 40 seconds later for his second of the night.
Silverbacks goaltender Steve Christie had a strong game stoning the Smokies time and time again in the 2nd and 3rd periods.
Craig Switzer (Barlow, Mcleod) gave the Backs a 4 - 0 lead with a powerplay goal coming at 6:43 of the second period.
Although the score was not indicative of the play, the Smokies finally started to mount a comeback as Joey Hughes (Toews, Vanderstam) capped off a 3 way passing play at 2:41 of the third.
Troy Newton (Newman, Gawryletz) cut the lead to two on the powerplay, deflecting his 26th of the season into the net at 4:27.
The Smokies had a great opportunity to get back in it as Steve Christie was handed a 4 minute spearing penalty late in the third but Christie kept the doors shut the rest of the way.
Both teams were 1 for 7 with the man advantage.
Steve Christie (SA) made 43 saves for the win while Ryan Riddle (TR) made 35 in the losing cause.
Game two goes Saturday night (Jan. 24) in Trail.

Jan. 17 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 7 vs Langley Hornets - 4

    Kyle Jones hat trick performance not only earned him Player of the Game honours but also allowed him to surpass a Trail Smoke Eaters franchise record for most goals scored in a single season with his 47th of the year. Massimo Provenzano held the record of 46 goals scored in the 97-98 season.
Ryan Hanley (T. Gawryletz, Jones) capitalized on a turnover in the Hornet zone and walked in to put a nice move on goaltender Cam Norris-Jones at the 6 minute mark of the first period to open the scoring.
Fourty-five seconds later it was tied at one as Darren Olson (Moore, Berman) got the Hornets on the board at 6:45.
The Smokies missed the boat on more than a few opportunities in the first and out shot the Hornets 16 - 4 but it would remain tied after 20 minutes.
Trail made it 3 - 1 on a pair of goals early in the second with Kyle Jones (Newton) and Travis Gawryletz (Newman) getting the goods.
Langley came back to tie the game by the 12:24 mark on a powerplay goal by Michael Wilson (May, Norris-Jones) and one at even strenght by Robert Pritchard (unassisted).
The Smokies broke the game open with three goals in under three minutes to close out the second period ahead 6 - 3. Kyle Jones (R. Hanley, Newton) scored his second of the night on the powerplay at 17:32, Ryan Hanley (Fransen, Newton) got the eventual game winner and his second of the night, also on the PP, just 42 seconds later and Kyle Jones (R. Hanley, Newton) got his third of the evening with under a minute to go in the frame.
Langley's Matt Pope (Siu, Weaver) got one back for the Hornet's midway through the third but Ryan Hanley (Jones, Newton) capped off his game with the hat trick into an empty net for the 7 - 4 final. Hanley and Jones both had 5 point nights with 3 goals and 2 assists.
The highlite fight of the night saw Trail's David Eccles in a toe to toe battle with Langley's Nathan Zurak.
The Smokies were 2 for 5 with the man advantage while the Hornets went 1 for 5.
Kevin Opsahl (TR) made 24 saves for his third win with the Smokies while cam Norris-Jones (LA) and Corey Grant (3rd) made a total of 34 on the night.
The Smokies have a home and home series with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks next weekend, Friday in the Arm and Saturday night back in Trail.

Jan. 16 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 5 vs Pr. George Spruce Kings - 4

    Five different scorers found the net for the Trail Smoke Eaters as the Smokies narrowly defeated the visiting PG Spruce Kings 5 - 4 at the Cominco Arena.
Ryan Hanley (Newton, Jones) opened the scoring for Trail with his 11th of the season at 3:44 of the opening period.
Darryl Young (Shuya, MacIntyre) tied it at one with his first goal in his second game with the Spruce Kings coming at the 15 minute mark.
Trail took the lead midway through the second as Joey Hughes (Newman, Toews) knocked it in on a goal mouth scramble.
The Kings came back to tie it again just 50 seconds later when Chris Stevens (unassisted) stole the puck in the Trail zone and put it top shelf on goaltender Kevin Opsahl.
Matt Shuya (Hopson) gave the visitors the lead with a powerplay goal at 11:27 but Troy Newton (Bishop, Beauchemin) knotted it again, on the powerplay, at 17:30 to make it 3 - 3 after 2 periods.
Tyler Bellamy (Oddleifson) put the visitors ahead at 1:36 of the third but Sacha Beauchemin (R. Hanley, Hughes) tied it once again with a powerplay goal coming at 4:14.
Kyle Jones (Newman, B. Gawryletz)) got the game winner and his 44th in 44 games, on the PP with 9 minutes remaining in the game.
Trail went 3 for 6 on the PP and PG went 1 for 7.
Kevin Opsahl (TR) made 21 saves for the win while Brandon Highton )PG) made 29.
The Smokies take on the Langley Hornets in their only visit to Trail on Jan. 17.

Jan. 11 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 6 @ Victoria Salsa - 2

    The Smoke Eaters go 1 for 3 on the road this weekend following a 6 - 2 victory over the Victoria Salsa. Trail was down 1 - 0 after 1 period but scored 4 times in the second to take a 4 - 2 lead into the third.
Castlegar native Blair Tassone spotted the home team Salsa a 1 - 0 lead with the only goal of the first period, a shorthanded marker coming at the 9 minute mark.
The Smokies rebounded in the second scoring 3 unanswered by the midway point of the game. Sacha Beauchemin (Eccles, Jones) tied it at 1 on the PP at the 2 minute mark, David Eccles (R. Hanley) gave Trail the lead at 9:39 and Jesse Newman (Hughes) scored the eventual game winner just under a minute later.
League leading goal scorer Kyle Greentree (Cherwinski) cut the Smokies lead to 1 with his 47th goal of the year coming on the PP at 14:23.
Brad Toews (unassisted) got that one back for the Smokies, going in alone and scoring on his own rebound while shorthanded at 16:29.
The third period saw the Smokies take a 5 - 2 lead on Kyle Jones (Eccles, Holmes) 42nd of the year midway through the period and then Jones (Beauchemin, Lewis) followed that up with his 43rd 2 minutes later for the 6 - 2 finish.
The Smokies were 1 for 6 with the man advantage while the Salsa went 1 for 5.
Kevin Opsahl (TR) made 24 saves for his first win with the Orange and Black whileBen McMullen and Wylie Rogers (VI) made a total of 34.
The Smokies return home to host the PG Spruce Kings and the Langley Hornets next weekend at the Cominco arena.

Jan. 10 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 1 @ Cowichan Valley Capitals - 7

    The Cowichan Valley Capitals rolled over the visiting Smoke Eaters by a score of 7 - 1 in the Smokies second loss of their 3 game coastal road trip.
Trail native and recently released goaltender Kevin Opsahl of the Portland Winter Hawks got a rough start in goal as Dan Gendur (Kordyban, Reynolds) scored just 33 seconds in.
Simon Corriveau (Nelson, Hood) and Steve Kordyban (Gendur, MacIntyre) scored twice more for the Caps to make it 3 - 0 after 1 period of play.
The second started off much like the first with Geoff Irwin (Kordyban, Boyce) getting a powerplay goal just 49 seconds in.
Simon Corriveau (Nelson, MacIntyre) added another PP marker midway through the period for a 5 - 0 lead after two.
The Capitals made it 6 - 0 at the 9 minute mark of the third on a goal by Darrell Draper (Hood, Irwin).
Trail finally got on the board and spoiled the Caps shutout attempt when Kyle Jones (R. Hanley) netted his 41st of the year while playing shorthanded at the 11:25 mark.
Darrell Draper (Corriveau, Nelson) added his second of the night with 30 seconds remaining in the game for the 7 - 1 final.
Cowichan went 2 for 8 on the powerplay while the Smokies were 0 for 5.
Kevin LaChance (CV) made 38 saves for the win while Kevin Opsahl and Kevin Hachey (TR) made a total of 38 as well.
The Smokies wrap up the road trip in Victoria where they face the Salsa Sunday afternoon (Jan. 11).

Jan. 9 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 3 @ Coquitlam Express - 6

    Three unanswered third period goals broke open a 3 - 3 tie after two periods of play to give the Coquitlam Express a 6 - 3 victory in the Smokies first game of their 3 game coastal road trip.
The Smokies showed a lot of jump in the first and Ryan Hanley (St. Louis, Newton) put the visitors up 1 - 0 with his 10th goal of the season at the 8 minute mark.
The celebration was shortlived however as the Express's Peter Merth (Jones, Bradford) scored just 21 seconds later to make it 1 - 1 after 20 minutes.
Jesse Newman regained (Toews, Eccles) the Smokies lead 5 minutes into the second but the Express roared right back again just over a minute later with Brock Bradford (Betts, Jones) getting the goal.
Jeff Martens (Paige, Corcoran) gave Coquitlam the lead for the first time on the night, knocking in a rebound at 16:50 of the second.
Justin St. Louis (R. Hanley, T. Gawryletz) tied it at 3 with just 32 seconds remaining in the middle frame.
It was all Coquitlam in the third with the Express outshooting the Smokies 19 - 10 in the final period and scored three times for the win.
David Jones (Bradford) got the game winner 3 minutes into the period and Scott Jow (Allen, Mazur) added an insurance marker just 16 seconds later.
Chad Betts (Bradford, Corcoran) added one more on the powerplay with under 2 minutes to play.
The Express were 1 for 4 with the man advantage while Trail went 0 for 2.
Kyle Jones (CO) made 31 saves for the win while Ryan McConnachie (TR) stopped 30 for Trail.
The Smokies move on to play the Cowichan Valley Capitals in game number 2 of their coastal road swing (Jan. 10).

Jan. 4 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 11 vs Merritt Centennials - 5

    In a very chippy, physical affair, the Trail Smoke Eaters scored 6 powerplay goals on their way to an 11 - 5 romp over the Merritt Centennials. The rough stuff dominated the opening period as these two teams faced off for the 4th time in just over two weeks.
Trail opened the scoring with a pair of PP markers with Ryan Hanley (Newman, Beauchemin) scoring 2 minutes in and Gary Sylvester (R. Hanley, Bishop) at the 6 minute mark.
Dion Lahoda (Ewanchuck) got the Centennials on the board at 7:46.
Kyle Jones (B. Gawryletz, Lewis) and Sacha Beauchemin (B. Gawryletz, R. Hanley) scored twice more on the powerplay for the Smokies to take a 4 - 1 into the first intermission.
The teams settled down to play a little hockey in the second and Sacha Beauchemin (Eccles, Jones) picked up his second of the night at 4:24.
Aaron Conlon (McCormick, Hill) and Brandon Hill (McCormick, Conlon) on the PP scored for the Cents to cut Trails lead to 5 - 3 midway through the period.
Kyle Jones (Eccles, Beauchemin) got the game winner and his second of the night at 15:40 but Merritts Dan Faedo (Cossey, Riley) got that one back just 17 seconds later.
Troy Newton (R. Hanley, St. Louis) put the Smokies ahead 7 - 4 after 2 periods of play.
Kyle Jones (R. Hanley, Holmes) picked up the hat trick and Ryan Hanley (Newton, St. Louis) got his second by the midway mark of the third to make it 9 - 4 Trail.
Steve Cameron (Riley, Faedo) added one more for the Centennials coming at the 12 minute mark.
Brandon Gawryletz (Jones, Vanderstam) hit the double digits on the PP with 30 seconds remaining and Kyle Jones (Vanderstam, Holmes) scored his 4th of the night with just 2 seconds left on the clock, also on the PP.
Jones and Ryan Hanley both had 6 point nights while defenceman Sacha Beauchemin had 4 points with 2 goals and 2 assists.
The Smokies were 6 for 10 with the man advantage while Merritt went 1 for 5.
The return of goaltender Ryan McConnachie (TR) to game action saw the Fruitvale native make 31 saves for the win while Kyle Fraser (ME) made 47 in the losing cause.
The Smokies head to the coast next weekend with games against Coquitlam, Cowichan and Victoria.

Jan. 2 / 04    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 3 vs Vernon Vipers - 4 OT

    The Trail Smoke Eaters 11 game home unbeaten streak has come to an end with a 4 - 3 overtime loss to the Vernon Vipers.
In a highly entertaining, fast paced contest, the score was tied 2 - 2 after 20 minutes of play and the Smokies held a 3 - 2 lead after 40 minutes.
Vernon's Mark Nelson (Kindret, Lord) opened the scoring at 7:33 of the first period.
Brad Toews (Cox, Newman) tucked in his 9th of the season to tie it at 1 just 37 seconds later.
Kyle Jones (Newton, T. Gawryletz) gave Trail the lead at the 11 minute mark as he redirected a blast from the blueline while on the powerplay.
The Vipers tied it at 2 with under a minute to play in the first on a goal mouth scramble that saw Luke Pierce (Dafoe, Harvey) poke it home for the tie.
Joey Hughes (Newman, Toews) scored the only goal of the second period at 1:22 to give the Smokies a one goal lead after 2 periods of play.
Dustin Claffey (Santorelli, Nelson) scored on another goal mouth scramble at 12:36 of the third to force the extra frames.
Following a scoreless 4 on 4 OT period, Reed Kipp (unassisted) got the game winner on a quick shot from the face-off circle that beat goaltender Kevin Hachey with just 3 seconds remaining on the clock.
The Smokies were 1 for 5 with the man advantage while the Vipers were 0 for 4.
Mark Sibbald (VE) made 41 saves for the win while Kevin Hachey (TR) made 36.
The Smokies take on the Merritt Centennials on Sun. Jan. 4th for the Cent's 3rd visit to Trail in just over a week.

Dec. 28 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 8 vs Merritt Centennials - 4

    Joey Hughes scored three times to lead the Smokies to an 8 - 4 victory over the Merritt Centennials and sweep the double header weekend. Trail's 5 first period goals would be all they would need for the win and move into sole possession of 3rd spot in the interior division.
Troy Newton (Vanderstam, T. Gawryletz) opened the scoring for Trail early in the first followed by a shorthanded marker by Jesse Newman (Toews, Hachey) at the 8 minute mark.
The Cents got their only goal of the period by Carver Dowhan (McCormick, Cameron) at the midway point of the first.
The Smokies scored three straight after that with Justin St. Louis (B. Gawryletz, Newton) on the PP, Kyle Jones (B. Gawryletz, Sylvester) also on the PP and Joey Hughes (Eccles) with the game winner at the 18:46 mark.
Mike Holmes (B. Gawryletz, Beauchemin) made it 6 - 1 with a PP marker 2 minutes into the second.
Merritt got 2 back with Aaron Conlon (Hume, McCormick) and Shane McCormick (Saukarookoff) scoring for the Cent's.
Joey Hughes (Eccles, B. Gawryletz) picked up his second of the night on the PP at 12:31 to make it 7 - 3.
Steve Cameron (Dowhan, Baird) added one more for the Centennials before Joey Hughes (Newman) got the hat trick at 15:15 of the second.
There was no scoring in the third to end it at 8 - 4.
Brandon Gawryletz had a great game with 4 assists.Trail was 4 for 7 on the PP while Merritt went 1 for 6.
Kevin Hachey (TR) made24 saves for the Smokies 11th straight win at home while Kyle Fraser and Brandon Cross (ME) made a total of 43.
The Smokies next host the Vernon Vipers on Friady Jan. 2nd.

Dec. 27 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 5 vs Merritt Centennials - 3

    The Smokies extend their home winning streak to 10 games with a 5 - 3 win over the Merritt Centennials. Although both teams were showing signs of Christmas past, the Smokies dominated the first period and took a 3 -1 lead after 20 minutes. Merritt got back into the game in the second to tie it at 3 but Trail added 1 more in the second and 1 in the third for the win.
Ryan Hanley (Jones, Holmes) opened the scoring just 1:45 into the game when he was allowed to walk in alone and put a nice move on goaltender Brandon Cross.
Joey Hughes (Newman, Hachey) picked up his own rebound for his 6th of the year coming at the 4:51 mark to take a 2 - 0 lead.
The Centennials got that one back just 10 seconds later as Carver Dowhan (Faedo) cut the lead to one.
Gary Sylvester (Lewis, T. Gawryletz) took a nice pass which sent him in all alone at 10:49 for the 3 - 1 first period lead.
The Smokies outshot their opponent 20 to 6 in the opening frame.
The Cents tied it at three with a pair of goals in the second period. Jordan Dickson (Conlon, McCormick) one timed a X crease pass at 7:27 and Shane McCormick (Hume, Cross) scored on the powerplay at 14:29.
Travis Gawryletz's (Newton, St. Louis) point shot on the powerplay just 45 seconds later would stand as the game winner.
Joey Hughes (unassisted) added one more, stealing the puck in the merritt zone and putting a nice deke on Cross for his second of the night coming at 1:12 of the third.
Trail was 1 for 2 with the man advantage while Merritt was 1 for 4.
Kevin Hachey (TR) made 23 saves for the win while at the other end, Brandon Cross (ME) made 36.
These same two teams face off tomorrow afternoon (Dec. 28) at the Cominco arena.
The win moves Trail into a tie for third place in the division with the Williams Lake Timberwolves.

Dec. 19 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 2 @ Merritt Centennials - 6

    The Smoke Eaters final road game before the Christmas break was a disappointing 6 - 2 loss to the host Merritt Centennials.
The Cents jumped out to a 2 - 0 lead after one period with Shane McCormick (Hume, Cross) scoring shorthanded at 10:44 and Brandon Hill (Hume, Sankey) scoring on the powerplay 2 minutes later.
The Smokies cut the lead to 1 with Justin St. Louis (R. Hanley) one timing a pass in the slot for his 21st of the season at 9:29 of the middle frame.
The Centennials got that one back on a 2 on 1 break at 15:41 as Dion Lahoada (Hill, Hume) made it 3 - 1 after 2 periods of play.
The Smokies came out firing in the third and again cut the lead to 1 with Travis Gawryletz (Walter, Sylvester) threading a low shot from the point to make it 3 - 2 at the 2:44 mark.
The Momentum soon shifted the other way however as Merritt scored three straight for the 6 - 2 final. Carver Dowhan (Riley, Cameron) at 3:32, Blair Riley (Cameron) at 6:29 and Steve Sankey (Riley, Dickson) at 9:31 scored for the Cents.
Kevin Hachey got the gate after that goal and AP Ryan Riddle kept the doors shut the rest of the way.
Trail was 0 for 2 on the PP while the Cents were 1 four 5.
Hachey and Riddle (TR) made 21 saves on the night while Brandon Cross (ME) made 26 for the win.
The Smokies will have a chance to avenge the loss after the Christmas break on home ice as the Merritt Centennials play twice at the Cominco arena on Jan. 27 and Jan. 28.

Dec. 16 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 5 vs Vernon Vipers - 1

    The Smokies head into the Holiday Break with a 9 game unbeaten streak on home ice following a 5 - 1 win over the Vernon Vipers. The Victory gives the Smokies a total of 18 goals for in the last 3 games, and just 2 goals against.
In a fast paced affair, Troy Newton (Waycott, R. Hanley) picked up a perfect pass in the crease to score his 22nd of the year at 14:39 of the first period.
Affiliate player Tyler Waycott (Holmes) made it 2 - 0 Trail just over 3 minutes into the second and then Waycott (Eccles, Holmes) got his second of the evening (and second as a Smoke Eater) midway through the period.
The Smokies extended their lead to 4 - 0 as Jon Hanley (Sylvester) jammed in a rebound at the 11 minute mark. Vipers Goaltender Steve Belanger got the hook after that goal in favour of Mark Sibbald.
Tyler Waycott (Holmes, Eccles) made it 3 on the night just 2 minutes later for the hat trick. The Beaver Valley Nitehawks' 4 point performance also earned him Player of the Game honours.
The Vipers spoiled Kevin Hachey's 150 minutes without a goal against streak at 17:45 of the second period with a shorthanded marker by Mark Nelson (Santorelli) to make it 5 - 1.
There was no scoring in the third period but the highlite fight of the night saw Brad Toews lay a lickin' on Aaron Volpatti in the final seconds of the game.
With the win the Smokies move into a tie with Williams Lake for 3rd spot in the Interior Division although the Wolves hold 3 games in hand.
Trail went 0 for 8 with the man advantage while Vernon was 0 for 3.
Kevin Hachey (TR) made 28 saves for the win, dropping his GAA from 3.71 to 3.19 over the weekend, while Belanger and Sibbald (VE) made 40 saves for the loss.
After the Holiday Break, the Smoke Eaters take on the Merritt Centennials in a pair of games at the Cominco Arena on Dec. 27th and 28th.

Dec. 14 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 8 vs Chilliwack Chiefs - 0

    Kevin Hachey earned his first shutout of the 2003 / 2004 season as the Trail Smoke Eaters hammered the visiting Chilliwack Chiefs 8 - 0 in an afternoon matchup at the Cominco Arena. The Smokies held a 1 - 0 lead after 20 minutes and scored four times in the second period to take a 5 - 0 lead.
Sacha Beauchemin (Newton, B. Gawryletz) pitched in on the powerplay and put it in the 5 hole to score the only first period goal, his third of the year, at the 16:16 mark.
Kyle Jones (Eccles, B. Gawryletz) rifled one into the top corner at 2:23 of the second and Brad Toews (Newman, Hughes) pounced on a rebound just 42 seconds later to make it 3 - 0.
The Chiefs were putting on some sustained pressure midway through the period but it would be Kyle Jones (B. Gawryletz, Eccles) getting his second of the game at the 11:32 mark which signalled a goaltender change for the Chiefs. Curtis Darling got the yank in favour of Drew Martz.
Martz didn't fare much better as Jon Hanley (unassisted) jammed in his third of the season just under a minute later.
Gary Sylvester (B. Gawryletz, J. Hanley) made it 6 - 0 two minutes into the third on the powerplay and Kyle Jones (R. Hanley, B. Gawryletz) scored his hattrick goal just 13 seconds after that.
The Chiefs very nearly spoiled the shutout attempt at the 11:45 mark but the goal was waved off as it was gloved into the net.
Frustration was showing on the Chiefs as they took several penalties in the final five minutes and allowed Derek Lewis (Beauchemin, Holmes) to finish out the scoring on a 2 man advantage with 3 minutes remaining.
Brandon Gawryletz had 5 points on the night with 5 assists.
The Smokies were 3 for 9 on the PP while Chilliwack was 0 for 6.
Kevin Hachey (TR) made 34 saves for the shutout while Darling and Martz (CH) made 39 to give Trail their 8th straight win on home ice.
The Smokies will be sporting their new third set of jerseys when they take on the Vernon Vipers on Tuesday night (Dec. 16) in Trail.

Dec. 12 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 5 vs Powell River Kings - 1

    The Smoke Eaters avenged last weeks 5 - 4 loss to Powell River with a 5 - 1 victory over the Kings in the return matchup in Trail.
With coach Van Hereweghe stressing discipline, the Smokies still found themselves playing shorthanded early in the opening period. The Kings capitalized on their 1st powerplay opportunity of the period with Shawn Mair (Chappell, P. Crowder) getting the goal at the 6 minute mark to give them a 1 - 0 lead after 1 period of play.
Goaltender Kevin Hachey kept the gates closed after that and while PR netminder and Castlegar native Alex Evin also had a strong performance, Trail scored 5 unanswered for the win.
Trail's grinders had a strong second period with Gary Sylvester (J. Hanley, Hachey) receiving a nice pass in the slot and sniping the top corner for the tying goal at the 3 minute mark.
Jon Hanley (Walter, Sylvester) drove to the net to get the game winner and his 2nd of the season at 7:21 of the middle frame.
David Eccles (T. Gawryletz, R. Hanley) followed that up with his 4th of the season, picking up a long pass at the blueline and going in alone to put it top shelf on the powerplay. That goal coming at the 11 minute mark to make it 3 - 1 Trail after 2.
Justin St. Louis (Newton) broke in around the defence sixteen minutes into the third to score a shorthanded goal on the backhand and make it 4 - 1.
The icing on the cake came with 2 minutes remaining in the game as Brandon Cox (Toews, Eccles) threaded a shot from the point for his first goal of the year.
A well disciplined game up to that point, four fights broke out in the final two minutes to end the game at 5 - 1.
The Smokies were 1 for 6 on the PP while PR went 1 for 8.
Kevin Hachey (TR) made 34 saves for the win while Alex Evin (PR) made 42 for the loss.
The Smoke Eaters take on the Chilliwack Chiefs on Sunday afternoon (Dec. 14) at 3pm.

Dec. 7 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 2 @ Nanaimo Clippers - 7

    The Trail Smoke Eaters finished up their 6 game road stretch taking a 7 - 2 loss to the Island leading Nanaimo Clippers. The Smokies were .500 on the road taking 6 of a possible 12 points.
Penalties continue to be a problem for the Smoke Eaters as the Clippers scored 4 times with the man advantage.
Beaver Valley call up and former Clipper Ryan Riddle got the start for Trail and gave up a PP marker to Blaire Lefebvre (Mulock) 4:32 into the opening frame.
The Clippers took a 2 - 0 lead after 20 minutes on a goal by David Moncur (Olson) at the 12:45 mark.
Following up on a 2 on 1 break, Kyle Jones (R. Hanley, Newman) put the Smokies on the board at the 6 minute mark of the second period.
Then the floodgates opened for Nanaimo with 4 unanswered goals in a span of less than six minutes.
Fruitvale native and former BV Nitehawk Daryle Hurd (Mulock, Moncur) started the ball rolling with a pair (Mulock, Moncur), the 2nd on the PP, Tyson Mulock (Moncur, Foote) then scored to prompt a goaltender change for the Smokies and Mulock again (Gaudet) on the PP to take a 6 - 1 lead.
Kyle Jones (Bishop, T. Gawryletz) got one back for Trail at the 16:47 mark, going in alone on the powerplay to score his 31st of the year.
Tyson Mulock (Lefebvre, Olson)) scored the natural hattrick with a 5 on 3 advantage with just 51 seconds remaining in the 2nd period to make it 7 - 2. Mulock had 6 points on the night with 3 goals and 3 assists.
Kevin Hachey kept the doors shut the rest of the way as did Nanaimo netminder Jeff Pasemko. Hachey and Riddle (TR) were peppered with 50 shots on the night while Pasemko (NA) made 25 saves for the win.
Trail went 1 for 4 with the man advantage while the Clippers scored 4 times on their 9 tries.
The Smokies are back at home next weekend for a rematch with the Powell River Kings on Friday Dec. 12 and the Chilliwack Chiefs on Sun. Dec. 14.

Dec. 6 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 5 @ Alberni Valley Bulldogs - 4 OT

    Like the previous night, the Trail Smoke Eaters got into penalty trouble in the dying minutes of a 4 - 4 tie but unlike the previous night, the Smokies persevered and beat the Alberni Valley Bulldogs 5 - 4 at 4:17 of the second overtime period.
The Smokies played a more disciplined game and traded goal for goal throughout with the Dogs in the second game of their 3 game Island road trip.
The Dogs opened the scoring just 32 seconds into the game when Tyler Ruel (Krantz) redirected the first shot on net past goaltender Kevin Hachey.
Kyle Jones (Newton) made it a 1 - 1 tie after the 1st period with a shorthanded goal coming at the 13 minute mark. That goal being Jones 29th on the season.
A powerplay goal at the 5 minute mark of the second put the Smokies ahead with Mike Holmes (Hughes, Lewis) putting it into the top corner to make it 2 - 1.
Two minutes later, Mike Distefano (Ruel, Krantz) took the pass on a 2 on 1 to tie it at 2.
The Smokies regained the one goal lead at 16 :42 on Troy Newton's (Jones, T. Gawryletz) 20th of the year to take a 3 - 2 lead into the second intermission.
Four minutes into the third, the Bulldogs tied it once again on a goal by Josh Bonar (Ardelan, Storey).
Troy Newton's (Eccles, B. Gawryletz) second of the evening put Trail ahead for the third time on the night midway through the third.
A powerplay goal by Doug Krantz (Bonar) at 13:49 would tie it for the final time and force overtime.
An interference call on Troy Newton with 1:07 remaining in regulation time had everyone remembering last nights 5 - 4 loss to the Powell River Kings. The Smokies killed this one off however, including the 53 seconds carried over into the first OT period. Things went from bad to worse as Newton was handed another penalty for elbowing with 1:24 left in the 1st OT. After successfully killing off that one as well, Justin St. Louis (Toews, Bishop) got his second chance at a breakaway and made no mistake with just 43 seconds remaining on the clock for the win.
The Smokies were 1 for 4 on the powerplay while the Bulldogs went 1 for 7.
Kevin Hachey (TR) made 38 stops for Trails 2nd overtime win in 8 attempts while Craig Fagnan (AV) made 37 for the loss.
The Smoke Eaters wrap up the weekend in Nanaimo against the Clippers on Sunday (Dec. 7) at 3pm.

Dec. 5 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 4 @ Powell River Kings - 5

    The Powell River Kings scored 4 powerplay goals enroute to a 5 - 4 win over the visiting Smoke Eaters in game #1 of Trail's Island division road swing..
The Kings held period leads of 2 - 1 after 1 and 3 - 2 after 2 periods of play.
Powell River's Tyler Shelast (McEwan, Sutter) scored a pair (Brocklehurst, Evan) with the man advantage in the first period and Jon Hanley (unassisted) replied for Trail with his 1st goal of the season.
Paul Crowder (T. Crowder, Mason) had the home team up 3 - 1 midway through the second but Troy Newton (T. Gawryletz, Holmes) cut the lead to one with a powerplay goal late in the period.
Michael Heck (Burgess, Penner) regained the 2 goal lead for the Kings with their only even strength goal of the night coming at 11:15 of the third period.
Kyle Jones (R. Hanley, Newman) picked up his 28th of the season just over a minute later and Joey Hughes (Holmes, Toews) scored the tying goal 2 minutes after that to prompt a goaltender change for the Kings.
If the Smokies thought that the ref was going to let the players decide the outcome of a tied game with under 5 minutes remaining, they had another thing coming as the Smoke Eaters were hit with 3 penalties in the final 2 minutes of play.
Parker Burgess (Brocklehurst, Crowder) scored the game winner on the first PP attempt while any chance at a comeback was extinguished when Trail found themselves down 2 men for the final seconds of the game.
The Smokies went 1 for 6 with the man advantage while PR was 4 for 12.
Kevin Hachey (TR) made 31 saves on the night while Alex Evan and Eric Bourbeau (PR) made 20 combined.
The Smoke Eaters will have a chance to redeem themselves when the Kings visit Trail next week for the Smokies next home game.
The Smokies move on to play the Alberni Valley Bulldogs Saturday night (Dec. 6). Trail beat the Bulldogs 10 - 4 back on Sept 26 in Trail.

Nov. 30 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 7 @ Pr. George Spruce Kings - 2

    The Smoke Eaters wrap up their northern road swing taking 4 of a possible 6 points following a 7 - 2 thrashing of the PG Spruce Kings. Trail broke open a tight one goal game after two periods of play with 4 unanswered third period goals for their second road victory in as many nights.
The Spruce Kings got into penalty trouble early in the first and allowed the Smokies to capitalize on 2 two-man advantages. Ryan Hanley (Vanderstam, St. Louis) scored the first PP goal at the 3 minute mark and David Eccles (Holmes, Vanderstam) got the second just 30 seconds later to take an early 2 - 0 lead.
Brad Herman (Oddleifson) got one back for the Kings on the wraparound coming at 5:49 to make it 2 - 1 after 20 minutes.
Justin St. Louis (unassisted) regained the 2 goal lead just 1:25 into the second with a great individual effort on a 1 on 1 break. That goal would stand as the winner.
The Kings got that one back however at the 5 minute mark with Brad Herman's (Oddleifson) second of the night to make it 3 - 2 Trail after 2.
In what was a very close game to that point, the Smokies exploded for 4 straight in the third to take the 7 - 2 win.
Gary Sylvester (Jones, St. Louis) jumped out of the penalty box and into the play to score his 2nd of the year at the 7 minute mark.
Derek Lewis (Holmes) also got his second of the year just 25 seconds later to take a 5 - 2 lead.
Kyle Jones (Newman) added two more (Newman, R. Hanley), his 26th and 27th, to finish it at 7 - 2.
Kyle Jones had a 3 point night with 2 goals and one assist as did Jesse Newman with 3 assists.
The Smokies were 2 for 5 on the PP while PG was 0 for 6.
Kevin Hachey (TR) made 26 saves for his 6th win on the season while Brandon Heighton (PG) made 34 for the loss.
With the win, the Smokies move back into sole possession of 4th spot in the interior division, 2 points ahead of the Merritt Centennials, although the Centennials hold one game in hand.
The Smokies head back out on the road next weekend for a coastal road swing with stops in Powell River, Port Alberni and Nanaimo on Dec. 5th, 6th & 7th.

Nov. 29 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 4 @ Quesnel Millionaires - 3

    The Trail Smoke Eaters have finally snapped their 11 game road winless streak with a 4 - 3 victory over the Millionaires in Quesnel. The last time Trail won on the road was back on Sept 13 vs the very same Quesnel Millionaires. The Smokies have won all 4 meetings with the Mills this season.
Affiliate player Joe Ewing (Martens, Botchar) opened the scoring for Quesnel with a powerplay goal with just 33 seconds remaining in the 1st period.
Ewing (Overton, Sidhu) had the home team up 2 - 0 scoring his second of the night just 1:10 into the second period.
The Smokies answered back to tie it at 2 after 40 minutes with Jesse Newman (R. Hanley, B. Gawryletz) scoring twice (R. Hanley, B. Gawryletz) for his 12th and 13th on the season.
Mike Holmes (Jones, Newman) got the go ahead goal for the Smokies at 5:48 of the third and Troy Newton (Holmes, T. Gawryletz) scored the winner just 24 second later.
Andrew Rebus (Ewing, O'Donnell) got one back for the Mills on the PP to finish the game at 4 - 3.
Jesse Newman had a 3 point game for the Smokies along with Joe Ewing for the Mills.
Trail was 0 for 3 on the PP while Quesnel was 2 for 8.
Kevin Hachey (TR) made 31saves for the win while, at the other end, Andrew Braithwaite (QU) made 28.
The Smokies wrap up their northern road swing vs the Prince George Spruce Kings tomorrow afternoon (Nov. 30).

Nov. 28 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 3 @ Williams Lake Timberwolves - 5

    The Williams Lake Timberwolves scored three straight third period goals to break open a 2 - 2 tie after 40 minutes and hand the Smokies their 11th straight road loss. The series between these two teams now stands at 3 games to 2 in favour of the Wolves.
The Smokies hit the scoreboard first however with JJ Vanderstam (Newton, R. Hanley) picking up the only first period goal at the 6 minute mark to take a 1 - 0 lead heading into the first intermission.
Trail went up 2 - 0 early in the second with a powerplay goal by Troy Newton (R. Hanley, B. Gawryletz), his 17th on the season.
The Timberwolves came back with a pair of PP goals midway through the period to make it 2 - 2 after 2 periods of play. Fruitvale native Jake Morissette (Gow, Peace) (Mazzei, Gow) scored both goals giving the former Beaver Valley Nitehawk 21 with the Timberwolves this season.
The Wolves took a 5 - 2 lead by the 13 minute mark of the third. John Mazzei (unassisted) scored shorthanded, Marc Fulton (Mazzei, Gow) got the winner and Dave Krisky (Zurak, Manchur) added one more for good measure.
Jesse Newman (Jones, St. Louis) got one back for Trail with a PP goal coming at 16:29 for the 5 - 3 final.
Trail and Williams Lake both went 2 for 6 with the man advantage.
Edouard Lessard (WL) made 26 saves for the win while Kevin Hachey (TR) stopped 36 for Trail.
The Smokies now travel to Quesnel (Nov. 29) to take on the Millionaires in game 2 of their 3 game northern road swing.

Nov. 23 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 8 vs Quesnel Millionaires - 4

    Mark Walter scored three times to lead the Trail Smoke Eaters to an 8 - 4 win over the Quesnel Millionaires. The Smokies have won all three meetings with the Mills this season. With the win, the Smokies take sole possession 4th spot in the interior division, 3 points back of the third place Timberwolves and one point ahead of Merritt and 2 points ahead of Penticton.
The Millionaires opened the scoring on a goal by Chad Mackenzie (Sidhu, Baird) coming at 4:13 of the first.
Troy Newton (R. Hanley, Hachey) answered back for the Smokies at the 17 minute mark with his 17th of the season.
The Mills struck back in under a minute to take a 2 - 1 lead into the first intermission with Jordan Baird (Rebus, Penner) getting the goal.
The Smoke Eaters scored twice in the second period to make it 3 - 2 Trail after 2.
Justin St. Louis (Beauchemin, Jones) picked up his 18th of the season on the powerplay at 4:50 and Brandon Gawryletz (Jones, Eccles) got his 6th at the 11 minute mark, also on the powerplay.
The Smokies made it 6 - 2 early in the third period on Troy Newton's (St. Luois, R. Hanley) second of the evening at 2:34 and Mark Walters first (Toews, Sylvester) and second (Sylvester) coming at 4:02 and 6:35, Walters second coming on the powerplay.
The Mills scored twice in under a minute to cut the lead to 2 with Trevor Smith (Boyetchko, Rebus) and Shawn Overton (unassisted) scoring at the 13 minute mark.
Ryan Hanley (St. Louis) and Mark Walter (Sylvester, Cox) ,with the hat trick, made it 8 - 4 with a pair of late period goals to end the game.
Mark Walter, Justin St. Louis, Ryan Hanley and Gary Sylvester all had 3 point games for the Smokies.
Trail went 3 for 5 with the man advantage while Quesnel went 0 for 4.
Kevin Hachey (TR) made 24 saves for the win while former teammate Chad Ferris (QU) made 37 for the Mills.
The Mills will have a chance at revenge when the Smokies head north next weekend with games against Williams Lake, Quesnel and Prince George on Nov. 28, 29 and 30.

Nov. 21 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 5 vs Pr. George Spruce Kings - 4 OT

    The Smoke Eaters finally broke the overtime curse with a 5 - 4 1st overtime victory over the visiting PG Spruce Kings.
The Spruce Kings scored all 4 of their goals in the second period on the powerplay.
Justin St. Louis (R. Hanley, Newton) got the ball rolling just 2 minutes into the game and Kyle Jones (Eccles, Beachemin) followed that up at 12:44 on the PP to give the Smokies a 2 - 0 lead after 20 minutes.
Aaron Hareuther (Scofield, Kerr) got one back with the man advantage for PG just 1:07 into the middle frame.
The Smokies went up 4 - 1 by the midway point of the game with Justin St. Louis (B. Gawryletz, Newton) getting his second of the night on the PP and Kyle Jones (Newman) getting his second at 9:55.
The tide started to turn when Kevin Hachey was handed a 7 minute penalty for slashing and a game ejection midway through the period. Beaver Valley call-up Brandon Chalazan came on in Hachey's stead.
The Spruce Kings took advantage and scored three times on the ensuing powerplay. Keenan Hopson (Hareuther, Marshall), Jeff Martens (Oddleifson, Kerr) and Chris Stevens (Marshall, Scofield) ,with the tying goal, scored for the Kings.
Following a scoreless third period that saw the smokies outshoot the Kings 28 to 5, Brad Toews (Newman, Beauchemin) scored the overtime winner at 2:13 of the first OT period.
The Smokies were 2 for 8 on the PP while PG went 4 for 7.
Kevin Hachey and Brandon Chalazan (TR) made 26 saves for the win while Chris LaValley (PG) made 62.
The Smokies face the Quesnel Millionaires Sunday afternoon (Nov. 23) at the Cominco arena.

Nov. 18 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 2 @ Salmon Arm Silverbacks - 6

    The series between the Smokies and the Silverbacks stands at one game apiece following a 6 - 2 victory for the Silverbacks at the Sunwave center in Salmon Arm. With the loss the Smokies losing streak on the road is extended to 10 consecutive games.
Blaine Jarvis (Ramsey, Mcleod) gave the Silverbacks a 1 - 0 lead with a PP marker at the 5 minute mark of the first period.
Justin St. Louis (R. Hanley, Newton) tied it at 1 midway through the period on the PP.
Salmon Arm scored four times in the second to take a 5 - 2 lead into the third.
Blaine Jarvis (Mcleod, Cleaver) scored his second PP goal of the night and Kiel Sonne (Street, Cleaver) scored his first of the night by the 7 minute mark to make it 3 - 1.
Justin St. Louis (R. Hanley) cut the lead to 1 with his second PP goal of the night coming at 14:06 but that would be it for the Smokies scoring for the night.
Kiel Sonne (Barlow, Ramsey) got his second of the evening just over a minute later and Rick Cleaver (Sonne, Street) made it 5 - 2 SA with 1 minute remaining in the second period.
Cleaver (Dillon, Mcleod) added one more in the third for the 6 - 2 finish.
The Smokies and Silverbacks both went 2 for 8 with the man advantage and Patrick LePage (SA) made 24 saves while Kevin Hachey (TR) also made 24.
Next up for the Smokies are a pair of home games vs the PG Spruce Kings on Nov. 21st and the Quesnel Millionaires on Nov. 23.

Nov. 16 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 5 @ Vernon Vipers - 6 OT

    The Smoke Eaters extend their overtime losing streak to 6 games, their second in as many nights, following a 6 - 5 overtime loss to the Vernon Vipers. The Smokies lost the previous night with an identical 6 - 5 overtime loss to the Merritt Centennials. On the bright side, the Smokies take 2 points on the weekend which leaves them currently in 5th spot in the interior division, 3 points ahead of Pr. George and a single point ahead of Merritt.
Vernon scored 4 times with the man advantage and gave up a 5 - 3 third period lead before scoring the game winner 11 seconds into the double overtime period.
The Smokies struck first however with Mark Walter (T. Gawryletz, Jones) redirecting a point shot, for his third of the season, 6:40 into the first period.
On their 3rd consecutive powerplay attempt, the Vipers got on the board with Garrett Festerling (Osness) tying it at 12:38.
Jesse Newman (Jones, Toews) made it 2 - 1 Trail after 20 minutes with his 10th of the season coming late in the period.
Mark Nelson (Festerling) tied it at 2 with his first of the night just 1:46 into the second.
Dustin Claffey (Santorelli, Nelson) got the go ahead goal for the Vipers with another PP marker coming at 8:42.
The Smokies tied it at 3 with Travis Gawryletz (Newman) putting in a shot from the point midway through the period.
Vernon went ahead 5 - 3 with a pair of powerplay goals, both scored on a 5 minute major to Gary Sylvester for hitting from behind. Mark Nelson (Santorelli, Kipp) and Mike Santorelli (Nelson, Zulyiniak) did the scoring late in the second period.
Kyle Jones scored twice in the third period to force the extra frames. Jones (Bishop, Eccles) jumped on a rebound with the man advantage at 2:25 of the third to cut the lead to one. Then, with Kevin Hachey on the bench for the extra attacker, Jones (R. Hanley) got the equalizer with just 46 seconds remaining in the third. Jones had 4 points on the night.
Following a scoreless 4 on 4 OT period which saw the Smokies shorthanded for 2 of the 5 minutes, Dustin Claffey (Dafoe, Zulyniak) got the game winner, his second of the evening, just 11 second into the 3 on 3 OT period.
The Vipers scored 4 times on 8 PP opportunities while the Smokies scored once on their 3 attempts.
Mark Sibbald (VE) made 38 saves for the win while Kevin Hachey (TR) made 24.
Trail goes back on the road this Tuesday Nov. 18 visiting the Salmon Arm Silverbacks.

Nov. 15 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 5 @ Merritt Centennials - 6 OT

    The Smoke Eaters overtime curse continues with a 6 - 5 loss to the Merritt Centennials. The Smokies have lost all five games that have gone into overtime this season.
The Centennials recovered from a 5 - 3 third period deficit to hand Trail their 8th straight road loss.
The teams went goal for goal in the first with Merritt coming ahead 3 - 2 after 20 minutes.
Shane McCormack (Hume, Sankey) opened the scoring for the Cents with a shorthanded goal just 2:26 in.
Brandon Gawryletz (R. Hanley, Newton) replied 40 seconds later for the Smokies, on the same powerplay, to tie it at one.
With a 2 man advantage, the Cents took the lead again at 7:34 on a goal by Blair Riley (Cameron, Mac Rines).
Justin St. Louis (Newton, R.Hanley) responded with the only even strenght goal of the period coming at 14:30 to tie it at 2.
Merritt took a 3 - 2 lead into the break with a late goal by Steve Cameron (Hume, McCormack).
The Smokies got the only second period goal with Justin St. Louis (Newton) putting a howitzer past goaltender Brandon Cross at the 17:40 mark to tie it at 3. Despite lopsided powerplay attempts in favour of the Cents, including a 4 minute double minor and a game ejection to Ryan Hanley, the Smokies outshot the Centennials 12 to 8 in the middle frame.
The momentum was going Trails way in the third as well and Travis Gawryletz (Newton, St. Louis) put the Smokies ahead for the first time of the evening just 1:20 into the period on the powerplay.
Gary Sylvester (Lewis) scored his first goal as a Smoke Eater at 5:30 to give Trail a 5 - 3 lead.
Shortly after that goal, Trail netminder Ryan McConnachie left the game with mysterious injury and Kevin Hachey came on in his relief.
The tide seemed to swing in Merritts direction after the goaltender change as Brandon Hill (Cossey, McCormack) put one past Hachey in under a minute and then with under 4 minutes to play, Shane McCormack (Lahoda, Sankey) scored his second of the night to force overtime.
The Centennials had the better chances in the extra frames and Zeke Hume (McCormack, Lahoda) finally put it away at 3:08 of the second OT period to give the Cents the win.
Shane McCormick had a 5 point night for the Centennials and the Smokies Troy Newton ended the night with 4 points. The Smokies were 2 for 4 with the man advantage while the Cents were 1 for 9.
Brandon Cross (ME) made 27 saves to give the Centennials their second win over Trail this season while Ryan McConnachie / Kevin Hachey also made 27.
The Smokies face the Vipers tomorrow afternoon (Nov. 16) at the Multiplex in Vernon.

Nov. 8 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 5 vs Williams Lake Timberwolves - 3

    Game 2 of the Smokies / Wolves weekend double header saw the Smokies sweep the 2 game series with a close 5 - 3 victory.
The Timberwolves came back to tie the game three times before the Smokies finally got the winner midway through the third period.
Kyle Jones (Newman, T. Gawryletz) stepped back into the lineup and got Trail on the scoresheet with 1 minute to play in the opening period.
The lead was shortlived however as Matt Gow (Dingle) responded for the wolves just 30 seconds later to make it 1 - 1 after 1.
Jesse Newman (Toews, Cox) parked himself in front of the net to tip in the go ahead goal for the Smokies at the 9 minute mark of the second.
The Wolves tied it again at 15:31 on a goal by John Mazzei (Morissette, Fulton).
Brandon Gawryletz (St. Louis, Jones) made it 3 - 2 Trail with just 15 seconds to go in the second, pitching in from the point to tip in his 3rd of the season.
The Wolves tied it for the third time on the night just 58 second into the third with Marc Fulton (unassisted) getting a gift in the Smokies zone for the 3 all tie.
Troy Newton (Lewis, Beauchemin) scored the game winner, deflecting a point shot right off the draw to score his 14th of the year at the 13:15 mark.
Kyle Jones (Cox, B. Gawryletz) put his 21st of the season into an empty net to end it at 5 - 3.
The Smokies were 0 for 3 on the powerplay and the Timberwolves went 0 for 1.
Kevin Hachey (TR) made 27 saves for his third win on the year while Peter vetri (WL) made 47 .
The Smoke Eaters are on the road next weekend with games against the Merritt Centennials on Sat. Nov. 15 and the Vernon Vipers on Sun. Nov. 16.

Nov. 7 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 5 vs Williams Lake Timberwolves - 1

    Troy Newton scored twice plus added one assist and Justin St. Louis chipped in with 3 helpers as the Trail Smoke Eaters downed the Williams Lake Timberwolves 5 - 1 in game one of their weekend double header. The Smokies physical first period would be all they would need as they held period leads of 3 - 0 after one and 5 - 1 after two.
The Wolves responded to Trail's hard hitting with a slashing penalty within the first minute of play. Ryan Hanley (St. Louis, Kooiker) was waiting on the doorstep to take a pass from back of the net to capitalize on the powerplay at 1:02 of the first.
Troy Newton (Hanley, St. Louis) got the game winner midway through the first while on a 2 on 1 break. Showing good patience, Newton elected not to pass and not to shoot but to wait and tuck it into a 6 " space between pad and post.
Newton (Walter, St. Louis) followed that up with a wraparound goal, his 13th of the season coming at 16:11 to make it 3 - 0 Trail.
Jesse Newman (Newton, B. Gawryletz) cashed in on a big rebound early in the second to prompt a goaltender change for the Timberwolves with Edouard Lessard coming on in relief of Peter Vetri.
The Smokies made it 5 - 0 with callup Travis Wolfe (Eccles, Newman) netting his first with the Smoke Eaters into the top corner at 11:36 of the middle frame.
Williams Lake finally got on the board with Bryan Gallagher (Fournier, Gow) picking up his own rebound on a 2 on 1 break at the 14 minute mark to round out the scoring.
If the Timberwolves were to get back into this game it would have happened in the first 10 minutes of the third. The Wolves had the Smokies hemmed in their own zone for the entire 10 minutes but goaltender Kevin Hachey barred the gates and kept the period scoreless.
The Smokies were 1 for 2 with the man advantage while the TWolves went 0 for 5.
Kevin Hachey (TR) made 42 saves for his second win since returning to the Smokies lineup while the combination of Lessard and Vetri (WL) made 34 for the loss.
Game two of the Trail / Williams Lake double header goes tomorrow night (Nov. 8) at the Cominco arena in Trail.

Nov. 4 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 5 vs Penticton Panthers - 3

    The rough stuff started at the drop of the puck as Brad Toews settled a score with Jason Pess in the opening seconds and the Smokies went on to settle a score with the Panthers by downing them 5 - 3 at the Cominco arena in Trail. The rematch of Sundays 2 - 1 loss to Penticton saw no less than 7 fights break out and both coaches tossed late in the third period.
Following a scoreless first period, the Panthers drew first blood midway through the second with a powerplay marker by Marc Belanger (MacDonald, Vandekerkhove).
Trail answered back by scoring 3 times in just over 3 minutes to take a 3 - 1 lead into the third.
With the Smokies killing off a powerplay, Kyle Jones (unassisted) stole the puck at the Trail blueline and, with two Panthers on his tail, broke in and put it in the top corner to tie it at one.
A minute and 30 seconds later, Troy Newton (Newman, St. Louis) roofed his 10th of the season to give Trail the lead.
With just 3 seconds left in the period, Sacha Beauchemin (unassisted) drilled one from the blueline into the bottom corner with the man advantage to close out the period.
The Smokies tempers were riled in the third period following a vicious hit by Penticton's non-scorer Jason Pess on Trail's leading-scorer Kyle Jones. On a 2 on 1 break for Trail, Jones' stick broke in half and he was unable capitalize on the opportunity. After dropping his stick and skating behind the net and toward the corner, he was blindsided by Pess as the play went the other way. Jones lay on the ice for several minutes and only played one more shift in the game, taking a draw and then heading back off the ice.
The Smokies made good on the ensuing powerplay with newcomer Derek Lewis (Newton, Holmes) getting his first goal with the Orange and Black.
The fights started after that with Trail getting the majority of the penalties.
Troy Newton (St.Louis) made it 5 - 1 with Trail's second shorthanded goal on the night, coming at the 15 minute mark.
With a 5 on 3 advantage the Panthers Cody Collins (Vandekerkhove, Wright) got one back at the 18 minute mark and Luke Vandekerkhove (Borba) cut the lead to 5 - 3 just as the Smokies were coming back to full strength.
Trail was 2 for 6 on the PP while Penticton also went 2 for 6.
Ryan McConnachie (TR) made 34 saves for the win while Mike Hamel (PE) made 29 for the loss.
The Williams Lake Timberwolves make their final trek to Trail for a pair of games on Fri. Nov. 7 and Sat. Nov. 8.

Nov. 2 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 1 @ Penticton Panthers - 2

    The Smokies had a better showing than the previous night but still could only muster one goal on their way to 2 - 1 loss to the Penticton Panthers, the Smokies 7th straight road loss. With the loss, Trail falls into seventh place in the Interior Division, and out of the final playoff spot, 1 point behind the Merritt Centennials.
The Smokies were first on the board however as Ryan Hanley (Newton, St. Louis) picked up his 3rd of the season on the powerplay at 7:31 of the opening frame.
The Panthers made it 1 - 1 after 1 with less than a second remaining in the period with Marc Belanger (Vandekerkhove) getting the goal.
Andrew MacKenzie (Overton, Collins) scored the game winner late in the second period for the 2 - 1 final.
After coming up empty, Kyle Jones was kept off the point scoring sheet for the first time in 17 games.
The Smokies were 1 for 7 with the man advantage while Penticton was 0 for 7.
Mike Hamel (PE) made 25 saves for the win while Kevin Hachey (TR) made 34 for his second loss in as many games.
A rematch with the Panthers goes Tuesday night (Nov. 4) at the Cominco arena in Trail.

Nov. 1 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 1 @ Vernon Vipers - 4

    Newcomer Ryan Coghlan scored his first goal in a Smoke Eaters uniform and the only Trail goal of the night as the Vernon Vipers downed Trail 4 - 1 at the Vernon Multiplex.
The Vipers took a 1 - 0 lead after 20 minutes on a goal by Les Reaney (Lord, Claffey) midway through the period.
David Boudreau (Pierce, Osness) put the Vipers up 2 - 0 at the 9 minute mark of the 2nd.
The 6" 2", 210 lb. Coghlan (Jones, Vanderstam) cut the lead to 1 with a powerplay marker coming at 14:17 of the middle frame.
Vernon got that one back just over 2 minutes later with Mike Santorelli (Kindret, Nelson) finding the net.
Santorelli (Kip, Nelson) scored his second of the night, with an extra man, early in the third to give the Vipers the 4 - 1 win.
Trail went 1 for 7 on the powerplay and Vernon went 1 for 9.
Kevin Hachey (TR) made 30 saves in his second game back with the Smokies while Steve Belanger (VE) made just 17 for the win.
The Smokies face the Penticton Panthers tomorrow afternoon (Nov.2) in Penticton.

Oct. 26 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 8 vs Salmon Arm Silverbacks - 5

    The Trail Smoke Eaters gave the fans what they have been wanting, a solid 60 minute effort and handed the Interior Division leading Salmon Arm Silverbacks an 8 - 5 beating at the Cominco arena in Trail.
Troy Newton and Kyle Jones both had 4 point nights with Newton picking up 2 goals and 2 assists and Jones with 1 goal and 3 helpers.
The game featured the long awaited return of goaltender Kevin Hachey to game action. Hachey looked a little shaky to start the game and was beaten 3:24 in with a long slapshot from just inside the blueline by Blaine Jarvis (unassisted). The Silverbacks struck again just 21 seconds later with Evan Barlow (Mcleod) getting the goal to make it 2 - 0 SA in under 4 minutes.
Troy Newton (Jones, B. Gawryletz) scored his first of the night at the 8 minute mark to cut the lead to one.
The Silverbacks answered back however as Kris Chucko (Zajac, Miller) took a pass through the goal mouth to make it 3 - 1 SA after 20 minutes.
The fight of the night occurred in the first period as Mark Walter took on big Kiel Sonne. Walter won the unanimous decision with several punches that hit the mark and unfortunately Sonne left the game with what appeared to be an injured wrist after being thrown to the ice.
The second period belonged to the Smoke Eaters, scoring 4 times including 2 on the powerplay and one shorthanded to take a 5 - 3 lead after 2 periods of play.
Mark Walter (Newton, Beauchemin) banked one in off the goalie at 3:38 and Sacha Beauchemin (Jones, R.Hanley) scored his first as a Smoke Eater to tie it at 3 on the PP at the 7 minute mark.
The Smokies took the lead 3 minutes later as Justin St. Louis (Newman) got his first of the night on the PP at the midway point of the frame.
Troy Newton (Toews, Hachey) scored his second of the night 2 minutes later with a shorthanded breakaway coming at the 12 minute mark which signalled a goaltender change for the Backs.
Kevin Hachey, who had gotten over his first period jitters picked up his first point of the season and then got into his first scrap. During a race for the puck, Hachey took exception to being run over and a bit of a bru ha ha broke out late in the period.
The Smokies went ahead 6 - 3 just 43 seconds into the third as Ryan Hanley (Newman) poked in his second goal in as many games.
Kyle Jones (unassisted) stole the puck in the SA zone to score the Smokies second shorthanded marker of the evening, coming at 7:29 to make it 7 - 3.
The Silverbacks looked to be getting back into the game with a pair of powerplay goals midway through the period.
Evan Barlow (Switzer) scored his second of the night with a 2 man advantage and then Kris Chucko (Birnie, Zajac) scored his second just 45 seconds later with the Smokies down one man.
That would be as close as they would get however as Justin St. Louis (Jones) put his second of the night into the empty net at 18:32 for the 8 - 5 victory.
The Smokies were 2 for 5 on the powerplay while SA went 2 for 7.
Kevin Hachey (TR) made 44 saves for his 1st win of the season while at the other end, Steve Christie and Patrick LePage (SA) made 37.
The Smokies are on the road next weekend with games against Vernon on Sat. Nov. 1 and Penticton on Sun. Nov. 2.

Oct. 24 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 1 vs Cowichan Valley Capitals - 2

    The Smoke Eaters continue to struggle to put together a solid 60 minute hockey game as the Cowichan Valley Capitals skated to a 2 - 1 win at the Cominco arena. A dismal 2nd period for Trail left the visitors with a 2 - 0 lead going into the final frame and held on to hand the Smokies their 8th regulation loss of the season.
The shots were 12 apiece in the first period but the game remained scoreless through 20 minutes of play.
There was some good flow at the start of the second period with some good end to end action but the Smokies game fell apart in the second half looking very disorganized and coughing the puck up on many occasions.
The Capitals capitalized on a 2 on 1 break at 10:28 which saw goaltender Ryan McConnachie make 2 huge saves before Steve Kordyban (Saler,Corriveau) knocked in the second rebound to take a 1 - 0 lead.
Cowichan made it 2 - 0 on a Smoke Eater powerplay that yeilded no shots for Trail but a stolen puck behind the Trail net and an open man in front gave Matt Saler (Kordyban) the chance to extend the lead with 1 minute remaining. The shots on goal were 16 to 5 in favour of the Capitals in the middle frame.
The Smokies got on the scoresheet with a powerplay marker coming at 7:23 of the third. Cowichan netminder Kevin LaChance robbed Kyle Jones with an amazing stick save along the goal line but Ryan Hanley (Jones, Beauchemin) was there to jump on the loose puck for his first goal of the season.
That would be all she wrote despite a last second breakaway attempt for Trail.
Trail was 1 for 4 with the man advantage while the Capitals were 0 for 3.
Kevin LaChance (CV) made 28 saves for the win while Ryan McConnachie (TR), who was the Smokies best player on the night, made 36.
Next up for Trail is the first visit by the Salmon Arm Silverbacks to the Cominco Arena on Sun. Oct. 26.

Oct. 18 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 4 vs Williams Lake Timberwolves - 5

    Following a 7 - 0 loss to the Vernon Vipers last night, the Williams Lake Timberwolves were hungry to get back on the scoring track and did just that with a 5 - 4 win over the Trail Smoke Eaters. In a clean skating game with only 5 penalties called on the night, the Smoke Eaters had trouble containing the Wolves speedy offence and fell behind 1 - 0 after one period and 4 - 2 after two.
Peter Cartwright (Simoes) cut in past the Trail defence at the 18:18 mark for the only goal in the first period.
With just 8 seconds gone in the second, John Mazzei (Peace) let go a quick wrist shot from just inside the blueline that beat Trail netminder Chad Ferris high to the glove side for a 2 - 0 lead.
Trail scored twice to tie it at 2 on a pair of 2 on 1 breaks. Mike Holmes (St. Louis, B. Gawryletz) took the pass and made it stick at 3:46 and Justin St. Louis (Newman, Bishop) hit the mark with a mirror image of the first goal at 6:55.
The Wolves scored twice in the second half of the period to regain the 2 goal lead with Mike Fournier (Gallagher) getting a breakaway and Bryan Gallagher (Fournier, Cartwright) scoring following some heavy pressure in the Smokies end.
Mike Fournier (Cartwright, Gallagher) got his second of the evening midway through the third to give WL a 5 - 2 lead. The Smokies came back to within one with Justin St. Louis (Newman, Hatlelid) getting his second of the night at 13:13 and Kyle Jones (Newton, Newman) pushed his point scoring streak to 12 games with a shot through a crowd in the dying minutes.
Jesse Newman had a three point night with 3 assists.
Trail was 0 for1 with the man advantage while WL was 0 for 2.
Edouard Lessard (WL) made 24 saves for the win while Chad Ferris (TR) made 32 in taking the loss.
The Cowichan Valley Capitals are in town next friday Oct. 24 and the Salmon Arm Silverbacks visit the Cominco arena on Sunday Oct. 26.

Oct. 17 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 6 vs Quesnel Millionaires - 2

    The Smokies ended their recent losing skid with a 6 - 2 victory over the Quesnel Millionaires.
It was coach Garry Van Hereweghes debut on home ice and the team responded well in the first period by totally dominating the Mills and outshooting their opponents 14 to 5.
Trail scored a pair of powerplay goals to take a 2 - 0 lead after 20 minutes.
Justin St. Louis (Holmes, Beauchemin) banged in a loose puck that dribbled behind the Mills goaltender midway through the period and Joey Hughes (R. Hanley, Bishop) scored on the wrap around with 1:30 remaining in the first.
The Mills played much better in the second and were the better team for the first 10 minutes but could not put it away on a number of opportunities. Trail finally took back control of the play and scored three times in just over 2 and one half minutes to make it 5 - 0 by the 14 minute mark.
Mark Walter (J. Hanley, Sylvester) scored his first of the season at 11:34, Jesse Newman's (Hatlelid, Holmes) goal at 13:05 signalled a goaltender change for Quesnel and Kyle Jones (Newton, R. Hanley) welcomed netminder Peter Mandoli into the game with his league leading 16th goal of the season just 51 seconds later.
Jordan Baird (Dowhan) got Quesnel on the board just after Trail killed off a penalty at the 16 minute mark to make it 5 - 1 after 2 periods of play.
With starting netminder Andrew Braithwaite back in net for the third, the Mills got some early momentum and Colin McDonald (Boyetchko, Gagnon) pounced on a huge rebound just 1:24 in to spark some new life into the team.
Brad Toews (R. Hanley, St. Louis) put the final nail in the coffin as he poked one through the goalies legs following a failed wraparound attempt at 11:48 to finish the scoring at 6 - 2 for the home team.
Ryan Hanley had a 3 point night with 3 assists.
The Smokies were perfect on the powerplay going 2 for 2 while the Mills were stoned going 0 for 4.
Ryan McConnachie (TR) played a strong game in net making 28 saves for the win while Braithwaite / Mandoli (QU) made 33 for Quesnel's 12 loss on the season.
Jake Morissette and the high flying Williams Lake Timberwolves visit the Cominco arena tomorrow night (Oct. 18) for their first visit of the season.

Oct. 12 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 4 @ Surrey Eagles - 7

    The Trail Smoke Eaters go 0 for 3 on their coastal road trip after a 7 - 4 loss to the Surrey Eagles. Trail held a 4 - 3 lead after two periods of play but the Eagles scored 4 unanswered third period goals to hand the Smokies their 6th straight loss. The Smokies fall into 5th spot in the interior division, 1 point behind the Pr. George Spruce Kings who hold three games in hand.
Like the previous night, the Smoke Eaters fell behind the eight ball early as Mike Moore (Hollweg, Mulock) gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead just 39 seconds in.
Troy Newton (Jones) answered back for Trail at 5:33 on the powerplay but Donald Johnson (Robinson, Lindsey) regained Surrey's lead just over a minute later.
Jason Harding (St. Louis) scored from a sharp angle, his second of the season, on the powerplay to tie it at 2 after one period of play.
Trail went ahead for the first time on Troy Newton's (Jones, Hughes) second of the night coming on the powerplay at 4:44 of the second period.
Korey Diehl (Eckford, Johnson) tied it at 3 late in the second but Justin St. Louis (R. Hanley, Hughes) regained the Smokies 1 goal lead with just 51 second remaining in the period.
The third was all Surrey, scoring four times for a 7 - 4 victory on home ice. Matt Robinson (Diehl, Eckford), Korey Diehl (Johnson, Lindsay), (Johnson, Robinson) with his second and third on the night and TJ Mulock (Howleg, Patterson) into an empty net, scored for the Eagles.
Trail was 2 for 4 with the man advantage while Surrey went 1 for 3.
Mark Kehrig (SU) made 30 saves for the win while Ryan McConnachie (TR) made 33.
Trail is back home next weekend with games against the Quesnel Millionaires (Oct. 17) and the Williams Lake Timberwolves (Oct. 18).

Oct. 11 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 3 @ Chilliwack Chiefs - 6

    The Smoke Eaters are 0 for 2 so far on their coastal road swing following a 6 to 3 loss to the Chilliwack Chiefs. The Smokies played well and outshot the opposition 43 to 40, even though Chilliwack had quite a few more powerplay attempts than Trail, but solid goaltending in the Chiefs net made all the difference.
Chilliwack jumped out to an early lead just one minute into the game on a goal by Peter Bogdanich (Royston, Shiavonne).
A powerplay goal midway through the period and another at even strength with 1:10 remaining in the period gave the Chiefs a comfortable 3 - 0 lead going into the first intermission with Adam Powell (Burton, Duncan) and Trevor Hunt (St.Arnault) getting the goals.
Jeff Royston (Shiavonne, Bogdanich) made it 4 - 0 while skating 4 aside at the 4 minute mark of the second. That goal prompted newly arrived head coach Gary Van Hereweghe to pull starting goaltender Chad Ferris in favour of Ryan McConnachie.
Trail finally got on the score board with a powerplay marker at 6:41 by Kyle Jones (Newton, Toews), his 14th on the season.
Jeff Royston (Cosgrove) scored his second of the period on the powerplay to give the Chiefs a 5 - 1 lead heading into the second intermission.
The Chiefs Jeff Hajner (Burton) made it 6 - 1 at the five minute mark of the final frame but the Smokies kept pressing and scored twice in the third for the 6 - 3 final.
Kyle Jones (Newton, Bartman) scored his second of the night at 7:12 and Jason Harding (unassisted) got a monkey off his back with his first goal of the year at the 15 minute mark.
A couple of scraps on the night saw Mark Walter take on Chris Blackmon and also Trevor Hunt and Joey Hughes dropped them with Garet Hunt.
Chilliwack was 2 for 11 on the powerplay while Trail went 1 for 7.
Derek Janzen (CH) made 40 saves for the win while Chad Ferris and Ryan McConnachie combined for 34.
The Smokies wrap up their road trip in Surrey tomorrow (Oct. 12). Game time is 5 o:clock.

Oct. 10 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 3 @ Langley Hornets - 4

    With four minutes to play in the third period, the Langley Hornets scored twice in a span of 45 seconds to steal the lead and the game from the visiting Trail Smoke Eaters. The Smoke Eaters were in control for the most part of the game but a defensive lapse in the later stages of the third saw their 3 - 2 lead evaporate into a 4 - 3 loss.
Trails aggressive play had them shorthanded in the opening minute and Matt Pope (Hamel, Gatenby) put the Bees up 1 - 0 at the 2 minute mark of the first.
Brad Toews (Hughes, Newton) tied it at 1 when he one timed his 5th of the season at 13:50.
Fourty-five seconds later, Troy Newton (Jones) made good on a breakaway to give Trail a 2 - 1 lead going into the first intermission.
Trail outshot the Hornets 15 to 7 over the opening 20 minutes.
The only second period goal came with just 26 seconds left in the period as Matt Siddall (Sarauer) scored on the powerplay for a 2 - 2 tie after two.
With the Smokies dominating the play in the first half of the third, Justin St. Louis (Hughes, B. Gawryletz) got the go ahead goal at 12:34 on a 2 on 1 break.
With a 1 goal lead and the end of the game in sight, the Smokies game fell apart.
Immediatly following St. Louis's goal, Trail was on their heels and Matt Siddall (Berman) scored his second of the night to tie it at 3 at the 16 minute mark.
Under a minute later, Matt Pope (Dennis) scored the winner and his 2nd of the night.
The Smokies played the final minute with a 6 on 4 man advantage but could not manage the tying goal.
Trail was 0 for 7 with the man advantage while Langley was 2 for 8.
Cam Norris-Jones (LA) made 33 saves for the win while Ryan McConnachie (TR) made 29.
The Smokies play the Chilliwack Chiefs tomorrow night (Oct. 11) in game 2 of their mainland division road swing.

Oct. 7 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 2 vs Vernon Vipers - 3 OT

    It was the battle of the overtime losers and the Vernon Vipers were able to break their 4 game winless in OT streak with a 3 - 2 overtime victory over the Trail Smoke Eaters. With the loss, the Smokies overtime winless record extends to 4 games.
Following a scoreless first period, the Vipers took a 2 - 0 lead by the 13 minute mark of the second.
Jake Wilkins (Santorelli, Festerling) opened the scoring on a 3 on 1 breakaway at the 4 minute mark and Brett Osness (Reaney, Volpatti) scored a bit of a controversial goal when Trail netminder Chad Ferris was run over in his crease.
Trail got one back at 15:45 as Kyle Jones (R. Hanley) took a perfect pass from the side boards to put it in the gaping net to make it 2 - 1 after two.
It took just 14 seconds of the third for the Smokies to tie it up while skating four aside.
Troy Newton (Jones) capped off some great work by Kyle Jones to steal the puck in the slot, put a quick deke on the remaining Dman and get the pass off to Newton.
The Smokies outworked their opponents in the third and out shot them 15 to 8 but the winner never came.
Former Smoke Eater Dallas Costanzo (unassisted) got the winner at 2:17 of the first overtime period, stealing the puck in the Smokies zone and putting it high on Ferris to break Vernon's OT slump.
Trail went 0 for 5 on the PP while Vernon was 0 for 2.
Mark Sibald (VE) made 31 save for the win while Chad Ferris (TR) made 23 for the Smokies third straight loss.
Trail hits the road to the lower mainland next weekend with games in Langley, Chilliwack and Surrey on Oct. 10, 11 and 12.

Oct. 4 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 2 @ Merritt Centennials - 6

    The Smoke Eaters go winless over the weekend and drop into 4th spot in the interior division following a 6 - 2 loss to the Merritt Centennials.
The Cents held a 1 - 0 lead after 20 minutes on a goal by Shane McCormick (Ruech, Sankey) coming just 2:12 into the game.
Jesse Newman (Toews, Beauchemin) tied it at the 8 minute mark of the second with his sixth of the season.
Aaron Conlon (Wise, Hume) regained the lead for the Centennials just 1:20 later to make it 2 - 1 after 2.
Trail got into penalty trouble in the third and gave up 4 goals while playing a man short.
Kyle Jones (Vassos, Toews) scored the lone Smokie marker in the third period, on the powerplay to give him 12 goals on the season.
Scoring for the Centennials were Justin Wise (Hume, Saukarookoff ), Zeke Hume (McCormick, Riley), Shane McCormick (Wise, Conlon) with his second and Justin Wise (Hume, McCormick) with his second.
Trail went 1 for 6 with the man advantage while Merritt went 4 for 11.
Brandon Cross (ME) made 24 saves for the win while Ryan McConnachie (TR) made 20.
Next up the Smoke Eaters host the Vernon Vipers on Tues. Oct. 7th.

Oct. 3 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 3 vs Surrey Eagles - 4 OT

    For the third time this season, the Trail Smoke Eaters have lost in overtime by a score of 4 - 3.
Tyler Eckford (Moore, Johnson) scored the winner for the South Surrey Eagles just 1:54 into the first OT period.
The game started with a fight at the opening faceoff between Joe Hughes and Jordan Courtepatte to set the tone for the first period. The Eagles were attempting a little intimidation early on and soon Ryan Hanley and Mike Moore dropped the gloves.
The physical play seemed to have the Smokies off their game and following a pair of failed powerplay attempts by Trail, Surrey potted 2 with the man advantage.
Mark Kitts (Barnes) tipped in a shot from the high slot to give the Eagles the lead midway through the first.
Kitts (Robinson, Johnson) got his second of the night with just 11 seconds remaining in the period to make it 2 - 0 after one.
With Trail putting on some sustained pressure in the middle frame, Chris Vassos (Newman) made good on a nice pass for his first goal of the year coming at 7:46.
The Eagles came right back however as Ryan Botchar (Robinson, Johnson) regained the 2 goal lead just 30 seconds later.
Troy Newton (Toews, Jones) made it 3 - 2 after 2 periods of play with a PP marker at the 16 minute mark.
Travis Gawryletz (St.Louis) tied the game at 3 with a blast from the point on the PP that slipped through the 5 hole at 2:43.
Trail's best period was the third but both tenders kept the doors shut the rest of the way to force the extra frame.
The Smokies are winless so far this season in overtime.
Trail was 2 for 6 on the PP while SS went 2 for 5.
Aaron McKenzie (SU) made 31 saves for the win while Chad Ferris (TR) made 28 for his first loss on home ice this season.
Tomorrow night (Oct.4) the Smokies travell to Merritt to face the Centennials for their first matchup of the season.

Sept. 27 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 5 vs Pr. George Spruce Kings - 4

    The Trail Smoke Eaters overcame a 4 goal deficit and scored 5 unanswered third period goals to win their 2nd home ice victory in as many games.
Things were looking pretty grim for Trail as the Spruce Kings scored twice in the first and added 2 more in the second to take a 4 - 0 lead into the third.
Colby Nichols (Stevens, Loney) put the Kings on the board first with a powerplay marker 8 minutes into the opening frame.
Nichols (unassisted) picked up his own rebound just 2 minutes later to give the Kings a 2-0 lead after one.
Although the Smokies outshot the Spruce Kings over two periods, PG continued to get the breaks and Jeff Martens (Shuya) scored at 1:38 of the middle frame to take a 3 - 0 lead.
That goal signaled a goaltender change for Trail with Chad Ferris coming on in relief of Ryan McConnachie.
Amedee Marshall (Scofield) made it 4 - 0 on the PP seven minutes into the second period and the Smokies night was looking to be done.
The Smoke Eaters kept going however and a third period three goal outburst in just over 2 minutes had Trail back in the game.
Jesse Newman (Holmes, St. Louis) got Trail on the scoresheet at the 4 minute mark of the third and that goal seemed to light a fire under Trail as Justin St. Louis (Newman) made it 4- 2 just under 2 minutes later.
40 seconds after that, Travis Gawryletz (Stockler, Hanley) scored his first of the year to move the Smokies to within one.
The highlite goal of the night saw Jesse Newman (T. Gawryletz) beat the defence wide to go in alone and slip it past the PG netminder for the tying goal at 8:25 of the third on the PP.
Kyle Jones (R. Hanley, Hughes) got the winner at 18:39 on a beautiful setup that had the PG defence buffaloed for the 5 - 4 final.
The Smokies were 1 for 4 on the PP while PG was 2 for 4.
Ryan McConnachie and Brad Ferris (TR) made 25 saves for the win while Chris LaValley (PG) made 35.
Next up for the Smoke Eaters is a home game vs the South Surrey Eagles on Oct. 3rd.

Sept. 26 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 10 vs Alberni Valley Bulldogs - 4

    The Trail Smoke Eaters hit the double digit mark for the first time this season with a 10 - 4 thrashing of the Alberni Valley Bulldogs. The only thing more prevalant than the scoring was the steady stream of players to the penalty box. Although not a particularly chippy game, the referree was not letting anything go ending with a total of 18 powerplay opportunities on the night.
Former Smoke Eater Curtis Tidball (Selin, Dickson) opened the scoring on the PP just 3:20 into the game.
Trail responded just 2 minutes later as Brandon Gawryletz (Jones) tied it while skating 5 on 3 for his first goal of the year.
The Dogs took the lead again at the 13 minute mark on a goal by Jordan Dickson (Selin, Bonar) but the Smokies poured it on late in the period with 3 goals in the final 5 minutes.
Brandon Gawryletz (Eccles) got his second of the night on the PP at 15:02 followed by Joey Hughes (R. Hanley) and Brad Toews (Beauchemin) within a span of 16 seconds to end the period up 4 - 2.
The Smokies started the second where they left off and David Eccles (Hanley, Hughes) made it 5 - 2 just over 2 minutes into the frame followed by Justin St. Louis (Newman, Holmes) first goal as a Smoke Eater midway through the period.
Devin Timberlake (Ruel, Scali) got one back for the Dogs in the dying minutes on the PP to make it 6 - 3 after 2.
The Smoke Eaters added four more in the third with Justin St. Louis (Toews, Bishop) picking up his second of the night while shorthanded, Jesse Newman (Stockler, Holmes) on the PP and Kyle Jones with a pair (Newton, Toews) (B. Gawryletz, T. Gawryletz) in the final five minutes.
Josh Bonar (unassisted) added one for the Bulldogs for the10 - 4 final.
Several sraps on the night saw Ryan Morse vs Curtis Tidball, Ryan Hanley vs Devin Timberlake, John Hanley vs Curtis Tidball, Brad Toews vs Aaron Frede and David Eccles vs former Smokie James Ardelan.
The Smokies were 3 for 9 on the powerplay while the Bulldogs were 2 for 9.
Chad Ferris (TR) made 30 saves for the win while Craig Fagnan and Mike Teslak (AV) made 38.
The Smokies face the Pr. George Spruce Kings tomorrow night (Sept. 27) at home at 8pm.

Sept. 20 / 03    
Trail Smoke Eaters - 3 vs Victoria Salsa - 4 OT

    What was supposed to be a road weary hockey team looked anything but as the Victoria Salsa over came a 3 - 0 third period deficit to hand the Smokies their 2nd overtime loss in as many games.
Kyle Greentree (Cherwinski) scored on the powerplay at 1:11of the first OT period to give the Salsa their 5th win in 6 road games on the season.
In what was mostly an evenly played matchup, Kyle Jones (T. Gawryletz, Newton) gave the Smokies a 1 - 0 lead going into the first intermission with a bank shot off a Salsa defender at 17:16 of the first.
Jones (T. Gawryletz, Toews) scored his second of the night on a perfect blue line to blue line pass that sent him in alone at 14:39 of the second.
Just 16 seconds after that, Jones (Newton, Collins) scored the natural hat trick to give Trail a 3 - 0 lead going into the third, that goal would be Jones eighth of the year.
The Salsa never gave up in the third and Kyle Greentree (unassisted) scored on a delayed penalty at 3:18 of the third to get Victoria on the scoresheet.
Jordan Siu (Lueck, B. Tassone) got the Salsa to within 1 at the 12 minute mark with a quick wrist shot to the top corner to make it 3 - 2.
A desperation shot from an incredibly sharp angle by Kyle Greentree (Lainsbury) banked in off the Trail netminder to force the extra period. That goal coming at 18:17 of the third.
Greentree's overtime winner gave him three goals on the night and eight on the season.
The Salsa were 1 for 7 with the man advantage while Trail went 1 for 5.
Ben McMullin (VI) made 34 saves for the win while Ryan McConnachie (TR) made 42 in the losing cause.
The Smokies face the Alberni Valley Bulldogs next Friday night (26th) and the Pr. George Spruce Kings Saturday (27th) at the Cominco arena in Trail