PHOTO: Mike Hockley
The Trail Smoke Eaters look to end the season on a high note as they host the West Kelowna Warriors in the final game of the regular season at the Trail Memorial Centre on Saturday night.
Smoke Eaters vs. Warriors 2018/19 Regular Season Schedule:
Friday, September 7th @ Cominco Arena (4-3 Warriors/OT) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, September 8th @ Royal LePage Place (6-4 Smoke Eaters) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, October 20th @ Cominco Arena (4-3 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, January 5th @ Royal LePage Place (8-4 Smoke Eaters) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, February 22nd @ Royal LePage Place (4-3 Warriors/OT) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, February 23rd @ Cominco Arena (7:00 PM)
The Smoke Eaters and Warriors enter the final game of the regular season with their final game of the six-game season series that has seen the Warriors come away with three victories including handing the Smoke Eaters a 4-3 setback in overtime a night ago at Royal LePage Place. Carter Jones, Mack Byers and Braeden Tuck all tallied in the defeat while Donovan Buskey turned aside 39 of the 43 shots he faced in his 4th loss of the season.
Smoke Eaters Leading Scorers:
Carter Jones (16-37-53)
Chase Stevenson (19-32-51)
Kent Johnson (20-25-45)
Trevor Zins (12-33-45)
Braeden Tuck (15-27-40)
The final contest of a 58-game regular season goes tonight as the Smoke Eaters are set to honour their five graduating 20-year-old players after the game tonight. Captain Braeden Tuck along with Assistant Captains Spencer McLean and Kyle Chernenkoff, defender Trevor Zins and goaltender Adam Marcoux will be honoured post game as fans are encouraged to stay in their seats after the game as well as taking to the ice for a meet and greet with players and coaches.
Another honour for 16-year-old forward Kent Johnson came on Wednesday with the BC Hockey League announcing their annual award nominees as Johnson was named the Interior Division representative for the Bruce Allison Memorial Trophy for Rookie of the Year along with Victoria Grizzlies forward Alexander Campbell and Chilliwack Chiefs forward Kevin Wall. The University of Michigan commit leads all 2002-born players with 20 goals and 25 assists for 45 points this season.
Carter Jones continued his excellent stretch of play on Saturday night as his point streak reached five games and has now collected points in nine of his last ten contests. The Bemidji State University commit has earned three goals and six assists for ten points over his last five games and has overtaken the top scoring spot on the Smoke Eaters roster with his 53 points and team-leading 37 assists.
The West Kelowna Warriors come into the game with a 28-28-0-1 record and sit in 6th place in the Interior Division after a 4-3 overtime victory over the Smoke Eaters on Friday night at Royal LePage Place. Lucas Cullen netted a pair of power play goals, including the game winning marker, while Mike Hardman and Cavin Tilsley added singles in the win. Connor Hopkins turned aside 36 of the 39 shots he faced in his 16th win of the season.
Warriors Leading Scorers:
Mike Hardman (38-33-71)
Chase Dubois (20-40-60)
Willie Reim (24-34-58)
Parm Dhaliwal (15-35-50)
Lucas Cullen (26-23-49)
Boston College commit Mike Hardman has been a thorn in the Smoke Eaters side this season along with the rest of the BCHL as he enters tonight’s game ranking 3rd in the league in points with 71. The Hanover, Massachusetts native is second in the league with 38 goals and has registered points in five of his last six games, earning six goals and two assists for seven points including goals in three straight games. Hardman has played some of his best hockey against the Smoke Eaters this season, collecting four goals and five assists for eight points in five games against Trail.
Two power play goals from West Kelowna on Friday pins the two of the top power plays against each other as the Warriors come in with the 2nd ranked man advantage in the league. West Kelowna sits at 23.6% on the power play while the Smoke Eaters enter play sitting 5th in the BCHL at 22.3% including the third-most attempts on the power play in the league.
The Smoke Eaters and Warriors conclude their regular season tonight at the Trail Memorial Centre with puck drop slated for 7:00 PM. Tickets are available for purchase at the Smoke Eaters Main Office as well as at the door ahead of the opening puck drop.
