PHOTO: Garrett James/BCHL
The Trail Smoke Eaters look to bounce back and earn a victory at the Bauer BCHL Showcase as they take on the Island Division’s Powell River Kings on Friday morning at the Prospera Centre in Chilliwack.
Smoke Eaters vs. Kings 2018/19 Schedule:
Friday, September 21st @ Prospera Centre (10:00 AM)
Friday, October 5th @ Hap Parker Arena (7:00 PM)
Saturday, October 13th @ Trail Memorial Centre (7:00 PM)
The Smoke Eaters come into Friday morning’s affair after a 4-1 loss to the Mainland Division’s Langley Rivermen on Thursday at the Showcase. Braeden Tuck scored the lone goal for the Smoke Eaters on the power play early into the 2nd period before the Rivermen responded with three unanswered goals for the win. Adam Marcoux turned aside 22 of the 26 shots he faced in the losing effort.
The season series between the Smoke Eaters and Kings was an even one in 2017/18 wit Trail coming away with two victories in the three head-to-head matchups but no game decided by more than two goals. The Smoke Eaters were 4-2 winners at the 2017 Showcase before falling by a 5-3 score in Powell River. Trail finished off the season set with a 2-1 win at the Trail Memorial Centre and earned the season series win over the Kings.
Smoke Eaters Leading Scorers:
Braeden Tuck (3-4-7)
Diarmad Dimurro (0-6-6)
Levi Glasman (3-2-5)
Jeremy Smith (2-3-5)
Trevor Zins (2-3-5)
The Showcase has been a regular visit between the teams that reside 876 kilometres away from one another. This is the third straight year that the Smoke Eaters and Kings will clash and the fourth time in the last five seasons with Trail earning wins in two of those three matchups. Levi Glasman had one of the four Smoke Eater goals that helped them to a two-goal victory over the Kings last season to close out back-to-back Showcase victories.
It’s been a strong start to the season for Smokies captain Braeden Tuck, who scored the lone goal on Thursday versus Langley and now has points in each of the five regular season games thus far. The Calgary, Alberta native is tied for the team lead with three goals and sits tied for second in assists.
There will be a different look between the pipes for Trail in this game as Tanner Marshall gets his first start of the season. The 18-year-old Kelowna, BC native played in 18 games last season, posting a 9-6 record to go along with a 4.51 GAA and a .875 SV% in his first season with the Smoke Eaters.
The Powell River Kings come into the morning also in search of their first victory at the Bauer BCHL Showcase, falling by a 6-3 score to the Coquitlam Express on Thursday afternoon in Chilliwack. Neal Samanski, Christian Buono and Ben Thomas each scored in the game for the Kings while Mitch Adamyk turned away 26 of the 32 shots he faced in the game in his first loss of the season.
Kings Leading Scorers:
Ben Berard (3-3-6)
Ryan Brushett (2-4-6)
Matt Fawcett (2-3-5)
Neal Samanski (2-2-4)
Mitchell Williams (2-1-3)
Powell River brings back plenty of experience from a season ago with 11 players returning including last season’s leader scorer, captain Ben Berard along with forwards Neal Samanski, Josh Coblenz, Ben Thomas, Ethan Kimball, Kyle Kawamura and Mitch Williams. Defensemen Nathan Kelly, Jack Long and Ben Raffler while both goaltenders are back between the pipes in the way of Mitch Adamyk and Matteo Paler-Chow. Ryan Brushett was brought in from Surrey while Jayden Lee adds experience on the back end from Langley.
Ben Berard is one of the most intriguing players back for his third season in Powell River and in the BC Hockey League. Berard led the Kings with 29 goals and 67 points in all 58 regular season games a year ago and earned himself a scholarship to Cornell University for the 2019/2020 season. The Duncan, BC native has collected points in each of his last three games, including a hat trick against the Nanaimo Clippers on September 14th in a 4-2 Kings victory.
An acquisition that has helped the Kings through the early part of the season is the arrival of 20-year-old forward Ryan Brushett, who sits second in team scoring with two goals and six points. The Verdun, Quebec native has played in 111 BCHL games, splitting time between the Vernon Vipers and Surrey Eagles but has been a point producer, collecting 33 goals and 81 points in that span.
The Smoke Eaters and Kings get things going bright and early with a 10:00 AM puck drop to open Friday action at the Bauer BCHL Showcase. The pre-game show gets going at 9:50 AM on mixlr.com/trail-smoke-eaters as well as HockeyTV.com with the Voice of the Smoke Eaters, Trevor Miller.
