PHOTO: Jim Bailey/Trail Times
The Trail Smoke Eaters are back on home ice for the first of four ‘Welcome Wednesdays’ this season as they host the Vernon Vipers on Wednesday night at the Trail Memorial Centre.
Smoke Eaters vs. Vipers 2018/19 Regular Season Schedule:
Saturday, September 15th @ Kal Tire Place (3-1 Smoke Eaters) (BOXSCORE)
Wednesday, October 17th @ Kal Tire Place (4-0 Vipers) (BOXSCORE)
Wednesday, November 14th @ Trail Memorial Centre (7:00 PM)
Saturday, November 24th @ Kal Tire Place (6:00 PM)
Wednesday, December 12th @ Trail Memorial Centre (7:00 PM)
Friday, February 1st @ Trail Memorial Centre (7:00 PM)
The Smoke Eaters and Vipers square off for the third time this season with each team having won once in the North Okanagan. Trail opened the season series with a 3-1 win over Vernon before the Vipers rebounded, handing the Smoke Eaters their first shutout of the season in a 4-0 blanking. Adam Marcoux turned aside 10 of 13 shots in his 20 minutes played before Tanner Marshall came into the game and made 19 saves on 20 shots in his two periods of work.
Trail enters Wednesday night’s contest with an 8-10-4-2 record and sit 7th in the Interior Division after a 4-3 overtime defeat at the hands of the Penticton Vees on Saturday night at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Trevor Zins, Michael Hodge and Spencer McLean each scored in the Smoke Eaters overtime setback while Adam Marcoux turned aside 20 of the 24 shots he faced in the game in his 10th loss of the season.
Smoke Eaters Leading Scorers:
Braeden Tuck (9-12-21)
Kent Johnson (9-11-20)
Carter Jones (6-14-20)
Trevor Zins (6-11-17)
Diarmad DiMurro (0-15-15)
Overtime has been a common theme for each of the Smoke Eaters and Vipers this season as they head into the mid-week matchup. Vernon leads the BCHL in overtime games played at 8 with Trail right behind them, ranking second at 7 games going past the 60-minute mark. Despite forcing the game past regulation time, each team is without an overtime win with the Smoke Eaters winning once in a shootout for their only win beyond 60 minutes.
Spencer McLean scored his first goal of the season on Saturday night in Penticton and came with the Smokies down a man for their 5th shorthanded goal of the season. That tally ties the Smoke Eaters with the Prince George Spruce Kings for 3rd in the BC Hockey League and are already halfway to their total from a season ago in regards to shorthanded goals.
The Smoke Eaters are dangerous on both sides of the special teams as they lead the league with a 21.7% power play while scoring 25 of their 75 goals on the man advantage. It will be a battle of two teams that have strong power plays as Vernon ranks 4th in the league at a 21.4% rate, who went 1/4 in the team’s last meeting on October 17th.
The Vernon Vipers enter Wednesday night’s contest with an 8-7-6-2 record in 6th place in the Interior Division after a 4-3 overtime setback to the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Saturday night at the Shaw Centre. Michael Young scored twice in the game for the Vipers while Ben Helgeson scored late in regulation, on the power play, to force overtime. Aiden Porter stopped 34 of the 38 shots thrown his way in his 10th defeat of the season.
Vipers Leading Scorers:
Jack Judson (3-15-18)
Josh Latta (6-9-15)
Alex Swetlikoff (6-9-15)
Teddy Wooding (7-7-14)
Jagger Williamson (5-9-14)
The Vipers have seen a bit of a shuffle in their roster since the last time these two teams met, most recently making a trade to bring in forward and Vernon native Matt Kowalski from the West Kelowna Warriors in exchange for defenseman Austin Chorney. Kowalski, 19, has scored 21 goals and 43 points in 99 career games in the BC Hockey League, tallying 5 goals and 13 points in 19 games this season and is set to suit up in his 100th career BCHL game tonight.
Sebastien Streu is the latest Viper to have gone to the Western Hockey League as he signed with the Regina Pats on Tuesday. Streu is the 4th member of the Vipers to make their way to Major Junior, joining Josh Prokop (Calgary Hitmen), Max Palaga (Everett Silvertips) and Kjell Kjemhus (Prince George Cougars). Other additions to the roster have been forward Ben Sanderson from the Okotoks Oilers of the Alberta Junior Hockey League as well Landon Fuller from the Coquitlam Express.
Five year BCHL veteran and Vipers captain Jagger Williamson has made up for what was a bit of a slow offensive start, for a player of his calibre. One of the lone active BCHLer’s with 200+ games played started the season with one assist in seven games before collecting two goals and three points against the Smoke Eaters in October. Since then, the Vernon, BC native has been red hot, having his eight-game point streak snapped last Wednesday against Penticton, where he registered 5 goals and 8 assists for 13 points in that 8-game span.
The Smoke Eaters and Vipers drop the puck at 7:00 PM from the Trail Memorial Centre with tickets available for purchase at the Smoke Eaters Main Office. Trail remains on home ice this Friday as they host the Wenatchee Wild for a 7:00 PM face-off.
