The Trail Smoke Eaters return home to the Trail Memorial Centre in search of the win column as they host the Island Division’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Friday night for the lone time this season.
Smoke Eaters vs. Bulldogs 2018/19 Schedule:
Friday, September 28th @ Trail Memorial Centre (7:00 PM)
Saturday, October 6th @ Weyerhaeuser Arena (7:00 PM)
The Smoke Eaters swept the season series a year ago against their Island Division foes in Alberni Valley, scoring 12 goals in their two matchups. Trail started with a 6-2 victory at the Weyerhaeuser Arena in Port Alberni in early October before finishing off the season series with a 6-4 victory over the Bulldogs at the Trail Memorial Centre. Alumni defenseman Jeremy Lucchini had a big season set against the Bulldogs, scoring twice and adding three assists for five points in the two-game season series.
Trail enters Friday night looking to get back in the win column after back-to-back losses at the Bauer BCHL Showcase last week in Chilliwack. The Smoke Eaters dropped a 4-1 decision to the Langley Rivermen on Thursday before falling by a 2-1 score to the Powell River Kings on Friday morning. Kent Johnson scored the lone goal in the game for the Smoke Eaters while Tanner Marshall made his first start of the season, turning aside 24 of the 26 shots he faced in the game in his first loss of the season.
Smoke Eaters Leading Scorers:
Braeden Tuck (3-5-8)
Diarmad DiMurro (0-6-6)
Levi Glasman (3-2-5)
Kent Johnson (2-3-5)
Jeremy Smith (2-3-5)
Extending his point streak to six games, Smoke Eaters captain Braeden Tuck has started his season off on a strong foot. Tuck has scored three goals and added five assists for eight points in his six games thus far this season and has had some success when playing the Bulldogs. In four career matchups against Alberni Valley, the Calgary, Alberta native has registered three points including goals in each of the two games from their season series a year ago.
It’s a short season series between the Smoke Eaters and Bulldogs as the two teams play each other twice in the span of eight days with changing venues. The set of games kicks off tonight in Trail before next week’s matchup, which will be the middle of the Smoke Eaters three-game Island swing over the Thanksgiving weekend.
The power play has been one of the biggest constants for the Smoke Eaters over the course of their six games this season. Trail has scored a goal on the man advantage in every game this season and holds the BCHL lead with 11 goals on the power play this season. The Smokies sit second in power play percentage at 55.0% behind only the West Kelowna Warriors for the league lead.
The Alberni Valley Bulldogs come into Friday night having lost their last four games in a row, including a pair of loss at the Bauer BCHL Showcase with the most recent being a 4-1 loss to the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. Austin Spiridakis scored the lone Bulldog goal shorthanded while Cole Demers made 26 saves on 30 shots in his second loss of the season.
Bulldogs Leading Scorers:
Tyler Vanuden (1-2-3)
Keaton Mastrodonato (0-3-3)
Ryan Novecosky (0-2-2)
Austin Spiridakis (1-0-1)
Nicholas Seitz (1-0-1)
The Bulldogs come into the new season with ten returnees from a season ago, including captain and forward Tyler Vanuden as well as forwards Jackson Doucet, Michael Sacco, Julian Benner, Isaac Tonkin-Palmer and Keaton Mastrodonato. Defensemen Spencer Hora, Darren Rizzolo and Grayson Valente while goaltender John Hawthorne also makes his return to the ‘Dawgs. Some BCHL experience was added in net to help Hawthorne as 19-year-old Cole Demers was acquired from West Kelowna earlier in the season.
20-year-old netminder John Hawthorne has been a good source of goal keeping this season, coming off of a strong first season in the BC Hockey League last year. The Chemainus, BC native posted a 3.62 GAA and a .902 SV% in 45 games for the Bulldogs in 201/18, playing the 5th most minutes of any goaltender in the league. Hawthorne has faced more than 35 shots in three of his four games this season, posting a 3.18 GAA and a .912 SV%.
Opposite of the Smoke Eaters, the Bulldogs have struggled when on the power play this season, scoring just once in 24 opportunities. The Bulldogs have had some success on the penalty kill, however, holding the 3rd best PK in the league at 88.9%, killing off each of their last eight penalties.
The Smoke Eaters and Bulldogs are set to do battle at 7 PM from the Trail Memorial Centre with tickets available at the Smoke Eaters Main Office. Trail remains at home on Saturday night to host the reigning BCHL champion Wenatchee Wild for a rematch of the 2018 Interior Division Final for a 7 PM face-off.
