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GAME PREVIEW: Smoke Eaters, Vipers Clash In Vernon

PHOTO: Lisa Mazurek

The Trail Smoke Eaters head to the Okanagan in search of their third victory in a row as they take on the Vernon Vipers for the second time this season at Kal Tire Place on Wednesday night.

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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 (7:00 PM)

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 have met once in their six-game season series so far during the 2018/19 campaign, resulting in a 3-1 victory for Trail just over a month ago. Jeremy Smith and Levi Glasman each scored during a five-minute major power play with Tyler Ghirardosi scoring seconds after for an insurance marker. Adam Marcoux had an excellent game, turning aside 37 of the 38 shots thrown his way for the win in between the pipes.

Trail comes into the mid-week contest after a strong weekend on home ice, defeating back-to-back Island Division opponents with the latest win coming on Saturday night against the Powell River Kings by a 4-3 score. Tyler Ghirardosi, Sean Donaldson, Jeremy Smith and Trevor Zins each scored 1st period goals as the Smoke Eaters were able to hang on for the victory. Tanner Marshall stopped 24 of the 27 shots he faced in the game for his 2nd win of the season.

Smoke Eaters Leading Scorers:

Braeden Tuck (7-7-14)

Levi Glasman (3-11-14)

Trevor Zins (4-8-12)

Carter Jones (3-9-12)

Diarmad DiMurro (0-12-12)

It was a good weekend for the Smoke Eaters and, in particular, forward Hayden Rowan as he received an honour mention for the BCHL’s Player of the Week award. The Pemberville, Ohio native has points in each of his last three games, including a hat trick on Friday night against the Cowichan Valley Capitals followed up by an assist the next night in the Smoke Eaters 4-3 victory over the Powell River Kings.

Some big news came for the future of Smoke Eaters captain Braeden Tuck as he announced his commitment to Sacred Heart University for the 2019/20 season. The 20-year-old, three-year BCHL veteran has led the Smoke Eaters in scoring for the majority of the season, registering 7 goals and 14 points on the year. In his 121 games of his Junior ‘A’ career, the Calgary, Alberta native has compiled 31 goals and 48 assists for 79 points over that three-year span.

Offense from the blue line has been a strong point of the Smoke Eaters squad this season as they lead the league with 40 points from the back end. Trevor Zins and Diarmad DiMurro are leading that category for the Smokies with Zins scoring 4 goals and 8 assists for 12 points while DiMurro leads all defensemen in the BCHL with 12 assists.

The Vernon Vipers are looking to get back in the win column after back-to-back losses to a pair of Mainland Division teams with the most recent being a 3-2 setback against the Chilliwack Chiefs on Sunday afternoon in Chilliwack. Sebastian Streu and Teddy Wooding each scored in the game for the Vipers while Max Palaga turned aside 37 of the 40 shots he faced in his 2nd loss.

Vipers Leading Scorers:

Jack Judson (3-7-10)

Josh Latta (4-4-8)

Elan Bar Lev Wise (1-6-7)

Jesse Lansdell (4-2-6)

Teddy Wooding (3-3-6)

It’s been a difficult month of October for the Vipers with just one victory in four games so far through the month. Vernon picked up a win in a home-and-home set against the Penticton Vees to begin October before a back-and-forth affair against the Surrey Eagles went in the way of the Eagles by a 6-5 score in overtime. Sunday’s game was a bit of a heartbreaker for the Vipers, leading 2-1 into the 3rd period before Matthew Holmes scored with 30 seconds left to give the Chiefs a regulation victory.

Vernon will field a much different roster than the one that they rolled out just over a month ago when these two teams played last with four players joining the team and three players no longer on the squad. The biggest omission from the lineup was the loss of forward Josh Prokop, who left for the Western Hockey League’s Calgary Hitmen. The 18-year-old had five points in six games with the Vipers before leaving the team.

A defenseman is leading the charge offensively for the Vipers so far this season as second-year blue liner Jack Judson has 10 points in 12 games. The Arizona State University commit has earned four assists in his last three games and already has half as many points as he did a season ago in 33 less games.

The Smoke Eaters and Vipers drop the puck at Kal Tire Place at 7:00 PM tonight with the game being broadcasted live on mixlr.com/trail-smoke-eaters as well as HockeyTV.com. The pre-game show gets underway at 6:50 PM with the Voice of the Smoke Eaters, Trevor Miller.