PHOTOS: Lorne White/KelownaNow
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NOVEMBER 20th, 2018
TRAIL, B.C. – The Trail Smoke Eaters Junior ‘A’ Hockey Club is pleased to announce forward Chase Dafoe (’02), forward Colby Elmer (’01) and defenseman Corey McCann (’01) have committed to the team for the 2019/20 season.
Dafoe, 16, is in his second season with the Okanagan Rockets of the BC Major Midget League (BCMML) where he has compiled 17 goals and 27 assists for 44 points in 56 games played over his Major Midget career. The 6’1”, 172-pound forward has had an outstanding start to his 2018/19 campaign, sitting 2nd in BCMML scoring with 10 goals and 16 assists for 26 points in just 16 games in addition to being the captain of the Rockets this season.
A dual citizen to both Canada and the United States, Dafoe calls Beverly, Massachusetts home and spent time with the Okanagan Hockey Academy before making his way to the Rockets. The Dafoe name is a well-known one in hockey circles as Chase is the son of former National Hockey League goaltender Byron Dafoe, who played 415 professional games between the Washington Capitals, Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins and Atlanta Thrashers.
Elmer, 17, is another member of the Rockets that is at the top of the scoring leaders in the BCMML, tallying 12 goals and 11 assists for 23 points in 16 games while also adding an additional 16 penalty minutes to the mix. The 6’0”, 187-pound forward made his BCHL debut on last Wednesday night in a 3-2 victory for the Smoke Eaters over the Vernon Vipers.
A Kelowna, BC native, Elmer played his minor hockey with the Central Okanagan Rockets, advancing from Tier 2 Midget in 2016/17 to Tier 1 Midget a season ago and is in his first season with the Major Midget Rockets this campaign.
McCann, 17, is playing in his first season with the Rockets after attending the Okanagan Hockey Academy for a pair of years. The 6’0”, 165-pound rearguard brings leadership to the Smoke Eaters, wearing an ‘A’ as an assistant captain for the Rockets this season. McCann has scored twice while adding 11 assists for 13 points in 16 games in the BCMML this season to go along with 16 penalty minutes.
The Kelowna, BC product most recently played a pair of games for the Smoke Eaters over the weekend as he made his BCHL debut against the Wenatchee Wild on Friday night before joining the team for a trip to Merritt against the Centennials on Saturday.
“This is a big day for our organization to be able to commit three of the top recruits in BC,” commented Smoke Eaters General Manager and Head Coach Jeff Tambellini, “Chase Dafoe, Corey McCann and Colby Elmer are all highly talented players who all play over 6’2″. We’re looking to build a bigger team going forward, one that still possesses elite skill and most importantly, high character people. These three commitments establish our 2019-20 recruiting class as one of the top classes in the province.”
The Smoke Eaters would like to welcome Chase, Colby and Corey along with their families to the organization and the City of Trail.
The Smoke Eaters begin a three-game week on the road as they head to north to take on the Prince George Spruce Kings to conclude the teams season series. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM from the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena with the pre-game show getting underway at 6:50 PM on the mixlr.com/trail-smoke-eaters as well as on HockeyTV.com.
