In the lone game in the BCHL tonight, the Smoke Eaters will face some new opposition as they head to the interior to take on the Merritt Centennials.
2020/21Extended Training Camp Schedule
Nov. 12 Trail @ Merritt 7:00 pm PST
Nov. 15 Prince George @ Trail 3:00 pm PST
Nov. 18 Merritt @ Trail 7:00 pm PST
Nov. 21 Trail @ Cranbrook 6:00 pm PST
Nov. 27 Trail @ Cranbrook 6:00 pm PST
The Smoke Eaters have said for week’s that they’ve been looking forward to this game, a chance to play someone other than Cranbrook and see how they compare. Coming off Saturday’s dramatic come from behind win against the Bucks the Smoke Eaters turn their attention to a team they had a lot of success against last season, going 6-1 against the Centennials. Now with a powerplay that seems to be scoring at a pace similar to last season with five goals in the past three games, the Centennials will have to be disciplined if they want to get anything out of this game. New additions Ben King and Mitchell Prowse made their presence felt over the weekend, Drew Elser also looks to be one of the biggest additions to this Smoke Eaters roster with his continued strong play while Cody Schiavon once again had a standout performance both on and off the puck. Tonight’s game marks the start of the busiest part of the preseason schedule for the Smoke Eaters with four games over the next 10 days, as Prince George and Merritt all come to town next week before the Smoke Eaters resume their quest for the Kootenay Cup.
The Centennials have played just four games since the preseason began, and like the Smoke Eaters it’s all been against the same team, the Prince George Spruce Kings. The Cents have gone 1-3 against the Spruce Kings winning their lone game with a buzzer beater back on October 25th to earn a 2-1 win. Like many teams around the BCHL the Cents saw massive turnover in their roster with just 7 players returning from the lone BCHL team to miss last years playoffs. As they look to have a turn around season, they’ll be helped along by two former Smoke Eaters in Walker Erickson and Trevor Isaksson who were both acquired via trade. Isaksson currently leads the Centennials in points with a goal and two assists through four games.
Tonight’s game goes at 7pm from the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena in Merritt as the Smoke Eaters look for their fifth win of the preseason. The game can be watched on BCHLTV (HockeyTV). You can also listen to the game free on Mixlr, where Ben Phillips and Rob Squires will have exclusive Smoke Eaters content with a pre game show starting at 6:50pm, they’ll also be live each intermission and post game to break down all the action.
