The Trail Smoke Eaters head to Penticton on Wednesday night for a 6:30pm puck drop against their interior division rivals the Penticton Vees. The Smoke Eaters come into the game riding a franchise best ten game point streak, while the Vees have lost their last four games.
Smoke Eaters vs. Vees 2019-20 Regular season schedule:
September 6th @ Trail Memorial Arena 4-1L (BOXSCORE)
September 7th @ Trail Memorial Arena 7-1L (BOXSCORE)
October 23rd @ South Okanagan Event Centre (6:30pm)
November 6th @ South Okanagan Event Centre (6:30pm)
January 10th @ Trail Memorial Arena (7:00pm)
January 11th @ South Okanagan Event Centre (6:30pm)
Season series so far – 0W – 2L
The Smoke Eaters head into Wednesday nights game eyeing a bit of a revenge to the side that handed them their first two losses of the year. As the Vees came to Cominco on opening weekend and stunned the Smokies outscoring them 11-2 over the two game set. Trail however has turned things around and are the hottest team in the BCHL coming into tonight’s matchup. Winners of their last 9 of 10 and undefeated in regulation over the last 10 games, the Smokies have a lot of confidence to bring into the South Okanagan Event Centre. The top three leading scorers will be in action tonight in Penticton as Kent Johnson and Mike Colella continue to lead the BCHL, while first round draft pick Jay O’Brien sits just behind them.
The Smoke Eaters special teams will once again play a big factor in tonight’s game. The second ranked power play in the league was held to only one goal on seven opportunities Saturday night in Vernon, as the Vipers PK was ranked first at over 90%. Tonight however they’ll take on a Vees PK that sits in the middle of the pack at 84%, just below the Smoke Eater penalty kill which sits at 85%. The last time these teams played the Vees went 3/7 on the man advantage but since have relied mostly on scoring five on five. The Vees power play has been quiet, they have the third most opportunities with 85 power plays but have scored just 13 goals. They’ll also have to contend with the hot hand of Logan Terness who has been a revelation for the Smoke Eaters through 16 games. The 17-year-old leads the league in SV% at 0.944 among goalies with eight or more games played. He’ll be the guy until the Smoke Eaters can replace Donovan Buskey who left for the WHL earlier this week.
Smoke Eaters Leading Scorers:
Johnson (9-19-28)
Colella (11-14-25)
Ozar (7-9-16)
DiMurro (4-12-16)
Ghirardosi (5-3-8)
The Vees, after winning their opening 11 games of the season and rising to the top of the national power rankings in the CJHL, now find themselves on a four game slide. Their unbeaten run was snapped in Alberni Valley where the Bulldogs shut out the Vees 4-0. The Vees then had two tough opponents back to back, as Salmon Arm beat the Vees 5-2 last Wednesday at the Shaw Centre. The Vees then returned home and lost in overtime on Friday night to the Vipers. They felt the hands of defeat again as the Nanaimo Clippers came to town following their loss to the Smoke Eaters. The Clippers would score four goals on 19 shots to hand the Vees their fourth straight loss. The Vees have scored just four goals in their last four games after scoring 52 in their opening 11. With the high powered offence that the Vees have assembled its only a matter of time before they get back on track, the Smokies though are hoping to hand the Vees one more loss before that happens.
The Vees have also only played four games at home this year, and while its a small sample size have a 2W-1L-1OTL record at the SOEC. The Smoke Eaters have one of the better road records as well only second to the Vees going 6W-1L-1OTL away from Cominco Arena. The first period of tonight’s game will be crucial in the outcome. The Smokies are 7W-0L when leading after the first period, while the Vees are 9W-0L. That trend continues into the second intermission where the Smoke Eaters are 7W-0L-1OTL when leading after the second while the Vees are perfect at 9W-0L. Both teams are 1W-3L-1OTL when they are trailing after the opening twenty minutes.
Vees Leading Scorers
O’Brien (8-14-22)
Weight (8-10-18)
Sillinger (5-11-16)
Silye (4-9-13)
Kalezic (5-6-11)
The Smoke Eaters kick off a busy two week stretch against Interior teams starting tonight in Penticton. Note the 6:30pm start time for tonight’s game. The game can be caught on HockeyTV and Mixlr. The broadcast gets started at 6:20pm with Ben Phillips as he sets up the game with comments from each coach.
