The Smoke Eaters will look to build off back to back home wins last weekend as they prepare for another weekend on home ice, starting with a visit from the Salmon Arm Silverbacks
Season series vs. Salmon Arm
Oct. 14 Salmon Arm at Trail 7:00 pm PDT
Nov. 13 Salmon Arm at Trail 3:00 pm PST
Dec. 17 Salmon Arm at Trail 7:00 pm PST
Jan. 14 Trail at Salmon Arm 6:00 pm PST
Mar. 1 Trail at Salmon Arm 6:00 pm PST
The Smoke Eaters come into Friday’s game with a 3-3-0 record after wins last weekend against the Wenatchee Wild and the West Kelowna Warriors. Meanwhile their opponents come in also with a 3-3-0 record but lost both their games last weekend. The Smoke Eaters used third period comebacks on both night’s to help propel them to victory, using overtime on Saturday against West Kelowna. Despite a strong Salmon Arm team last year and despite a plethora of injuries in the second half of the season when most of the matchups took place, the Smoke Eaters fared well against the Backs, going 1-4-0 with two games being 2-1 decisions and the third a 5-3 loss with an empty net. Former Silverback Mathieu Cobetto-Roy will face his former team for the first time as well, surely adding an extra boost to his game after adding a goal and two assists this past weekend.
Smoke Eaters leading scorers:
Remissong (4-3-7)
Cobetto-Roy (2-4-6)
Bushy (1-5-6)
Parsons (3-2-5)
Hunter (2-3-5)
The Silverbacks come to Trail looking to shake off back to back losses last weekend. The Backs lost a barn burner on Friday on the road in Vernon as the Vipers held on for a 6-5 win. The following night Salmon Arm continued their trip down the Okanagan Valley to Penticton where they went to the third period tied 1-1 with the Vees, but would lose 3-1 by the time the final horn sounded. The Backs returned a solid group of forwards from last year’s team that finished second in the Interior with assistant captain Brandon Santa Juana poised to lead the team in his twenty year old year after putting up 53 points in 53 games last year for the Backs. The Bucks appear to have also replaced goaltender Owen Say, who was arguably the league’s best goaltender last season with another twenty year old netminder in Matthew Tovell, who opened his BCHL career with a shutout against Vernon.
Silverbacks leading scorers:
Lambert (4-2-6)
Beckner (3-3-6)
Mackie (5-0-5)
Gillespie (0-5-5)
Ullrick (1-3-4)
The Smoke Eaters look to wrap up their four game homestand on the right foot as they look to defend home ice against the Silverbacks. Tonight is Country night inside Cominco as we ask you, the best fans in the BCHL to wear your favourite flanel to tonight’s game and enjoy country tunes all night long. Don’t forget, skip the lines and buy your tickets ahead of time at tickets.trailsmokeeaters.com. If you can’t make it to the arena, catch all the action with Smoke Eaters broadcaster Ben Phillips and colour commentator Rob Squires on HockeyTV and on Mixlr!
