The Trail Smoke Eaters get their BCHL Showcase started early on Saturday morning in Chilliwack as they take on the Surrey Eagles in the teams lone meeting of the season.
The Smoke Eaters come into the showcase feeling good about their game. While it might not have been the cleanest effort, the Smoke Eaters still came away with the OT win over the Wenatchee Wild this past Saturday on home ice, capping off a busy four day stretch for the team. The Smokies finished the weekend with 3/4 points after their overtime loss on Friday to Penticton and then the OT win Saturday. In a 6-5 game that went back and forth the Smoke Eaters have shown their ability to score goals, with 13 goals scored in the past three games. That only got bolstered by Charlie Strobel who jumped right into the lineup with a goal and an assist. Now with a week of practice under his belt it should only bolster his impact for the Smoke Eaters. Special teams have been an all around positive for the Smoke Eaters. While it’s only a small sample size the Smoke Eaters are averaging a 20% completion rate on the powerplay and a 94.4% effectiveness on the penalty kill, great early season numbers for Tim Fragle and his team. Now as they head into the BCHL showcase against two unfamiliar teams, they’ll have their work cutout for them.
Smoke Eaters leading scorers:
Michaelis (4-2-6)
Lagerback (3-3-6)
Cunningham (1-3-4)
Disher (1-3-4)
Moger (1-3-4)
The Surrey Eagles come into Saturday’s game coming off a Thursday afternoon loss to the Penticton Vees by a score of 6-2. The Eagles allowed the first goal in the game but tied things up heading into the first intermission before the Vees took off in the final two periods, scoring five straight enroute to the win. Keeping the goals out haven’t been easy for the Eagles to start the year, with the second highest goals against in the league at 26 through five games. The Eagles to start have been a much different team than the one that hit the ice during the pod season, where they went 17-2-1 and scored 102 goals in twenty games, that while allowing the third least amount of goals at just 44. With many players graduating from their program at the end of the pod season the Eagles find themselves amongst the youngest in the league. All that being said they’ll be eager to show the best of themselves in their final game at the showcase.
Eagles leading scorers:
Abgrall (1-4-5)
Bongo (2-2-4)
Slipec (2-1-3)
Bonkowski (2-1-3)
Galata (2-1-3)
It’s a early start on Saturday morning as the Smoke Eaters look to kick off the BCLH Showcase in style, Puck drop is at 10am from Chilliwack with the Teck Trail Pre-Game report starting at 9:50am with Smoke Eater broadcaster Ben Phillips! Catch the game on BCHLTV or listen free on Mixlr.
