After a nearly two week unplanned break the Smoke Eaters hit the ice once again as the West Kelowna Warriors come to town facing a reinvigorated Smoke Eater line up.
Season Series versus West Kelowna:
Oct. 13 West Kelowna 5 at Trail 4 Final
Nov. 26 West Kelowna 7 at Trail 3 Final
Jan. 14 West Kelowna at Trail 7:00 pm PST
Jan. 29 Trail at West Kelowna 7:00 pm PST
Feb. 20 Trail at West Kelowna 6:00 pm PST
Mar. 4 West Kelowna at Trail 7:00 pm PST
The Smoke Eaters are eager to get back at it as 13 days between games due to various postponements of games. The break however could be just what the Smoke Eaters need to polish up some of their finer details as well as bring their new players up to speed. The likes of Kabore Dunn, Josh Orrico and Nic Remissong are all possibilities to make their Smoke Eaters debut. Should Dunn and Orrico make their debuts the Smoke Eater defence will have a completely new look. That with Ethan Willoughby expected to make his long awaited return is nothing but good news for the Smoke Eaters and their staff. The last time the Smoke Eaters and Warriors battled it was West Kelowna who got the better of the Smoke Eaters, scoring six straight goals after falling behind 2-1 early in the second.
Smoke Eaters leading scorers:
Hunter (10-21-31)
Michaelis (18-12-30)
Lagerback (14-11-25)
Cunningham (6-16-22)
Disher (6-14-20)
The Warriors stroll into Trail on the back of a loss Wednesday night in Prince George. The Warriors were one of the few BCHL teams not on a 5 day Covid-19 pause, that being said many of teams around them were paused and as such the Warriors still had a fell week off between games. Prior to their trip to Prince George, the Warriors easily took care of the Merritt Centennials and went back and forth with the Vees, winning three of four games. The Warriors also made a few subtle moves at the deadline, trading Carter Schmidt and Jayden Price away and signing 20 year old forward from the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL Cristophe Farmer who is expected to help bolster an already highly productive offence in West Kelowna.
Warriors Leading scorers:
Trudeau (20-17-37)
Cristall (16-14-30)
Bar-Lev-Wise (14-16-30)
Evans (8-18-26)
Joughin (3-22-25)
Puck drop is at 7pm as the Smoke Eaters aim to end a five game losing streak and get their first win of the year of the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. Tickets are still available for tonight’s game and are available at tickets.trailsmokeeaters.com. If you can’t make the game as always you can watch on BCHLTV or listen free on Mixlr.com starting at 6:50 with Smoke Eater broadcaster Ben Phillips.
