The Smoke Eaters kick off a four game homestand that will wrap up their 2022/23 home schedule for this season. The four game homestand kicks off on Friday night as the Smoke Eaters host the Chilliwack Chiefs.
Remaining Regular Season Home Games
Mar. 3 Chilliwack 7:00 pm PST
Mar. 4 Penticton 7:00 pm PST
Mar. 10 Coquitlam 7:00 pm PST
Mar. 11 Surrey 7:00 pm PST
The Smoke Eaters will look to get back in the win column as they get some help off the injured reserve list heading into tonight’s game. The Smoke Eaters were down Rhett Hamilton, Ethan Mann and Adam Marshall who are all possible to return to the Smoke Eaters line up this weekend. That with Max Potvin, who returned on Wednesday night in Salmon Arm, finally has the Smoke Eaters line up looking full and back to normal. However they will still be without Ethan Warrener, Ridge Dawson and Trey Fechko. Coming off Wednesday night’s loss in Salmon Arm the Smoke Eaters need to pick up a win against the Chiefs if they are to keep within a manageable distance of Vernon and Wenatchee. Should both Marshall and Mann get back in the fold, the Smoke Eaters will have their one-two punch back with Hunter, Parsons and Remissong carrying much of the weight offensively over the last handful of games. It’s been nearly four years since the Smoke Eaters last played the Chilliwack Chiefs, with the last game in Trail being a 3-1 win for the Smoke Eaters on November 23rd, 2019. It’s a rare out of conference game that the Smoke Eaters are hoping to take advantage of.
Smoke Eaters Leading Scorers:
Hunter (15-35-50)
Cobetto-Roy (11-25-36)
Remissong (15-19-34)
Bushy (6-26-32)
Parsons (12-17-29)
Chilliwack Chiefs make the long journey to Trail for the first time in a few seasons. Last years meeting between the two sides was canceled due to flooding and road closures in the lower mainland. Now as Chilliwack begins a quick two game interior conference swing, with a stop in Wenatchee on Saturday night, the Chiefs will look to continue their strong play into March. Since January 1st, the Chiefs have lost just four games in regulation, they’ve gone to overtime or a shootout six times, including back to back overtime games last weekend against Nanaimo and Powell River, winning against the Kings but losing to the Clippers. The Chiefs have lost four of their last six games, two in regulation, one in overtime and one in a shootout. Sitting sixth in the Coastal Conference, the Chiefs are much like the Vipers in the sense that they don’t score a lot of goals, and don’t allow many either, with 132GF and 136GA through 45 games. Abram Wiebe leads the way for the Chiefs from the blueline with 45 points this season, the Chiefs defenceman sits second amongst all defencemen in the league.
Chiefs Leading Scorers:
Wiebe (11-34-45)
Lacroix (16-23-39)
Kesselring (18-17-35)
Mrsic (9-18-27)
Milburn (13-11-24)
Smoke Eaters and Chiefs for the first time on over three years, as the Smoke Eaters aim to stay within the race of the Vipers and Wild, while the Chiefs, just four points behind Alberni Valley for 3rd in the Coastal look to pick up points on the road. Catch all the action on HockeyTV or listen on the Smoke Eaters mixlr. Get your tickets for tonight’s game at tickets.trailsmokeeaters.com
