It’s finally here. After a couple of set up games it’s time for the Kootenay Cup to be decided, as the Cranbrook Bucks come to Trail for a weekend doubleheader.
KOOTENAY CUP SCHEDULE
Oct. 16 Cranbrook 7:00 pm @ Trail Memorial Centre
Oct. 17 Cranbrook 7:00 pm @ Trail Memorial Centre
Oct. 24 at Cranbrook 6:00 pm @ Western Financial Place
Oct. 30 at Cranbrook 6:00 pm @ Western Financial Place
Nov. 6 Cranbrook 7:00 pm @ Trail Memorial Centre
Nov. 7 at Cranbrook 6:00 pm @ Western Financial Place
Nov. 27 at Cranbrook 6:00 pm @ Western Financial Place
The best of seven series kicks off tonight as the Smoke Eaters look for a repeat performance from their opening weekend 7-4 victory over the Bucks. Last week’s 1-1 draw due to ice issues once again saw strong performances from Coalson Wolford and Chase Dafoe, who have started to emerge as one of the top attacking options for head coach Tim Fragle. As the coaching staff continues to rotate the lineup, look for some of the players who were quiet last week to step up this weekend now that they have a game under their belts. As captain Cody Schiavon said on The Smoke Show Podcast this week, he expects it to be a playoff style atmosphere with no one taking these games for granted. We’ve seen some physical play and high intensity already in the last two games, that’s bound to be turned up a few notches for these Kootenay Cup games.
For Ryan Donald and the Bucks it’s another opportunity to build off the previous week’s performance as they look for a first win in franchise history. The Bucks once again out shot the Smoke Eaters last weekend with the game finishing 30-18. They also scored first and held that lead for almost an entire period of play before conceding the tying goal. Jacob Zacharewicz looked as advertised through two periods last weekend. Christian Trianni did make a short appearance in the third prior to the cancelation of the game, as the Bucks coaching staff tried to get their backup goalie some game time prior to this weekends doubleheader. Expect the Bucks to go back with Zacharewicz for tonight however with neither team wanting to concede the opening game of this pre-season playoff tournament.
The Kootenay Cup will be a best of seven series for Kootenay supremacy. The first team to win four games will hoist the Kootenay Cup and have season long bragging rights over their Kootenay counterparts. As a fun and competitive twist, the sponsoring dealerships, A.M. Ford in Trail and Denham Ford in Cranbrook, have agreed that the losing teams dealership will wear a jersey from the winning side for an entire day of work.
It all gets going tonight at the Trail Memorial Centre, with the pre-game show starting at 6:50 on HockeyTV and Mixlr. Join Ben Phillips and Rob Squires for the call of tonight’s game. Puck drop just after 7pm.
