It’s a Smoke Eaters game day as the Smokies look to build off an impressive 7-4 win from last weekend against the Bucks.
Upcoming Games:
Oct. 3 Cranbrook 7:00 pm @ Trail Memorial Centre 7-4W
Oct. 10 Cranbrook 7:00 pm @ Trail Memorial Centre
Oct. 16 Cranbrook 7:00 pm @ Trail Memorial Centre (Kootenay Cup Game)
Oct. 17 Cranbrook 7:00 pm @ Trail Memorial Centre (Kootenay Cup Game)
Oct. 24 at Cranbrook 6:00 pm @ Western Financial Place (Kootenay Cup Game)
Oct. 30 at Cranbrook 6:00 pm @ Western Financial Place (Kootenay Cup Game)
Nov. 6 Cranbrook 7:00 pm @ Trail Memorial Centre (Kootenay Cup Game)
Nov. 7 at Cranbrook 6:00 pm @ Western Financial Place (Kootenay Cup Game)
Nov. 15 Prince George 3:00 pm @ Trail Memorial Centre
Nov. 18 Merritt 7:00 pm @ Trail Memorial Centre
Nov. 27 at Cranbrook 6:00 pm @ Western Financial Place (Kootenay Cup Game)
The Smoke Eaters and their staff will be happy with how the game progressed last Saturday, they looked more in sync, turned the puck over less and scored 6 goals in the last two periods. Even being the first pre-season game they’ll have details they will have worked on this week in practice. Logan Terness was the busier of the two goalies, facing 44 shots in his pre-season debut. While most of the shots were from the outside, the Smoke Eaters will still want to limit the Bucks chances, who proved last week they have plenty of speed and skill to offer as an expansion team. There will be line up changes on both sides given the pre-season nature of these games. Expect many of the players that didn’t feature last week to slide into the Smoke Eaters line up tonight.
For Ryan Donald and the Cranbrook Bucks there was a lot to like from last weeks game. Obviously their ability to put 44 shots on net and score four of them will be a positive. But also the teams compete level and their answer back after they conceded a goal. Zeth Kindrachuk scored three minutes after Chase Dafoe made it 3-0 Smoke Eaters to get the Bucks back into the game. Then in the third, Nelson born forward Noah Quinn scored just 15 seconds after Nic Roussel made it 5-3 for the home team. Special teams were also a positive take away for the Bucks going 2/5 on the powerplay and 4/4 on the penalty kill.
INSIDE THE GAME
Despite allowing 7 goals on 32 shots last week, expect Jacob Zacharewicz to once again earn a start for the Bucks and bounce back. Also watch for this rivalry to once again heat up prior to the first official Kootenay Cup game next Friday, as the two teams got physical last week. Finally its the debut for multiple Smoke Eaters with Justyn Gurney, Zack Feaver, Drew Elser and Brady Hunter all expected to draw in for the Smokies tonight.
Puck drop is set for 7pm tonight at the Trail Memorial Centre, with the pre-game show starting at 6:50 on HockeyTV and Mixlr. Join Ben Phillips live in arena and Rob Squires streaming in from his Castlegar studios for the call of tonight’s game.
