Nitehawks Are Neil Murdoch Champs

Justin Niminiken tucked home a backhander at 17:52 of the third period to break a 3-3 deadlock to put Beaver Valley through to Round Three of the KIJHL playoffs for the first time in four years.

The 20 year-old saw an opening low on Castlegar Rebels goaltender Jordan Gluck to score his fifth goal of the post-season (and unarguably the most important goal for the Nitehawks in these playoffs so far), and send the Nitehawk supporters at a jam-packed Beaver Valley Arena into a frenzy.

Ryan Edwards also scored twice for Beaver Valley, including a late empty-net marker, while Castlegar, who staked themselves to a 2-0 first-period lead for the second time in as many games, got a pair from overager Tyler Robinson.

Beaver Valley goaltender Mike Vlanich was named the first star, and for good reason. The 19 year-old made two humongous saves in the first period (one in the opening 15 seconds), then slid right to left midway through period three to halt a Rebels 3-on-1.

Hats off to the Castlegar Rebels, whose ability to battle back in Games 5 and 6 made this series (and this game) one for the ages. Head coach Steve Junker had a much younger squad than the one that went to the league final a year ago, but got the most out of his players each and every night.

The Rebels will graduate three players as well who deserve recognition. Anthony Delong and Robinson both spent three years in Castlegar silks (Delong's time of course interjected by a season in the BCHL with Williams Lake); both were clutch performers and hard workers at both ends of the ice. Scott Morisseau leaves the KIJHL with a whopping 297 career regular season points with the Rebels, Nitehawks and Ghostriders. The two-time KIJHL scoring champ will leave a lasting legacy on this team and this league.

Beaver Valley moves on to face the Fernie Ghostriders in the Kootenay Conference championship, set to get underway Saturday in Fruitvale. The tentative schedule is as follows:

Sat. Mar. 17: Fernie @ Beaver Valley, 7:30 PM
Sun. Mar. 18: Fernie @ Beaver Valley, 7:30 PM
Tue. Mar. 20: Beaver Valley @ Fernie, 6:30 PM
Wed. Mar. 21: Beaver Valley @ Fernie, 6:30 PM
Fri. Mar. 23: Fernie @ Beaver Valley, 7:30 PM*
Sat. Mar. 24: Beaver Valley @ Fernie, 6:30 PM*
Mon. Mar. 26: Fernie @ Beaver Valley, 7:00 PM*

* - if necessary, please note all times are PACIFIC.

Smokies Wrap Up Season With Banquet

Graduating 20 year-olds Clayton McEwan (left) and Erik Cooper pose with their awards (Randy Emery photo)

A nice-sized crowd of parents, players, volunteers and fans at the Riverbelle last night to send off this year's edition of the Smokies at the annual year-end banquet.

Along with the meal came the annual awards ceremony -- 3 Smoke Eaters (Erik Cooper, Clayton McEwan and Lyndon Stanwood) were honoured multiple times, while Cooper and McEwan were also given mementoes in commemoration of their graduation from junior hockey.

All in all, it was a nice send-off for a group that's been through tribulations over the course of the 2011-12 season, and I can genuinely say there was a real sense of optimism in the room last night in anticipation of what lies ahead come 2012-13. The Smokies' spring camp (set for Mar. 30-Apr. 1 at Cominco Arena) will be the first step in working toward a playoff berth next year.

Here are the award winners as selected by the Smokies' coaching staff, and fans:

Most Improved: Brent Baltus

Top Scorer: Erik Cooper

Most Dedicated: Lyndon Stanwood

Most Inspirational: Clayton McEwan

Fan Favourite: Lyndon Stanwood

Ed Shelly Memorial Award: Adam Wheeldon

Top Rookie: Garrett McMullen

Top Defenseman: Clayton McEwan

Most Valuable Player: Erik Cooper

Personally, I can't wait until the start of next season. Head coach Bill Birks mentioned it at last night's event, and I agree with him in that this club has built a solid, hard-working core that will have a season of BCHL experience under their belts come next fall. To a man, this is an honest, dignified group the community can be proud of; I know personally even after tough defeats each and every time I needed a player or a coach for comments they were available every time, and if it weren't for a rash of injuries the second half might well have had the sustained momentum we saw through January and the early part of February.

Thanks to all of the players, coaches, executive and volunteers for all of your hard work over the course of the season, and to the fans for staying loyal to this team as it continues to build for the future.

Programming Note: Expect to see slightly more attention paid to the KIJHL playoffs on this blog over the next few weeks; any and all Smokies news will of course be here too. Following the conclusion of the playoffs I'll be taking some time to a) take a break and b) overhaul the blog in advance of the 2012-13 season. Thanks for reading as always!

Chiefs 5 Smoke Eaters 2

Chilliwack scored 4 unanswered goals to snatch victory from the Smokies Sunday in the final game of the regular season.

Jaret Babych scored a pair of second-period markers and was named the game's #1 star.

Chilliwack started early with a power-play marker from Spencer Graboski, who deflected home a Tyler Miller point shot with his shinpad.

Trail equalized later in the opening frame though, as Tanner Clarkson unleashed a wrist shot from the top of the left circle over the shoulder of Chilliwack netminder Bryton Udy.

Trail took a 2-1 lead early in the second when Riley McDougall banged home a rebound shortly after Erik Cooper struck iron.

But 17 seconds after Trail took the lead, the Chiefs answered back courtesy of Babych. His line with Garrett Forster and Jeremy Gossard was buzzing all night.

Derek Huisman converted a corner feed minutes after Babych's tying goal to give the Chiefs the lead, then Babych would add his second to give the home team a 4-2 lead after 40 minutes.

Malcolm Gould scored the only goal of the third period on a wraparound, tucking a puck underneath Trail goaltender Lyndon Stanwood for his team-leading 36th goal of the season.

Despite the scoreline, Trail generated chances, hit posts, and both goaltenders made several good saves in a game that seemed far from meaningless despite its lack of effect on the Interior Conference standings.

Tonight also marked the BCHL finales for Cooper and captain Clayton McEwan. Both 20 year-olds logged 172 regular-season games in the league, and both will be remembered as tenacious competitors who wore the Smokie crest with pride and represented the team and the community well. I'm sure the fans in Trail will remember both guys as not only hard-working players, but quality individuals off the ice too.

Up Next: the team will hold its awards banquet Wednesday evening with Spring Camp set for the end of the month at Cominco Arena.

Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.

Smokies/Chiefs Lineups

Here are the line combinations for tonight's season-finale in Chilliwack.

Smoke Eaters:
12 - McMullen, 16 - Tiechko, 21 - Cooper
14 - McDougall, 25 - Clarkson, 24 - Schell (AP)
9 - Baltus, 19 - Foyle (AP), 18 - House
17 - Horsman, 20 - Potskin (AP), 22 - Wheeldon

6 - Coish, 4 - Poulsen
8 - Egli, 2 - Birks (AP)
3 - McEwan, 5 - Johnson

33 - Stanwood
35 - D'Andrea


Chiefs:
12 - Bondra, 9 - Huisman, 14 - Gould
15 - Hansen, 28 - Forster, 17 - Spring
27 - Sitterley, 18 - Graboski, 23 - Hills
11 - Gossard, 20 - Tibbet, 24 - Babych

8 - Hutchinson, 5 - Thompson
4 - Laurent, 3 - Miller
7 - White, 19 - Perron-Fontaine

35 - Udy
1 - Gillam

Gameday: Smoke Eaters @ Chiefs

Who: Trail Smoke Eaters @ Chilliwack Chiefs
When: Mar. 11, 5:00 PM
Where: Prospera Centre, Chilliwack

The long season comes to a close tonight in the Fraser Valley, as Trail faces the team against whom they collected their last victory. The Smokies defeated the Chiefs February 4th in Trail on the strength of James D'Andrea's first career BCHL victory.

Tonight's game marks a different occasion, as the Smoke Eaters will try to end a frustrating season against a Chilliwack club against whom they've matched up quite well. Aside from a pair of three goal defeats in December, every game with Chilliwack has been close though the Smokies have come away with only one win in the season series.

Tonight also marks the final junior game for a pair of Smoke Eaters. Erik Cooper and Clayton McEwan have been strong leaders for a group finding their feet in the BCHL this season, and no doubt there will be plenty of motivation to find a 'W' for the two graduating Smokies in Chilliwack tonight.

Last Meeting: Connor Tiechko registered a hat-trick against his hometown team at Cominco Arena, D'Andrea made 38 saves and the Smokies collected a 5-3 win February 4th. Trail holds a 1-5-0-1 record in the season series, with a 0-2-0-1 record at Prospera Centre in 2011-12.

Our Opponent: The Chiefs come into tonight's game knowing it will have no bearing on their final position in the Interior Conference standings. That said, this club will want their confidence to be sky-high ahead of a first-round playoff matchup against the Vees that gets underway Friday in Penticton. Chilliwack defeated Westside 5-2 last night on home ice thanks in part to a hat-trick from Malcolm Gould, who has been a Smokie-killer this season. His line with Derek Huisman and David Bondra has done the bulk of the damage across the seven-game season set thus far. The Chiefs are also expecting a large crowd on their fan appreciation night at Prospera Centre, but a quick start from Trail could do well to neutralize any advantage that might give the home side.

In the Press Box: No changes from Friday or Saturday for Trail: Marley Keca, Luke Bertolucci, Adam Fares and Brandon Long remain out, with APs Dane Birks, Mitch Foyle, Tre Potskin and Colton Schell in the lineup in their place. Chilliwack did not have faceoff specialist Kody Dhaliwal in the lineup for last night's win over Westside.

Broadcast Info: Join me for the final time this season on Ustream, pregame at 4:55 with the opening faceoff set for 5:00. Marc Fitzgerald has your PPV call, available here.

Centennials 5 Smoke Eaters 2

Merritt jumped out early for the second straight night, and finished off their regular season with a 5-2 home victory over the Smokies at Nicola Valley Arena.

Payton Schaefer scored his second goal in as many games to open things 2:38 in, taking a Brendan Lamont centring pass for only his sixth goal of the season.

The Cents went up 2-0 on a Brayden Low marker before Brent Baltus put the Smokies on the board on a mid-period power-play. The Nanaimo product whipped home a wrister from the right side for his 15th of the year.

Merritt increased their lead in the opening minute of period two. Reece Willcox jumped in from the left point, carried the puck across the left-wing circle and tucked a shot under James D'Andrea.

Merritt's Evan Stack added his team-leading 32nd of the season later in the frame to give the home side a 4-1 second intermission lead.

Merritt AP Scott Patterson put home his second in as many games to give Merritt a 5-1 lead early in the third, before Kyle Horsman fired home Trail's second goal to round out the scoring.

The Sechelt native gathered a loose puck at the Merritt line, juked around a defenseman and wired home a hot wrister, crossbar and in past Cents 'tender Lino Chimienti.

Trail's PK was a bright spot tonight, parrying the Cents on all five of their power-play opportunities. Erik Cooper was dangerous again as well, and struck iron in the first and third periods.

Up Next: the season finale goes tomorrow evening in Chilliwack. Faceoff is at 5:00.

KIJHL Tonight: Beaver Valley is within one game of the Kootenay Conference championship series after a 5-2 victory in Castlegar Saturday. Smokies AP Craig Martin scored twice. Game 5 of that series goes Monday night in Fruitvale.

Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.

Smokies/Centennials Lineups

Here are the line combinations for tonight's game in Merritt.

Smoke Eaters:
12 - McMullen, 16 - Tiechko, 21 - Cooper
14 - McDougall, 25 - Clarkson, 24 - Schell (AP)
9 - Baltus, 19 - Foyle (AP), 18 - House
17 - Horsman, 20 - Potskin (AP), 22 - Wheeldon

6 - Coish, 4 - Poulsen
8 - Egli, 2 - Birks (AP)
3 - McEwan, 5 - Johnson

33 - Stanwood
35 - D'Andrea


Centennials:
12 - Soquila, 19 - Brears, 9 - Stack
8 - Harper, 22 - Low, 15 - Reichert
11 - Shinkaruk, 14 - Bruce, 16 - Maktaak
27 - Patterson (AP), 18 - Schaefer, 17 - Lamont

3 - Willcox, 25 - Pfeil
24 - Sabourin, 6 - Mancuso
2 - Marshall, 10 - Fletcher

31 - Chimienti
35 - Steel