Preview – Smoke Eaters close out Showcase against Rivermen

The Smoke Eaters will look to split their weekend at the BCHL Showcase as they take on the Langley Rivermen for the one and only time this season.

The Smoke Eaters will look to avenge yesterdays loss against the Surrey Eagles, in a game where they played well enough to be in front after 20 minutes at the very least, but were down 2-0 at the break. The second period start also hurt them before they turned the game on its head and fought back. They made it 4-3 in the third, but would ultimately fall short in a 6-3 loss. The task to split the weekend doesn’t get any easier against a Langley side that has started well with a 3-1-0-1 record. The Smoke Eaters will look to get continued production from their big guns, as their secondary scoring, if you can even call it that, of Brady Hunter, Corey Cunningham and Zach Michaelis provided two of the three goals. They’ll definitely be some line up changes for Tim Fragle and company, not necessarily because of the result, but more so to get everyone a chance here at the showcase. The Smoke Eaters had to have liked their start yesterday with a dominant opening five minutes, it was after that where they’ll look to improve overall.

Smoke Eaters leading scorings:

Michaelis (5-2-7)
Lagerback (3-3-6)
Cunningham (2-4-6)
Disher (2-3-5)
Wolford (1-4-5) 

The Riverman come into the weekend in a similar position as the Smoke Eaters, in terms of losing their opening game at the showcase. The Rivermen lost on opening day to the Penticton Vees 4-1 in their first regulation loss of the year. Their have been some strong performances from the Rivermen, who have beat Chilliwack twice, once 7-5 and the other 6-3, as they flew their scoring muscles early in the year. The Rivermen and Smoke Eaters haven’t had much to separate them over their last few years of games. With the record 3-3 in the last five years of games. With back to back losses now for Langley with a shootout loss prior to their showcase loss to Penticton they’ll be eager to get back on the right track to stay in the top part of the coastal conference.

Rivermen leading scorers:

Schleppe (6-1-7)
Wallack (1-5-6)
Messina (2-3-5)
Attew (0-5-5)
Sielsky (0-5-5)

The Smoke Eaters and Rivermen hit the ice at 2pm from Chilliwack as both teams close out their BCHL Showcase series. Catch the game on BCHLTV or listen free on Mixlr with the Teck Trail pregame report starting at 1:50pm.