SALMON ARM, B.C. OCTOBER 28, 2016
The Silverbacks (8-9-0-0) will visit the Trail Smoke Eaters (7-8-0-1) tonight (Friday) at 730pm, as well as the ‘Backs will host the Victoria Grizzlies (9-2-3-2) tomorrow (Saturday) night at 7pm at the Shaw Centre in Salmon Arm.
The Silverbacks fell 4-1 in Trail on Wednesday, October 12th in game one of seven with the Smoke Eaters in the Interior. The ‘Backs are 3-5-0-0 in the Interior, while the Smoke Eaters are 4-4-0-1.
The ‘Backs are 6-4-0-0 on the road and also 6-4-0-0 in October, after earning four of a possible six points last weekend at the Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island. The ‘Backs began the trip last Friday with a 6-2 loss at the Powell River Kings (11-7-0-0). The Silverbacks fell behind 2-0 on Saturday for the second consecutive game, but came back to win 4-3 in double overtime at the Nanaimo Clippers (9-6-0-2). Elijiah Barriga scored the game winner, his second game winning goal of the season. The second season Silverback is leading the team with 20 points in the first 17 games, including nine goals. Barriga is ranked 14th among the top 20 scorers in the league. The ‘Backs finished the trip on Sunday with a 3-0 shutout victory over the Coquitlam Express (6-9-1-0). Brandon Kegler stopped all 22 shots for his first shutout of the season and earned his second win in as many days.
The Silverbacks have now lost more than 44 man games to injury into the final weekend of October. Carter Cochrane, Julian Timba and Josh Latta all missed last weekend due to injury. Cochrane hasn’t played since Saturday, September 17th at home to Coquitlam. Timba was knocked out of the lineup on Friday, October 7th in West Kelowna and Latta left the line-up after the October 12th loss in Trail. Cameron Trott, Silverbacks second season defenseman has missed seven games due to injury.
The Smoke Eaters are coming off of a 2-1 loss at home to the Vernon Vipers (8-6-0-2) this past Saturday.
Trail has a record of 5-3-0-1 in October and 2-4-0-0 at the Cominco Arena. The Smoke Eaters are 4-4-0-1 versus the Interior Division, and the Silverbacks are 3-5-0-0.
The ‘Backs have scored 57 goals in 17 games and are tied for the seventh in the BCHL, the Smoke Eaters have 55 goals. The Silverbacks have allowed the highest number of goals-against with 71, Trail has 54 goals-against.
The Smoke Eaters are running at 25-percent with the man-advantage and ranked fifth, while the Silverbacks man-advantage is at 23-percent. Salmon Arm leads the league in power-play goals with 23. The ‘Backs have the highest total of penalty-minutes in the BCHL with 251 in 17 games, Trail has the second fewest total at 171.
The Silverbacks backs will visit Trail again on Tuesday, November 8th at 7pm, the Smoke Eaters first visit to Salmon Arm is set for Saturday, December 3rd at 7pm.
Each Silverbacks game is webcast PPV at hockeytv.com/#/, each road game is broadcast live via voiceoftheshuswap.caCKVS 93.7FM and each home game is avail audio only at mixlr.com/salmon-arm-silverbacks/
