Back to the friendly confines of the Shaw Centre for the Salmon Arm Silverbacks.
Falling 4-1 to the West Kelowna Warriors last night, the Silverbacks have yet to win a game on the road outside of the BCHL showcase. On home ice they are the boogey men of the league with a 6-1-1 record in Salmon Arm.
One piece of good news last night for the Silverbacks was the return of Yewta Plamondon who missed three weeks with a lower body injury. The forward from Quesnel was able to score his first BCHL goal and it wound up being the only time Salmon Arm would beat the Warriors goalie.
Arriving in Salmon Arm are the Trail Smoke Eaters who lost 5-2 last night at home to the Prince George Spruce Kings who will come to the Shaw Centre tomorrow afternoon. Powell Connor make his Smoke Eater debut after being acquired from the Chilliwack Chiefs, and Spencer McLean made his season debut after sitting out the start with an injury. Neither player made it onto the scoreboard. 2002 born Kent Johnson made the biggest impact for Trail scoring and assisting on the other goal against the team his older brother Kyle used to captain.
These two teams met over a month ago down in Trail with the Smoke Eaters taking advantage of a tired Silverbacks team who spent the day on the road. Trail went three for six on the power play, and skated to the 6-3 victory. Levi Glasman who was traded to Powell River in the Powell Connor three team trade was the leader in that game with two goals for the Smoke Eaters. Akito Hirose led Silverback skaters with two assists, while Tyson Gayfer, Hudson Schandor, and Trevor Adams scored for Salmon Arm.
Standings:
Salmon Arm is just one point behind the Trail Smoke Eaters for 5th in the Division but have two games in hand so a win for the Silverbacks would be a great way to give them an early edge. A win for Salmon Arm could move them as high as fourth to tie the West Kelowna Warriors who will be playing in Penticton tonight. With one fewer game played, Salmon Arm currently has that tie breaker.
Players to Watch:
Silverbacks: Coming off a great performance last night, it will be interesting to see if Yewta Plamondon can bring his hot play home. With Noah Wakeford, Tyson Gayfer, and Justin Wilson all out with upper body injuries, Salmon Arm needs Plamondon and some other players up front to step in. Tonight also marks the return of Sol Seibel who served his fourth game of a four game suspension last night. The Captain is heart and soul player who is a missed presence on and off the ice.
Smoke Eaters: Snubbed from the U-17 tournament for one of Team Canada’s squads, Kent Johnson’s two point against Prince George last night continues to show why he is the leading 2002 born scorer in the BCHL. In 18 games this season, the Port Moody native has 15 points, and has eight points in his last eight games. He had one assist in the game against Salmon Arm this season.
