Friday 27 September 2013

Alright, let's try this again! Smokies return home looking for third straight win.


The tone in Trail forward Tyson Witala's voice was as if he was talking about a completely different team than the one he is with now.

Is there is a difference with the morale in the Smokies' dressing room heading into this weekend compared to last weekend?

"Yeah for sure. [It] got down to a pretty [big] low after that home stand but after two big wins on the road that confidence is back up and we're just going to try to come back and get a win at home."

That first home stand of the season, as if you forgot, saw Trail drop three straight and be outscored 17-1. Only adding to how “big” those road wins really were.

The Orange and Black spent nearly 25 hours on a bus last weekend with stops in Merritt and Prince George.

A 3-2 win over Merritt Friday would redeem a home and home series and build momentum for the Smokies 4-2 victory against the Spruce Kings the next night.

Now the key for the club is to carry
 that momentum back to Cominco Arena this weekend.

They host Cowichan Valley Friday before West Kelowna Saturday and are still after their first victory in Trail this campaign.

“It’s huge. The fans want to see us win and we want to win in front of them,” said Witala after I asked him how important it is that they bring that success they saw on the road and at the Showcase back to their own barn.

But how to do it? Its an interesting situation. How do you replicate the same results at home as you did during a 72 hour road trip, with one third of those hours spent in a bus?

This young season has had its fair share of lessons for the Smokies already. A solid performance on the major stage that is the Bauer BCHL Showcase, that created whispers across the league about a team to be watched. A homecoming that saw a club fall flat on their face, but then pick themselves up.

"I think it was just one of those slumps that you go through in a season and it just happened to be the first weekend at home. "

Talking to other Smoke Eaters like Brendan Lamont, Scott Davidson and Captain Adam Wheeldon, they all seem quite confident this team can be successful. And Witala, who had two assists in Saturday's win, echoed the attitude of his teammates – just don’t hit the panic switch yet.

"It kind of blows it up a little bit more when you’re at home for the first time but we were able to get back [to] winning, so we just have to bring it back home again."

The Cowichan Valley Capitals will be hungry to come into the Silver City and beat the Smokies after losing 6-2 to Trail at the opening weekend festivies in Chilliwack just three weeks ago. Tyson Witala says they know what they need to do to avoid that.

"Play how we did last weekend on the road. [We] can't be too fancy but just play simple [hockey].

I asked Tyson how important it was to get quick starts this weekend?

"We got the first goal against Prince George and [we weren't] on our heels right away [to] start the game."

As the Smokies are looking for the second straight win this season against the Caps, Saturday will be their first meeting with division rivals the West Kelowna Warriors.

The Warriors edged the Orange and Black 4-3 in the season series last year.

Puck drops goes 7:30 both nights at Cominco Arena. If you can't join us you can catch the pay per view live at www.fasthockey.com or listen for free at www.mixlr.com/smokeeaters.




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