O Captain! My Captain!

The man who wears the "C" for the Trail Smoke Eaters is in a select group of players who started the 2013-2014 schedule with the club and still dawn the orange and black.

Adam Wheeldon has been the leader in the dressing room since the beginning of this tumultuous season and now a much younger, less experienced group will look to guys like him as Trail looks to move forward.

"Well, I just think you need to make sure everyone is focused and has the same mindset which is playing good as team and improving every single game," explained Wheeldon who thinks the changes will help with their goal. "It's not that hard when everyone is buying into it and we're bringing in a lot of guys that want to be here, so I think it'll be good".

The Smokies are heading into a weekend pair at Cominco Arena having dropped their last four outings.

Friday's match kicks off a three game home-stand before Trail spends the majority of December on the road.

After this the Smoke Eaters are only in the Silver City once more in 2013.

"It's always harder going on the road obviously, so every time you are at home you try to win but I think we have been playing really good hockey the last couple of games but they just haven't been going in our favor," claims Wheeldon. "Hopefully we turn it around this weekend."

On top of the busy week Nick Deschenes is coming off, the head coach also decided to release forward Riley Brandt earlier this week.

Brandt - a 16 year old native of Fruitvale -had one goal and six points in 26 games with the orange and black this season.

"Anyone who is of that age [and is], playing at this level [but] not playing in very many key situations...from a development stand-point... you just know if you're not playing you are not getting better," explained Deschenes who says the move was in the best interest of the player.

The coach hopes to work with Brandt in the off-season to get him on a plan to be BCHL ready for next season.

For now, Brandt will return to the Beaver Valley Nite Hawks of the KIJHL where he played 49 games last season.

"I'm excited to be back. The extra month of hockey and [a chance] at the playoffs. Last year was one of the funnest years of my life and I'm excited to join that again," he told me after admitting it was upsetting at first.

Focusing back on the weekend at hand, the Smokies have met the Langley Rivermen just once this season - a 4-3 overtime win in favor of Langley.

That was Friday September 6th at the BCHL Showcase in Chilliwack - needless to say a much different time for Trail.

They earned three out of a possible for points that weekend and Birk Birks' team stunned an entire league by picking up where they left off at the end of 2012-2013.

Now, where as Trail is at the bottom of the Interior Division,  Langley sits on top of the Mainland Division and holds a solid 10-5-0-1 road record.

There's is more history to season series between the Smokies and Merritt Centennials however.

The divisional foes have clashed three times already this season and Trail has not come out successful once.

They were close in their last meeting, a 5-4 loss in Merritt on October 20th but, in fact the orange and black have been outscored 16-5 by the Centennials.

Now, the title of this blog is taken from an 1865 poem about the death of Abraham Lincoln - but I'm more so aiming at the fact that forward Adam Wheeldon has been the constant through season that has seen a half roster overhaul and a change behind the bench already. 

"Obviously we are [now] going younger. It is the starting to become more of a rebuilding year. It's starting to get good. [Nick] is bringing in new faces which isn't always a bad thing, so we will see how it goes."

Yes we will.

Game times are 7:30PM.

Live broadcast starts at 7:20PM at www.fasthockey.com