The Selkirk College Men’s Hockey program will play their first exhibition games of the 2014-15 season this weekend in a home-and-home series against the BCHL’s Trail Smoke Eaters.
The Selkirk Saints will host the Smokies on Friday night at the Castlegar & District Community Complex at 7 p.m. and the Smokies will welcome the Saints on Saturday night at the Cominco Arena starting at 7 p.m..
“We are excited to finally play some games. Our team has been practicing for the last three weeks and the players are anxious to get going,” says new Saints head coach Alex Evin. “I’m looking forward to both programs showcasing their talented teams in front of our very supportive Kootenay fans.”
Trail is fresh off a split of games with the Merritt Centennials where they won 4-2 and lost 7-5 last weekend.
The Saints feature several former Smoke Eaters with Jamie Vlanich, Ryan Edwards, Clayton McEwan, Darnell Dyck, Logan Proulx and most recently Jesse Knowler. Knowler spent the last two seasons with the Trail BCHL squad collecting 16 goals, 42 assists and 58 points in 84 games from 2012-2014.
“We will have a very competitive line-up within ourselves as our new recruits will be pushing our veteran players for ice time,” said Evin. “We expect to have a strong team again and our coaching staff is looking forward to evaluating our players this weekend.”
The Saints are coming off their second straight BC Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL) title after sweeping the playoffs versus Trinity Western University and Thomson Rivers University this past spring.
The upcoming weekend set against the Smokies marks the first of five exhibition games for the Saints. Selkirk will host Trinity Western in Trail on September 19 and then face Grant MacEwan University from the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference in a double header September 27 and 28 at the Castlegar Complex.
The Saints regular season home opener featuring the 2014 championship banner raising ceremony will take place on October 17 with Eastern Washington University as the visitor.
General admission tickets for both games this weekend will be available at the door for $5.