Trail Smoke Eaters defenceman Brady Smith stepped up his offensive game at the BCHL 60th Anniversary All Star and Top Prospects weekend.
Smith scored two goals and earned the MVP honour in a 6-2 Team East victory over Team West to kick off the event, Friday. The Top Prospects match up saw BCHL’s best draft-eligible prospects take to the ice for a battle between Kootenay Conference (Team East) and the Coastal Conference (Team West).
Smoke Eaters forwards Brady Hunter and Nic Remissong also participated in the weekend festivities playing for Team Ferraro in the All Star 3-on-3 tournament.
“This weekend was well over a year in the making and we are thrilled with how it turned out,” said BCHL Deputy Commissioner Steven Cocker. “A huge thank you goes out to the City of Penticton for hosting us and contributing so significantly to this event. We would also like to recognize the players who came out and represented the BCHL so well. We hope this was a weekend you will never forget.”
Smith scored the first goal on a rebound created by Ean Somoza and Bradly Nadeau, and put in the sixth goal on a shot from the left circle. The normally defensive-minded defenceman surpassed his goal total for the whole season with the Smoke Eaters. In 31 games, the Rossland product has been a force on the back end, but offensivley has produced a goal and an assist. Smith also made the NHL Scouting list and is committed to University of Connecticut for 2023-24.
The outdoor festivities got started on Saturday afternoon with the skills competition. The winners for each event were: Fastest skater: Mateo Dixon – Coquitlam Express (8.18 seconds), Puck control relay: Nathan Mackie – Salmon Arm Silverbacks (12.88 seconds), Accuracy shooting: Josh Nadeau – Penticton Vees (11.98 seconds), Hardest shot: Bradly Nadeau – Penticton Vees (92 MPH), and Breakaway save competition: Eli Pulver – Surrey Eagles (5/6).
The next event was the Alumni and Friends Game, featuring former NHLers. The day culminated with the All-Star Tournament and it was Team Turris who prevailed in the championship game. The all Mainland player team topped Team Courtnall and their Island players in the championship game with Coquitlam Express forward Mirko Buttazzoni taking home MVP honours.
Smoke Eaters Alumni:Former Smoke Eaters Andre Ghantous and Logan Terness also received NCAA accolades last week.
Ghantous, who plays for Northern Michigan University, received a Hobey Baker nomination for his outstanding play, and Terness, a University of Connecticut netminder, was named to the Goalie of the Year Richter watch list.
Ghantous is close to a point per game pace with 22 points in 24 games as a senior. Terness has an 8-4-1 record, with a 2.44 goals against average and a .910 Save Percentage in his sophomore season.