BCHL Feature – Trail Smoke Eaters

For the Trail Smoke Eaters, an off-season full of unexpected change is in the rear-view mirror. As the 2007/08 season begins, the atmosphere surrounding the club is all about high expectations and heightened excitement.

It was just two months ago that Smoke Eaters president Tom Gawrletz thought his team’s preparations for the coming season were in the bag. He had coach and general manager Tim Kehler sewn up to a new contract and the Smokies were coming off an impressive 35-win season.

But Gawrletz’s hopes for a calm off-season for the community-owned team vanished when Kehler departed the club suddenly in mid-July for an assistant coaching post with the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos.

“Tim did a good job,” Gawrletz said of Kehler. “The timing was difficult though. He had requested a new contract and we had given it to him.”

But the surprise and disappointment of losing Kehler after the team’s most successful season in a decade has been replaced by optimism. Gawrletz believes that the Smoke Eaters have found a solid replacement in new hire Jim Ingram.

“When we first spoke to Jim, he already knew a lot about our team,” Gawrletz explained. “He’d done his homework and he’d talked to some of our kids. His enthusiasm was greater than anyone else we spoke to.”

Ingram has taken on coaching and management duties in Trail after three seasons spent at the helm of the junior B Kerry Park Islanders in Victoria. Previously, Ingram had a year in the BCHL under his belt as an assistant coach under Scott Robinson in Cowichan Valley.

“I wanted to challenge myself at the next level,” said Ingram, whose mid-August hiring date meant little time to reflect on his new job before the work began.

“Everything here is at a faster pace and it was overwhelming to begin with. I got in here and we were five days away from main camp.”

But strong support from the organization and an offensively gifted group of returning Smoke Eaters has made Ingram’s job easier. So while many freshly hired coaches have to try and fix what’s broken, Ingram has the advantage of taking over a club already well in the right direction.

“We have a tremendous nucleus coming back,” Gawrletz says of the roster Ingram has inherited. “The table has pretty much been set for him.”

Smoke Eaters captain Kevin Limbert realizes the pressure is on the team to perform.

“We’re focused,” he says. “There are high expectations and that’s been passed along from the veterans to the rookies.”

Limbert is a fourth-year Smokie and grew up in close by Fruitvale. Entering his final season with the club, he’ll be counted on not only for leadership but also as a key point-a-game player.

“Kevin is a great kid and a strong leader,” Ingram says. “He has a lot of colleges after him and it’s not hard to see why.”

As much as the club likes their captain, Limbert’s feelings for his hometown team are just as strong.

“I love the small-town feel and the support of the community,” Limbert says. “The organization has been taking big strides and it’s exciting to be a part of.”

In the coming weeks, Limbert will get the chance to tour some of the schools so interested in his hockey skills and academic smarts. Colgate, whose hockey alumni include Anaheim Duck Andy McDonald, is on that list. Ingram says Harvard has come calling, too.

“Going to college has been a goal since I began playing junior hockey,” said Limbert, who insists that his style doesn’t change whether or not scouts are watching. “I put a lot of pressure on myself and I try to play playoff hockey every night.”

And while no coach looks forward to having to replace his best players once they depart for the NCAA or CIS, Ingram says that the organization’s commitment to sending players on to college and university is unwavering.

The Smoke Eaters employ an educational advisor and put a special emphasis on preparing players for the SATs. And it looks to be a busy winter for Smokies who have their sights set on a college scholarship.

“It’s incredible the amount of interest in our guys,” Ingram says. “It’s hard to put a number on how many calls I’ve got.”

And the Smoke Eaters won’t be the only show drawing scouts to Trail this winter. The city, along with Nelson, will play host to the 2007 World Junior A Challenge in November.

Hockey people agree that last year’s inaugural event was a big hit. The tournament, in which the Canada West entry won gold, featured three players later drafted in the first-round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. With that success, the 2007 edition of the Challenge is sure to garner even more attention.

“There’s a lot of buzz about the tournament and it’s growing,” Ingram says. “The caliber of players will really get people excited”.

While the Smoke Eaters weren’t involved directly in the bidding process, the club is pleased to have a high-profile event coming to Trail and believes the exposure is bound to benefit the team and the town.

“We’re really looking forward to it,” says Gawrletz, who believes that a couple Smokies could be chosen to don the Maple Leaf for the first time when Team Canada West general manager Darcy Rota announces the roster in mid-October.

With the Smoke Eaters looking ready to push for a championship and the community attracting major events like the World Junior A Challenge, Trail’s got an exciting season ahead.