West Kelowna Warriors eke out win over Trail Smoke Eaters
Published 10:30 am Thursday, October 1, 2026
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It was a war of attrition at the Trail Memorial Centre, but the Trail Smoke Eaters ultimately came out on the losing side of a 4-1 match against Interior West division rival West Kelowna Warriors on Wednesday.
More than 1,240 fans turned out for the Sept. 30 game in honour of Orange Shirt Day and the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.
The Smoke Eaters played strong defensively through 50 minutes, but trailed 2-0 after the first period despite outshooting the Warriors 8-4.
The Warriors Jace Rask scored the game winner with a power play goal at 1:41 of the first period. The Warriors’ Olivier Chan found Rask in front and he fired it past Smoke Eaters starter Marek Schlenker for a 2-0 lead.
The Warriors win improves their record to 4-2, good for first place in the Interior West, while the Smoke Eaters fall to 1-3 in the early season.
Chan opened the scoring 7:20 into the first with a shorthanded goal, his first of the season.
The tight-checking match didn’t see many high-end chances for either team, but at 14:14 of the second an energetic tilt at centre ice between Smoke Eaters captain Colton Whitfield and the Warriors Rask gave the Smoke Eaters fans something to cheer about.
Five minutes later, the Smokies got on the board with a shorthanded marker to cut the lead to 2-1. Forward Tim-Kristian Lukkarinen stripped the West K defender of the puck, and made a perfect cross-ice pass to Dysen Drake, who one-timed it over the glove of Warriors goalie Ethan Sawyer.
The Smoke Eaters offence struggled to find opportunities in the final frame managing just two shots on goal, while the Warriors Max Dineen and Emmanuel Chan tallied two goals late in the third for the 4-1 final.
Trail outshot West Kelowna 18-17, and went 0-for-2 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.
Trail won its first game of the season in Cranbrook on Saturday, Sept. 26 beating the Bucks 5-3.
The Smoke Eaters hit the road this weekend looking for a win with a match against the 2-2 Spruce Grove Saints on Friday, Oct. 2 and will face the winless (0-4) Sherwood Park Crusaders on Saturday, Oct. 3 with the puck drop at 6 p.m. PT.