The 2017 Sports year in review, highlights Greater Trail athletes’ accomplishments, accolades, and awards in three four-month instalments. January to April saw the Beaver Valley Nitehawks win the Cyclone Taylor Cup, the Trail Smoke Eaters progress on and off the ice, a Montrose native play his first game in the NHL, and Black Jack and Red Mountain skiers achieve national success, and many, many others. Read on…
January
4 -Longtime Trail Smoke Eaters executive members Tom Gawryletz and Rick Basso are honoured for their dedication to the team for the last quarter century.
13 – Red Mountain Racer September Stefani brings home two gold medals in the U18 category at the 2017 Western Canadian Ski-Cross Series at the Sunridge Ski Hill in Edmonton.
13 – Black Jack skier Remi Drolet finishes first in U20 10-km classic at the U.S. Cross-Country Ski championship at Soldier Hollow, Utah to a earn berth in World Jr. and U23 Ski Championship.
24 – Rossland skijorer Dana Luck competes in International Federation of Sleddog Sports World Championship in Haliburton, Ont.
27- Special Olympics BC-Trail welcomes new program coordinator Jakki Van Hemert to the fold, after former longtime coordinator Ben Postmus steps down.
February.
7 – Upgrades to the Trail Smoke Eaters, on and off the ice, go full speed ahead as renovations to the Cominco Arena continue and the Smoke Eaters clinch a playoff berth for the first time in seven years with a win over Coquitlam Express.
10 -Red Mountain Racers Heiko Ihns and Kristof Panke are headed to the U16 National Championships in Thunder Bay, Ont. after qualifying at the second round of the Teck Open Series.
17 – Nitehawks clinch KIJHL regular season title after an Osoyoos Coyotes victory over the Summerland Steam.
17 – Fruitvale baseball player Allison Schroder is invited to the Baseball Canada’s Development camp in Havana, Cuba for the second year in a row.
23 – Beaver Valley Nitehawks coach Terry Jones celebrates 20 years coaching the Junior B hockey team.
28 – Smoke Eaters finish in third place in Interior Division, their highest placing in almost 10 years.
March
9 – Trail curler Murray Walsh is one-of-four grand prize winners to selected from across Canada to play an eight-end game against legends of curling Randy Ferbey, Jennifer Jones, Brent Laing, Brad Jacobs, and Al Hackner in Fredericton at the Canadian Senior Curling championship.
9 – For the first time in its history, the BC Major Midget Kootenay Ice and Female AAA Kootenay Wild embark on a playoff run.
14 – Smoke Eaters win first playoff series in a decade with Game 5 victory over the Salmon Arm Silverbacks.
14 – Beaver Valley Nitehawks sweep the Nelson Leafs with a 4-1 victory in the Neil Murdoch Division final.
15 – Smoke Eater captain Connor Brown-Maloski earns Player of the Week honour in the BCHL.
15 – The West Kootenay Big Game Trophy Association celebrated its 60th year at the Big Game Banquet in the Cominco gym.
16- Kootenay Wild sweep the Vancouver Island Seals to advance to the semifinal of the Female AAA championship series.
16- Kootenay Ice fall to league-leading Prince George Cougars in the first round of BCMML playoffs.
17 – Greater Trail Minor Hockey Association hosts nine teams from across the province at the Tier 2 Pee Wee Provincials.
24 – Black Jack skier Julien Locke races to a top-20 finish at the FIS Cross Country Skiing World Cup event in Quebec City.
28 – Nitehawks defeat the Kimberley Dynamiters in conference final, move onto KIJHL championship against the Chase Heat.
28 – Smoke Eaters playoff drive comes to an end after a Game 5 loss to Vernon Vipers.
31 – 150 Special Olympic BC athletes and coaches rolled into Trail for annual Wilbert Ackerman 5-pin bowling tournament at Glenmerry Bowl.
April
1- Montrose native and former Beaver Valley Nitehawk, Connor Jones, makes NHL debut with the New York Islanders.
4 – Nitehawks win KIJHL title with a sweep of Okanagan-Shuswap champion Chase Heat with 5-2 Game 3 win in best-of-five series.
5 – Rossland’s September Stefani defended her U18 ski-cross title and came home the Martrix Western Ski-Cross Series winner for U18 women, while sister Sage Stefani took third overall in the series for U16 Women.
7 – The Seven Summit Gravity Racers kicked off the 2017 downhill mountain biking season with podium results at Hub-a-palooza in Spokane.
11- The Beaver Valley Nitehawks defeat the Campbell River Storm 6-2 in the final to win the Cyclone Taylor Cup in Creston.
13 – The Keystone Cup gets underway in Arborg, Man. with the B.V. Nitehawks vying for the Western Canadian Jr. B Championship.
19- The Nitehawks fall to Team Alberta in the final of the Keystone Cup, losing 4-3 in overtime.
25 – The NCAA Quinnipiac Bobcats forward and Trail native Craig Martin is awarded the Seventh-Player Award given to the player whose game has shown the most growth as a member of the Bobcats.
26 – A dozen Beaver Valley martial artists from Fruitvale’s Heart and Soul Tae Kwon Do competed at the Kees TKD tournament in Lake Country with every Heart and Soul student earning a medal.
28 – Trail Youth Baseball adds a 13-year-old team to its American Legion roster, creating a bridge between Little League and single-A baseball. The new team played an exhibition season in the Spokane Indians Youth Baseball League, with hopes of becoming full-fledged members in 2018.
