The final four months of 2017 highlights a number of Trail milestones – including the Trail Ladies Curling Club’s 90th birthday. Big goals were scored and others reached, honours bestowed and achievements realized in Canada’s greatest sports town, the Home of Champions, with many more to come in 2018.
September
1 – Garrett Kucher shoots lights out on the final round to win the Kelowna Golf and Country Club Men’s Invitational.
8 – Trail Smoke Eaters open the BCHL’s 56th season against the West Kelowna Warriors at the newly renovated Cominco Arena with almost as much action off the ice as on it.
12 – Beaver Valley opens season with a 1-0 loss on road to Nelson before rebounding for 6-0 victory over the Fernie Ghostriders at home.
13 – Greater Trail baseball players Kian Johnston and Ross St. Jean take their game to next level with Johnston heading to Southwestern Community College in Coos Bay, Oregon, and St. Jean taking aim at the prestigious Prairie Baseball Academy in Lethbridge.
14 – The Major Midget Kootenay Ice put on an impressive performance at the pre-season Major Midget Tournament in Kelowna, winning 3-of-4 games.
15 – The Female Midget AAA Kootenay Wild’s hockey season is suspended after low numbers failed to fill out a BC Hockey roster.
20 – About 40 Greater Trail athletes returned home from a successful BC Senior 55-plus Games in Vernon with about 20 medals in tow.
26 – The Trail Smoke Eaters win both games at the BCHL Bauer Showcase in Chilliwack. With about 200 NHL and NCAA scouts in attendance the Smokies defeated the Powell River Kings and the Surrey Eagles.
28 – Black Jack cross-country ski racer Julien Locke embarks on his second full season with the National Ski Team under the tutelage of Black Jack ski coach and former NST head coach David Wood.
30 – The Trail Ladies Afternoon Curling Club celebrates its 90th birthday with a luncheon and a trip down memory lane with video, photos, and memorabilia from the previous nine decades.
October
4- The Trail Smoke Eaters extend win streak to five games and Kale Howarth earns Player of the Week honours, as the Smokies crack the CHL top 20.
6 – BCHL revises playoff format so that the winner of the series between top Island and Mainland Division teams will play the winner of the Interior Division for the BCHL championship.
18 – Trail native Riley Brandt gets off to a quick start for the Royal Military College Paladins hockey team, earning Athlete of the Week at RMC after scoring in each of their opening three games.
21 – Trail native and premier ladies fastball pitcher, Colleen Moffat, is inducted into the BC Softball Hall of Fame
31 – The Beaver Valley Nitehawks roll to their ninth straight win in October with a 7-2 drubbing of the Grand Forks Border Bruins to finish the month undefeated.
November
1 – The Arizona Coyotes American Hockey League affiliate, Tucson Roadrunners, honour 27-year-old Trail native Craig Cunningham by retiring his number-14 jersey. Cunningham inspired the world with his determined recovery from a near fatal cardiac arrest during an AHL game in November 2016.
3 – Black Jack skier Julien Locke earns a spot on the Canadian World Cup ski team after capturing first in the sprint at the Canmore Nordic Centre’s Frozen Thunder.
8 – Trail native Travis Gawryletz makes NHL debut as a linesman for the Tampa Bay Lightning-San Jose Sharks game.
9 – Trail Smoke Eater Levi Glasman is named BCHL Player of the Week after scoring four goals in four games including a hat trick against the Wenatchee Wild.
10 – The Smoke Eaters Seth Barton commits to University of Massachussetts-Lowell for the 2019-20 season, while Sean Donaldson, a 16-year-old forward for the Burnaby Winter Club commits to the Smoke Eaters.
15 – The J. L. Crowe Hawks senior girls field hockey team capped off a successful season by hosting the BC ‘AA’ Field Hockey Championships in Surrey.
17 – Former Pride Gym fighter Charles Bisset captures the ACB North American kickboxing title with a victory over Moses Murietta at Cali 25 Mega Show II.
22 – Trail Smoke Eaters Ross Armour, Levi Glasman, and Seth Barton are invited to the Team Canada West selection camp in Calgary in preparation for the World Jr. A Challenge.
29 – The Beaver Valley Skating Club hosts the West Kootenay Invitational skate competition at the Beaver Valley Arena.
December
6 – BC Hockey declares full-face protection mandatory in BC Junior B hockey leagues, including the KIJHL.
7 – Trail Smoke Eaters Ross Armour and Seth Barton are named to Team Canada West as it embarks on its quest for gold at the World Jr. A Challenge in Truro, Nova Scotia.
13 – Trail Hockey Club Society announces that the Montreal Canadiens Alumni will visit Trail for a community scholarship fundraising game against the Trail Oldtimers on Feb. 16.
18 – Armour’s game-tying and overtime goal lifts Team Canada West to a 4-3 quarter-final victory over Team Canada East. West went on to a 5-1 rout of the U.S.A. in final to win the gold medal at the World Jr. A Challenge.
20 – Glenmery Bowlers Thomas Plett and Megan Fowler win Senior Boys and Girls events at Kootenay Zone Finals to qualify for the B.C. 5-pin bowling championship in Kelowna and Vernon Mar. 3-4.
20 – Longtime curler Doreen Burnham looks to restore a piece of Trail curling history in an effort to track down the remainining ‘wee’ curling rocks brought back from Scotland by Trail curler and former Canadian Curling Association president Bill Leaman.
27 – Trail Curling Club ice maker Mike Williams will be part of the ice technician crew at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Penticton in January.
