Trail Smoke Eaters | PO Box 313 Trail BC V1R 4L6 | Phone: (250) 364-9994
Business Operations
Rich & Annie Murphy
TEAM PRESIDENT, OWNERS
The Trail Smoke Eaters are a junior A ice hockey team from Trail, British Columbia, Canada. They are a part of the British Columbia Hockey League.
History
The Smoke Eaters (aka Smokies) have existed as both junior and senior teams since the 1920s. The senior Smoke Eaters won two Allan Cup championships, 1938 and 1962, and two Ice Hockey World Championships playing for Canada in 1939 and 1961. The senior Smokies were the last independent ice hockey club to represent Canada in international competition before the Canada men’s national ice hockey team was established in 1963.
The junior Smoke Eaters have competed in British Columbia since 1926. Originally, the ice hockey usage of “junior” referred to a general, age-limited, non-professional hockey concept that was distinct from senior and intermediate divisions. Later, the junior divisions in Canada were divided into two levels, Junior A and Junior B. In 1970, Junior A was split again into Major Junior and Junior A. The junior Smoke Eaters have competed in various levels of junior hockey, including Junior A and Junior B divisions. They have also competed for the national Junior Championship Memorial Cup prior to its usage as the Major Junior championship.
In 1931–32, the junior Smoke Eaters won their first of 22 Mowat Cups over a run of 29 seasons. Throughout this run, the Mowat Cup was awarded as the highest level junior hockey championship for the province. During their 22 Mowat Cup winning years, the Smoke Eaters represented British Columbia in the Western Canadian Junior/Junior A Championship, the Abbott Cup. The Smoke Eaters won the Abbott Cup in 1944 and represented Western Canada in the national junior championship Memorial Cup competition, losing all four games to the Oshawa Generals.
By the 1970s, the Smoke Eaters played as a Junior B team in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL). They joined the Junior A Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League (RMJHL) from the 1991–92 through 1994–95 seasons. In 1995, the Smoke Eaters bought the Bellingham Ice Hawks franchise in the Junior A British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL), joining that league as the Trail Smoke Eaters for the 1995–96 season.
