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Dave,

The Trail Smoke Eaters have the best name and (old) logo in the business! The original one with the smoke coming out of the stacks has been made politically correct when their junior team entered the BCHL many years ago – no smoke now… gotta respect nature and the Green Party crowd!! See the old logo here:

http://icehockey.wikia.com/wiki/1938-39_Trail_Smoke_Eaters

I have met several of the players (and their offspring) from the 1961 team. I know one of the old equipment managers and he gave me a replica jersey (with smoke!) of the 1939 team several years ago. Their is an awesome museum in the Cominco rink that has a lot of sports memorabilia from Trail and the local area. Trail also has a pretty good history and passion for minor baseball – I believe a few of their teams have represented Canada and attended the Little League World Series.

I played some junior in the Kootenay's in the 80's; then I coached in Cranbrook and Invermere (east Kootenay's) in the early 90's and was head coach of a couple of BC U17 teams (Brad Larsen was my Captain one year and Shawn Horcoff another year.) I love the old rinks – Trail and Kimberley were my favourites!

My uncle's playing days in the Kootenay's preceded me; he played against many of these guys as they wrapped up their careers in Senior hockey (Allan Cup) in the late 60's / early 70's. My uncle played one year in Nelson for the Leafs and many years for the Spokane Jets / Flyers. I attended many games as a kid in the old "Boone Street Barn" in Spokane and was amazed by the level of skill and brutality! Senior hockey used to be an amazing spectacle… sad that it has been diminished since the early 80's.