June 30, 2010 -  Registration for the 2010 Spokane Braves Conditioning and Main Camp is now open.  The Conditioning Camp will be held August 2nd thru August 5th, and will consist of four 1 ½ hour sessions.  Main Camp will follow on August 6th thru August 8th, consisting of four teams playing two games per day for evaluation purposes.

At the conclusion of the games on Sunday, the coaching staff will have a meeting with all of the players.

March 24, 2010 - Shawn Mullin - Trail, BC.  The Trail Smoke Eaters have made their first addition of the off season. 1992 born forward Dylan Tappe committed to the Smokies earlier this week.

The Spokane native played the past two seasons with his home town Braves in the KIJHL. He scored 46 goals and 103 points over 96 games playing against men as a 16 and 17 year old. For comparison his 16 year old numbers are actually 10 points ahead of what Smokies rookie of the year Sam Mellor was able to score in that same season when playing for Kimberley. It's impossible to know if he can thrive when jumping to Junior A hockey the way that Mellor did, but it's a nice place to start. Tappe's performance last season would have been enough in my view to get him into the BCHL if he were not restricted (as a US born player) from making the leap until his 18 year old season.

Dylan also took his goal scoring up a notch in his 17 year old season. He went from scoring 0.38 goals per game to 0.59 -- a very solid leap. Tappe was named to the Neil Murdoch roster at the KIJHL All-Star game and was second on the Braves in point production. Dylan was also a significant part of Spokane's strong playoff performance this season. They knocked favoured Castlegar out in 6 games and took the heavily favoured Nelson Leafs to a 7th game. Tappe scored a cold blooded hat trick in game 5 of the Rebels series in Castlegar that set his team up for a series win on home ice.

However, for a player that is known for his offensive attributes he also talks a lot about his willingness to play gritty and go to the dirty areas. Tappe told me he loves to back check, block shots and feels he can play a complete game in the BCHL.

So why Trail? Jim Ingram drove down to Spokane earlier this week to get to know Tappe and his family. Trail's coach was very impressed with the character of the whole Tappe crew and made his pitch. In addition to the opportunity the Smokies provide, I do think it helps that Trail is the closest BCHL team to Dylan's home in Spokane. It also helps that Tappe grew up playing with and against the likes of Sam Mellor, Travis St. Denis and Mike Betz. As any coach will tell you, the players can often be your best recruiters.

March 9, 2010 - What a game!  For a second straight night it would come down to two overtime periods to decide the winner.  Facing elimination from the series with a loss, the Braves got down early 1-0 in the 1st period until tying the game a few minutues later.  Not to be outdone, the Leafs came racing back to make it 2-1 shortly thereafter. The Braves entered the 3rd period down 3-2, and then at 18:53 in the 3rd, Jake Peterson scores the game tying goal that eventually forces overtime.  The 1st overtime period was fast and furious, with both teams not wanting to give an inch.   At the end of the 1st regulation its still 3-3.  The 2nd overtime begins, and the game is a nail biter, each team waiting for the other to make a mistake when with 7 minutes remaining in the 2nd OT, Rance Hughes scores the game winning goal - Braves win 4-3.  Game 7 is in Nelson tonite and the Winner will become the Murdoch Division Champions.  Puck drops at 7:00PM PST.

March 7, 2010 - The Spokane Braves lost game 5 tonite 3-2 in double overtime against the Nelson Leafs.  The Leafs now take a 3 game to 2 lead in the best of seven with game 6 headed back to Spokane.