Trail Smoke Eaters " This article is about the senior team . For the article about the junior team of the same name , please see the Trail Smoke Eaters ( junior ) . " Intro . The Trail Smoke Eaters were one of the best known senior hockey teams in Canadian history . They played out of the small mining town of Trail in southeastern British Columbia and were subsidised by the mining company to provide recreation and entertainment for the isolated community . The team was organized in 1926 and became an almost instant success , winning seven straight provincial titles from 1927 through 1933 . The Smoke Eaters won their first Allan Cup in 1938 and won a trip to the 1939 World Championship . which they won . They won another World Championship in 1961 and another Allan Cup in 1962 . They folded on January 29 , 1987 , a victim of the sharp drop in senior hockey popularity . Their colours are now carried by a junior team of the same name . History . The 1926 - 27 season marked the beginning of Trail ' s rise to hockey fame , for the first time in history the team won the Savage Cup , emblematic of the provincial hockey supremacy of British Columbia . The team was coached by Carl Kendall , a real hockey mastermind . The players wearing the Trail colours that year were : Percy Jackson ( Goal ) ; Howard Anderson , Harry Brown , Moynes , Jim Hanson , P . R . McDonald , Olaf Gustafson , George " Curly " Wheatley , Clarence Reddick , Frank Lauriente , DePasquale , Matovich ; and DIck Dimock , general manager . That season Trail defeated Rossland in a two - game total goals series , by winning the first game 2 - 0 , and Rossland fighting back to take the second counter 3 - 2 . Trai had little trouble in elminating the Vancouver Towers 5 - 1 in a similiar total goals series . They added the BC - Alberta championship to their list by blasting Canmore 15 - 4 in a two - game , total goals affair . Trail made short order of Delisle , Saskatchewan , beating them 2 - 0 and 9 - 0 . The Fort William Thundering Herd proved too much for the Trail team , and knocked them over 8 - 3 in a series played in the Denman Street Arena in Vancouver , before capcity crowds . 1927 - 28 through 1936 - 37 The hockey fever caught on in Trail , and they installed artifical ice in their Riverside Arena in 1927 - 28 ; and they were packing in 3 , 000 fans per game from a population base of 7 , 000 persons . Trail won seven consecutitive B . C . championships , before the Dynamiters dethroned them in 1933 - 34 . In 1928 - 29 Trail adopted the name Smoke Eaters , a sobriquet bestowed by a Vancouver sports writer and a cartoonist . . . and destined to become famous the world over . The First Allan Cup Trail ' s first Allan Cup in 1937 - 38 conquest was one of the most successful seasons in Allan Cup history . During the 1937 - 38 season the West Kootenay Hockey League operated on an extended basis , to include two teams from southern Alberta - - Lethbridge and Coleman . Kimberley , Nelson , Trail and Rossland completed the league and the clubs played an ambitious schedule of 144 games . Remember , in those days a team only had a roster of ten players . The playoffs were on a sectional basis , with the winners of the Eastern Division playing off with the Western Division champs . Kimberley elminated Lethbridge in the Eastern sectional playoffs , and their triumph over the glittering ( Lethbridge ) Maple Leafs , regarded as one of the best ever assembled clubs in Alberta , was considered a real upset . The cagey Dynamiters edged the Leafs 7 - 5 and 6 - 4 in a hard fought series . . . however , they proved an easy push over for the smooth Trail Smoke Eaters . The Smokies breezed through the Dynamiters in three straight games , by convincing scores of 6 - 0 , 9 - 3 and 8 - 0 . Trail had a real battle on their hands to reach the finals by shading the stubborn Nelson Maple Leafs 1 - 0 and 4 - 3 in the Western Division finals . The only highlight for the Dynamiters that season was that Ralph Redding , their slick forward , walked away with the league scoring championship , by registering 36 goals and 23 assists for 59 points . His nearest opponent was teammate Red Goble with 44 points . Ab Cronie was right behind Goble with 43 points . The Smokies powerful line of McCreedy , Duchak and Kowcinak were far behind with 36 , 36 and 37 points respectively . Trail won the B . C . championship and the Savage Cup that season , when Vancouver defaulted the series to the Smoke Eaters . Scodellaro Unbeatable Goalie Duke Scodellaro was unbeatable in the BC - Alberta championship final , by blanking the Calgary Rangers 5 - 0 and 7 - 0 in a best - of - three series . Next came the Flin Flon Bombers , the Saskatchewan champions , with Trail taking the first game with ease , by a 6 - 0 verdict ; but Trail lost the second contest 4 - 2 . The Smoke Eaters made no mistakes in the rubber game , blanking the Bombers 5 - 0 . Edmonton was the scene of the opening game of the Western Canada finals , against the Port Arthur Bear - Cats ; and with Trail coming back from a two goal deficit in the third period to force overtime , and they ended up with a 5 - 3 victory in two periods of extra time . Trail jumped all over Port Arthur in Calgary in the second game , winning 8 - 1 , and finished the series in three straight games by shellacking the Cats 7 - 3 in the third game played in Saskatoon . The scene was all set for the finals against the Cornwall Flyers , and the Calgary fans adopted the Smoke Eaters and cheered them on to victory , along with the 500 ardent fans who traveled from Trail by a special train . Trail , a flock of speed merchants moulded into a high geared passing machine by coach Elmer Piper , climaxed the long fight by defeating Cornwall ' s Flyers three games to one , in a best - of - five championship series . The Smoke Eaters won the opener 6 - 4 and took the second fixture 8 - 2 . Cornwall won the third game 2 - 1 , with Flyers goalie Floyd Perras turning in a sparkling performance . Trail ' s netminder , Duke Scodellaro , lost his bid for a shut out in the final contest when the Flyers scored with 45 seconds remaining in the game , and Trail took the match 3 - 1 . Trail rolled up a convincing record in their Allan Cup hunt by scoring 91 goals and allowed 26 , in 17 games : and won 15 fixtures - - seven by shutouts - - and lost only two games . The Smoke Eaters homecoming was the greatest hockey reception ever accorded a team of champions in the west . More than 7 , 000 fans packed the city ' s business section and overflowed to the roofs of nearby buildings , to welcome their heros . The Smoke Eaters arrived home in a special railroad car , and were transferred from the train to a special brightly decorated flat car for the public ' s admiration , as the train crept down from Tadanac by way of Rossland Avenue . As the train stopped at the depot , the whole city went wild . Mayor E . L . Groutage officially welcomed the team and the players were interviewed by radio station CJAT . After the ceremony the players climbed on a fire truck and toured the downtown . En route home , they were officially welcomed at Nelson , and were placed on a fire truck , and proudly paraded up town to the cheers of thousands at the Lake city . Members of the famous Trail Smoke Eaters , Allan Cup champions , were : Duke Scodellaro ( Goal ) , Buck Buchanan ( spare goal ) ; Jimmy Haight , Mel Snowden , Tom Johnston , Ab Cronie , Bunny Dame , Joe Benoit , Dave Duchak , Dick Kowcinak , Johnny McCreedy , Mickey Brennen , Jimmy Morris ; and utility forward Bob Marshall . Their coach was Elmer Piper . Players still residing in Trail are Scodellaro , Morris , Cronie , Brennen , Haight and Johnston . Championships . Allan Cup . Canadian Savage Cup . British Columbia See also . 1938 - 39 Trail Smoke Eaters West Kootenay League Western International Hockey League