Barry Smith is hoping he’ll have a lot to be thankful for by Monday evening.

The Kamloops Blazers head coach is preparing for three games in four nights starting with a match against the Prince George Cougars tonight.

Then on Saturday the Chilliwack Bruins make their way to Kamloops and Thanksgiving Monday it’s the Prince Albert Raiders turn.

The Cougars enter the weekend with a 6-1-0-0 record, which includes a 3-2 win over the Raiders Wednesday night.

The Blazers have spent the week practicing at Memorial Arena and Smith said the time at the old barn has been beneficial.

“It's been a good week of practice. The guys have worked pretty hard. We’ve put more emphasis on the D-zone coverage. We're sharper and compete harder,” Smith said.

“Memorial Arena has been fun. I like it over there. The smaller rink makes guys compete harder and it makes them quicker and they have to react faster.”

It’s something Smith is hoping to see in the game tonight.

Smith knows the Cougars team the Blazers saw during the final weekend of pre-season isn’t what he’ll see tonight.

“For me it's about our team. We got to worry about what we do. If we play our game and do the right things other teams have to adjust to us,” Smith said.

“I think they have surprised a lot of teams. They have played well at home. They are winning their games. They are a hot team and confident team.”

The Cougars lineup will include a couple of familiar faces –– Kamloops minor hockey products defenceman Matt Cumming and forward Tyler Halliday.

Dana Tyrell is back with the Cougars as the team’s captain, after attending the Tampa Bay Lightning camp.

Tomorrow the Blazers will face-off against the Bruins for the second time this season. On Sept. 20 the Bruins won 5-4 in a shootout in Chilliwack.

Between the pipes for the Bruins will be Lucas Gore, who also played minor hockey in Kamloops.

“It’s definitely great. I’m really looking forward to playing there,” Gore told KTW. “I grew up watching the Blazers play and getting to chance to play in Kamloops is exciting.”

The Bruins have struggled out of the gate with a 2-2-1-1 record.

“We definitely need to come out of the gates really strong. We just have to work really hard and everything just comes from there.”

The Raiders will be in the middle of a six-game road trip through B.C.

The team is in Chilliwack tonight and Vancouver Saturday.

They will play in Kelowna Wednesday and in Cranbrook on Friday.

Smith said he used the week without games to have individual meetings with the team.

“I think they are all happy and are settled in and are getting into a routine now,” Smith said.

Tonight and tomorrow’s game at 7 p.m. starts.

On Monday the game gets underway at 2 p.m.

“We have got to be prepared for the early game.”

“That’s just the way it is. We come to practice at that time, there is no reason we can't be ready to play at that time either.”

Kamloops hosts divisional rivals over Thanksgiving