The Trail Smoke Eaters are continuing to struggle early in the season with six points in 13 games sitting second to last in their division.

After making a few lineup changes including some notable trades, the Smokies are hoping to get their legs soon and snag a playoff spot before it’s out of reach.

The Smokies recently traded forward Colin Lidster to Grand Prairie of the Alberta Junior Hockey League for 18-year-old, six-foot, 190-lb. defenceman Mitch Kaufmann and a player to be named at a future date.

“I’m happy with him, he brought some stability to our defence and even though he’s 18, you can tell he’s played some Junior A hockey in his day,” said Smokies head coach Jim Ingram.

“Josh McEwan is another good addition to the lineup, we had to make some moves to get him, but now he’s in and has some good energy to contribute.”

The Smokies have been playing decent hockey, but it seems are unable to finish games strong, losing more than a few games by only one or two goals.

This theme continued in their last two games Oct. 9 and 10 losing by one goal in even handed match ups but with a few bad bounces.

On Oct. 10, they lost to the Prince George Spruce Kings 4-3 in overtime after letting their 3-1 lead slip away after the first period of play.

The game saw great action, heavy hits and some quality fights including two in the first four seconds of the second period.

The previous night they were taken 3-2 by the Cowichan Valley Capitals but not without sending the puck to the net, out shooting their opposition 35-22 in the game.

Tye Lewis is still up front in scoring and assists with 7 goals and 10 assists in 13 games sitting eleventh in the league.

The Smokies travelled to the coast and played in Burnaby Oct. 14. They will face Nanaimo on Oct. 16, Cowichan on Oct. 17 and Surrey on Oct. 18 before coming back for a home game against Salmon Arm on Oct. 23.

“There’s going to be no easy games, we have to be prepared in our minds to play stingy, committed hockey,” said Ingram.

“We’ve got some overtime points but we have to be concentrated and make an effort to get the bodies to the net.”