The Smoke Eaters (aka
Smokies) have existed as both junior and senior teams since the 1920s. The
senior Smoke Eaters won two
Allan Cup championships, 1938 and 1962, and two
Ice Hockey World Championships playing for Canada in 1939 and 1961. The senior Smokies were the last independent ice hockey club to represent Canada in international competition before the
Canada men's national ice hockey team was established in 1963. The junior Smoke Eaters have competed in British Columbia since 1926. Originally, the
ice hockey usage of "junior" referred to a general, age-limited, non-professional hockey concept that was distinct from senior and intermediate divisions. Later, the junior divisions in Canada were divided into two levels, Junior A and Junior B. In 1970, Junior A was split again into Major Junior and Junior A. The junior Smoke Eaters have competed in various levels of junior hockey, including
Junior A and
Junior B divisions. They have also competed for the national Junior Championship
Memorial Cup prior to its usage as the Major Junior championship. In 1931–32, the junior Smoke Eaters won their first of 22
Mowat Cups over a run of 29 seasons. Throughout this run, the Mowat Cup was awarded as the highest level junior hockey championship for the province. During their 22 Mowat Cup winning years, the Smoke Eaters represented British Columbia in the Western Canadian Junior/Junior A Championship, the
Abbott Cup. The Smoke Eaters won the Abbott Cup in 1944 and represented Western Canada in the national junior championship
Memorial Cup competition, losing
all four games to the
Oshawa Generals. By the 1970s, the Smoke Eaters played as a
Junior B team in the
Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL). They joined the Junior A
Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League (RMJHL) from the 1991–92 through 1994–95 seasons. In 1995, the Smoke Eaters bought the
Bellingham Ice Hawks franchise in the Junior A
British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL), joining that league as the Trail Smoke Eaters for the 1995–96 season. In 2025, head coach, Tim Fragle, became the winningest coach in franchise history with 112 wins during his 5-year tenure, and was named BCHL Coach of the Year. In March 2025, the Smoke Eaters organization announced that it had extended Fragle's contract through to the end of the 2027 BCHL season. However, in July 2025, it was announced that Fragle was leaving "to pursue new opportunities in hockey." He was replaced by associate coach and assistant GM, Eric Thurston. ==Season-by-season record==