The Smithers Steelheads picked up right where they left off last season.   The defending Central Interior Hockey League champions opened the new season with a couple of convincing wins over the Omenica Ice at the Smithers Arena.
     On Saturday, the Steelheads built up an early 3-0 lead, and cruised to a 9-3 victory.   And yesterday, a five-goal second-period explosion carried Smithers to a 9-1 win.    Ian Smith had five goals over the two games.
     Elsewhere on the opening weekend of the season, Dawson Leblond scored the only goal of the shootout as the Terrace River Kings edged the Houston Luckies 6-5 at the Sportsplex.
     The Kitimat Ice Demons scored in the opening minute and added two more goals before the game was seven minutes old as they dumped the Prince Rupert Rampage 6-1.
    And the Williams Lake Stampeders came back from a 3-0 first-period deficit to edge the Lac La Hache Tomahawks 6-5 in a shootout.