The 100 Mile House Wranglers are on a mission.
The players came back from the Christmas break in good shape and they’re ready to work, says Wranglers head coach andgeneral manager Dale Hladun.
“I was really happy in the condition they came back in because it’s always tough. With the distances they have to travel toget home, you never know if someone is going to be late coming back.
“That win [5-1 over the Sicamous Eagles] before Christmas put the wind in their sails and then getting five out of six pointsin three games is outstanding.”
Hladun says the two games against the Chase Heat – 2-1 win at home on Dec. 29 and a one all tie the next night in Chase –was like playoff hockey.
“Both games were battles; one-goal games with one in overtime. I think that’s what it is going to be like with Chase, whichleads the Doug Birks Division, for the rest of the season. We’re going to have them a couple of more times and they will bebattles. The Revelstoke Grizzlies is another big, strong team.”
The coach says he just told the players after practice on Wednesday morning that the team has to polish up in the defensivezone and on special teams – power play and penalty kill.
“One more goal for, or one more goal against matters. We’re going to be in a ton of one-goal games. If you look at ourstring from Nov. 25 to Dec. 17, we had overtime losses and regulation losses that were all one-goal games – that’s playoffhockey.
“Now that we’re on the back 9 [of the season] so to speak, every game matters.”
Hladun notes the team’s goal is to finish in first place (currently tied with Kamloops Storm for second place and both arefour points behind Chase).
Even though we’re only four points back, he says Kamloops and Chase will win their share of points.
The coach adds he thinks the Wranglers will have to win 10 to a dozen of its last 15 games to take the division banner.
Noting Nick McCabe, who was with last year’s championship team, is a second-half player, Hladun is happy with hisprogress after missing most of the first half of the season.
“Nick is trying to play catch-up and he’s been going to the gym on his own twice a day and working hard to try to get intogame shape. I’m really impressed with Nick and he’s been very important for us.”
After missing a few games before Christmas, the coach says Ryan Friesen came back with a passion.
“Ryan is happy to be back. He’s flying out there, has jump in his step and he’s been playing with consistency.”
Hladun says new goalie Jakob Severson is happy playing with the Wranglers after bouncing around the last couple of years.
“He’s been great for us; he’s happy here and he seems to have his mojo back.”
The Wranglers are healthy and the players have been able to avoid the flu bug that has been hitting other teams in theKootenay International Junior Hockey League.
However, Colton Thomas has been called up by Salmon Arm Silverbacks – a Junior A team in the British Columbia HockeyLeague – and won’t be with the Wranglers for the Jan. 6 game in Sicamous or the home game against the Osoyoos Coyoteson Jan. 7 (7 p.m. start). However, he’s expected to be in Kamloops for the tussle against the Storm on Jan. 8.
While there will be a lot of travelling for the Wranglers this weekend, Hladun says it’s a bit of a grind for the players, but it’sgood practice for the upcoming playoffs.
“The boys have to learn to live on the road, how to eat properly and getting to bed early. We discussed it at practice: ‘if youguys are out too late or not getting your sleep, you’re going to be rundown and get that flu’ and I don’t want that.”