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Wranglers defeat Chase on home ice

Great showing for the last regular season game. The Wranglers finished the regular season in second place.
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Jaydon Gilding takes a goal-scoring shot after skating his way through Chase Heat defensemen from the Wranglers end of the rink.

The 100 Mile House Wranglers came out strong in their last weekend of regular season play, beating the Revelstoke Grizzlies 5-3 in front of a boisterous crowd in Revelstoke Feb. 17 and defeating arch rivals, the Chase Heat 8-2 in a rough and exciting game of hockey on home ice Feb. 18.

Head Coach Dale Hladun says his strategy on the weekend was to let the hockey players take the lead.

"They already know what I am going to say whether it comes to a strategy or a tactic. We'll give an outline, but the leaders have to tell the guys, here is what we are doing. I groom these kids to not need a boss," he says.

"The kids win because the kids want to win. I felt at peace because Saturday night I said, 'Nope. We're right where we need to be.' The kids are winning because they want to win."

Friday 5-3

"Revelstoke is a unique palace," says Hladun. The arena is often filled with exuberant, often drinking, fans who come to watch a hockey game after a day of skiing. "It's a really entertaining game that's for sure."

100 Mile House put on a show for the watching fans.

A goal from Rob Raju (assisted by Todd Bredo and James Gordon) at 5:45 in the first period ignited the Wranglers offense. A power play goal by Jaydon Gilding (Nick Nordstrom, Nick McCabe) brought the lead to 2-0 for the Wranglers.

The Grizzlies rose to the challenge in the second period and tied the game 2-2 with goals at 16:12 and 13:51.

The Wranglers weren't about to let the Grizzlies take the lead. Frazer Dodd (Gilding, Colton Thomas) took advantage of a penalty and scored a second power play goal at 10:43. Dodd (Kolby Page, Bredo) wasn't done yet and followed up with a second goal at 4:49 making the score 4-2.

To end the second, Bradley Newans of the Grizzlies skated his way to an unassisted goal on the Wranglers with 23 seconds left to finish the second.

Revelstoke did their best to catch 100 Mile in the third, but a goal by Ryan Friesen (Sam Bosek) at 18:46 in the third secured the Wranglers lead.

The Grizzlies are ranked fourth in the Doug Birks Division of the KIJHL and will face the Chase Heat in the first round of playoffs.

Saturday 8-2

The Wranglers played their last game of the regular season against arch rivals and division champions Chase Heat in front of a home crowd.

Hladun says he expected the game to be a good game, but not rough, with the division title already determined.

The players had other ideas.

100 Mile took an early lead, eager to score on home ice, with a goal by Garrett Hilton (McCabe) at 18:38. After a back and forth eleven minutes of play, a goal by Chase at 7:23 brought the game to a 1-all tie.

A rough hit by Liam Dodd at 3:03 saw Chase retaliate in a brawl that ended with 10-minute misconduct penalties awarded to Wranglers Dodd, and Justin Bond and the Heat's Dayton Keith. Dodd also received four minutes in the penalty box for boarding and roughing.

The second period saw no end to the physical play. A check from behind by Grady Musgrave of the Heat sent Wranglers player Riley Coish off the ice for medical assistance. Musgrave was sent to the dressing room with a game misconduct. His teammate, Brett Alexander, accompanied him there shortly after, following another check from behind and game misconduct. No players were seriously injured during the game.

The 100 Mile Wranglers showed their displeasure with two powerplay goals by McCabe and Bredo (McCabe) at 13:36 and 11:53. Jaydon Gilding wouldn't let his teammates take all the glory, tripping his way through rushed defensemen to skate his way to an unassisted goal at 11:15.

In less than two and a half minutes the Wranglers had increased their lead to 4-1.

"Getting the power play mattered," says Hladun." For Chase, their strength is the power play, so it's kind of unique what killed them was ours," says Hladun.

After two breakaway chances by the Wranglers, the Heat finally saw their chance and scored at 6:40, bringing the score to 4-2 to end the second.

The Heat and the Wranglers have a history of close games, with three overtime games and one tie this season. Neither team has won by more than one point against the other all season.

The Wranglers took their opportunity to change that record, scoring four more goals, including one short-handed by Raju (Gordon) in the third period. Bosek (Stephen Egan, Bredo; and Nordstrom, Friesen) took two of those goals from the Heat and Dodd scored the fourth.

"I think Chase tried to send a message to us regarding playoffs and being physical and I think it worked against them. The boys just said enough of that and blew them out of the rink," says Hladun.

On to playoffs

The Wranglers will play their first two playoff games against the Kamloops Storm at home Feb. 24 and 25. Until then, the team will be preparing.

Hladun says Kamloops is a similarly offensive team to 100 Mile, with good veteran players and "dynamite" rookies, but that the Wrangler's goaltending should give them an edge in the series.

"They have a good power play so we're going to work a lot on our penalty kill, we're going to work on our defensive zone positioning." The team will also prepare to play on different sized rinks between 100 Mile and Kamloops.

The Wranglers were the KIJHL league champions last year and Hladun says his team this year is good - just in a different way.

"This year we're deep again in a different way, with our high talent. We're going to wear teams down with our speed and puck movement. I feel for me, it's all practice till the playoffs and we dictate that," he says. "You can be a good team and win games here and there "but can you win a series? We're built for series. The longer we can make a series go it works in our favour. We roll four lines, we're deep on [defense], it doesn't matter which goaltender I start. That works a lot in our favour."

Both veterans on the team and rookies "are winners," says Hladun. "It's in their DNA."

But until then, it's one series at a time.

"The guys are excited, they're like racehorses at a race. They're snorting and chomping and they just want that gate to open, so I'm pretty happy with where they are sitting."