The 100 Mile House Wranglers of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) have continued their streak of inconsistency after putting the North Okanagan Knights to the sword on Dec. 7 and then falling on it against the Kelowna Chiefs on very next day.
“Overall, the team is doing really good. I think we’ve got points in six or seven of our last eight games. I mean, I think we are on the right path,” said Dale Hladun, the head coach and general manager of the Wranglers.
Captain Kolby Page was instrumental in the 6-2 win against the Knights with a four-point (two goals, two assists) display. Aidan Morrison also had a good game, notching three assists to bring his season total up to 18. Darian Long, Garrett Hilton, Julien Dewey and Nico Hemming also contributed to the win with goals.
The game also marked the second game of the returning popular defenceman Joel Patsey, who received three team awards last season including Fan’s Favourite of the Year.
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Patsey started the season with the Langley Riverman of the British Columbian Hockey League but unfortunately suffered a concussion during the preseason and was also nursing a recurring leg injury.
“What we’re doing with Joel is trying to get him into game shape. He at least has to get in five games with us and then we can send him to the Langley Riverman. We’re going to get Joel up to Langley and see if he can crack their line up again. It’s not his fault he got hurt in the preseason,” said Hladun. “We weren’t expecting him back. We thought he’d be playing Junior A.”
The Wranglers were held scoreless against Kelowna, with the Chiefs winning with three goals. Two of the goals were scored by Prince George-native Myles Mattila, who was held pointless since Nov. 17.
However, the Wranglers defence can be happy they held Chiefs forward Brody Dale to only one assist. Dale leads the league in points with 71, 16 more than the next leader.
“It was like a playoff game against Kelowna,” said Hladun. “When you’re playing against a good defensive team you don’t have to be overly tactful. You actually make it simpler and just get pucks to the middle and shoot and try for rebounds. We tried that. We got our chances, we just didn’t score. “
Despite the inconsistent performances, 100 Mile House remains in second place of the Doug Birks Division with 30 points and a record of 13-11-1-0-3 (wins-losses-ties-defaults-overtime losses).
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On the other hand, the Knights are at the bottom of the Okanagan Division, with a record of 8-19-0-1-0 for 16 points. Only the Chase Heat of the Doug Birks Division is doing worse in the conference.
Kelowna is the league and conference leader with 51 points (24-1-1-0-2).
“I really like how our kids are coming along. There are some kids here that have limited high-end hockey experience and it’s a roster like that that is going toe-to-toe with Kelowna,” said Hladun.
On their return home, the Wranglers stopped at the local Save-on-Foods and Tim Hortons to sing carols.
“It was kind of cute,” said Hladun.
The Wranglers will only play one game before the Christmas break. They will face off against the Osoyoos Coyotes (12-13-2-0-0) at the Sun Bowl on Dec. 15.
“I think it’s a needed break right now. They all live a long way from here,” said Hladun, adding that some players were nursing some upper body issues.
They will then close December off with two games in Kamloops against the Kimberley Dynamiters (21-4-0-0-0) and Spokane Braves (12-14-0-0-2) of the Kootenay Conference.
brendan.jure@100milefreepress.net
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