A new season started for the Bridge Lake Electric atom development Wranglers with the local team hosting Cariboo Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) squads at the South Cariboo Rec. Centre, Oct. 2-4.
The atom Wranglers faced very strong opposition in Prince George and Williams Lake teams and lost four games.
Easton Mills scored in Game 1 against Williams Lake, with assists by Matthew Keller and Riley Campbell. Campbell, Mills and Treyton Pacheco scored in Game 2 against Prince George. Mills and Ethan Mori made assists. In Game 4, Mills scored two goals and assists were made by Gibson Fast (2) and Campbell. Goalie Kyle Harding faced a lot of shots and kept the scores as close as possible.
While crediting his team for their hard work following the tourney, coach Pat Simms expressed frustration with the 100 Mile House & District Hockey Association.
All other leagues – peewees, bantams and midgets – in 100 Mile House this season joined the Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association, which is made up of similarly small towns and more equal caliber hockey teams, the coach says. But the atoms continue to play in the CAHA with bigger more competitive teams that leave local players at a disadvantage.
“We are supposed to be developing players,” Simms says. “But instead we're sending kids into towns to get blown out by eight goals or more. I noticed coaching midget rep last year how hard this is on the players mentally to expect to lose... I have an outstanding group that plays their butts off and just loves the game, but changes need to be made if 100 Mile ever wants a program compared to these big markets.”