There was an attendance number of 532 and a clear feeling throughout the South Cariboo Rec. Centre: it's good to have junior hockey back in 100 Mile House.
Following a three-game road trip where the 100 Mile House Wranglers failed to register a point, the local Kootenay International Junior Hockey League team hosted the Kimberley Dynamiters on Jan. 10 – the club's first home game since Dec. 21.
The Wranglers came away with a 4-3 victory before travelling to Chase on Jan. 11 and handing the Heat a 5-2 loss.
Coach Doug Rogers called it “a great bounce-back weekend.”
“This group never ceases to amaze me. We have bumps in the road that are expected given that we are so young, but the group battles hard to get us back on track. I was very impressed with this group's competition level on the weekend against two very good teams.”
Jayden Syrota scored goals No. 1 and 4 for 100 Mile House against the Dynamiters, while Luke Santerno and Robert Orrey added the other two. Assists on the night went to Michael Lynch, Lane van de Wetering (2), Connor Sloan, Kenny Nordstrom, Stephen Egan and Jaidan Ward.
Kristian Stead made 27 stops.
Against Chase, Egan, van de Wetering, Santerno, Lynch and Bradley Williams found the back of the net. Assists went to Nordstrom (2), R. Orrey, Tyson Levesque, Santerno, Sloan, Lynch and Braeden St. Louis.
Stead – now the consistent starter in net for 100 Mile House since Nathan Warren signed with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs of the British Columbia Hockey League – made 39 saves on 41 shots.
(Stead and Santerno were recalled by the BCHL's Merritt Centennials to play against the Vernon Vipers on Jan. 14.)
The KIJHL playoff picture is starting to shape up and the Wranglers are part of it. Rogers says the players have accomplished a lot so far in the club's inaugural season.
“We have 19 wins to date in our first season and none of it could be done without the outstanding support received from the 100 Mile House community. The community needs to be proud of this group of players who represent them and I have no doubt, based on the community support, that they are.”
The top 4 teams in each division advance to the playoffs. The Wranglers (19-17-0-4) are second in the Doug Birks Division with 42 points, behind the Kamloops Storm (31-6-0-1) with 63 points, and ahead of Chase (18-18-0-2) with 38 points, the Sicamous Eagles (16-20-0-2) at 34 points and the Revelstoke Grizzlies (7-27-0-3) with 17 points.
Rogers talks about securing second place and home ice advantage for Round 1.
“Chase and Sicamous are very good teams, so it will not be easy. Both those teams will be in the mix with us for second place.”
The Wranglers host Sicamous on Jan. 17 and the Fernie Ghostriders on Jan. 18.
The importance of the Sicamous game needs to be stressed, Rogers adds.
“We play Sicamous three more times this season and I am more concerned about them than I am about Chase right now. The reason I say this is the Sicamous games are within our control to win.
"We only play Chase once more this year and other than that one game, we have no control over Chase's wins and losses the rest of the season. We can't worry about things out of our control.”
