The 100 Mile House Wranglers are 0-4 going into the third week of the regular season.
The Wranglers lost on the road to the Sicamous Eagles 4-2 on Friday, Sept. 29, before losing a hard-fought game against the Chase Heat 2-1 on home ice on Saturday, Sept. 30. The Wranglers are currently the only team in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League who have yet to win a game.
“We are the masters of shooting ourselves in the foot. It’s pretty hard to win a hockey game when you give your opponent 11 power play chances,” head coach Dale Hladun said. “It’s insane how dumb some of the penalties are we’ve been taking. I get it if the penalty is part of a battle but when it comes to spearing, 10-minute misconducts and petty stupidity I’m over the top angry.”
Hladun said despite the amount of penalties, he was happy with the effort his players put in against the Eagles, noting there was a “will to win.” Late in the game the score was 3-2 and he pulled the goalie on a powerplay in an effort to tie it, which led to an empty-netter.
Against the Heat, the Wranglers put up a spirited fight and hung in until the end. Throughout the first period, the two teams sized one another up as they traded shots on net and took penalties, with both teams failing to capitalize on power plays.
In the second period, the Heat scored two goals in quick succession. Despite being at a disadvantage the Wranglers rallied and turned up the heat, slamming into their opponents and taking more shots on net. Despite the intensity of the pressure, no shots made their way through.
With eight minutes to go in the third period, the Wranglers seemingly turned a corner when Owen Johnson scored the sole Wrangler goal of the night. However, Chase dug in their heels and even when the Wranglers pulled Ryder Gregga from goal in the last minute the team was unable to force the game into overtime.
“Chase won but I don’t think we were outplayed. The boys put in the effort, we just couldn’t score.”
The Wranglers are hitting the road for the next two weeks and won’t return to 100 Mile House until Friday, Oct. 20 when they face the Eagles for a rematch. Over the next few games, Hladun plans to work on his team’s ability to capitalize on powerplays and their offense so they can start winning.
“Some wins are just around the corner. I think our division is tough this year, all five are very competitive, so maybe on the road we’ll have a chance to catch our breath.”
