The 100 Mile House Wranglers have earned the right to represent the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) in the 2016 Cyclone Taylor Cup (CTC) in Victoria on April 7-10.
Wranglers coach Dale Hladun has been busy since the Wranglers knocked off the Kimberley Dynamiters 2-1 to win the KIJHL title on March 31.
The coach notes he really hasn’t had a chance to celebrate the team’s and his first KIJHL title victory.
On April 1-2, he was scouting in Merritt for a couple of days and then he immersed himself in the business/management end of getting ready for the CTC.
Hladun started preparing for the trip, arranging budgets, practice schedules and the like.
He says they had a good practice on April 4 before they left 100 Mile House in the morning of April 5 and headed to Langley where they will have another full practice before crossing the water to get to Vancouver Island.
The Victoria Cougars of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League (VIJHL) are hosting the CTC, the KIJHL champion Wranglers, and the Pacific Junior Hockey League (PJHL) champion Mission City Outlaws. Joining them will be the VIJHL’s runner-up and defending Cyclone Taylor Cup champion Campbell River Storm.
Hladun notes if they win the CTC Cup, they will have to leave right after the gold-medal game on April 10 and hop on the bus to Regina, Sask. There, they would play in the Keystone Cup against the Junior B champions from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and northwestern Ontario.
The Keystone Cup is western Canada’s regional Junior B championship.
The 2016 Keystone Cup is set to be hosted April 14-17 by the Extreme Hockey Regina Capitals of the Prairie Junior Hockey League.
The tournament will bring together the Junior B champions from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and northwestern Ontario.
If the Wranglers continue their magical playoff run, it will be a whirlwind of activity for the players and their coaches and trainer.
Hladun notes the Wranglers Spring Camp starts on April 22, so next season’s preparation starts right away.
“It’s kind of like you bite off more than you can chew, and you start chewing.”
Cyclone Taylor Cup
The Wranglers play their first game in the Cyclone Taylor Cup (British Columbia Provincial Championships) in Victoria today (April 7) at 7:30 p.m. against the Victoria Cougars.
On April 8, the Wranglers take on Mission City Outlaws at 4 p.m., and on April 9, our KIJHL champs will go up against the Campbell River Storm at 4 p.m.
Depending how they do in the round-robin, the Wranglers will either play in the bronze-medal game at 10 a.m. on April 10, or the gold-medal game at 2 p.m.
All games will be available on the webcast: go to cyclonetaylorcup and click on the webcast button.
The Free Press will provide updates throughout the tournament on our website and on Facebook.