With 28 players still in camp, the 100 Mile House Wranglers hit the road for a couple of pre-season games that started with a visit to Kamloops to take on the Kamloops Storm on Sept. 4.
It's anticipated the Storm will become natural rivals for the Wranglers because of their close proximity and easy travelling distance for the fans to follow their teams on the road trips.
Next up is a visit to Princeton on Sept. 7 to take on the Posse.
Details of these games will appear in the Sept. 11 edition of the 100 Mile House Free Press.
The Wranglers are in the Doug Birks Division (Okanagan/Shuswap Conference) along with the Chase Heat, Kamloops Storm, Sicamous Eagles and Revelstoke Grizzlies.
So, once the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) regular season gets underway, games against divisional opponents will be meaningful in the run to the playoffs.
The next big game for the Wranglers is on Sept. 11, the Storm comes in to 100 Mile House for the local squad's lone pre-season tilt on home ice.
This will the local fans first look at the Wranglers in a game situation and it will be exciting for the team and management to put on a good show for the hometown crowd.
The club is doing something special to commemorate the evening, as admission to the Sept. 11 contest is by wearing a $20 a souvenir T-shirt. The commemorative T-shirt will not only serve as a keepsake of the Wranglers first home game in the KIJHL, but it will also serve as the ticket into the game.
Club president Tom Bachynski said he hopes businesses will get involved, as the Wranglers will be going into businesses to sell the T-shirts.
“We hope to sell them to all of the staff and the staff will wear the T-shirt to let everyone know the big game is on Sept. 11.”
The souvenir T-shirts are also available at the reception desk at Central GM in 100 Mile, at the Wranglers office (Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) in the South Cariboo Rec. Centre, and will be on sale before the Sept. 11 game.
Editor's Note: 100 Mile House Wranglers fans will be able to see all of the 100 Mile House Free Press Wranglers' coverage on the home page of our website at www.100milefreepress.net. Just click on the "click here for more info" button to "Find out about the exciting launch of a Jr. B Hockey team."