After trouncing the Summerland Steam 8-1, the 100 Mile House Wranglers found themselves on the other end of the stick Saturday, losing 5-0 to the Revelstoke Grizzlies.
Wranglers’ Coach Dale Hladun said his team, which had been riding high after their victory Friday night, were brought back to earth Saturday by the Grizzlies, who had been smarting from a back-to-back loss against the Wranglers last week and came at them hard.
“I think Friday’s game built overconfidence that carried over to the next day. Heading to Revelstoke after we spent last weekend poking a very nasty bear, they came at us. They’re a very proud team, very well-coached and very physically fit,” Hladun said. “I don’t think our kids were ready. Getting our butts kicked 5-0, especially after we kicked Summerland’s, was really humbling for us.
The shutout followed an intense, hard-hitting game Friday, in which the Wranglers dominated from the start. Despite an early penalty for a warmup violation, the 100 Mile House players rallied with Finley Enns scoring his first goal of the season. Just a few minutes later, Ethan Sanders made it 2-0 for the Wranglers.
As they took to the ice on the second period, the Wranglers’ Colton Thon slipped one in the net during a power play. With the roar of the crowd still echoing in their ears, the Wranglers pressed their opponents mercilessly and widened their lead to five, with two more goals by Kaden Ernst and Rylan Kent.
With just 30 seconds to go in the second period, Wrangler Nathan Bohmer brought the game to 6-0. Bohmer then added another goal in the first five minutes of the third period, hooking the puck into the Steam’s net.
The Summerland Steam rallied but they didn’t get on the board until late in the third, when Jackson MacDonald finally found a chink in Wranglers goalie Loic Mainguy-Crepault’s defence. The Steam fought hard for a second goal, but were denied. The battle for the puck was so intense it led to a penalty shot for Bohmer, who, with 18 seconds left, pulled off a hat trick.
“Nathan Bohmer, he’s got a lot of skill and I think the fans like watching him play,” Hladun said.
The young forward skated back to his team with his fist in the air as he received a standing ovation from the crowd. Player of the game went to goalie Mainguy-Crepault, who blocked 44 attempts on net.
“Friday night obviously led to our third win in a row against Summerland who are one of the top teams in the other conference,” Hladun said. “We felt we could exploit some things on them and our guys did. I thought we played quite strong and our offence showed up quite strong with an 8-1 victory.”
One bright spot from Saturday’s game was the return of Wrangler Hockey in the form of Kyler Opp. Typically, Hladun said the team is known for being a tough, hard-hitting team to play against but his new players have been slow to adopt this mentality. Opp’s aggressive defensive play exemplifies this philosophy and Hladun hopes the other players will follow his lead.
The Wranglers are on the road this weekend, taking on the Kelowna Chiefs on Friday and the Chase Heat on Saturday. They’re back on home ice Nov. 20-21 for their Parents’ Weekend against the North Okanagan Knights and Sicamous Eagles respectively.
patrick.davies@100milefreepress.net
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