The bleachers at the arena in the South Cariboo Rec. Centre have been filled to about half capacity from the moment the 100 Mile House Wranglers Junior B Hockey Club opened its Main Camp on Aug. 18 to it ended on Aug. 20.
Many are family members of the boys who are working hard to be selected to the Wranglers squad as it enters its inaugural season in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League(KIJHL).
However, many are also supporters of the Wranglers and are antsy to see the season get started.
It was also encouraging to see a lot of young minor hockey players in attendance, as well as several teenagers checking out the players to see who might be their new classmates at Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School.
With about 80 players in camp, general manager/head coach Doug Rogers and his coaching/scouting staff sorted the players into six teams.
There are many options for the coaching/scouting staff to consider, Rogers says, adding there are players from British Columbia, Alberta and the Eastern United States.
These include a number of young men who came up through the 100 Mile & District Minor Hockey Association.
They include Reece Forman and Brett Harris who are working on conditioning and getting their skating legs under them before they head off to their Junior A camp. Both were recently carded by the Nipawin Hawks in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
Other notables from local minor hockey system are Derek Schneider and Micky Turner who played for the Bellingham Blazers last year.
Also skating at the camp are Kevin Raimundo, who played for the KIJHL’s Princeton Posse last year, and Mark Boyce who played with the KIJHL’s Chase Heat for part of the 2012/13 season.
Several boys who played in the local minor hockey association league last year are also in camp: Tyler Craig, Derek Popadinac, Colton Ray, Matt Pistell, Tyker Purcha and Damian Lindberg.
Meanwhile, coach Rogers says the camp’s intensity was disappointing over the first few games. However, he adds the intensity level picked up in the scrimmages later in the second day of camp.
Rogers says he and the Wranglers staff have identified 34 prospects to participate in the Blue & White prospects game that went on Aug. 20. (The score was not available at press time but will be covered in the Aug. 23 Cariboo Connector.)
This game will help determine who will be added to the team’s 23 man roster for the beginning of the KIJHL season.
“Many of the prospects will enter into the pre-season with us and continue to secure their spot on the roster for the regular season,” Rogers says, adding there has been a good showing by players from north of 100 Mile House, which was great to see.
