Gaven Crites
Free Press
Dale Hladun held off on the Grey Cup celebrations on Sunday, choosing instead to spend the morning going over 100 Mile House Wranglers game film as the local Kootenay International Junior Hockey League club prepares for two more games this weekend against their division-leading opponents, the Kamloops Storm, after splitting a pair of games with them last weekend.
In Kamloops, the Storm handed a 5-4 loss to the poorly disciplined Wranglers on Nov. 28. In 100 Mile on Nov. 27, it was the Wranglers handing the Storm a 5-4 overtime loss.
The scoresheet says Kamloops scored on four of their 10 power play attempts at home. A closer inspection shows they scored their fifth goal, the winning one, the exact second Wranglers forward Nick McCabe stepped out of the penalty box for his two minute boarding infraction. So, the Wranglers’ discipline, or lack thereof, was a contributing factor on every goal in Kamloops.
“That has to be addressed,” says Hladun. “We’re a passionate team. We play hard and go. But you also have to understand how to control that. If we’re not willing to be more disciplined playing a tough team like that, or any elite team, we’re going to be in trouble.”
The Wranglers are four points behind the Storm for first place in the Doug Birks Division. The Wranglers host the Storm tomorrow night (Dec. 4) at the South Cariboo Rec. Centre at 7 p.m, and hit the road for games in Kelowna (Dec. 5) and Kamloops (Dec. 6).
As Hladun said heading into last weekend, “this weekend is for first place”. And the same goes for this weekend.
“Passion is a very important thing in the game, if it’s under control, and I felt it wasn’t under control,” Haldun adds. “It was a good lesson for us. Again, it’s all practice to the playoffs.”
Justin Bond won star of the game for 100 Mile House in Kamloops. Bond scored a pair of goals, while Alex Hanson and Brett Harris added one each. Michel Lynch, Kolby Page, Brandon Howard and Alex Hanson assisted on the plays. Goalie Zane Steeves made 44 saves.
In 100 Mile House on Nov. 27, Tavis Roch scored a short handed goal, added two assists, and won star of the game in his first game back since injuring a shoulder on Nov 6. Tyler Povelofskie scored two goals, including the overtime winner. Harris and Stephen Egan scored equalizing goals in the 5-4 win. Steeves made 38 saves for his 11th win of the season.
Getting Roch back adds a lot of confidence to the lineup, says Hladun. The 18-year-old Quesnel defenceman is strong on the penalty kill, the power play and even strength.
“When you have that piece of puzzle out of your lineup, it is really missed. I couldn’t be happier for Roch. He’s having a banner year. I think the fans should come out and watch him a little more. I don’t think he’ll be with us next season. He’ll be moving up to the next level.”
