From the doorstep with 40-something seconds left Brett Harris put the game-tying shot on net, but the goalie swallowed it up, and that was probably the one.
At the other end, Nick Headrick did his best Quinn Ferris impression, sprawling, blocking two shots in front of an empty net. The North Okanagan Knights got the puck back near the blew line however, and, with 15 seconds left, floated it in, snapping a long losing streak of their own while putting to an end a three-game win streak by the 100 Mile House Wranglers.
The Knights (3-16-1-2) handed the Wranglers (10-8-0-2) a 4-2 loss at the South Cariboo Rec. Centre on Nov. 11, souring an otherwise impressive run by the local Kootenay International Junior Hockey League club, which beat Doug Birks Division rivals Revelstoke Grizzlies 3-2 on Nov. 8 and Chase Heat 6-5 in double overtime on Nov. 7.
North Okanagan took a 3-0 lead into the third period. Tate Page (from Jayden Syrota) and Austin Turner (from Harris) scored late in the final frame, but the Knights killed the comeback with the empty-netter.
Ferris made 21 saves in the loss.
The crowd was into it, but coach Dale Hladun wasn’t impressed.
“We ‘are’ in the entertainment business,” he quips. “But for a coach, that wasn’t entertaining. I thought we started the whole day off wrong.”
Mental preparation, yesterday’s practice, effort – all could have been better. The coach believes the Wranglers are a first-place team. They’re currently third in the division. A loss like this one, to a club way at the bottom of the standings, seems inexplicable, definitely inexcusable.
“Yea, we took them lightly,” he says. “I’m not impressed with drifting back to silly habits and just thinking, ‘Yea, we’ll turn it on.’ This league is good. This league is full of talent. This league is full of scouts. There were guys watching today…This was their time to shine. And that’s the effort you put forth?”
The coach talks about a tougher mindset, and extra dry land training in the near future. He wants to see the Wranglers at their best every time they hit the ice.
“The points are there for us to get, and let’s be champions,” Hladun says. “We’re here to win a title. And winning a title means a little more sacrifice… I’ll get their attention the rest of the week, and we’ll turn it around on Saturday.”
100 Mile House hosts the Kelowna Chiefs on Nov. 15 before four road games: against the Sicamous Eagles on Nov. 16; Chase Heat on Nov. 21; Revelstoke Grizzlies on Nov. 22; and Kamloops Storm on Nov. 28.
On a positive note, Hladun mentions he’s happy with the play of Page, a 16-year-old defenceman from Vanderhoof, who’s on the Western Hockey League radar.
“I’m really excited with how he’s blooming as a player.”
He also highlights the consistent play of Harris and Turner.
