Kristian Stead made a game and shut-out-saving stop in the final seconds of the final frame, while forward Stephen Egan potted the game-winner at the end of the first period.
There was little lull in end-to-end action between those two big plays, and even though the game finished a conservative 1-0 for the 100 Mile House Wranglers over the Sicamous Eagles, that Nov. 16 match-up was one of the most entertaining 60 minutes of the season, says Wranglers coach Dale Hladun.
“Both goaltenders played very well. Stead was huge for us. There’s a reason why he’s among the top goalies in the league and we have a lot of success with him.”
100 Mile House (12-8-0-2) fired 30 shots on goal and Sicamous (13-11-1), on home ice, managed 24.
Cole Zimmerman and Nick McCabe assisted on Egan’s goal. Stead won star of the game.
The night before, at the South Cariboo Rec. Centre on Nov. 15, 100 Mile House trumped the Chiefs 5-3 with 491 fans in attendance.
Hladun says the Chiefs (8-13-2-1) are a better club than its record suggests, and the win was “a bit of bounce back after the goose egg we laid against North Okanagan” – a 4-2 loss to a last place team on Nov. 11.
“I thought the guys responded well. We had a tough week of practices and dry land [training] to get mentally adjusted and prepared for the weekend.”
Jayden Syrota, Austin Turner (2), McCabe and Zimmerman tallied goals for 100 Mile House. Tyler Garcia (3), Nick Headrick, Brett Harris (3), Zimmerman, A. Turner and Devan Suidy earned assists.
A. Turner won star of the game. Stead made 23 saves between the pipes.
The Wranglers have seven wins, two losses and one overtime loss – 15 points – in the last 10 games, among the hottest records in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) in that stretch.
Since the season started in September, Hladun has been saying that he thinks this club has the skill to compete with the KIJHL’s best.
“I think it’s as strong as any team I’ve ever coached, and as strong as any team in the league.”
The Wranglers ride into Chase (7-10-2-4) on Nov. 21 and Revelstoke (9-10-2-2) on Nov. 22 for meetings with fellow Doug Birks Division clubs.
The Wranglers and Kamloops Storm (14-7-0-2), the top dog in the Doug Birks Division, meet at the Cariboo Memorial Complex in Williams Lake on Nov. 28.
The Wranglers host Kamloops at the South Cariboo Rec. Centre in 100 Mile House on Nov. 29.
