The 100 Mile House Wranglers lassoed a big four points in the standings last weekend with wins over the Princeton Posse (4-2) on Nov. 4 and the Revelstoke Grizzlies (4-3) in a barn burner on Nov. 6.
Coach and general manager Dale Hladun says he thought the team played with more structure on the weekend, so he’s happy with the outcome.
He notes Todd Bredo was back from his three-day stint with the Merritt Centennials where he dressed for all three games and played in two of them.
The coach says he thinks Kevin Fillier will be back from a bruised ribs injury he picked up blocking a shot.
Colton Thomas should also be back in the lineup after he tweaked his groin on the first shift of the game against the Posse.
“I’m not sure but trainer Rainer [Meyer] does a good job with the kids and we rest them. The players are always anxious with injuries because they want to play, but I don’t want a kid with nagging injuries.
“For me, it gives me a chance to play the other kids so they get some minutes in game situations.
“It’s a good thing. You’re as good as your weakest link and we want to make sure our weak links are very strong.”
Hladun says when they are going down the stretch, his star players are worn out because “they’re ran and cheap-shoted and they take a pounding.”
“So you get those next soldiers stepping up. I think that’s why we won last year because we had so many guys who could step in and do it.
“I don’t mind resting our injuries and I think we’re going to be pretty healthy come the playoffs.”
Hladun says he was happy with the play of goalie Clay Stevenson who played both games.
“There are things we can improve on but you have the minutes in a game situation. He has improved exponentially. “
In their game against Grizzlies, the Wranglers went up 1-0 on a goal from Brevin Gervais (Rob Raju, Justin Bond).
After falling behind 2-1 in the second period, Travis Gook (Frazer Dodd, Gervais) tied it up with a power-play goal.
In the third, the Wranglers went up by two with goals from Raju (Stephen Egan, Bond) and Egan (unassisted).
The Grizzlies got a late power-play goal on a double minor penalty with 35 seconds left on the clock
Wranglers 4 Posse 2
The 100 Mile House Wranglers got back into the win column with a 4-2 victory when they hosted the Princeton Posse on Friday (Nov. 4). It was a huge night for Williams Lake product Justin Bond, who notched two goals and an assist, and was named the Wranglers star of the game. The Posse got on the scoreboard first with power-play marker by Trae St. Pierre (Owen Reith, Chad Kimmie) at 14:21. However, Cody Swan (Bond) got the tying goal four minutes later, and Bond (Austin Turner, Gook) popped in the go-ahead, power-play marker one minute later. The second stanza saw the Wranglers increase the lead to 4-1 on goals by Bond (Gervais, Frazer Dodd) and Alex Meeker (Turner). Princeton’s Owen Hart (Anders Saarela, Reith) tucked in a short-handed goal with two minutes left in the game. The Wranglers outshot the Posse 46-16 and Princeton goalie Chandler Billinghurst was the Posse star of the game. Clay Stevenson registered the win for the Wranglers. The home-town lads will be hosting the Revelstoke Grizzlies tomorrow (Nov. 6) and they’ll be trying to make amends for the 8-5 mauling they took on Oct. 29. The puck drop is at 2 p.m. – remember the clock goes back an hour on Sunday.
