It’s all practice to the playoffs, as Wranglers coach Dale Hladun likes to repeat, and with a battered and depleted 14-man roster headed to Sicamous, it was expected to be one tough practice on the road on Nov. 3.
It was, but 100 Mile House got by their division rival, 3-2, in overtime.
The penalty kill stymied the Eagles on all 10 of their attempts, veteran Brady Ward scored two goals in the second period, and veteran Michael Lynch scored the winner in extra time, and now, 100 Mile House, for the first time in its three-year history in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League, is first place in the Doug Birks Division.
They’ve won four straight and ten of their last 12.
Back up goalie Adam Derochie stepped in for steadfast starter Zane Steeves and made 38 saves for his third win of the season. Tavis Roch and Cole Zimmerman each picked up a pair of assists and Ryan Friesen and Jaydon Gilding both added one.
After 18 games, the Wranglers and Kamloops Storm have identical records, 13-4-0-1, and 27 points. The Wranglers beat Kamloops 4-1 in their only meeting so far this season, so the local team has the edge in the tiebreaker. Chase is third in the division with 21 points, Revelstoke fourth with 15 and Sicamous fifth with nine.
Throughout the month of October, the Wranglers were on a tear, winning nine of 11 games, including two at home – 5-1 over the Fernie Ghostriders on Oct. 31 and 7-3 over the Creston Valley Thunder Cats on Oct. 30.
They haven’t lost at home in regulation time yet this season.
Hladun says their conditioning and physical play is wearing teams out.
“It’s a very confident room. I’m just in awe of how hard they work. They want to accomplish a win… to just see how they rise to the challenge of so much, like killing penalties and coming from behind, I’m in awe of the kids. I’m really proud of them.”
“People are still looking at Osoyoos and Kamloops and all the fancy teams, but we’re quietly right in there,” Hladun adds. “I’m excited about how we’re going.”
Zimmerman won star of the game against Fernie on Oct. 31, notching two goals for 100 Mile. Justin Bond, Stephen Egan and Brandon Howard added a goal a piece. Roch and Nick McCabe picked up assists. Steeves made 41 saves for his tenth win of the season.
McCabe won star of the game against Creston Valley on Oct. 30.
McCabe (2), Egan (2), Alex Meeker (2) and Kyle Lindstrom found the back of the net for the Wranglers in the 7-3 win. Steeves was stellar with 29 saves.
Roch, Kolten Carpenter, Todd Bredo, Tyler Povelofskie (2), Bond (2), Liam Cumberbirch, Brandon Howard (2) and Lindstrom had assists.
100 Mile House meets the Grizzlies in Revelstoke on Nov. 6 and the North Okanagan Knights in Armstrong on Nov. 7.
