The 100 Mile House Wranglers of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) are now 4-1 in the New Year after beating Chase 5-4 on Jan. 11 but then losing to Kamloops Storm 3-1 the next day. They also came out as the victors in a mid-week bout with the Sicamous Eagles on Jan. 15.
Despite the good start to the second half of the season, head coach and general manager Dale Hladun said the performances were “very average.”
“I thought we had a good week of practice and dealing with pressure from forechecks and moving pucks quick while reacting and so on but it changed. It was like everything went out the window,” he said. “I just think we’ve got complacent. We have been winning a lot of games lately and I think we forgot all the hard work that won those games for us.”
The game against Chase was won in overtime, with forward Julien Dewey getting the winning goal. Defencemen Joel Patsey and Aidan Morrison also scored a goal, with forwards Kolby Page and Nic Flinton scoring the remaining two.
Hladun said they went into the Kamloops Storm game confident but ended up giving up an early lead.
“I feel one of our strengths is our powerplay and we only had one powerplay. That tells me that we’re not working hard enough to draw penalties,” he said, describing the need for his players to battle their man and force penalties. “I mean, in the last two games there was a limited number of powerplays and I just feel like we haven’t battled through.”
Hladun did say there were some bright stars in the two games though, such as goalie Miles Minor, Dewer, Harley Bootsma and Garrett Hilton (who had two assists against Chase and a goal against Kamloops).
According to Hladun, Bootsma was very sick during the game against Kamloops.
“He was very sick and yet he was one of our best players. He worked very hard through illness and I thought he could have almost got a hattrick with the chances he got,” he said of the 20-year-old forward.
Bootsma has five goals and ten assists in 31 games this season.
Hilton, who had a three-point weekend, has been one of the more consistent performers the season with 54 points. He is five points shy of the Wranglers regular season scoring record, which is 59 and held by former captain Justin Bond. With 14 games left in the season, it is very likely Hilton will surpass it, bar injury.
However, despite the help from the “bright stars” Hladun said everyone needs to look in the mirror, including himself, and realize if they deserve to be in second place and deserve home advantage in the upcoming playoffs, which begins in March.
He added it is amazing how some players think stats are a big thing for scouts. Instead, it is the little things that matter most.
Such things were defencemen making the first pass, or wingers on the wall either making a good pass, chipping it on or getting it past the pinch. These are routine plays every player has to make in every shift.
If they’re not in the 99th percental of doing the right thing in their own end they will get overlooked, Hladun said.
“A good craftsman doesn’t blame his tools and if these kids don’t know or aren’t doing it right is it their fault or my fault? So I have to make sure they understand how important these plays are.”
The Wranglers will be addressing this in practice through breakout versus pressure drills, one-on-one battles and just forcing them to battle. He likened upcoming practices as a “war.”
This is all in preparation for three upcoming battles. The first was on Jan. 15 against Sicamous Eagles, the team currently trailing the Wranglers in the Birks Division.
“Sicamous is a very Jekyll and Hyde team. The last time we played them we beat them 5-0 and yet the next couple of games they go on to force Kelowna [Chiefs] into double overtime and tie Summerland [Steam]. So the next games they went toe-to-toe with the monsters,” said Hladun. “I’m going to assume they are going to bring their A-game.”
The Wranglers managed to beat the Eagles handily last time 4-1, with Tristan Williams, Page and Darian Long (2) scoring.
Afterwards, the Wranglers will be heading to Revelstoke for a doubleheader, who lead the division with 29 wins and 58 points. Hladun called this the real test and will be the games to see if his young team is playoff ready.
“It’s a very important week and it’s up to me that we get these kids ready.”
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