NEWS

Ontario Junior Hockey League resident writer Ron Valentine is previewing teams in the RBC Cup, which begins Saturday in Chilliwack, B.C. He begins his series with a look at the Wenatchee Wild of the BCHL.

By Ron Valentine

The WENATCHEE WILD are in season 10 of their existence – the first seven in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) and the last three in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL).

It's season No. 6 for Head Coach/General Manager Bliss Littler and the club's first appearance at the RBC Cup.

His team had a long road to win the Doyle Cup, the Alberta and B.C. title, having to go through the Merritt Centennials (4-0), the Vernon Vipers (4-2), the Trail SmokeEaters (4-1) and the Prince George Spruce Kings (4-1) in their own playoffs. Bliss picked the Vipers as the toughest playoff opponents they faced but all were tough series. The Penticton Vees (86 points), the Vipers (83 pts.) and the Wild (79) were the three top teams, pointwise, in the BCHL, all from the seven-team Interior Division.

It's the strongest Division, Bliss points out, as Trail's 69 points in fourth spot put them eighth in the 17-team League. In the Doyle Cup the Wild got past the AJHL's Spruce River Kings four games to one winning the first two at home and the last three in Alberta. 

It's a long way to go when you're on the road for the Wild, the coach says, as they play out of North-Central Washington state. The club usually sets out on the day before the game. They have the “best owner in junior hockey,” Bliss says' and the bus trips give the guys a chance to get really close. The Wild plays out of the 4,300-seat Town Toyota Center in the 'Apple capital of the world' and the club averaged almost 2,800 attendees in the regular season, second only to Penticton (3,050) and just ahead of Chilliwack (2,500).

The fans are loyal, lively and knowledgeable, Bliss notes, and they were treated to a 24-win (out of 29 games) season for a league-high 49 points on their own ice. The club puts on a good event for the spectators, Bliss says, with a pre-game show, lots of fan-based events – it's really the only show in town and they make the most of it.

Bliss is very proud of the college commitments his club gets each season. Highlights from this term's crop are leading regular season point scorer Jasper Weatherby (74) plus 38 more in the league playoffs, who will go to the University of North Dakota; blueliner 19-year old Cooper Zech (69) heading to Ferris State; captain A.J. Vanderbeck, 62 points (Ohio State); 18-year old Slava Demin, who appeared at the Top Prospects game in Mississauga and is ranked 40th in next month’s NHL draft by Central Scouting, and is booked for Denver, plus one player who has really stepped up in the post-season, in the coach's opinion – 18-year-old Sam Morton who has committed to Union College. Austin Park has been the go-to 'keeper and had a sparkling 2.20 GAA in the playoffs.

All of Bliss's steeds are U.S. natives with the exception of Josh Arnold from Cloverdale B.C., who is a Northern Michigan commit, and Nathan Iannone from Penticton. Eighteen-year-old Matt Dorsey flies the flag for the town of Wenatchee being the only native son on the squad.

Bliss categorises his club as very offensive-minded, a strong skating team who love to play up-tempo hockey. Their 241 regular campaign goals put them first in the BCHL, 23 ahead of Trail and 25 up on Penticton and the Victoria Grizzlies.

Their defensive record was not too bad either, fourth overall (Vernon were number one). All of the coach's attention has been focused on the very gruelling BCHL and Doyle Cup playoffs and he admits to knowing next to nothing about the opposition other than the host Chillwack Chiefs with whom they split two games in November. But you can rest assured that will not be the case when the puck drops for the RBC Cup.