Whitehorse Daily Star

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THE HOLY GRAIL – Whitehorse product Alex Hanson hoists the Keystone Cup after the 100 Mile House Wranglers won western Canada’s Jr. B championship Sunday with a 3-2 overtime win over the Saskatoon Quakers in Regina. Photo courtesy of CRYSTAL DAWN LANGTON

Hanson’s Wranglers win coveted Keystone Cup

The 100 Mile House Wranglers are the best Jr. B hockey team in the west.

By Marcel Vander Wier on April 20, 2016

The 100 Mile House Wranglers are the best Jr. B hockey team in the west.

The team – which features Whitehorse forward Alex Hanson – won the Keystone Cup on Sunday with a 3-2 comeback win in overtime versus the Saskatoon Quakers.

The victory marked the end of a long playoff run for the Wranglers, which saw them win the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) as well as the Cyclone Taylor Cup to be named B.C. champions.

Held in Regina, the Keystone Cup tournament began last Thursday. It featured the top six teams in western Canada.

There is no national Jr. B championship.

The Wranglers finished the round-robin portion of the tournament with a 3-2 record, good enough for a berth in the final versus the previously unbeaten Quakers.

After going down 2-0 in the first period, the Wranglers slowly but surely roped the Quakers back in on goals by Ryan Friesen and Cole Zimmerman.

Zimmerman struck again with the winner, 2:35 into overtime.

Hanson picked up three assists in the tournament.

Yesterday, the 18-year-old left-winger told the Star that the enormity of winning the Keystone Cup is still only beginning to sink in.

“It’s hard to believe,” he said from 100 Mile House, B.C., where the team returned to fanfare late Monday night.

“It’s still setting in right now. ... We’re western Canada champs and we can’t win anything else now.”

Down 2-0 heading into the first-period break, Hanson said his club drew on their past experiences to remain calm.

“We’ve been finding ways to win all year,” he said. “We felt we could win any game we put everything we had into.”

Hanson will return to the Yukon capital on Sunday.

After winning every Jr. B title possible this year, the rookie KIJHL forward said he has his sights set on playing Jr. A next season.

“It’s amazing to think about how far we’ve come,” he said. “From the start of the year, we always talked about getting to go to Keystone and winning the league. ... At that point, it seemed like almost a dream.”

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