The 100 Mile House Wranglers have hired a new head coach with a winning vision for the future.
Last week the Wranglers announced the hiring of Levi Stuart a former hockey player and coach with 10 years of experience, most recently as assistant coach for the Nipawin Hawks in Saskatchewan. Stuart said he looks forward to starting the Wranglers’ second decade in 100 Mile House.
“I love being part of those small, tight-knit communities, that is where you get the best atmosphere at rinks,” Stuart, 28, said. “There’s a lot of great history around this team, it’s been a good decade but I am looking forward to the second decade, making a change and being part of this Junior A Level. I think it’s going to be a different brand of hockey on and off the ice. I can’t wait to take this thing to the next level.”
Born in Squamish, Stuart grew up playing hockey, moving to Langley in his teens to play Midget Triple A as a forward and later defenseman. Throughout his time as a player, Stuart remarked he was always a fighter.
“My role was fighting and getting under the other team’s skin. That was my game growing up,” Stuart said.
His dream of playing Junior Hockey was cut short, however, after he suffered a back injury while trying out for the Vancouver Giants. Stuart said he was lucky that Scott Bonner and the other Giants coaching staff took him under their wing, encouraging him to get into scouting and video coaching when he was just 17.
Getting to shadow some great coaches gave Stuart a broad knowledge base which he used when he joined the Vernon Vipers and later Merrit Centennials before joining the Hawks for the last two seasons. Now he’s ready to bring all that experience to 100 Mile House and become a head coach for the first time.
As coach Stuart plans to place a large emphasis on community. This includes getting his players out to local schools and events and building a brotherhood within the locker room itself.
“For me, team camaraderie is huge. I think being part of that team dynamic (in hockey) is good for the development of kids. It gives them friendships to build off of and you have that support system when you’re having bad days,” Stuart said. “My big thing as a coach is that everything is about family and brotherhood. You’re in it together and if you’re not a selfless person you’re not going to be here and that’s kind of how I run things.”
Greg Aiken, president of the Wranglers, said he and the board interviewed around 20 applicants before narrowing them down to a shortlist. They evaluated each coach based on their experience, skills and approach to coaching, with personality and connections to the world of hockey playing a major role.
“The biggest thing for myself is recruitment and Levi has a lot of contacts all over Canada for recruiting,” Aiken said. “That’s what we need to get better. I’m tired of battling the Chase Heat for fourth place every year and barely making the playoffs. We want to get back to pre-COVID where we were competitive every year chasing first and second place all year long.”
The 2023/2024 season marked the Wranglers’ tenth in the community and also one of their worst years on record. They lost more games than they won and ultimately didn’t make playoffs. During the season the Wranglers also parted ways with longtime head coach Dale Hladun with assistant coach Lee Hansen taking over for the remainder of the season.
Aiken noted that while the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League is currently a Tier Two Junior A League, its ultimate goal is to become a Tier One Junior A League. To reach that goal, he said the Wranglers will need a better quality of players that he believes Stuart can bring.
“We’re excited to welcome Levi to the organization and we’re excited to move into the next chapter of our team’s success. Our whole board is excited to get going and see where it takes us,” Aiken said.
Stuart said that his main focus as a coach is the development of his players. Because he never got the chance to further his own hockey career, he does his best to give his players opportunities to grow and advance to higher levels of hockey.
“The most rewarding thing as a coach is seeing kids not only mature as people but mature as hockey players.”
Stuart said that what he is looking for in future Wranglers is speed above all else. He’s been to a few of the KIJHL playoff games this year and noted that the teams seeing the most success are the fastest.
“Speed is the name of the game now. If you can create a forecheck with a ton of speed and a backcheck with a ton of speed it puts that much more pressure on teams to make plays quick,” Stuart remarked.
Stuart encourages any hockey players, local or from across the Cariboo, interested in playing with the Wranglers to come to their spring camp in Prince George on April 12 to 14. They can sign up via the Wrangler’s website at 100milewranglers.com.
“It’s good to start fresh here and build the organization back to where we want it to be. My goal going forward is to make this team a premiere location to play,” Stuart remarked. “Somewhere that kids know they’re coming and it’s all about their development, being part of a family and building towards winning a championship.”
