The first game of 2019 is going to be a good one against the Quesnel Kangaroos according to the general manager of the Williams Lake Stampeders.
“We’re tied with Quesnel in the standings right now,” Mike Yonkman said.
“We played them six times and we won three and they won three so it doesn’t get any tighter than that.”
The 8-3-0-1 Prince Rupert Rampage currently lead the CIHL standings.
“They played more games than us so the outcome of Saturday’s game will determine who’s first overall,” Yonkman said.
“Something is going to happen so it’s going to be interesting.”
Yonkman adds that the Stampeders started the 2018/19 season off strong.
“We’ve got a really good team and we’ve got some new young legs that can really move and keep the puck moving around. I’m really excited about how we’re playing especially how we started the season,” he says.
“The last few weeks we’ve been missing a few key defencemen but you know we’ll be getting those back in the new year so I’m pretty comfortable that we’re going to do really well.”
After tonight’s game, the Stampeders will have four regular games remaining before the season closes.
“Saturday (Jan. 5) will be our last game against Quesnel and quite honestly I think they’re probably our toughest challenge in the league,” Yonkman said.
“At the end of the month we have an away road trip where we’ll be playing the Rampage and the River Kings so that will be good, and of course next weekend (Jan. 12-13) we’ll be playing home games and the Sunday afternoon game will be the last game of the year and that will be against the River Kings.”