Austin Cleaver scored the winning goal last Wednesday from in front of the net after receiving a pass from Colin Bell (right). Carter Shannon also assisted. That victory tied the series with Revelstoke at two wins each. The Coyotes won the next game on Friday, needing just one more win to take the series. But Revelstoke beat them in games on Saturday and Sunday, both by scores of 4-1, taking the series instead. (Richard McGuire photo)

The hockey season came to an end for the Osoyoos Coyotes Sunday night when they lost 4-1 to the Grizzlies in Revelstoke in the seventh game of the Okanagan/Shuswap Conference finals.

Twice on the weekend the Coyotes were only one win away from making it to the final series in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL), but both times, on Saturday and Sunday, the exhausted Yotes were unable to get that win.

Osoyoos outshot Revelstoke in all three periods Sunday, including 19-9 in the second period. Total shots on goal were 44-30 for Osoyoos.

This suggests that Grizzlies goaltender Giovanni Sambrielaz was an important factor in his team’s victory.

Revelstoke now advances to the KIJHL final against Kimberley, while the Coyotes will have time to let their bangs and bruises heal.

Revelstoke scored all three first period goals.

Jordan Robertson scored less than six minutes into the game, and Ryan Pereverzoff and Cody Flann scored just 22 seconds apart late in the period to make it 3-0.

The Coyotes actually scored early in the second period, but the goal was disallowed because Sambrielaz had knocked the net off its posts.

Coyote Hunter Johnson scored the only goal of the second period on a power play with just 27 seconds remaining in the period. Colin Bell assisted.

Any hopes for a third-period comeback were dashed when Matt Cadden scored for Revelstoke a minute and a half into the third period to make it 4-1.

The Coyotes pulled goalie Daniel Paul in the final minutes for an extra attacker, but neither team managed to score.

Coyotes owner Randy Bedard wasn’t completely surprised by Sunday’s result.

“Our chance was last night,” he said of Saturday night’s home game in front of a crowd of about 500. “It wasn’t tonight,” he added.

Bedard said the Coyotes played well in the second and third periods Sunday.

“We did not play a really good first period,” he said. “The first goal in this series seems to be a very important one, it seems to set the team off and it gets them on their way. When we haven’t scored the first goal, I think we’ve struggled and fallen behind and it’s been hard to battle back.”

The Coyotes also had a bad first period Saturday when they lost by the same 4-1 score after allowing Revelstoke to gain a 3-0 lead with two of those goals in the first period.

In the first four games of the series, which started on Saturday, March 17, both teams won one and lost one on their own ice. Then on Friday, the Coyotes scored a 2-0 victory in Revelstoke, giving them a 3-2 lead in the series and putting them just one win away from taking it.

Head Coach Ken Law attributes the losses in the last two games to fatigue and injuries.

“It was a whole combination of things,” he said, noting that the Coyotes were missing several top defencemen during the Revelstoke series.

Nick Nordstrom was back on Sunday after being off, but Levi Lambert and Sunil Sahota were both missing.

Law said that unlike the teams the Coyotes faced, Osoyoos didn’t bring back any Junior A players for the playoffs.

“It’s always good testament that our guys go up and stay and we don’t try to talk them into coming back,” said Law.

The strength of the Coyotes this season was that they had four strong lines when players were healthy, Law said.

Bedard said this season’s Coyotes team didn’t have the same expectations put on them as the two previous seasons when it was expected by many that they would win a championship.

“The expectations weren’t as high this year, so I think it was probably a pleasant surprise to get to game seven of the third round,” he said. “Obviously it would have been nice to get to the final, and I think we had every opportunity and were capable of it. The last couple of games we just didn’t play Coyotes hockey.”

Still, winning the regular season title for the sixth time in eight seasons was nothing to complain about, he said.

“A lot of teams would love to do what we do every year,” he added. “It’s a grind and there are a lot of good teams out there. When you get to that point, it’s anybody’s game.”

Bedard said he especially appreciates the support from the community, the fans and corporate sponsors.

“It definitely keeps this hockey club going,” he said. “We’re very well supported, and I know it’s disappointing to people, but I think they appreciate what the club has done this season.”

Law also was grateful for the fan support.

“It was really a boost to us every time we were in our home rink,” he said. “That made a huge difference.”

RICHARD McGUIRE

Osoyoos Times