Photo by Keith Lacey
The Osoyoos Coyotes mob overtime hero Austin Lee after he scored on a breakaway in the second overtime period Tuesday night at the Sun Bowl Arena to give the Coyotes a 2-1 victory and wrap up the thrilling series against the Kelowna Chiefs in six games. The Coyotes will now face the North Okanagan Knight in the KIJHL semi-finals, with games one and two taking place in Armstrong this weekend. The series will return to Osoyoos for games three and four early next week. Photo by Keith Lacey.
Eight down and eight more wins to go to a championship for the Osoyoos Coyotes.
In yet another thrilling contest that went into extra time, the Coyotes finished off the Kelowna Chiefs in six games in front of a large and wildly enthusiastic crowd Tuesday night at the Sun Bowl Arena as fourth-line checker Austin Lee scored on a breakaway six minutes into double overtime.
Lee took an 80-foot pass from defenceman Liam Neary and walked in all alone on Chiefs netminder Tyler O’Donnell and ripped a hard wrist shot off the far post to give the Coyotes a 2-1 victory. The Coyotes poured off the bench to mob Lee while receiving a standing ovation from the 420 in attendance.
The win came 24 hours after Colin Chmelka scored early in overtime in Kelowna to give the Coyotes a 5-4 victory and 3-2 series lead.
With the victory, the Coyotes are one of only four teams remaining in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League playoffs.
The Chiefs were the Okanagan Division regular-season champions.
The Coyotes will now face the North Okanagan Knights in the league semi-finals, with the first two games scheduled for this weekend in Armstrong. Dates were confirmed Wednesday with game one set for Friday night in Armstrong with game two Saturday night.
The Coyotes will return to home ice at the Sun Bowl Arena for games three and four on Monday and Tuesday night, respectively. Game five would be played in Armstrong next Thursday night, while game six, if needed would be played in Osoyoos next Friday night. If a seventh-and-deciding game is needed, it would be played a week from Saturday in Armstrong.
Head coach and general manager Ken Law said that was the best playoff series he’s been a part of during his long career.
“That was incredible,” said Law outside a boisterous Coyotes dressing room following the dramatic victory. “That was the best and closest series that I’ve ever been involved in during all my years in hockey. When you have four of six games go to overtime, it really says something about just how close and how good this series was.”
This was truly a team victory as every single player made significant contributions, said Law.
“We tried to roll four lines all season so the guys would be ready when it counted and we knew that would be very important against a very good team like Kelowna. We had contributions from everyone tonight and during this entire playoff run.”
Law gave credit to the Chiefs and head coach Ken Andrusiak.
“They were pretty banged up, especially losing some key guys on defence, but they battled hard the entire series,” he said. “I have a lot of respect for Kenny as a coach and he really had that team ready to play.”
While every player made a major contribution, captain Garrett Kucher was something special against Kelowna and against Princeton in the opening round and his leadership has played a significant role in this amazing playoff run, said Law.
“Garrett’s our captain and team leader and he’s led by example in every single game,” said Law. “He’s a game changer and he’s been our emotional leader all season and in the playoffs and it’s so great to see a great kid like him enjoy this kind of success.”
Law says his team matches up well against North Okanagan and he believes the Coyotes have a great chance of winning that series and advancing to the league championship series.
“We just beat a great team from Kelowna and we knocked off another really good team from Princeton and now we believe, so I think we’re going to give anyone we meet the rest of the way all they can handle,” he said.
Kucher said Tuesday night’s victory was something he will never forget.
“This is the most awesome feeling in the world and the greatest experience of my hockey career,” said the talented captain. “I’ve never made it out of the first round of the playoffs before and it just feels awesome.
“This is a special group of guys in this room and I love every one of them. We played our heart and souls out during this series and it feels so good to come out on top. I’m going to remember for a very long time.”
Kucher agreed this is a team victory.
“We needed contributions from every single guy and we got it,” he said. “Sometimes the top two lines play a little more, but guys get tired and we need the third and fourth line to step up and they always do, like they did tonight in overtime.”
Kucher said the Coyotes now have to regroup to get ready for the Knights.
“We didn’t come this far to win two series and say that’s good enough,” he said. “We know we can win a championship and that’s our only goal the rest of the way.”
Andrew Stack opened the scoring six minutes into the contest jamming in a rebound off an Evan Last shot.
The Coyotes led 1-0 until the fourth minute of the third period when Nick Josephs ripped a wrist shot past Jessie Gordichuk to end it into another overtime period.
In game five in Kelowna, Chmelka opened the scoring 12 minutes into the game, before Kelowna scored two goals a minute apart. Hunter Behrens scored a late goal to tie the game at 2-2 after 20 minutes.
Kelowna scored the only two goals of the middle frame, but the Coyotes battled back with goals by Troy Maclise and Grupe four minutes apart early in third, setting the stage for Chelmka’s overtime heroics.
