The game of hockey is Canada’s national passion and every community loves for its hockey team to be a winner.
As this paper went to press late Tueday afternoon, the Osoyoos Coyotes still had a good chance to win their series against the North Okanagan Knights.
It’s fair to say though that the Knights are the toughest opponents the Coyotes have met this year in the playoffs and the Coyotes face a huge challenge.
After winning game one in impressive fashion by a score of 6-2 in Armstrong, the Coyotes were thumped 5-1 in game two, also in Armstrong.
Things weren’t much better Monday night as the Coyotes ran into all kinds of penalty trouble and generated little offence as they fell 5-0 to the Knights at the Sun Bowl Arena.
Game four took place Tuesday night in Osoyoos.
We wish the Coyotes every success in the remainder of the series.
Regardless of whether or not they triumph in the end, the Coyotes havedone Osoyoos proud.
For a team that was limping through a series of losses earlier this season, they never gave up.
Whatever turned things around – tweaking of the lines by head coach and general manager Ken Law, or some new blood on the team – they managed to turn it around, becoming one of the stronger teams of the Okanagan Division.
Going into the playoffs, the Coyotes were seen as the underdogs against the Princeton Posse.
When the series got going, however, it very quickly became clear that the Coyotes were the better team.
They ended the series in just five games.
Next, some gave the Coyotes little chance against the Kelowna Chiefs, who finished the regular season in top spot in their division and seemed to be a superior team.
Again, the Coyotes exceeded expectations to win that series in six thrilling games. Four of those games went into overtime, including the series-clinching victory in Osoyoos last Tuesday night.
It is difficult to single out individual performances when the whole team deserves so much credit, but there are some who deserve special recognition.
Colin Chmelka finished the regular season as the team’s leading scorer and was named most valuable player. He always puts in a strong game.
Captain Garrett Kucher had a strong regular season, but has really picked things up in the playoffs. In one Princeton game, he led the team from a 3-1 deficit to win the game in overtime – scoring all four Coyote goals!
Evan Last, Troy Maclise, Alex Grupe, Brandon Watson and Taylor Jordan are just a few of the other excellent forwards who have made the Coyotes a force to be reckoned with.
Goaltending is always critically important to a team. Jesse Gordichuk and Joey MacConnell have both had the odd bad game, but usually they are outstanding – even when the team itself runs into difficulty.
Defencemen don’t always get the credit they deserve because their role is less glamourous and is not reflected in personal statistics.
Since the shakeup at the end of 2012, however, the Coyote defence has been very solid.
A couple of the recent games in the series against the North Okanagan Knights have been disappointing.
We’ll let readers come to their own conclusions on the quality of the officiating, but it’s fair to say you can’t win a game from the penalty box.
The Coyotes know they can beat the Knights and they proved that ably in game one.
Win or lose, however, all of Osoyoos can be proud of this hockey club.
As they head into the final stretch, let’s hope they can return to top form and knock off the Knights and reach the KIJHL finals.
Wouldn’t that be amazing?