A forward with the North Vancouver Wolf Pack carries the puck into the offensive zone during third period action in a Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) contest Sunday afternoon at the Sun Bowl Arena. The Wolf Pack scored a late goal with just over a minute left to earn a 6-5 victory over the host Coyotes. North Vancouver also won Saturday’s exhibition contest by a score of 6-2. The Coyotes will wrap up their exhibition schedule this weekend, starting Friday night at home against Grand Forks, with game time set for 8:30 p.m. They will travel to Grand Forks Saturday evening. Photo by Keith Lacey.
With only five returning veterans from last season, the Osoyoos Coyotes are going to be introducing a lot of new faces to the lineup for the 2012-13 Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) season and head coach and general manager Ken Law likes what he sees so far in training camp.
Despite a couple of pre-season losses on home ice to the North Vancouver Wolf Pack over the Labour Day weekend, Law believes the Coyotes are again going to be a contender.
The Coyotes won the KIJHL championship two years ago and placed first in the Okanagan Division a year ago with one of the best records in the league, before stumbling in the first round of the playoffs to Kelowna, a team that went all the way to the KIJHL championship series final.
“I think we have the potential to be as good if not better than we have been the last couple of years,” said Law following a 6-5 exhibition loss to North Vancouver Sunday afternoon at the Sun Bowl Arena. “We’re going to have a lot of new faces in our lineup this year, but I really do like the talent level and I think we’re going to be a very good hockey club once we get all the boys on the same page, listening to what the coaching staff has to teach them.”
Law said exhibition games don’t mean anything and are simply used to evaluate talent and determine which players can or can’t play at this level.
“The exhibition games are all about evaluating who can play at this level and who’s not ready and has to move on from here,” he said.
The only returning veterans from last year include Darren Martin, Robson Cramer, Garrett Kucher, Brandon Watson and Andrew Stack, which means more than 15 new players will be wearing the Coyotes red and white jersey when the season kicks off on Friday, Sept. 14 in Penticton against the Lakers.
The Coyotes are going to have a distinctive international flavour as five Americans are going to make the squad as well as two from Saskatchewan and one from Alberta, said Law.
“We’re going to sign one kid from Florida, two from Colorado, two from Wenatchee and then the two from Saskatchewan and one from Alberta,” he said. “Those eight were all invited because we thought they could make our club and they will.”
It was difficult saying goodbye to more than 30 players before Sunday’s exhibition game, but it’s all part of the process in selecting a hockey club, said Law.
“It’s never easy to call the kids in and tell them we have to let them go,” he said. “But we had to make some tough decisions and let more than 30 kids go, but now we’re down to 31 players remaining in camp and that’s a group we can work with for the next few days before we make our final decisions on who will be with us on opening night and who won’t be.”
The remaining 31 players will get the opportunity to showcase their skills and make a final push to make the roster this coming weekend, with exhibition games Friday night at home against Grand Forks, Saturday night in Grand Forks and two games Sunday at a tournament in Summerland against the host Summerland Steam and Kelowna Chiefs.
In assessing his current lineup, Law said he plans on bringing in three more players to round out his roster.
“I think we need two more forwards and another defenceman before the season starts,” he said. “We’ll be looking to make a trade or two or using my connections in the league to try and get those players in here as soon as we can.”
North Vancouver won Saturday’s first exhibition game by a score of 6-2.
On Sunday, the visitors were up 4-2 after two period before the Coyotes staged a rally, scoring three straight goals to take a 5-4 lead with less than 10 minutes to play. However, the Wolf Pack quickly tied things up after losing the lead and it appeared the game was heading to overtime when North Vancouver scored a goal with only 1:05 left in regulation to steal a 6-5 victory.
Friday night’s exhibition game against Grand Forks at the Sun Bowl Arena has an 8:30 p.m. start. All tickets are $5.
After starting the regular season in Penticton a week from Friday, the Coyotes will kick off their regular season home schedule on Saturday, Sept. 15 against the Princeton Posse.
Season ticket packages remain on sale at the Coyotes’ office at the Sun Bowl Arena.
