Coyote Ryan Morrell (right) and Kamloops goalie Tavin Grant check to see if the puck is in the net after Morrell scored the Coyotes’ fifth goal on Saturday night. Morrell also scored the sixth goal for Osoyoos. The Coyotes won three games in the past week to finish the regular season. (Richard McGuire photo)
The Osoyoos Coyotes head into the playoffs with a 12-game regular season winning streak behind them – the result of three victories in the past week.
The Coyotes played their opening playoff games against the North Okanagan Knights at the Sun Bowl Arena Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. Those games occurred after the Osoyoos Times’ press deadline.
Osoyoos soundly defeated Princeton 6-0 last Wednesday and Kamloops 7-2 on Saturday with both games played on home ice.
They ended the season squeaking out a 2-1 victory in Kelowna.
The Coyotes finished the regular season with 84 points – well ahead of other teams in the Okanagan Division, and second only to the Kimberley Dynamiters, with 86 points, in the entire Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL).
This means the Coyotes will have home-ice advantage in every playoff series unless they face Kimberley in the league championship series.
The Coyote final regular record includes 41 wins, nine losses, one tie and one overtime loss.
In the entire 52-game season, Osoyoos only allowed 93 goals, an astonishing record in a league where other teams all finished well into the triple digits.
The team goes into the playoffs with two strong goaltenders – Brett Soles and the recently acquired Stephen Heslop.
In last Wednesday’s game against Princeton, the Coyotes skated in circles around the Posse, outshooting them 65-24.
The first period was scoreless.
Colton Rhodes opened the scoring early in the second period on a power-play goal assisted by Carter Shannon and Carter Robinson.
Braeden Tuck scored to make it 2-0 midway through the period with assists by Rhodes and Daniel Stone.
A few minutes later, Drew Carter scored on a power play with assists going to Levi Morin and Judd Repole.
In the third period, team captain Rainer Glimpel scored two goals in quick succession to make it 5-0.
Bobby LaRue scored the game’s final goal.
Saturday night’s game seemed in the first two periods to be heading for a similar lopsided shutout until Kamloops pulled up their socks with two goals in the final period.
Tuck scored the first two goals of the game in the opening period.
The first was assisted by Robinson and Rainer Glimpel. The second, on a power play, saw Glimpel getting another assist along with Stone.
Judd Repole then scored in the final second of the period to end it with the Coyotes up 3-0.
All three second period goals scored by the Coyotes were on power plays, with Ryan Morrell scoring two of them two minutes apart.
Morin scored first with Austin Cleaver and Colin Bell getting assists.
The second period also kept referee Kevin Crowell busy as he handed out 16 penalties, including five misconducts.
Kamloops scored for the first time late in the third period.
Then, with 39 seconds remaining, Stone scored on a power play assisted by Robinson and Rainer Glimpel.
With just four seconds remaining in the game, Kamloops added a second goal, short handed, to end the game 7-2 for Osoyoos.
On Sunday night in Kelowna, Morrell picked up the game’s first goal on a power play five minutes into the second period.
The Coyotes added their second goal midway through the third period, with Reid Wilson scoring, assisted by Hunter Johnson and Bell.
With just over three minutes remaining, Kelowna scored its only goal to end the game 2-1.
The winner of this series will play the winner of a Kelowna-Summerland series that opened in Summerland Tuesday night.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
Coyote Hunter Johnson got a beautiful breakaway early in the second period of Saturday’s game, but Kamloops goalie Tavin Grant managed to stop him. In the last two years, Kamloops has killed Coyotes’ dreams of a championship, but this year the Coyotes appear to have a far superior team. (Richard McGuire photo)
Coyote Hunter Johnson came close to scoring following a breakaway late in the second period Saturday. (Richard McGuire photo)
The Osoyoos Coyotes celebrate after Ryan Morrell scored his second goal in Saturday night’s 7-2 victory over Kamloops. This was the sixth for the Coyotes late in the second period. The regular season wrapped up Sunday night with a 2-1 victory over Kelowna. The Coyotes started their first playoff series Tuesday against the North Okanagan Knights. (Richard McGuire photo)
Kamloops goalie Tavin Grant managed to stop the puck as Coyote Colin Bell tries to flip it into the net. (Richard McGuire photo)
