Brin Feledichuk of the Osoyoos Coyotes chases down Hayden Pasacreta of the Grand Forks Border Bruins during a game at the Sun Bowl Arena on Friday, Sept. 7. The pack defeated the Bruins by a score of 6-2. The Coyotes begin the regular season this weekend, with a road game against Penticton Friday night followed by their regular season home opener against Princeton Saturday at the Sun Bowl Arena. Game time is set for 7:35 p.m. Photo by Mathew White
Coming off of a disappointing pair of losses to the North Vancouver Wolf Pack to cap their summer training camp last week, the Osoyoos Coyotes bounced back in true fashion last weekend, dominating the Grand Forks Border Bruins for two games before dropping a pair against Summerland and Kelowna.
With the regular season just around the corner, head coach Ken Law said he has high hopes for this year’s hometown squad.
“I think we’re going to have a very exciting team,” he said. “I think we’re going to have a lot of speed out front and they’re going to be solid on the back end. We have a couple of holes yet to fill, but we’ll start with a bit of a smaller roster and hope to fill the holes with a couple of guys that are last releases out of Junior A.”
Law said he expects to go into this weekend with about 19 players. He said he is happy with the team he has right now, but with this being the beginning of the season, it’s still a work in progress.
“A month down the road we’ll be a completely different team, but right now we just have to concentrate on being really solid in our own end and not give them as many scoring chances as we have in the past,” he said.
When asked what he thinks are the Coyotes’ greatest strengths this year, Law reiterated the team’s speed is something to watch out for.
“I think our overall speed is going to be good and I believe that our d-men are going to be exceptional this year,” he said.
The Coyotes first regular season game will be against the Penticton Lakers Friday night in Penticton. Law said he expects to see a bit of the old rivalry between the two teams play out.
“We’re expecting the same old battle against them,” he said. “It will be a real close game and hopefully we’ll come out on top.”
The Coyotes will be heading home Saturday night for the first regular season home game of the year against the Princeton Posse – a team Law expects to be a solid contender this season.
“They’ve done a great job recruiting over there and have a great crop of players this year,” he said. “I think this will be one of their strong years, where they’re competitive in every game that we play them.”
The Coyotes face off against the Princeton Posse at the Sun Bowl Arena Saturday, Sept. 15 at 7:35 p.m.
