The Osoyoos Coyotes have had incredible playoffs so far.

As they did last year, they knocked off the North Okanagan Knights in four straight games.

Then, unlike last year, when they went down to defeat to Summerland in the second round, this time they swept away the Steam in four. This impressive showing was perhaps a little retaliation for last year when a strong Coyotes’ team had a disappointing finish.

Now they face the Heat, so to speak, as they come up against the strongest team in the Doug Birks Division. The Coyotes faced the Chase Heat three times during the regular season, winning once and losing twice.

This was the only team in the Okanagan/Shuswap Conference that won more games against the Coyotes than they lost.

But that’s certainly not to suggest the Coyotes can’t also beat their Chase opponents.

Both teams are very strong with a lot of depth, but in many respects the Coyotes are a better team.

While the Coyotes did lose to Chase in January, their other loss was in mid-October, just as they were starting to build the team they have today.

That mid-October game was star player Ryan Roseboom’s first game back with the Coyotes.

Other returning veterans like Colton Rhodes, Cody Allen, Reid Wilson and Tyler Holz had not yet rejoined the team. Nor had acquisition Austin Steger, who’s been a major addition to the Coyotes’ lineup.

The Coyotes’ victory over the Heat in mid-November was by a decisive 7-2 score, showing that Chase goalie Nic Bruyere can be beaten. In that game, the Coyotes scored six times against Bruyere before he was replaced with backup goalie Zak Larson.

Osoyoos has received excellent goaltending by Adam Jones, but the Coyotes know they also have very strong backup, should they need it, with Liam Aitken, also an outstanding goalie.

Chase has some strong forwards like Michael Fidanza and Josh Bourne, but Coyotes’ Roseboom, Colin Bell, Judd Repole among others are every bit their match and quite likely better.

As the Coyotes showed in their first two series, they can be relentless when they focus – controlling the puck and rarely letting their opponents take control.

Several times they faltered, such as in the third Summerland game when they were down two goals twice. But they found a way to bounce back and win – in that game by an impressive 6-4.

Unlike the first two rounds, which were best-of-seven, the upcoming conference final is best of five. Osoyoos will have home-ice advantage in the series and will play the first two games on home ice and potentially a winner-take-all game five.

Thankfully, the organizers of Atom Fiesta this weekend were able to adjust their schedule to allow the Coyotes to play their crucial opening game on home ice Saturday.

We hope that residents of Osoyoos and area will turn out in large numbers Saturday and Sunday evenings to cheer on our boys for another successful series.

Hopefully, this is their year to triumph and reach the KIJHL championship series once again.