The Osoyoos Coyotes saw their dreams of winning the 2014-15 Kootenay International Junior Hockey League Championship come to a premature end in March when they fell for the second consecutive season to the Kamloops Storm in the league semi-finals. It was the third straight year the Coyotes had reached the league semi-finals without advancing to the league championship series. Training camp for the upcoming 2015-16 season begins Thursday morning at the Sun Bowl Arena. Practices and scrimmages continue all day Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with the opening exhibition game set for Sunday evening against Grand Forks at the Sun Bowl Arena. Game time is 7:35 p.m. (Richard McGuire photo)
After one of the hottest and driest summers in recent memory, it sure doesn’t seem like hockey weather, but that’s not going to stop roughly 50 young players from trying to earn a spot with the Osoyoos Coyotes over the next several days.
Between 40 and 50 players are expected to take to the ice starting Thursday morning at the Sun Bowl Arena as the annual training camp for the Osoyoos Coyotes gets underway.
Ken Law, who is heading into his sixth season as head coach and general manager for the Coyotes, says he always gets excited in late August with the opening of training camp on the horizon.
“It’s always nice to get back on the ice and get going,” said Law. “It’s nice to have some time off, but I always look forward to the next season and there’s always excitement around this time of year with the opening of training camp.”
New assistant coaches Carl Poole and Thierry Martine, the co-captain of the 2010-11 team that captured the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) championship, will be with Law when prospects hit the ice for the first practice Thursday morning.
Practices and scrimmages will continue from morning to night on Thursday, Friday and Saturday with all local fans invited to check out the action free of charge on those days, said Law.
The Coyotes will play their first exhibition game Sunday evening on home ice against the Grand Forks Border Bruins. Game time at the Sun Bowl Arena will be 7:35 p.m.
Law expects his roster will be cut down to between 25 and 28 players following the exhibition game against Grand Forks.
The Coyotes will continue their exhibition schedule with a game on Friday, Sept. 4 in Grand Forks. They will return home to play the Summerland Steam in an exhibition contest the following night on Sept. 5. They will wrap up the exhibition season with a game in Summerland on Tuesday, Sept. 8.
The regular season kicks off on Saturday, Sept. 12 when the Coyotes visit the Princeton Posse.
The Coyotes won’t play their first home game until Saturday, Sept. 26 when they host the Nelson Leafs at the Sun Bowl Arena.
After one of the most successful regular seasons in team history – the Coyotes captured the KIJHL regular season championship losing only eight of 52 games in regulation time – the team didn’t accomplish its goal to win the league title falling for the second-consecutive year to the Kamloops Storm in the league semi-finals.
That was the third-consecutive year the Coyotes have ended their season in the league semi-finals.
With only a handful of players slated to return to the lineup for the 2015-16 season, there will be a lot of new faces in the lineup, but that won’t change the goal of contending for another league title, said Law.
“We had a lot of skill on last year’s team, but I think this team is going to have even more skill,” he said. “We’re bringing in a lot of kids with high-end skill and I think we’re going to have a very quick, talented and skilled team.
“We have a lot of work to do to bring all the guys together as a team, but we’re bringing in some top-end talent and should have another very good team this season.”
Rainer Glimpel, who was one of the league’s top scorers last season, will return and be team captain, said Law.
Glimpel’s younger brother Jackson will also return as will Nolan Zweep, Colin Bell, Evan Loura, Judd Repole, Scott Robinson and Daniel Stone.
Brett Soles will enter training camp as the likely No. 1 starter in net as veteran Lawrence Langan will be trying to make junior A squads in Alberta and Saskatchewan, said Law.
If Langan does return to Osoyoos, there’s a very good chance either he or Soles will be traded, said Law.
“If Lawrence comes back, we will have to do something because I don’t think either one of them at this point in their career would be satisfied with playing part-time and being a backup,” said Law.
After the disappointment of losing in the league semi-finals last year after having such an outstanding regular season, Law is confident this year’s team can make the jump to winning the conference and competing in the KIJHL championship series.
“We’ve been one step away from the finals for the past three years and hopefully we can make take it one step further and compete for a championship,” he said.
The Coyotes have been a contender every single year since Law took over hockey operations and he’s confident this year’s team will contend once again.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
