By Sebastian Kanally, Times Chronicle
The Osoyoos Coyotes played their final home game of the regular season this past Friday against the Kamloops Storm. The Coyotes, who had a short bench because of players being out with injuries, could not hold off the storm as they fell 7-3 in the out of division matchup.
The spirit of jousting for one’s playoff positioning was absent from the Coyotes on this night, as a win or loss did not mean anything besides creating momentum carrying into playoffs and possibly some bragging rights. Many players were out due to injury and with wide eyes looking ahead to the playoffs, there seemed to be a lack of focus and determination.
The Coyotes had already locked in their spot for a dance with the North Okanagan Knights in the first round of the playoffs. Thus with a slight lack of drive, the Coyotes were not able to put together many consecutive shifts in the offensive zone. When they did build some momentum, the Storm would find a way to crush it, either with a goal or some punishing bodychecks.
Kamloops on the other hand had plenty of reason to win, as they were still trying to wrestle home ice advantage for their upcoming playoff battle with the Sicamous Eagles. Consequently, their victory against the Coyotes, and their subsequent win Saturday against the 100 Mile House Wranglers, resulted in them securing second place and home ice advantage in the Doug Birks Division behind the first place Revelstoke Grizzlies.
Joe Davidson #34 streaks down the wing with the puck. Sebastian Kanally photo.
The Storm dominated most of the game, with small glimmers of Coyote’s momentum peaking through at times, just to be squashed by a much more motivated storm.
The Coyotes came out strong despite the Storm scoring the first goal of the game. Joe Davidson of the home team responded by scoring his first of two goals on the night by pouncing and scoring on a rebound on the powerplay. The goal tied the game 1-1 at 10:18 into the first period.
The Storm would go on to score two more goals in the first period and went into the first intermission up 3-1.
The second period was the Coyotes strongest period where they battled back by scoring two goals in just 19 seconds to close the gap to 4-3 going into the third period.
Coyotes Celebrate their second goal in 19 seconds in the second period. Sebastian Kanally photo.
The home team could not hold off the coming storm though as the visiting team scored another three goals in the third period and won the game 7-3.
The Coyotes have done quite well this year and have three of the top five point scorers in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) through the regular season: Ethan Mckinley with 73 points, Jack Henderson with 73 points, and Carter Yarish with 68 points.
The Coyotes finished the regular season with 27 wins, 13 loses, and six overtime and shootout losses, which gave them 58 points to finish second in the Bill Ohlhausen Division behind the Princeton Posse. Finishing in second place grants the Coyotes home ice advantage to start the playoffs against the North Okanagan Knights. The Knights finished just below the Coyotes in third place in their division.
The Coyotes playoff campaign kicks off with back to back games at Sun Bowl Arena. Game one of the best of seven series is Friday Feb. 17, 7:35 p.m. at Sun Bowl Arena and game two is Saturday Feb. 18 at 7:35 p.m.
