When Spokane goalie Patrick Kasper was caught away from his net, Rainer Glimpel (left) flipped the puck into the open net to score the Osoyoos Coyotes’ fourth goal Saturday night. The game was a turkey shoot as the Coyotes clobbered the pathetic Braves 11-2. (Richard McGuire photo)
The Osoyoos Coyotes won two lopsided victories over inferior teams on the weekend, increasing their point total to 60.
That leaves them eight points ahead of the Summerland Steam, the second-place team in the Okanagan Division of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL). The Coyotes and the Steam are the only two teams in the division to have clinched playoff spots.
On Saturday they hammered the pathetic Spokane Braves 11-2 at the Sun Bowl Arena. The Braves have only won five games all year, compared to 29 for the Coyotes.
Then in a Sunday afternoon game in Armstrong, the Coyotes shut out the North Okanagan Knights 3-0. That team still appears likely to squeak out a fourth-place season finish and a playoff spot only because the Princeton Posse is now eight points behind, in the cellar of the Okanagan Division.
In Saturday’s game, Bobby LaRue and Rainer Glimpel both scored hat tricks. LaRue also managed two assists for a total of five points.
Other Coyotes also piled up the points in the turkey shoot as the Braves struggled to move the puck out of their own end.
The Coyotes took a three-goal lead in the first period before the Braves managed to get one of their only two goals late in the period. The first period ended with Osoyoos ahead 4-1.
In the second period, the Coyotes added three more, with LaRue getting two of them and Glimpel getting his hat trick on a power play.
In the third period, the Coyotes made it 10-1 before Spokane managed their second goal of the game on a power play. Goals by Cody Allen and Evan Loura for Osoyoos in that period were also scored on power plays.
Less than a minute after Spokane scored their second goal, Judd Repole scored for Osoyoos to make the game’s final score 11-2.
Other Osoyoos goals were scored by Braeden Tuck and Carter Robinson. Robinson, however, picked up four assists for a total of five points, while Tuck managed two assists for three points.
Others picking up assists were Carter Shannon (3), Allen (2), Colin Bell, Drew Carter, Colton Rhodes, Levi Morin, Austin Cleaver and Mackenzie Wiens.
Osoyoos outshot Spokane 48-26.
Sunday afternoon’s 3-0 win in Armstrong wasn’t quite so lopsided.
Stephen Heslop, in goal for the first time with the Coyotes since being picked up from Princeton last week, earned his shutout as he fended off all 30 North Okanagan shots.
Allen led off the scoring for Osoyoos on a power play goal midway through the first period. Glimpel and Shannon got assists.
Then in the final minute of the period, Repole scored for the Coyotes, assisted by Daniel Stone and Jackson Glimpel.
The final goal of the game came late in the second period when Robinson scored from Rhodes and Shannon.
The Coyotes again face North Okanagan on Wednesday night at the Sun Bowl Arena. Then they travel to Summerland on Friday night to face the second-place Steam.
In a home game on Saturday, the Coyotes play the Chase Heat, the third-place team in the Doug Birks Division.
Following those games, the Coyotes play 10 more during the regular season, with their final game on Feb. 21.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
