Coyotes face tough season for players, management
OSOYOOS — The upcoming season may be one of the toughest yet for the Osoyoos Coyotes junior hockey program.
With no fans allowed in the stands due to provincial health orders, the league is going ahead with a modified 30-game season with teams playing in one of five groups starting Nov. 13.
The decision to go ahead with the 2020/21 season was not an easy one for Coyotes owner Randy Bedard.
“It is a season for the players.
It’s a tough business decision. It’s probably not the most savvy business decision. But you know, you’re trying to kind of fall in line and just, you know, limp your way through the season and do the best that you can,” Bedard said.
The Coyotes are joining 17 of the 20 Kootenay International
Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) teams participating in the upcoming season, as several of the franchises decided to take a hiatus for the year and others on the opposite side of a closed border.
Some of the more immediate impacts of losing fans in the stands is costs going up for players and their families.
“I think (players) realize where it’s at, and if you’re wanting to play hockey, this is kind of where we’re at. Obviously teams are not going to be having the same revenue sources to run a program this year. So unfortunately, you know, the players have had to make it up, the players and their parents,” Bedard said.
With no crowd in the stands at Sun Bowl Arena home games will be just as financially taxing as road games.
“At home you would have your walk-up crowd and you would have lots of things within the game, there were revenue producers, you just don’t have that for this coming season,” Bedard said.
“So we’ve had to take a look at our budgets and really adjusted and see what we had to do to just drive to do our best to break even. It’s going to be very, very difficult and it’s right at this point, obviously, closed off to a lot of people.”
Coyotes fans will still be able to catch games via webcast. This year, the league is moving online broadcasts to HockeyTV.
While fall training camps would normally be nearly underway, this year the camp has been rescheduled to the weekend of Oct. 30 until Nov. 1. The season gets underway Friday, Nov. 13 and for the first six weeks, the Coyotes will be facing off with their “cohort” of Castlegar, Nelson, Grand Forks and West Kootenay teams. After the Christmas break, the Coyotes’ other 18 games will be in a cohort against Summerland, Princeton and Kelowna.
“We’re going to end up playing Princeton 10 times out of 30 games,” Bedard said with a chuckle. “You can’t do a lot about it I guess the way that it’s set up and try to work with the number of teams that you have. You know, it’s tough, it’s a tough decision. I think moving forward with our personal decision, it was wanting give the players a place to play,” Bedard said.
The season will also be a precarious one for the obvious reason, Bedard noted, if a player in a cohort get sick, things could shut down quickly. COVID-19 is also anticipated to make billet homes harder to come by this year.
However, the stalwart head of the Coyotes organization is taking it all in stride.
“There are a lot of people and in various careers and businesses, they’re struggling. So you’re not alone with the uncertainty or the indecision and whatnot. It’s a rampant thing in a lot of places. So, you know, you certainly don’t feel sorry for yourself, you’re just kind of abiding by what life is bringing to you right now and just try to you know, fulfill it as best you can,” Bedard said.
Some new faces are joining the Coyotes after Osoyoos selected defensemen Brock Wallace from the Beaver Valley Nitehawks as their top pick at the KIJHL dispersal draft, also selecting fellow Nitehawks Zacharcy Park (forward) and Hunter Young (goaltender).
On the ice, the Coyotes are hoping for a bounce back year after few notches in the win column last season.
“We haven’t had a good couple of years, we’re looking to bounce back. And I know that Carter Rigby and John Depourcq have done a really good job in finding players and getting players to commit making a few good transactions. So we’re excited about the season. It’s just unfortunate that it’s going to have a lot less attention than normal,” Bedard said
Bedard is still looking for the historical support from the community when it comes to billet families hosting players, although he acknowledges this may be a bit more difficult for some considering the current pandemic.
The Coyotes are currently working out a plan for billeting players and anyone interested in helping out can contact the club at” 250-495-6060.