Scott Koch
Contributor
Opening night in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League regular season action sees the talented Osoyoos Coyotes travelling to Art Holding Memorial Arena to face the host Chase Heat.
The date is Friday, Sept. 8, and curtain call is 7 p.m. The last time the desert dogs appeared in Chase found the Heat tying the game with three-tenths of a second left and then winning in overtime.
The sly Yotes have long memories and will be armed to the teeth with vengeance on their minds. Heat fans won’t want to miss this barn burner!
Opening night is also Banner Night where the trio of championships will hang gracefully from the rafters at the arena. Regular season division champs, playoff division champs and KIJHL Playoff Okanagan Conference Champions 2016-17.
So, this past Saturday the Heat hosted the Princeton Posse in the only pre-season match.
Angst riddled the staff of the hottest product on cool ice, as the unknown of how the roster would perform was the question mark of the day. While it was only one game, the performance in front of more than 200 fans brought a level of relief and momentary calm.
Chase scored three in the first to take a 3-0 lead, with Kolten Moore, Ryan Okino and Cody Turner finding the twine. The locals added one in the second but so did the Posse, making it 4-1, with Gavin Mattey putting the disk in the net. In the third the Heat popped, blasted and tipped four more tallies to bring the night to an 8-1 conclusion.
It was Jayce Schweitzer, Mattey with his second, Okino with number two of two and Brayden Haskell with the exclamation marker. Kayden Virgo played the first half of the game in net and Matthew Ens the last half and both performed well, as memories of Saint Nic still remain in the air.
Thirteen rookies got their first look at 2017-18 KIJHL action, including local lads Garrett Jules, Cody Turner and Gavin Mattey.
Season tickets are still available and are a very hot product. Contact Sue at 250-320-5060 to join the fun.