Some of the 170 hockey players from Western Canada aiming for a spot on the Osoyoos Coyotes’ roster this fall scimmage during the team’s spring training camp which was held at the Sun Bowl Arena from April 9 to 11. The team has already signed three local players. Photo by Laurena Weninger - Click on picture for larger image

OSOYOOS TIMES-April 14, 2010

By Laurena Weninger - Osoyoos Times

The Osoyoos Coyotes Junior Hockey Club has committed to its first three players and all of them are local.
The team has offered to sign Osoyoos’s Brock Anderson and Troy Quintal, as well as Oliver’s Thierry Martine, said Randy Bedard, director of business operations for the team.
The club held its spring prospect camp April 9, 10 and 11 at the Sun Bowl Arena and took the opportunity to evaluate some potential players.
“We want guys who will come out and put it on the line,” said Ken Law, the Coyotes’ head coach, adding the team was looking for grit and the players who were first into the corners.
There are still 20 spots left on the team and there were 170 players from all over Western Canada at the camp.
“That’s the biggest camp I’ve ever been part of,” said Roy Schulz, the team’s general manager.
“I think a lot of it has to do with the town of Osoyoos and Ken’s reputation as a coach.”
There were 14 evaluators out at the camp, which was organized into a 10-team tournament.
Each team played four games.
The players who looked most promising will be invited back to the Coyote’s main camp at the end of August.
From there, the team will be chosen.
Seven of the players in attendance were from Osoyoos, including Anderson and Quintal, as well as Brandon Jensen, Mark Langley, Dennis Pavlina, Sam Quintal and Alex Walls.
All but Sam Quintal will be invited back to the August camp, Bedard said.
The three players the Coyotes have committed to, however, aren’t yet a shoe-in for appearing on the team.
They are still off to other camps, said Law, pointing out if they are picked up by the Penticton Vees or another Junior A club, the players will be free to pursue those options.
Of the three, only 19-year-old Martine has past experience in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL).
He played last season with the Kimberly Jr. Dynamiters, and the season before with the Princeton Posse, both part of the KIJHL.
“I’m excited,” Martine said, adding that he is happy about the prospects of playing closer to home. “It should be a good year.”
Martine said he plans to attend the Penticton Vees camp in May, as well as the Westside Warriors’ camp in April.
Seventeen-year-old Anderson is currently playing with Kelowna’s Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy and 20-year-old Quintal spent some limited time at the end of the season playing for the KIJHL’s Kamloops Storm.
reporter@osoyoostimes.com