A Northwest hockey parents road trip ahead for Osoyoos Coyotes families

This weekend is as close
as former Rupertite
Judd Repole will get to a
"home game" as the
Osoyoos Coyotes head
for Quesnel Fri/Sat

With an eight member strong Northwest contingent on the roster of the Osoysoos Coyotes, the chance for a shorter than usual drive to take in a Kootenay Junior hockey league game arrives this weekend.

The Coyotes who feature Judd Repole from Prince Rupert and a number of players from Terrace will be playing in Quesnel this weekend, part of a test of the Central Interior market for the Kamloops Storm who have scheduled a number of "home" games at the new West Fraser Centre in the community.

For family and friends of the Northwest players this weekend means but an eight hour or so trip down the highway to check up on the progress of their young ones and cheer on the Southern Okanagan team that has a very strong Northwest flavour.

For Rupertites heading down the road to Quesnel, the weekend offers up a chance to get a first hand look at the high flying co-captain of the Coyotes, with Judd Repole currently leading the team in scoring with 11 goals and 26 assists on the year so far.

That scoring pace has the former PRMHA player at 12th spot in the overall KIJHL scoring race, nine points off the pace of the top scorers for 2017-18.

The start to 2017-18 has marked another strong year for the Rupertite who really came into his own in the K last season as he led the Coyotes towards the playoffs, with the team coming up just short of a chance to claim a championship as the long grind of the playoff season came to an end.

The team has headed into the 2017-18 with a renewed determination to deliver  a trophy and a banner to the Okanagan community that offers up some strong support for the team both in the stands and from their many community events.

The Coyotes are in with some tough competition in their division chasing down the Summerland Steam at the moment for first in the conference, currently trailing the Steam by four points.

Overall Osoyoos currently holds down 8th spot among the 20 teams of the KIJHL.

Quesnel's West Fraser Centre will have a real Northwest Vibe this weekend
with a number of hockey parents and fans heading to the Interior to cheer on
the Northwest members of the Osoyoos Coyotes who will play the
Kamloops Storm in KIJHL action
(photo from Quesnel Tourism)

The caravan of parents, family and friends heading towards Quesnel this weekend will include many from Terrace area, who will clearly be making some noise as they cheer on a team that  could be called Terrace's Junior Hockey Club,.

Included among the collective on the Coyotes roster from Terrace are co-captain Colin Bell, along with Carter Shannon, Hunter Johnson, Connor Onstein, Brandon Onstein, Sam Reinbolt, Nick Nordstrom.

The Storm and the Coyotes take to the ice on Friday and Saturday with puck drop in Qusesnel set for 7 PM each night.

The Quesnel paper offers up this preview of the weekend to come, the series featuring the Kamloops team is designed to help support Quesnel's bid for a KIJHL franchise, something with is expected to be decided upon in mid January.

The trip to the far north (at least as far as the KIJHL map is concerned) has also caught the attention of the Osoyoos paper, which featured the Northwest connection this week.

You can find some background on the season so far for Repole and his team mates from our archive page here.