EXPRESS SWAP D-MEN WITH SILVERBACKS

The Burnaby Express and Salmon Arm Silverbacks have swapped defencemen.

The Express sent Matt Ridley to Salmon Arm in exchange for Mike Puddifant.

Ridley was in and out of the lineup this season scoring 2 goals and 5 assists for 7 points in 16 games.

Ridley had his ups and downs while with the Express this season. There's no questioning his skill with the puck. He can deke out of a phone booth with 5 players inside it. But he was Ridley was prone to turnovers in his own zone which resulted in opposition goals.

The Express coaches tried one last experiment with Ridley at forward last Friday in Langley. That lasted one period and that was it.

Puddifant, a Salmon Arm native is an 18 year old who is in his 2nd season in the BCHL. He's listed at 6'0 192lbs.

This season he has 1 goal and 2 assists in 28 games. In 84 career BCHL games, Puddifant has 2 goals and 7 assists for 11 points.

I'm not sure if Puddifant will make it to the Lower Mainland in time for tonight's game in Surrey.

Thank you to Matt for your contributions to the Express. And welcome Mike to the organization.

SEABROOK ARTICLE

The Coquitlam Now newspaper recently did a feature on former Express Keith Seabrook who is in his first professional season with the Abbotsford Heat of the AHL.

Click here to read the article

VIPERS @ EXPRESS HIGHLIGHTS

Here's the highlights of Vernon's 8-1 win over the Express Sunday afternoon.



Highlights courtesy of Cary Derksen and Purple Penguin Productions.

TRACKING EXPRESS ALUMNI

I've made it easier for you to track Express players of years gone by. I've added a number of links to former Express players info from HockeyDB.

Just scroll below and you will see a list of 10 former Express players. Just click onto the link and it will take you to their HockeyDB page.

If there's a player you would like to see added, feel free to leave a comment and I will add a link.

VIPERS PUT ON A SHOW AT COPELAND

It was quite the display of speed and skill from the Vernon Vipers who took care of the Burnaby Express 8-1 Sunday afternoon.

This meeting was a much different story from the last time these two teams met back on October 4th in Vernon where the Vipers prevailed 4-2. That day the Express slowed the pace down and played a tight defensive game allowing the game to go down to the wire.

Sunday, Vernon jumped on Burnaby early getting the puck in their zone, and the defending RBC Cup champions used their speed to work the puck in the offensive zone and not allowing Burnaby to come out of their end in the games opening moments.

Vernon's quick puck movement, speed in pursuit of the puck and overall team speed was something to behold. Vernon used that relentless attack in the games opening minutes to set the tone for the rest of the game.

The Vipers opened the scoring less than 5 minutes into the game when Bryce Kakoske was set up after some brilliant puck movement and Kakoske wired a shot over the shoulder of Harrison May to open the scoring.

And from that point on the Vipers were rolling. Pressuring Burnaby in their own zone in the opening period.

One of the rare chances Burnaby did have was Simon Denis firing a perfect pass on the tape of Dylan Herold sending him away on a breakaway. But the Express captain was stopped by Vipers goaltender Graeme Gordon.

In the first period when the Express did get out of their zone, Vernon would force turnovers in the neutral zone and turn the play back the other way on 2 on 1's and the Vipers made Burnaby pay for their mistakes with goals from Mike Collins and Drew George to give the Vipers a 3-0 lead after the opening period.

Vernon outshot Burnaby 17-2 in the first period.

It was more of the same for Vernon in the second, Mike Collins added his second of the game after taking a perfect cross ice pass from Jonathan Milhouse to give Vernon a 4-0 lead.

Vernon is even deadly pursuing the puck while shorthanded and make turnovers end up in the back of the oppositions net. With Dylan Walchuk in the box for Vernon, they forced another turnover resulting in another 2 on 1 break and Braden Pimm scored shorthanded to extend Vernon's lead to 5. That goal was followed 27 seconds later by Mike Collins finishing off his hat-trick when he stole the puck off an Express defenceman in front of the Burnaby net and Collins fired a quick shot beating Harrison May.

Vernon has now scored 14 shorthanded goals this season.

That goal mercifully brought an end to Harrison May's day who was relieved by Nick Enegren after allowing 6 goals on 26 shots. The Burnaby goaltender didn't have much of a chance on any of the 6 pucks that got passed him.

Kellen Jones set up his twin brother Connor in the third period for Vernon's 7th goal. Then Cole Ikkala jammed home a loose puck in the final 2 minutes to give Vernon an 8-0 lead.

The Express rounded out the scoring in the final minute when Malcom Mckinney scored his first BCHL goal firing a puck from the goal line that found a hole to slip past Graeme Gordon to break his shutout bid.

Final score:

Vipers 8 Express 1.

The win extended Vernon's winning streak to 20 games. They're the first BCHL team to win 20 straight regular season games since the Alberni Valley Bulldogs accomplished the feat back in the 05-06 season.

Sunday was the 12th time in Vernon's 20 game run that they've scored at least 6 goals in a game.

Vernon's record now stands at 27-1 this season. Going back to last years playoffs, the Vipers are now 38-1 in their last 39 games.

Sunday was just a flat out impressive performance of speed, puck pursuit and skill put on display by the Vipers. They're full value for their record.

I know the playoffs are still more than half a season away, but the question has to be raised, who is going to be the team that is going to win 4 out of 7 games vs. the Vipers come playoff time if this team is healthy? It's looking like it's going to be a monumental task.

That team is so deep who do you stop? 15 players hit the scoresheet Sunday for Vernon.

VEES @ EXPRESS HIGHLIGHTS

Here's the highlights of Saturday's 3-1 Penticton win over the Express.



Highlights courtesy of Cary Derksen of Purple Penguin Productions.

EXPRESS AND VEES GO DOWN TO THE WIRE

It was shades of the 2006 Fred Page Cup final Saturday night between the Express and Vees at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre. Tight checking, disciplined defensive hockey between both the Express and the Vees. Penticton prevailed by a score of 3-1, but it wasn't due to a lack of a strong effort by the home side.

Burnaby needed to play that tight defensive game for a full 60 minutes to give them a chance to win. The Express executed the game plan pretty much to a "T".

The Vees had a pair of powerplays in the games opening ten minutes. The Express did an excellent job protecting the middle of the ice and limiting the quality chances for the Vees on the powerplay.

The strong penalty kill effort set the tone for the Express and gave them the confidence that if they stuck to their game plan, they would have a shot to shut down the high flying Vees.

The Express got a 7 minute powerplay early in the first period after a big hit by David Dotan that was followed by Luke Curadi protecting his teammate and getting involved in an exchange with Luke Challier.

The Express struck early on the powerplay as former Vee James Bettauer beat Joel Rumpel for his first Express goal in his 2nd Express game to open the scoring.

The extended powerplay continued as the 5 minute major for fighting was the first penalty in effect. The Express were then given a 2 man advantage with Matt Paltridge being called for high sticking. But, the Express could only manage the one goal by Bettauer on the 7 minute powerplay.

Burnaby took their lead to the second period. The Vees pulled even midway through the 2nd on a powerplay. Matt Paltridge made a great fake shot then dished the puck off to Beau Bennett who roofed his shot over the shoulder of Harrison May.

The Vees second goal of the period came on a powerplay as well. With Garrick Perry in the box for a questionable roughing penalty, Beau Bennett had time and space in the high slot and wired a shot top shelf on Harrison May.

The third period saw the Vees clamp down in defensive mode and shut down the Express. It wasn't a surprise to see the Vees give Burnaby trouble coming out of their own end. And when the Express did break through the Vees tight defence, Joel Rumpel was there to turn aside the 6 Express shots sent his way.

Penticton rounded out the scoring late in the third period as Simon Denis lost his footing behind his own net and Bennett picked up the puck and scored on a wrap around into the empty net to put the game away.

Shots:

Burnaby - 22
Penticton - 22

Powerplays:

Burnaby 1/6
Penticton 2/8

3 stars:

3. Beau Bennett - Led the offensive attack for the victorious Vees.

2. Harrison May - Posted his second straight strong performance in the Express crease in a losing cause.

1. Joel Rumpel - Stopped 21 of 22 Express shots to post his 2nd win of the season vs. the Express.

Now, on paper it's easy to see the Express losing the game. But their strong disciplined game for a full 60 minutes can go a long way to give the Express the confidence that they can play with the league's best. Is it pretty? no. Does it say the Express have the talent that can match the Penticton's, Vernon's etc? no. But what it does say they're capable of executing a game plan that gives them a chance to win vs. the BCHL's elite. And the Express will need a similar performance Sunday afternoon when they welcome the 26-1 Vernon Vipers to the Bill Copeland Sports Centre.

The last time Burnaby and Vernon met in early October in Vernon, the Vipers did knock off the Express 4-2. But, Burnaby played a similar disciplined defensive game that day like they did Saturday night vs. Penticton.

The performance the Express put in Saturday will go a long way giving the Express confidence that if they play Sunday like they did Saturday, they might just put themselves in a good position to win as the game winds down.

Sure, Penticton won Saturday night over the Express, but this result is a huge morale boost for this Express team. There's nothing to be disappointed about. The Express gave Penticton all they had Saturday night.