MCLELLAN TO FACE OLD TEAM FRIDAY

Tomorrow's pre-season finale just got a little more intriguing with former Express head coach Dave Mclellan being behind the bench helping SFU this season.

Here's the story from the Tri City News.

Dave McLellan has a new team and the first squad it will face, ironically, is his old one.

McLellan joined the Simon Fraser Clan men’s hockey program coaching staff for the upcoming B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League season, it was announced Wednesday. First on the squad’s agenda is to square off tonight (Friday) in an exhibition game versus the Coquitlam Express. Puck drop at the Sports Centre is 7 p.m.

McLellan joins SFU following five seasons with the B.C. Hockey League’s Express, including the last three years as the team’s head coach. He was fired afte last season and replaced by Jon Calvano. The Jr. ‘A’ Express spent the past five seasons playing out of Burnaby before returning this season to their original home, Coquitlam.

His experience with the Express included a Royal Bank Cup national championship as an assistant coach in 2006 when current NHLer Kyle Turris of the Phoenix Coyotes helped lead the club to victory. At SFU, McLellan will work primarily with the team’s defencemen.

“Dave has a great deal of experience and success coaching at a high level of junior hockey,” said SFU general manager Jeff Dubois. “He’s familiar with a number of our players from his time with the Express and it’s going to be a tremendous benefit having him on board with our program this season.”

Tri-City players currently on the SFU team roster include defenceman Kyle Boyko of Anmore and forward Kyle Leung of Port Coquitlam.

Previously, McLellan spent 10 summers in Japan from 1999 through 2008 working in player development with the Nippon Paper Cranes, a professional team in the Asian league. He worked alongside former NHL coach Dave King during the decade he spent overseas.

“It was a really neat opportunity,” said McLellan, who also spent time with the Japanese national team. “To meet a guy [like Dave King] with that much experience and take over a program that was already entrenched, I learned a lot. From a technical level, it was great to learn how to work with a pro and he certainly gave some good guidance.”