EXPRESS VS. KINGS PRIMER

The Coquitlam Express and Powell River Kings will meet for the first time in the BCHL playoffs starting Friday in Powell River.

This series has the number 1 seed in the Kings going up against the number 4 seed in the Express.

There are a number of interesting story lines entering this series. On paper there are some things that stand out for sure.

Both teams can put the puck in the net. The Express finished the season with the 2nd most goals in the BCHL this season with 245. But the Powell River Kings finished the season 3rd in the BCHL with 223 goals scored this season.

A trademark of the Express all season long has been their depth. As a whole the Express have more players that put up better offensive numbers than the Powell River Kings. The Express can boast having 5 players that put up better numbers than the Kings top scorer Cohen Adiar who led the Kings with 58 points this season.

On the other side of the coin, under Head Coach Kent Lewis, the Kings trademark has been their ability to keep pucks out of the net. The Kings were the stingiest team in the BCHL to score against the season allowing the fewest goals of any team in the league with 127.

Head to head the season series was very one sided in favour of the Express posting a 6-1-1 record vs. the Kings this season.

Special teams is another unique match up in this series. The Express finished the season with the 2nd best powerplay in the BCHL at 27.54%. It will be going up against a Kings penalty killing unit which was 3rd in the BCHL at 82.01%.

Directly head to head the Express did have a considerable advantage, the Express were 13 for 35 on the powerplay going 37.14%. On the penalty kill, the Express shut down the Kings in 34 of 37 opportunites 91.89%.

Travel and fatigue may play a factor the longer the series goes with 7 games scheduled to be played in 9 nights if it does go the distance. And the final 3 games would be played on consecutive nights. If you have ever taken the 5-6 hour trip from the Mainland to the Sunshine coast with 2 ferries each way, you understand how much of a grind the travel could be.

With the Kings having home ice in this series, it does mean they will take one less trip. They made the Hap Parker Arena a very difficult place to play this season having won 24 of 30 home games this season and only losing 4 times in regulation.

However, the Express did hand the Kings 3 of their 4 home ice regulation losses this season. And that includes sweeping a pair of games in Powell River in back to back games on February 11th and 12th.

Not only will the Express enter this series with the confidence that they've walked into Powell River and won numerous times this season. They also have the knowledge in their back pocket of being a strong road team all season setting a franchise record with 17 wins this season.

The Kings also had a strong road record this season by posting the 2nd most wins away from home in the BCHL this season with 18. But they did go winless in 4 games in Coquitlam this season with a 0-3-1 mark.

Both teams had strong second halves of the season and had their share of strong runs of play. The Express did have a 8 game winning streak in the second half of the season. Overall they went 22-7-1. The Kings did go 8-2 in their last 10 games. They also had a 10 game winning streak in the second half of the season which was halted by the Express.

It has the makings of being a very good series with 2 very good teams meeting each other. Lets get it started.

Here's a breakdown of some of the key numbers for both teams this season.

EXPRESS VS. KINGS BY THE NUMBERS
Top Scorers
Express		Kings
Alex Petan - 33G, 50A, 88PTS Brady Shaw – 33G, 36A, 69PTS Alex Kerfoot – 25G, 44A, 69PTS John Siemer – 28G, 31A, 59PTS Clinton Atkinson – 9G, 50A, 59PTS		Cohen Adair – 32G, 26A, 58PTS Evan Richardson – 19G, 36A, 55PTS Craig Dalrymple – 20G, 29A, 49PTS Teagan Waugh – 22G, 23A, 45PTS Matt Scarth – 20G, 18A, 38PTS
Goatender Statistics
Cole Huggins - 21-6-2 2.99 GAA, .918 Sv. % 2 SO Khaleed Devji – 16-13-1 3.48 GAA, .897 Sv.%		Sean Maguire – 17-12-1 2.33 GAA .913 Sv. % 3 SO Jonah Imoo – 7-0 0.94 GAA, .950 Sv. % 3SO
Special Teams Statistics
COQ PP – 27.54% - 2nd in BCHL PR PK – 82.01% - 3rd in BCHL		PR PP – 18.86% - 10th in BCHL COQ PK – 81.65% - 4th in BCHL
Head to Head Records
Coquiltam - 6-1-1-0, 13PTS		Powell River – 1-6-1, 3PTS
Oct. 9 @ CQ 4-3 W Oct. 14 @ CQ 4-4 T Nov. 18 @ PR 5-3 W Dec. 29 @ CQ 2-1 W Jan. 7 @ CQ 4-1 W Feb. 2 @ PR 3-1 L Feb. 11 @ PR 3-2 W Feb. 12 @ PR 3-1 W		Oct. 9 @ CQ 4-3 L Oct. 14 @ CQ 4-4 T Nov. 18 @ PR 5-3 L Dec. 29 @ CQ 2-1 L Jan. 7 @ CQ 4-1 L Feb. 2 @ PR 3-1 W Feb. 11 @ PR 3-2 L Feb. 12 @ PR 3-1 L
Head to Head Special Teams Statistics
COQ PP vs. PR – 13/35 – 37.14% PR PK vs. CQ – 22/35 – 62.85%		PR PP vs. COQ – 3/37 – 8.11% COQ PK vs. PR – 34/37 – 91.89%
INDIVIDUAL HEAD TO HEAD STATISTICS
Express scoring vs. Kings	Kings scoring vs. Express
Alex Kerfoot – 6G, 4A, 10PTS Alex Petan – 5G, 5A, 10PTS Clinton Atkinson – 0G, 10A, 10PTS Brady Shaw – 4G, 3A, 7PTS Mitch Nardi – 4G, 3A, 7PTS Taylor Bourne – 2G, 1A, 3PTS John Siemer – 1G, 2A, 3PTS Malcom Mckinney – 0G, 2A, 2PTS Justin Georgeson – 0G, 2A, 2PTS Cody Michelle – 2G, 0A, 2PTS	Steven Schmidt – 3G, 4A, 7PTS Cohen Adair – 2G, 4A, 6PTS Evan Richardson – 2G, 4A, 6PTS Daniel Schuler – 2G, 1A, 3PTS Matt Scarth – 1G, 2A, 3PTS Craig Dalrymple – 2G, 1A, 3PTS Teegan Waugh – 1G, 1A, 2PTS Jon Jutzi – 1G, 1A, 2PTS Teal Burns – 1G, 1A, 2PTS Chris Williams – 0G, 2A, 2PTS
GOALTENDING
Cole Huggins 3-1 2.06 GAA .937 Sv. %	Sean Maguire 1-5-1 3.48 GAA .870 Sv. %
Khaleed Devji 3-0-1 1.84 GAA .949 Sv. %	Jonah Imoo Did not play vs. Express this season