KERFOOT DRAFTED BY NEW JERSEY

 

 Alex Kerfoot today became the 6th player since the Express franchise began back in 2001 to be drafted directly from the club by an NHL club when he was selected by the New Jersey Devils in the 5th round 150th overall.

The West Vancouver native is the first player drafted directly from the Express since Kyle Turris was drafted in the 1st round 3rd overall by the Phoenix Coyotes in 2007.

Kerfoot joins the likes of the aforementioned Turris, Brett Hemingway, David Jones, Brandon Yip and Keith Seabrook to be selected by NHL clubs directly from the Express. The Express now have had 12 players who have played for their club drafted by NHL teams.

In his first full season in the BCHL, Kerfoot was named the Coastal Conference rookie of the year, and Most Sportsmanlike player plus he was a First Team All Star after posting 25 goals, 44 assists for 69 points in 51 games. The 44 assists for Kerfoot established a new Express rookie record for most assists in a season.

Back in November, Kerfoot won a gold medal with Team Canada West in the World Junior A Challenge held in Langley. He scored the overtime winning goal vs. Sweden in the Semi Final to send his team to the gold medal game. Kerfoot also scored in the championship game vs. Team Canada East. A total of 7 members of the gold medal winning Canada West team were picked by NHL teams this weekend in Pittsburgh.

Overall, it was a pretty good day for the BCHL at the NHL draft where a total of 5 players were selected from BCHL clubs. Jujar Kharia was selected in the 3rd round 63rd overall by Edmonton, Powell River goaltender Sean Maguire went in the 4th round 113th overall to Pittsburgh, Reece Wilcox of Merritt was selected just ahead of Kerfoot by Philadelphia 141st overall, and Wesley Myron of Victoria was 5th BCHLer selected by the Vancouver Canucks in the 6th round 177th overall.

Two other former BCHL players were drafted as well with former Penticton Vee Joey Laleggia being selected by Edmonton in the 5th round 123rd overall. And former Powell River King Jamie Phillips was picked by Winnipeg in the 7th round 190th overall.

Click below to hear from Alex Kerfoot.
 

Click below to hear from New Jersey's Director of Scouting David Conte to review the Devils 2012 Draft including the selection of Kerfoot.

 

MARC BIEGA INTERVIEW

I told you yesterday that the Express have signed Marc Biega a skilled defenceman as a recruit for next season. Earlier today I had a chance to speak with Marc and get his thoughts about coming to the Express for next season.

  Marc Biega June 19 2012 by EddieGregory

FAST HOCKEY TEAMS UP WITH BCHL

 

The BCHL announced Wednesday that they have teamed up with Fast Hockey to be the official Digital Media Partner.

They will be the new webcast providers for the BCHL. This is great news for the league. Speaking as someone who has done work with Fast Hockey in the past, I can tell you that the league has taken a good step in the right direction in bringing BCHL games to the fans, scouts and other supporters of the league. I was really happy to hear rumblings last season that this was a possibility.

The work i've done with them in the past will provide the league with a great product. Fast Hockey's reputation continues to grow from when I first worked an event for them in 2009. They're the official webcasting partner of Hockey Canada and Hockey USA. They have been at most major international events the last few years. And this partnership with the BCHL is another league in a long list of top notch Junior Hockey leagues from around North America that have already partnered up with Fast Hockey.

See the full press release from the BCHL below.

The British Columbia Hockey League and FASTHockey (http://www.fasthockey.com) announced today a long-term partnership offering a rich digital media experience to BCHL fans across the globe. The partnership begins immediately with broadcasting set for the 2012-2013 hockey season.

“Our agreement with FASTHockey not only provides us with the tools we need to raise the profile of our league but ensures our fans will have a first-rate experience watching games at home,” said BCHL commissioner John Grisdale. “We’ll continue to allow users to not only see live BCHL games but also get caught up on the latest highlights from around the league.”

Viewers will be treated to a world-class platform boasting breathtaking video, instant game archival for Video-On-Demand playback, advanced player features like pause, rewind, and fast-forward for live games, user generated instant replays, and full social integration. Additionally, they will be able to choose from home and away broadcasts so they can truly have a professional viewing experience.

“We are incredibly excited to partner with the BCHL,” said Marc Ruskin, President of FASTHockey, “Providing BCHL fans with a high quality experience, from video delivery through an array of interactive tools, will help support the league's digital media initiatives and provide the teams and players with some great tools for promotion and advancement.”

FASTHockey will have each BCHL rink outfitted with up-to-date streaming video hardware and in addition to the regular season and playoffs, will carry all 16 games at the inaugural Showcase event in Chilliwack September 7 to 9, 2012. Additionally, the BCHL and all of its member teams will take advantage of FASTHockey’s Content Editing and Syndication Suite empowering users to cut, share, and syndicate clips to their websites, blogs and popular social media platforms.

About FASTHockey Based in Boston, Massachusetts, with offices in Detroit, Vancouver, and Amsterdam (planned for 2012) FASTHockey serves as a digital media partner of National Governing Bodies including Hockey Canada, USA Hockey, and the German Ice Hockey Federation; collegiate governing bodies and institutions from the NCAA and ACHA; a massive number of junior hockey leagues and teams in North America; college preparatory and high schools; and youth hockey teams.

EXPRESS SIGN ANOTHER SKILLED DEFENCEMAN

Head Coach and GM Jon Calvano continues his work to build the skill of the Coquitlam Express on the backend.

We told you earlier this off-season that they had signed Callom Hofford. The latest defenceman coming to Coquitlam next year will be Marc Biega. The recently turned 18 year old played Prep School Hockey last year at Salisbury putting up 6 goals and 36 points in 28 games. He is another player that will provide the Express some skill and puck moving ability on the backend.

"We are excited to Marc join the Express program , Marc is a puck moving D that can create offense with his vision , also a great Leader as he was the Captain of the top ranked Prep school team in CT. Marc is the youngest of 4 Brothers who all attended Harvard University and Marc is still uncommitted to a NCAA Program. " said Head Coach and GM Jon Calvano.

 Click below to hear an interview with Calvano.

Biega stands 5'11 and weights 180lbs. He is from Pointe Claire Quebec. Welcome to the Express Marc.

We look forward to seeing you in the fall. I hope to have some audio from Marc soon.

DESTRY STRAIGHT HEAD OF THE CLASS RE-VISITED

Last year prior to the NHL entry draft Howard Tsumura did a story on Express alumni Destry Straight in advance of the NHL Draft. A year later Tsumura catches up with Destry again to discuss his first season at Boston College where he won a NCAA National Championship.

Click on the link below to read the article.

HOC RE-VISITED: Frozen Four title run caps dream frosh season for W. Van’s Straight

BCHL SHOWCASE SCHEDULE RELEASED

 First off, apologies for the lack of updates on the blog recently. When the BCHL announced the changes that came out of the AGM last weekend.

We also learned when the Express will begin their season at the first BCHL showcase weekend in Chilliwack. They will play two of their 56 regular season games in Chilliwack to kick off the season.

Their first game will be officially a road game vs. the Victoria Grizzlies on Friday September 7th in the Main Rink vs. Victoria at 4pm. Their second game will be a home game vs. the Cowichan Valley Capitals on Sunday September 9th at 2pm in the Secondary rink.

See the full Press Release from the BCHL below. The inaugural BCHL Showcase schedule was created this weekend at the league’s annual general meeting.

The Chilliwack Chiefs are hosting the event at Prospera Centre Sept. 7 to 9. Each BCHL team will play two games that count towards regular season standings.

The Chiefs feature in evening games both Friday and Saturday night against Penticton and Nanaimo respectively. The remainder of the BCHL regular season schedule will commence the week following the Showcase. Click on the link to see the full schedule for the showcase weekend.http://www.bchl.ca/leagues/newsletter.cfm?clientID=1413&leagueID=2393&page=61993

BCHL AGM RECAP

The British Columbia Hockey League held its annual general meeting in Richmond June 7, 8 and 9 with governors approving a number of changes that will take effect in the coming season.

First, the new BCHL playoff format was officially unveiled. The league goes to a three-division alignment for the 2012-13 season. In the Coastal Conference, which is now made up of the Island Division and Mainland Division, the top four of the five teams in each division will qualify for post-season play (#1 vs. #4, #2 vs. #3). Best-of-five series will be played in each the first two rounds to determine conference finalists and the Coastal Conference final will be a best-of-seven.

In the Interior Conference, which consists of the six-team Interior Division, the top four teams will qualify for post-season play (#1 vs. #4, #2 vs. #3). Two rounds, each a best-of-seven, will be played to determine a conference champion. The Fred Page Cup finals will also be a best-of-seven series.

Alterations to the BCHL regulations were approved with significant changes being that the affiliate draft of 15-year-old players is discontinued, that rosters will now consist of 22 players instead of 21, that coaches are allowed to place an injured player on long-term injured reserve which would free up a spot on the 22-man roster and that penalties are now possible for players with damaged pants.

The Junior A Supplement initiative, begun in the 2010-11 season to curb fighting and checking-from-behind infractions, was also extended for two more seasons. Finally, a sub-committee made up of BCHL coaches was officially approved. This body, which brings concerns from among the league’s coaching ranks to the board of directors, is co-chaired by Mike Vandekamp of Nanaimo and Jason Williamson of Vernon.

JONES SIGNS 4 YEAR DEAL WITH AVALANCHE

 Former Express Captain David Jones has signed a new 4 year 16 million dollar contract with the Colorado Avalanche. Jones played with the Express for their first 3 seasons in the BCHL from 2001-04. He was drafted directly from the Express by the Avalanche in the 9th round 288th overall in 2003.

The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today that the team has signed forward David Jones to a four-year contract through the 2015-16 season.

Jones reached the 20-goal mark for the second straight year in 2011-12, finishing with 20 goals, 17 assists and 37 points in 72 games. He shared the team lead with five game-winning goals, while his 20 goals overall ranked third on the squad. The Guelph, Ontario native tied for fourth on the club in points.

“David has been one of our top offensive players over the past two seasons,” said Avalanche General Manager/Executive Vice President Greg Sherman. “He is a product of our organization who has developed into a proven goal scorer. We are pleased to have him under contract as he enters the prime of his career.” Jones, 27, scored two overtime goals this past season, giving him five in his career (third-most in franchise history). In fact, all five of his OT winners have come since Jan. 1, 2011, tied with Steven Stamkos for the highest total of any NHL player during that time span. Jones’ three OT markers in 2010-11 established a single-season team record.

Selected by Colorado in the ninth round (288th overall) of the 2003 Entry Draft, Jones became the lowest Avalanche/Nordiques draft choice to ever make it to the NHL when he made his debut in 2007-08. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound right wing has appeared in 239 career games, tallying 67 goals and 50 assists for 117 points. Jones tied for the club lead with 27 goals in 2010-11.