EXPRESS SEASON COMES TO AN END VS. SAINTS

All photos courtesy of Todd Pederson:

Like the tournament for the Express, Saturday's do or die game vs. Spruce Grove started well, but ended in disappointment.

The Express got things rolling just a minute in when Zach Hodder scored on a power play goal to open the scoring.

The train kept rolling along at 4:15 with Cody Boyd scoring on a backhand beating Kenny Cameron.

At the other end it was about the close calls for the Saints as they rang three shots off the post and crossbar. The best chance of them all was a wide open for net for Jarid Hauptman who had Gordie Defiel at his mercy in the final minute of the first period.

The game started turning in the Saints favor in the second period as they got going on a breakaway goal by Tristen Sieben.

That was followed by a power play goal by Cameron Hughes beating Gordie Defiel up high. 2:26 later it was 3-2 Saints when Dylan Hollman scored on the rebound of a Hauptman shot.

Spruce Grove's rally carried into the third as they capped off a run of 5 unanswered goals on strikes by Jake Mykituk and Carson Samoridny.

Canon Pieper scored what would turn out to be the final goal of the Express season tipping a Marc Biega shot on the power play.

Spruce Grove outshot the Express 38-25. They will play the loser of tonight's championship game for the 2nd berth in the RBC Cup.

The Express finished the Western Canada Cup by losing their final 3 games after opening the event with a pair of wins vs. Spruce Grove and Winnipeg.

This edition of the Express created a lot of happy memories with their Fred Page Cup run and a berth in the Western Canada Cup. Congrats to all the players and coaches who put in a lot of hours from the summer to today and all their sacrifice to get this team to this point. We all cherished watching this team this year and being witness to something special.

Once the sting of the season coming to an end starts to wear off, the players will soon realize what a special season that this was when they reflect on the 2013-14 edition of the Coquitlam Express.

Thank you to everyone in the Express organization for making be a small part of it. And I can't express my gratitude enough for the team bringing me to Dauphin with the team. I have enjoyed every second of my time here. To the folks of Dauphin, you have given us all first class treatment making sure our every need was taken care of.