EXPRESS CRUISE TO THIRD STRAIGHT WIN

The Express did what they needed to do in the first 40 minutes en route to their third straight win 5-2 over the Surrey Eagles. The win was also the 4th straight win on home ice and 5th straight vs. Surrey this season. Click here for box score

The defending BCHL champions also clinched a playoff spot in the process.

An evenly played first period saw the score even at one after the opening frame. Corey Mackin scored his first of two on the night by ripping a shot over the glove of Christian Short on the powerplay.

Exactly three minutes later a rare Chris Tai mistake on this night resulted in a turnover and Ben Vikich scoring his 14th of the season as Tai scrambled to get back into his net.

Early in the second period the teams traded goals again as Daniell Lange scored just under two minutes in as his wrist shot from the left wing found the net for his 8th of the season. Lange would later chip in with an assist for a two point night to earn second star honours.

Just 60 seconds after that Tyler Harkins scored his first of the season from a sharp angle on Chris Tai to even things up at two.

Friday saw the return of Colton Kerfoot after missing the last two months with an injury. He got on the scoresheet as he and Michael Merulla teamed up to set up Jivan Sidhu joining the rush and he scored beating Short upstairs as he was going down. Michael Merulla finished with a a pair of helpers and was named third star.

Then the Express delivered the knockout blow to the Eagles. Thanks to the top two scorers in the BCHL.

Brett Supinski made Express history by scoring his 40th of the season shorthanded for a 4-2 lead by finishing off a wrap around. It's the first time in Express history that two players have scored 40 goals in a season.

Then 34 seconds later Mackin also set some Express history by scoring his 8th shorthanded goal of the season for a 5-2 lead and his 43rd goal of the season. Mackin breaks the record he shared with Kyle Turris for most shorthanded goals in a season which was originally set back in the 05-06 season.

The Express also surpassed the Victoria Grizzlies for the BCHL lead with 12 shorthanded goals on the season. The Express led the league in that category last season by tying a franchise record by scoring 19 goals when a man down.

The offense had done it's part by the time the third period rolled around. Some chippiness creeped into the game in the final minutes of the third period with the final outcome decided.

The Express have the rest of the weekend off before returning to action Wednesday night when they will host the Chilliwack Chiefs.

SMOKE EATERS @ EXPRESS HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights of the Express 5-2 win over Trail Sunday.



Highlights courtesy of Jorge Parra and Underdog Productions.

BACK TO BACK HOME ICE WINS

The Express won their second straight game and their third straight home game with a 5-2 win over the Trial Smoke Eaters.

It was a similar story for the Express Sunday as it was in their win Friday over Vernon. Solid goaltending and plenty of shots for Chris Tai, a big night from the top line, and good special teams.

Thanvir Bandesha opened the scoring for the Express who took a feed out from behind the net for his first Express goal at 4:17. Daniell Lange and Brendan Gulka drew the assists on the goal.

The main story for the Express especially in the first half of the game was Chris Tai. He turned aside all 18 shots in the first period and kept it up in the second period.

He was given some additional offensive support in the second half of the second period as the top line of Brendan Lamont, Corey Mackin and Brett Supinski took care of the Express attack the rest of the way.

Brendan Lamont gave the Express a 2-0 lead when he took a pass from Supinski and ripped a shot over the glove of goaltender Brett Clark for his 19th of the season. Lamont now has a 5 game point streak with 4 goals and 5 assists for 9 points in that time.

Then the top line all had a hand in Corey Mackin scoring his 40th of the season as he was able to bang in a loose puck at the side of the Trail net assisted by Supinski and Lamont.

Brett Supinski then got in on the scoring fun by scoring his 39th of the season when his pass intended for Corey Mackin bounced in off the goaltender for a 4-0 Express lead.

The goal extended Supinski's goal streak to eight games with 13 goals and 8 assists in that time. He now has points in 19 of his last 20 outings with 22 goals and 20 assists for 42 points in that time.

Corey Mackin then capped off a big afternoon for the top line by wiring home his 2nd of the game on the power play in the third period for a 5-0 Express lead. The Express went two for 7 on the power play. On the other side of the special teams the Express had a second consecutive perfect outing on the penalty kill shutting down all 5 Trail advantages.

Mackin now has 83 points on the season. He has 4 goals and 10 assists for 14 points during a 5 game point streak. The line of Lamont, Mackin and Supinski combined for 4 goals and 4 assists for 8 points.

Chris Tai had his bid for his first shutout of the season spoiled with two Trail goals just over three minutes apart by Jake Lucchini and Jordan Passmore. Those would be the lone blemishes on a very solid night for Tai who finished with 39 saves.

Just one game for the Express next week who host Surrey on Friday night.

VIPERS @ EXPRESS HIGHLIGHTS

Video highlights of the Express 5-4 win over the Vernon Vipers Friday night.

Highlights courtesy of Jorge Parra and Underdog Productions.

EXPRESS SURVIVE VIPERS BITE

Brett Supinski had his second consecutive hat-trick and Chris Tai finished with 40 saves as the Express knocked off the Vernon Vipers 5-4 in the second meeting in a week between the two teams. Click here for boxscore

Vernon looked to pick up right where they left off when they knocked off the Express last Saturday when they fired 59 shots. The first period five minutes looked similar as they jumped on Coquitlam. Colton McCarthy scoring on a wrap around and Thomas Aldworth with a wrist shot from the left wing got the Vipers off on the right foot in the first five minutes.

As quickly as the Vipers started, the Express responded in kind. Brett Supinski started his big night by getting the Express on the board just 32 seconds after Aldworth's goal by snapping a quick shot through the legs of Danny Todosychuk. That was followed just over five minutes later on a goal by Brendan Lamont with a wrist shot over Todosychuk's glove.

 The top line of Corey Mackin, Brett Supinski and Brendan Lamont all had a hand in the first two Express goals.

Penalty killing had been taking it's lumps for the Express in recent outings. But it had a big impact on helping the Express get the two points. They killed off all 5 Vernon power plays. Their best work came in the first period on a 51 second Vernon 5 on 3. And two Vernon power plays in the third period with the Express protecting the lead.

As the second period began, Chris Tai's best work began to come to the forefront. The ice would become very heavily shifted towards the Express net in the final two periods but Tai rose to the challenge. He turned aside 20 of 21 Vernon shots in the middle period. The only goal to beat him in the second was Liam Finlay's first of two on the night.

Two goals for the Express in the final minutes of the second period gave them a 4-3 lead heading to the third period. Jackson Cressey finished off a couple of great passes by Brett Supinski and Corey Mackin for a power play goal to tie the game at three. Then in the final minute of the period Corey Mackin put the puck on a tee for Supinski who bombed away for his second of the night.  That goal gave BCHL scoring leader Corey Mackin 80 points on the season. He finished the night with a season high five assists which also ties an Express franchise record for assists in a game. Supinski hit the 70 point mark with his late second period goal. They now have 81 and 71 points respectively.

Supinski then completed his second consecutive hat-trick and third three goal game of the season with a shot through the legs of Todosychuk at 6:30 of the third period. Supinski finished with three goals and two assists.  He now has a seven game goal streak with twelve goals and five assists for seventeen points. He has points in 18 of his last 19 games.

Liam Finlay made things interesting with his second of the night with just over three to go, but they couldn't puck another puck past Chris Tai. The Express net minder turned aside 31 of 33 Vernon shots in the final two periods to earn the win.

 Up next the Express host the Trail Smoke Eaters Sunday afternoon.

FRITZ TO QUNNIPIAC

The Coquitlam Express Junior A hockey club are proud to announce defenceman Daniel Fritz has committed to Qunnipiac University for 2015.

6’1’ 195 lb, 19 year old native of Harwood MD, is in his first season in the BCHL. He's been a very steady presence at both ends of the rink. This season he has 8 goals and 25 assists for 33 points in 45 games. His point production this season is among the top 10 for BCHL defencemen.

"We are very happy and proud of Daniel. He has been an offensive threat for us all season and been solid defensively." - Express Head Coach and General Manager Barry Wolff.

The Bobcats will be very happy with him both as a player and a person. "I would like to thank all the people that supported me in my hockey career so far, expecially my parents and the Coquitlam Express".- Daniel Fritz

The Quinnipiac Bobcats play in the ECAC, the school is located in Hamden CT.
He will be teammates next season with former members of the Express Bo and Canon Pieper who are both in their first year at Quinnipiac.

EXPRESS KINGS HIGHLIGHTS

Here's the highlights of the Express 5-3 win over Powell River Friday.

Highlights courtesy of Jorge Parra and Underdog Productions.

EXPRESS POWER PAST KINGS IN FINAL 40

Coquitlam scored five times in the final two periods en route to a 5-3 win over the Powell River Kings. Click here for boxscore

The win snapped a 4 game losing streak for the Express while also snapping the Kings 4 game winning streak in the process.


Balanced offense and goaltending paced the Express in the victory. The scoring came from three different lines. Chris Tai in the Express goal made 36 saves for the win.


It didn't start well for the Express who saw Powell River take a 2-0 first period lead on powerplay goals by Jarid Lukosevicius and Jeremy Leclerc to put the Express in the early hole. Both goals were the tried tested and true method of pucks to the net. The first goal being a wrister through traffic that found a hole. The second being the puck put on a tee for Leclerc who blasted it home.


The second period saw the Express find their way.


Brendan Lamont got the comeback started by finding a loose puck at the side of the Kings net to tap in his 15th of the season on the powerplay. That was followed 43 seconds later with Brendan Gulka scoring on a slap shot from the right wing to tie the game at two.


1:55 later the Express had their first lead on their second powerplay goal of the period as Brett Supinski took a Corey Mackin pass at the blueline and cut to the net and slide home his 30th goal of the season.


But the lead only lasted 1:53 as the Kings pulled back even at three when Lukosevicius set up Brent Lashuk who put a tap into a gaping 6 x 4. That goal would be the lone puck to get past Chris Tai who turned aside 23 of 24 shots in the final two periods to earn his 12th win of the season.


The tie was broken just over two minutes into the third period when Joey Santucci battled hard to steal the puck in the neutral zone and send in Jackson Cressey who scored on the breakaway for his 9th of the season. That goal turned out to be the game winner. It also assured that the Express would get goals from at least one member of their first three lines.


Captain Joey Santucci finished with two assists picking up his first two points in his third game since returning from injury last weekend in Nanaimo.


The final outcome hung in the balance with just over 8 minutes remaining in the third period.


Brendan Lamont was high sticked behind the Express net, Cole Bevan came to his teammate's defence and he was the only player penalized getting assessed 7 minutes of penalties and nothing for Powell River giving them all that time to use on the powerplay to look for the equalizer having already struck twice on the night on the powerplay.


But what will leave Kings Head Coach Kent Lewis fuming at the end of the night will be seeing his team squander a significant chunk of the extended powerplay by taking two separate minor penalties forcing the Express to kill off only 3 minutes of the Bevan penalties instead of the full 7.


Corey Mackin sealed the win for the Express when he stole the puck and put it into an empty net for his 38th of the season and 7th shorthanded goal on the year. Mackin is now tied with Kyle Turris for most shorthanded goals scored in a season with 7 set in the Express national championship season of 05-06. The BCHL scoring leader finished with a goal and an assist and now has 71 points on the season.


Up next the Express are back on the road Saturday night in Vernon, then trekking even further north to play Sunday afternoon in Prince George.

LAMONT FEATURED AS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Veteran Express forward Brendan Lamont was recently featured as the athlete of the week on City TV's Breakfast Television.

Click here to see the feature.

This is the second straight year an Express player has been featured on BT. Last season it was Adam Rockwood.

Click here to see the feature on Rockwood.

VEES TOO MUCH FOR EXPRESS

The BCHL's best team were too much for the Express to handle for the full 60 minutes in a 4-1 Penticton win Friday night.

The win completed a two game sweep of a home and home between the two teams. Penticton took the opener 5-2 in the South Okanagan Wednesday.

Right from the drop of the puck the Vees were too much for the Express to handle. Their speed and control of the play all night was the story of the game.

The Vees got off to a better start than they did the night before. They opened the scoring litte more than six minutes into the game when Chris Tai had trouble covering up the puck in the crease and Jack Ramsay pounced on the gaffe and poked the loose puck lying in the blue paint.

Before the first period was half over the Vees already had a 14-1 advantage in shots. They finished the night with 53 which sets a new season high for most shots allowed in a game for the Express. The previous mark was 51.

Penticton added two more goals in the second half of the first period on blasts from Gabe Bast and Lewis Zerter-Gossage on the powerplay for a 3-0 Vees lead heading to the second period.

Chris Tai was tickted with the loss, but were it not for his stellar play especially in the final two periods the score would have been more lopsided. He stopped 31 of the 32 shots sent his way in the final two periods. Including all 18 sent his way in the second period.

Tyson Jost scored the Vees fourth goal of the night three minutes into the third period.

Brett Supinski broke Hunter Miska's bid for his 5th shutout of the season midway through the third period set up by Corey Mackin and Austin Anselmo. That goal was the lone set back on a relatively easy night for Miska who faced just 21 Express shots. That number matches a season low for shots on goal for the Express this season.

The busy week of four games in five nights for the Express resumes Saturday in Nanaimo then heading down to the Island to Victoria on Sunday afternoon.

Defenceman Taylor Green (95) made his Express debut Friday night. He was acquired by the Express from Nanaimo in exchange for future considerations. The 6'7 blueliner comes to the Express with 144 career games of WHL experience with Seattle, Brandon and Moose Jaw. He played 7 games with Nanaimo this season picking up one assist.

The BCHL trade deadline is Saturday night at 6pm for trades outside the BCHL and 8pm for deals within the BCHL.

VEES BALANCE TOO MUCH FOR EXPRESS

The Penticton Vees got 1 goal and 1 assist performamces from 5 different players as they used their balanced attack in a 5-2 win over the Express Wednesday night.

Tyson Jost, Mike Lee, Steen Cooper, Jack Ramsey and Patrick Newell were all in the one and one club for the Vees.

Jost opened the scoring when he carried the puck into the Express zone and wired a shot in off the post past Chris Tai just over 7 minutes in.

17 year old rookie Brendan Barry was named the games third star with 24 saves in the Vees crease. His best work came after the Vees got on the board when he made two great saves off Corey Mackin to keep the Express off the board. He also had key saves off Mackin's linemates Brett Supinski and Brendan Lamont.  Barry finished with 14 saves in the first period.

Late in the first period the Vees added to  their lead on a powerplay goal by Steen Cooper.

The game might have turned in the Vees favor for good in the opening minute of the second period as Mike Lee zipped
a cross ice pass to Patrick Newell who ripped a one timer past a fully stretched out Chris Tai.

Penticton managed to cut down the number of quality Express scoring chances in the final two periods. 

Michael Merulla got the visitors their first of the night when his wrist shot with two seconds remaining on a powerplay beat a surprised Barry up over the shoulder.

Jack Ramsey put the Vees up three in the third period when he converted a Riley Alferd pass from below the goal line at 12:05 of the third period. Alferd finished with three assists.

Corey Mackin was able to add to BCHL scoring lead setting up Brendan Gulka's second Express goal just over two minutes later.

Mike Lee then rounded out the scoring with his first goal off the season on a Vees powerplay.

Each team struck twice on the power play. With the Express getting three opportunities and the Vees four.

The second half of the home and home goes Friday night in Coquitlam.

EXPRESS GET THEIR PAY BACK ON RIVERMEN

After dropping a 6-1 decision the night before in Coquitlam in the first of a home and home with the Langley Rivermen,  the Express got their pay back in Langley's home barn the Langley Events Centre with a 4-3 win.

Langley sent the Express the message it was going to be their night 24 hours earlier with their impressive start. Saturday the visitors made sure they were going to be better prepared. 

Brett Supinski got the Express on the board first when he ripped a wrist shot over the glove of Darren Martin. 

Throughout the night the Express had a number of odd man rushes that could have made the final outcome more decisive for the Express had they beem able to cash in on. One of the chances they did finish was a 2 on 1 between Brendan Lamont and Corey Mackin,  the veteran Lamont knowing he had the BCHL's top scorer with him showed his veteran experience by not forcing a pass to Mackin when he couldn't settle a rolling puck, he instead fired it and it handcuffed Martin for a 2-0 Express lead.

Hunter Anderson scored the lone goal of the second period as he walked out from behind the Express night and slid the puck under Chris Tai. 

By the time the third period rolled around Langley started to get the upper hand in shots on goal. But Chris Tai had settled in by that point for what would be a 36 save performance for his 11th win of the season.

Owen Stout gave the Express their second two goal lead of the night when he found a loose puck in the Rivermen crease to poke him after former Langley Riverman Brendan Gulka cut to the slot on the backhand.

But Langley kept on finding ways to make for a dramatic finish Saturday night. Gage Torrell made in a 4-3 game scoring on a rebound moments after Chris Tai was clearly bumped in his crease on the initial point shot.

Then Dustin Cave was called for boarding with less than four to play. It would be an anxious two minute visit to the box for him with his team protecting a one goal lead. But he felt much better after watching the BCHL scoring leader Corey Mackin who had been held pointless all night steal the puck at the Langley line and score his league leading 6th shorthanded goal of the season for a 4-2 Express lead.

Again Langley didn't go away as Rivermen captain Kevan Killistoff scored on a 6 on 4 Langley power play in the final minute to cut the lead back to one. That goal would be the lone blemish on a soilid night for the Express penalty killers who shut down 6 of 7 Rivermen advantages.   Killistoff's goal would be as close as they would come as the Express held on the rest of the way.

The win equalled the season series at 3 wins for each time.

Up next the Express have a busy week ahead with 4 games in 5 nights including a home and home with BCHL leading Penticton starting Wednesday at the South Okanagan Events Centre.  Then after the return game Friday in Coquitlam the Express hit the Island for games in Nanaimo and Victoria.

RIVERMEN TAKE 1ST OF HOME AND HOME WITH EXPRESS

2015 didn't start the way 2014 ended for the Express. They had their 3 game winning come to an abrubt end with a 6-1 loss to the Langley Rivermen in the first of a home and home between the Mainland division foes. Click here for box score

Langley scored a pair of goals in each of the first, second and third periods en route to victory.

Coming off their Christmas break Langley set the tone for what would be their night for the full 60 minutes by firing the first six shots of the game. The Rivermen were rewarded for their solid start when Justin Szeto opened the scoring when he cut to the slot and beat Chris Tai with a backhand over his glove for his 9th of the season.

Gage Torrell scored his first of two of the night four minutes later as he scored on a breakaway deking past Tai.

On a night with very few highlights for the Express, Corey Mackin scored what would turn out to be their lone goal of the night by beating Darren Martin with a wrist shot past his glove. That would be the lone slip up on on a very solid night for the Rivermen goaltender who finished with 31 saves.

The Express had their chances in the second period to get back on even terms on the powerplay but couldn't convert and finished 0 for 4.

Eric Udahl added to the Rivermen lead in the second period by scoring twice with a wrist shot through the legs of Tai ant 5:24. Udahl then added his second of the night by scoring 10 minutes later on a set up by William Campion.

Langley dashed any hopes of an Express comeback in the opening minute of the third period as Evan Anderson scored a powerplay goal on a pass that went in off an Express defender and past Chris Tai. Gage Torrell rounded out the scoring with his second of the night again on the powerplay midway through the third period.

It was a game to quickly forget about. Learn the necessary lessons and prepare for the rematch Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre.