BULLDOGS EDGE EXPRESS IN SHOWCASE FINALE

The Alberni Valley Bulldogs slipped past the Express in the second game for both teams at the 2016 Bauer BCHL showcase. Click here for boxscore

The Express went 0-2 at the event after dropping their first game 5-3 to West Kelowna Thursday.

Alex MacDonald scored the lone goal of the first period on a power play by skating off the left boards and snapping a shot past Reid Cooper.

The middle period saw the Express fire 17 shots towards the Alberni Valley goal but Carson Schamerhorn stood tall turning aside every Express shot sent his way.

Special teams turned out to be a key difference maker in the game. The Express went 0 for 4 on the power play while the Bulldogs went 1 for 2.

The third period saw the Express press for the equalizer. Alex Ambrosio was denied on a wrist shot from the slot, Owen Stout also had a chance off the wing. And the best chance for the Express to tie it was on the stick of Will Lawrence. He had a centering pass come through to him in the lip of the crease and somehow wasn't able to tap it in to the half open net.

That miss would prove costly as moments later the Bulldogs would go down the ice and add to their lead on a goal from Jake Witkowski with less than seven minutes to play for a 2-0 Alberni Valley lead.

Witkowski's goal wouldn't deter the Express. They finally broke through seconds after a power play expired on a goal by Alex Ambrosio potting home a loose puck at the side of the net with less than four minutes to play.

In the final minute Schamerhorn made the save of the net to rob Owen Stout kicking out his right pad with just 17 seconds left to preserve the win for the Bulldogs.

Schamerhorn finished with 36 saves. Reid Cooper was no slouch either in the Express crease with 32 saves.

Next weekend the Express will make their way through the Island division with stops in Victoria, Nanaimo and Alberni Valley.

WARRIORS 2ND PERIOD SHOWCASE OUT GUNS EXPRESS

The West Kelowna Warriors used a four goal second period to pull away from the Express en route to a 5-3 win at the Bauer BCHL showcase. Click here for boxscore

The Express found themselves trailing in the first period when the puck got poked past an Express defender and setting up a 2 on 1 for the Warriors and Quin Foreman finished it off snapping a shot up over the glove of Reid Cooper.

Hayden Knight's first BCHL goal leveled the game at one for the Express after taking a heads up stretch pass from Domenic Masellis then snapping a shot past the glove of Shane Farkas.

West Kelowna caught a break midway through the period when David Guinta's point shot on the power play beat a screened Farkas. The red light came on and but the referee never consulted the goal judge to discuss the play. I personally had an opportunity to see a video replay of the shot between periods and it was clear the puck entered the net and quickly bounced out.

One of the other highlights for the Express in the first period was a big hit delivered by defenseman Cal Walker who lined up Connor Sodergren and leveled him at the glass right in front of the Express bench. Thankfully for Sodergren he hit the padding and bounced up from the hit right away.

The defending national champions then took control of the game in the second period.

Foreman opened the second period by snapping home his second of the game just 11 seconds into the middle frame. Foreman scored 5 goals in two games at the showcase with a 3 goal performance the night before vs. Chilliwack.

Midway through the second period Mitchell Barker found a loose puck in the crease and scored for a 3-1 Warriors lead.

That was followed 27 seconds later by a goal by Reed Gunville for 4-1 Warriors lead just 5 seconds into a power play.

Mitchell Martan scored the Warriors fourth goal of the period taking advantage of a puck handling gaffe by Reid Cooper and he poked it out of the goaltender's feet for a 5-1 lead.

Cam Bertsch ended the Warriors run by cutting the deficit to 5-2 jamming in a loose puck with less than two minutes to go.

But the second period belonged to West Kelowna who outshot the Express 22-9.

Captain Luca Leone scored the lone goal in the third period. He gained entry into the Warriors zone and showed good patience to turn back to give himself time, then hold off another check to get himself more time than blast a shot to cut the deficit down to 5-3.

The Express penalty killers rose to the occasion killing off nearly two full minutes of a Warriors two man advantage.

West Kelowna finished the game outshooting the Express 42-25. In each of the first 5 games this season the Express have allowed 40+ shots.

The Express will play their second game of the showcase Saturday afternoon 3pm vs. the Alberni Valley Bulldogs. 

RIVERMNE 8 EXPRESS 1

Coming off a season opening game that saw both teams fill the net between the Express and Eagles, the next night out it would only be one team filling the net as the Langley Rivermen handed the Express a 8-1 loss.

Nick Ponak got the offense rolling for Langley converting a pass out from behind the net from Zac Masson who stole the puck from Express goaltender Lawson Fenton.

The Express had their chances in the opening period to pull even with three powerplays but they couldn't convert on any of them.

Late in the first period just seconds after a Langley power play expired Max Kaufman buried a cross crease pass from Ryan Barrow for a 2-0 Langley lead after 20 minutes.

Langley's onslaught really got going in the opening half of the second period. Kaufman added his second of the night one minute into the period coming off the boards and snapping a shot past Fenton.

That was followed by goals from Brendan Budy and Gavin Payne and by the 5 minute mark of the period it was 5-0 Rivermen. And Lawson Fenton's night was done after 5 goals on 19 shots.

Rookie Reid Cooper was then thrown to the wolves and was welcomed to the game by goals from Cooper Leitch and Satchel Clendenin for a 7-0 Rivermen lead by the 8:33 mark of the second period.

Rookie Sam Kozlowski showed some nice hands scoring the lone goal of the night for the Express beating Bo Didur with a wrist shot from the slot on the power play.

To the Express' credit they didn't just go through the motions entering the third period down by 6.

They created numerous chances throughout the period. Most notably Kozlowski was robbed at the side of the net by Bo Didur as he made a bid for his second of the night. The Express fired 16 third period shots.

After the initial shock of being beaten twice, Express goaltender Reid Cooper really settled down and shut the door until he was finally beat late in the third period on a deflection by Trevor Ayre with less than 90 seconds left to round out the scoring.

Next week the Express will stay on the road with a visit to Vernon and Salmon Arm. 

EAGLES & EXPRESS BURN OUT GOAL LIGHTS IN SEASON OPENER

Keegan Jones opened the scoring - Photo courtesy of Damon James

If you were looking for tight checking, structured defensive hockey, the season opener between the Express and Eagles wasn't the game for you.

It was a game that resembled the lack of structure of a season opener for both the Express and Eagles.  The end result was a 8-7 goal fest in favour of the Express. Click here for boxscore

Both teams had their runs offensively throughout the night and it was the fans who entertained.

Keegan Jones got the Express off on the right foot opening the scoring 41 seconds into the game snapping a shot from the right wing.

Newly minted Express captain Luca Leone on a breakaway gave the Express a 2-0 lead just over seven minutes in.

Sam Kozlowski - Photo courtesy of Damon James

Then the pendulum swung in the Eagles direction. Logan Mostat scored his first of two on the night tipping a Andrew Cordssen-David point on the power play to get the Eagles on the board midway through the 1st period.

To cap off the first period Surrey scored three times in a span of 2:24 on goals from Jeffery Stewart, Andrew Kemp and Mitchell Williams for a 4-2 Eagles lead after 1 period.

The pendulum swung back in the Express direction in the second period. Cam Bertsch scored his first of the season just over a minute into the second period with a deflection in the high slot of a Troy Robillard point shot.

Then Jake Toor had a moment he won't forget picking off a cross ice D to D pass and snapped home his first BCHL goal 12 minutes into the second to tie the game at 4.

Like the first period the goals came fast and furious to end the period.

Blake Hayward scored his first of the season for a 5-4 Express lead. 1:05 later it was 5-5 when Darius Davidson beat Lawson Fenton on a quick pass out from behind the Express net.

The Eagles fans haven't had a chance to savor the goal when the Express struck on a goal by Alex Ambrosio just 11 seconds after the Davidson goal to re-store the Express lead at 6-5.

Cal Walker - Photo courtesy of Damon James

1:44 later Owen Stout found a loose puck in the Eagles crease and poked it home for a 7-5 Express lead through two periods.

The second period ended with four goals in exactly four minutes.

At this point entering the third period it was clear no lead was safe.

The Eagles battled back to tie the game at 7 in the third period on power play goals by Tyler Cooper and Logan Mostat. Surrey finished 3 for 6 on the power play.

Owen Stout scored what would turn out to the the game winning goal coming off the boards and snapping home his second of the night with just 4:19 left in the third period. Stout finished with 2 goals and 2 assists and was named first star. Blake Hayward had 1 goal and 2 assists.

Goaltenders Lawson Fenton for the Express picked up the win with 38 saves on 45 shots and Marc Audet for Surrey took the loss with 8 goals on 27 Express shots.

The Express will be back in action Saturday night when they take on the Langley Rivermen from the George Preston Recreation centre.

LEONE EXPRESS CAPTAIN FOR 2016-17 SEASON

Luca Leone (24) will serve as captain in 16-17 - Photo courtesy of Damon James

The Coquitlam Express are pleased to announce that forward Luca Leone has been named the captain for the 2016-17 season.

Leone (96) will be a twenty year old this season and is entering his third season with the Express during the 2016-17 campaign. In 63 career BCHL games all with the Express the Vancouver native has 10 goals and 16 assists for 26 points. In 15-16 in 34 games Leone posted 6 goals and 14 assists for 20 points.

In addition to his time in the BCHL, Leone has 70 career WHL games with the Vancouver Giants and Swift Current Broncos.

Five other players will serve as assistant captains this season. Twenty year old forward Cam Bertsch will serve as an alternate captain for all games for the Express this season. Domenic Masellis and Keegan Jones will serve as alternates when the Express wear their black uniforms. Blake Hayward and Alex Ambrosio will serve as alternates when the Express wear their whites.

Coquitlam Express Head Coach and GM Barry Wolff says "We are very proud of this leadership group and hope that they can lead us toward a successful 2016-17 BCHL."

The Express will kick off their 15th BCHL season Friday September 9th in Surrey.

KAILA TRADED TO BULLDOGS

 Wednesday the Express traded defenseman Malik Kaila (96) to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs for future considerations. 

The Express had acquired the rights to Malik earlier on the off-season for future considerations on June 22, 2016 from the Merritt Centennials. 

Kaila will be entering his 20 year old season during the 2016-17 BCHL campaign. 

The Express will open their 2016-17 season Friday September 9th in Surrey. 

EXPRESS WIN EXHIBITION FINALE

Jake Toor scored twice - Photo courtesy of Damon James

The Express wrapped up their exhibition schedule with a 5-2 win in Port Coquitlam over the Surrey Eagles.

Sam Kozlowski (9) - Photo courtesy of Damon James

Goaltender Lawson Fenton went the distance for the Express and had to come up with a number of saves in the opening minutes of the game thanks to a pair of Surrey powerplays.

Jake Toor opened the scoring for the Express 8:38 into the first period set up by Cam Bertsch.

The Eagles outshot the Express 12-6, but the hosts came out of the opening 20 minutes with a 1-0 lead.

Sam Kozlowski extended the Express lead three minutes into the second period converting a set up from Owen Stout and sliding it past Daniel Davidson.

Davidson played half the game for the Eagles allowing two goals on 12 shots.

Jackson Ross got the Eagles on the board midway through the second period by firing a screened point shot past Lawson Fenton.

Blake Hayward - Photo courtesy of Damon James

Back to back Surrey penalites just 8 seconds apart gave the Express a 5 on 3 for two minutes, but despite plenty of pressure the Express couldn't extend their lead.

Blake Hayward had one of the best scoring chances of the game, but somehow couldn't bang home a loose puck in front of the net. Hayward would make amends however in the dying seconds of the second period by snapping home a shot from the left wing assisted by Mitch Newsome and Owen Stout.

Jake Toor added his second of the net converting a pass from behind the net from Brett Didyk for a 4-1 Express lead.

Owen Stout - Photo courtesy of Damon James

The teams traded goals in the final minutes of the game with Mitchell Williams scoring for Surrey with the goalie pulled, then Luca Leone hit the empty net for an unassisted marker just over a minute later to round out the scoring.

Lawson Fenton finished with 27 saves on 29 Eagles shots.

In addition to Jake Toor's two goals, Owen Stout had a pair of assists.

The Express and Eagles will get re-acquainted when the season begins for real next Friday at the South Surrey Arena.