YEAR END HIGHLIGHT PACK

Cary Derksen finished off his fine work this season by putting together a year end highlight pack.

Enjoy...



See you in Coquitlam.

EXPRESS END SEASON WITH A WIN

The Express time in Burnaby came to an end on a winning note with a 8-7 shootout win over the Williams Lake Timberwovles in the final game of the season.

The game was a wild back and forth affair. Especially in the third period with each team scoring 4 times. The Express opened the third with a 4-3 lead. Then took a 6-4 lead on powerplay goals by Chris Van Duynhoven his first goal of the season and Dylan Herold.

The T-Wolves cut the lead back down to one, then James Bettauer re-stored Burnaby's 7-5 lead with Burnaby's 3rd powerplay goal of the third period with 4:52 remaining and it appeared that victory was in the grasp of the Express.

But Williams Lake didn't go down without a fight, then all of a sudden the game was even again on goals by Ryan Stanimir and Jason Diehl 1:35 apart to even the score at 7.

And just when it appeared overtime might be required, Garrick Perry busted down the right wing and wired a shot past Sean Donnelly to give the Express an 8-7 lead.

Burnaby held on the rest of the way to pick up the win and end the season on a positive note.

The win was just the 2nd road win for the Express since the end of September.

18-36-0-6 for 42 points was the final record for the Express this season. It's very similar to the 18-35-1-6 for 43 points mark that the Express posted last season.

Earlier this week, Quesnel scored 4 first period goals including 3 in a 2:02 span late in the first period en route to a 4-1 win over the Express Friday night. Nick Enegren took the loss. Kolby Kulhanek scored the lone goal for the Express.

The next night in Prince George, Paul De Jersey scored his first two goals of the season in a 5:06 span. De Jersey also added an assist for a 3 point outing but it wasn't enough as the Spruce Kings knocked off the Express 5-4.

The story of the game was the play of Andrew Walsh who stopped 42 of the 46 shots sent his way including all 22 in the third period backstopping Prince George to victory.

KING RICHARD BRODEUR INTERVIEW

During the first intermission of Sunday's game vs. the Cowichan Valley Capitals I had a chance to interview former Vancouver Canuck goaltender King Richard Brodeur.

We covered a number of topics, including working as the Express goaltending coach, participating in the Olympic torch relay, a preview of the Olympic hockey tournament, and the Olympic experience in Vancouver.

Click below to hear from "King Richard".

EXPRESS AWARD WINNERS

Prior to Sunday's home finale vs. the Capitals, the Express handed out their year end awards.

Here's the list of winners for the 09-10 season.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Brodie Jamieson

UNSUNG HERO: Chris Van Duynhoven

OUTSTANDING DEFENCEMAN: Simon Denis

MOST POPULAR PLAYER: Garrick Perry

SCHOLASTIC AND COMMUNITY INVOLVMENT: Dylan Herold

TOP FORWARD: Brad Reid

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: Nick Enegren

MVP: Brad Reid

EXPRESS WIN FINAL GAME IN BURNABY

Sunday the Express played their final home game ever in Burnaby. The Express left the Bill Copeland Sports Centre on a winning note with a 5-3 win over the Cowichan Valley Capitals.

Garrick Perry led the Express attack with a pair of goals. He now leads the Express with 27 markers this season. Perry is one up on Brad Reid who put the game away with an empty net goal at the final horn.

The game was a back and forth affair with Perry opened the scoring in the opening period.

But by the time the 2nd period was 30 seconds old Cowichan Valley had a 2-1 lead.

Zac Ashdown pulled the Express even with a shorthanded goal after Brad Reid's pressure resulted in Laurent Brossoit coughing up the puck and Ashdown wiring the puck into the vacated cage.

Ryan Green re-stored Cowichan Valley's lead off the rush wiring a wrist shot over the shoulder of Robin Billingham.

Perry pulled the Express even before the period was done when he played catch with Kolby Kulhanek, then Perry roofed a backhand over the glove of the Caps goaltender.

The game remained tied until Rich Manley broke the deadlock on a scramble in front of the Caps net with less than 3 minutes remaining in the third period.

Robin Billingham stopped 18 of 21 Capital shots for his first BCHL win.

The Express will wrap up the season next weekend on the road in Quesnel, Prince George and Williams Lake.

THANK YOU BURNABY

As the Express prepare for this afternoon's game vs. the Cowichan Valley Capitals, we are reminded that today's game at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre is the final game the Express will play in Burnaby.

With no playoffs in the Express future, it's time to reflect on the Express' time in Burnaby where they have called home for 5 seasons.

It needs to be said that the team's time in Burnaby can't be forgotten. A significant portion of the Express history was played on Joe Sakic way.

While in Burnaby, the Express carved out a history with moments and achievements that will forever be a part of the story of this franchise in the BCHL.

The Express came to Burnaby following the 04-05 season with a 5 year lease agreement for the use of the Bill Copeland Sports Centre.

Things couldn't have gotten off to a better start for the Express in their new home. In year one the Express went straight to the top of the Canadian Junior A Hockey mountain winning the Royal Bank Cup.

That run alone has so many memories along the way that will last a life time for the many people who have followed this Express team.

Who can forget the feeling when the Express finally knocked off their long time rivals the Chilliwack Chiefs in a playoff series in the second round with a 6-3 win in game 5 in Chilliwack. Tyler McNeely, had a hat-trick in that game to cap off a fantastic series.

That series win felt like the Express had won a championship. The jubilation of that series win, erased the sting of the first 4 seasons of the Express existence in which the Express were eliminated by the Chiefs in the first round. The previous 3 years the Express lost in game 7 in Chilliwack.

The second round triumph proved to be a spring board for that team and gave them the confidence that they could do something special that spring.

A few weeks later on a Easter Monday at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre Tyler McNeely capped off his outstanding BCHL playoff run by scoring the overtime winner in game 6 of the BCHL Finals to clinch the BCHL championship.

McNeely led all BCHL playoff scorers in 2006 with 37 points in 20 games.

From there it was off to Fort McMurray to face the Oil Barons for the Doyle Cup. The Express took a 3-2 series lead into game 6 at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre.

The Express scored early and Keith Seabrook scored often finishing with a hat-trick in a 6-0 white washing to punch the Express ticket to the Royal Bank Cup.

At the RBC, the Express started off slow losing their opening game in overtime to the Streetsville Derbys 4-3.

The Express bounced back to win all their games the rest of the way. The comeback in the semi finals vs. Fort William is stuff of legend in Express lore. The Express were down 2-0 with less than 2 minutes remaining. The Express got back within one, then Kyle Turris then tied the game with 11 seconds remaining.

In overtime Mark Soares wired a shot past Carter Hutton to advance the Express to the Royal Bank Cup Final.

In the RBC final, the Express finally hit their stride and dominated the Yorkton Terriers right from the drop of the puck. Kyle Turris played arguably one his best games ever finishing with 3 goals and 1 assist. He could have had 5 goals that night.

Burnaby trounced Yorkton 8-2 to bring the RBC back to Burnaby and became the first BCHL team to win the National Championship since the 1999 Vernon Vipers.

The following season, the Express returned with a roster that looked significantly different than the one that won it all. But they still had Kyle Turris. He would go on to tear up the BCHL like few had done in recent years. Turris scored 50 goals in his first 39 games. He finished the campaign with a BCHL leading 66 goals and his 121 points were second in the BCHL behind Tyler Bozak.

That season, many eyes were on the kid from New Westminister. He was the player to watch in the BCHL. Many NHL scouts were following his progress throughout the season.

After the season was done, Turris entered the NHL draft as the number 1 ranked North American skater among his draft class. In June he was selected 3rd overall by Wayne Gretzky and the Phoenix Coyotes. The highest ever a Junior A player had ever been drafted.

Year 3 in Burnaby the question was, who would fill the offensive void left behind by Turris, Jovan Matic, Tyler McNeely and Chris Rengert who combined piled up over 250 points between the 4 of them.

To help fill the void, Carlo Finucci who spent time tutoring under the names mentioned above, took full advantage of the opportunity to have the stage to himself. Finucci went in to win the BCHL scoring championship with 102 points. Finucci became the first player in Express history to lead the league in scoring.

Brodie Reid who was acquired in the off-season, became the Express second player to score 50 goals in a season finishing with 52. And Cody Campbell his linemate had a very consistent season scoring 87 points.

The final 2 seasons certainly haven't been ones to remember in Burnaby with the Express finishing out of the playoffs each time.

But this piece is about remembering and never forgetting the Express time in Burnaby.

It's about remembering the players who laid down the foundation and helped create these wonderful memories.

It's about remembering if you see a player down the road continue his development and play professional hockey, possibly in the NHL, remember that he applied his trade in Burnaby Express colors.

Now to wrap, we have to thank the City of Burnaby and the Bill Copeland Sports Centre for providing the Express a home the last 5 seasons.

Our time here will never be forgotten with memories that will last a lifetime.

Thank you Burnaby.

KYLE TURRIS GOAL

This week former Express Kyle Turris scored a goal that was a thing of beauty vs. the Manitoba Moose.

Check out the video of it below.



Brian Munz with the Call on CJOB Radio in Winnipeg.

This season Turris has 11 goals and 20 asssits for 31 points in 46 games.

EXPRESS ELIMINATED FROM PLAYOFFS

There will be no BCHL playoffs for the Express for the second straight season.

The Express chances of game 61 and beyond were officially dashed Sunday when the Express lost to the Powell River Kings 6-5 in overtime Sunday afternoon combined with Cowichan Valley's 4-3 win over the Salmon Arm Silverbacks.

This weekend on the sunshine coast the Powell River Kings dominated the shots on goal both Saturday and Sunday. But the main reason the Kings didn't blow out the Express each night was the play of Robin Billingham. Saturday night he stood on his head especially in the first period stopping all 19 shots he faced. Many of those saves of the spectacular variety.

Sure the Kings eventually broke Billingham's dam on Saturday getting 6 pucks past him in the 6-2 Kings win. But were it not for Billingham's strong play, the Kings probably would have lit the Express up for double digits.

The unique story line about Saturday's performance was that Billingham played nearly 2 periods of that game with a wrong handed stick. Billingham broke both of his sticks shortly after the second period began, and he had to play the rest of the game with Nick Enegren's stick. Enegren's stick was for a left handed shooting goaltender. And with Billingham catching with his right hand, naturally he had a stick for a right handed shooting goaltender.

The Powell River Kings fired 57 shots the way of Billingham Saturday night and he was amazing stopping 51 shots.

In the rematch Sunday afternoon, the Express and Kings met in Gibsons in what was technically a home game for Burnaby.

The Express got off to a quick start jumping out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Brad Reid and Kulby Kulhanek. Justin Dasilva pulled the Kings back within one blasting a shot past Billingham and Burnaby took their 2-1 lead to the dressing room.

Again, the story in the first period was the play of Robin Billingham. He didn't have to be as spectacular like he was in the opening period Saturday night. But he still was the main reason why the Express took the lead to the room turning aside 11 of the 12 Kings shots.

Billingham didn't have to worry about playing this game with the wrong handed stick. The team made a stop at a local Canadian Tire and bought Billingham some new goal sticks.

Justin Dasilva wired another slap shot past Billingham off a faceoff to pull Powell River even in the second period.

The game didn't remain tied for long as Dylan Herold re-stored the Express lead picking the top corner of Micheal Garteig to give the Express a 3-2 lead.

Sunday's game was a real roller coaster affair between the two clubs. The Kings bounced back with a pair of goals by Ben Schmidt and Andrew Pettitt 5 minutes apart and the Kings took a 4-3 lead to the third period.

Burnaby pulled even with a powerplay goal in the opening minute of the third period. Simon Denis made one of the best back door passes you will ever see right on the tape of Garrick Perry who easily re-directed it past Garteig. The pass from Denis to Perry was a rocket that in fact broke Perry's stick.

Brad Reid restored Burnaby's lead by scoring a tap in with just under 12 minutes remaining in the third period. Reid and Perry are tied for the Express lead with 25 goals apiece.

The back and forth swings continued before the conclusion of the third period. Justin Dasilva fired a wrist shot that was tipped past Billingham by Daniel Carr with 3:46 remaining in the third period.

Powell River had their chances to try and win it before the end of regulation, but Billingham's spectacular play allowed the Express to take the game to overtime.

The extra session didn't last long as Justin Dasilva finished his strong game by picking up his 4th point when he fired the puck up to Chad Niddery who went one on one with Chris Van Duynhoven and Niddery wired a wrist shot over the shoulder of Billingham to give Powell River a 6-5 OT win. With the win, the Kings swept the 6 game season series with the Express.

Robin Billingham only saw 51 shots sent his way Sunday, but played his second straight strong game in the Express crease. His play prevented Powell River from lighting up the Express.

The line of Garrick Perry, Dylan Herold and Kolby Kulhanek lead the Express attack combining for 3 goals and 5 assists for 8 points. Brad Reid's 2 goal performance certainly deserves recognition as well.

Now that the Express fate has been sealed, there's just 4 games left to be played to finish the season. The Express will play their final game in Burnaby Sunday afternoon vs. the Cowichan Valley Capitals. The Express hoped this game would be the biggest of the season for Burnaby. But after what transpired this weekend, it wasn't meant to be. But a hat has to be tipped to the Cowichan Valley Capitals who took care of their own business by going on the road this weekend and winning 3 times.

The Express will wrap up the season in 2 weeks with games in Quesnel, Prince George and Williams Lake.

CHIEFS @ EXPRESS HIGHLIGHTS

Here's the highlights of Burnaby's 4-2 win over the Langley Chiefs Friday night.



Highlights courtesy of Cary Derksen and Purple Penguin Productions.

CAPTAIN DOES THE TRICK FOR EXPRESS VICTORY

Dylan Herold picked up his 2nd hat-trick in his Express career leading the Express to a 4-2 home ice win over the Langley Chiefs Friday night.

The captain was among a number of players busting slumps in the Express victory.

Herold's 3 goals snapped a string of 4 straight games without a point. He also only had just 1 goal and 1 assist in his previous 12 games.

Langley's Colton Beck opened the scoring on a 2 on 1 break in the first period which saw the two teams manage just 7 shots apiece.

The captain pulled the Express even in the second period when he cleanly won a draw back to Stefan Gonzales and his point shot was tipped over the shoulder of Mark Frisen by Herold.

Less than 3 minutes later the captain struck again as a shot from the wing was stopped by Friesen, but he couldn't reel the puck in allowing the play to continue.

Moments later, Kolby Kulhanek made a nice little back pass to Herold who had a tap in for his second of the night.

The Express took their lead to the dressing room. But they began the third period shorthanded with Chris Van Duynhoven in the box for boarding. That was followed by a Burnaby penalty in the opening seconds of the third period giving Langley a 5 on 3.

It was Brad Reid however finding the back of the net. Mark Friesen went out to play the puck and coughed it up and Reid buried it into the empty to give the Express a 3-1 lead.

The shorthanded goal for Reid continues his shorthanded dominance against the Chiefs this season. He now has 4 shorthanded goals vs. Langley this season. It was Reid's 6th shorthanded marker overall this season which puts him 1 off the Express record set by Kyle Turris in 05-06. Reid's 6 shorthanded goals also leads the BCHL.

The goal for Reid snapped his 5 game pointless streak.

Trevor Gerling pulled the Chiefs back within one re-directing a Dennis Robertson point shot at 5:03.

From then on Nick Enegren took over. He stopped the rest of the rubber sent his way.

Enegren turned aside a total of 18 of 19 Chief shots in the third period. And stopped 39 of the 41 shots sent his way over the course of 60 minutes.

The Express wrapped up the scoring when Dylan Herold completed his hat-trick by lifting a backhand from his own zone that dribbled into the empty net just before the clock hit 0:00.

Cowichan Valley didn't do the Express any favours as they remain 6 points up on Burnaby in the race for 7th as Mike Hammond continued his hot play with 1 goal and 1 assist as the Caps tied the game in the third period then won it in overtime defeating the Surrey Eagles 2-1.

Cowichan Valley continues their road swing in Merritt Saturday. Then they're in Salmon Arm on Sunday.

Burnaby now heads on the road for a pair of games this weekend vs. Powell River.

Sunday's game vs. the Kings will technically be a home game for the Express that will be played in Gibsons.

YIP HELPS LEADS AVS TO VICTORY

Former Express Brandon Yip continues his strong play with the Colorado Avalanche.

He scored a pair of goals in Colorado's 5-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets Tuesday night.





Yip now has 8 goals and 7 assists for 15 points in 19 games and is a +7.

EAGLES @ EXPRESS HIGHLIGHTS

Here's the highlights of Surrey's 5-1 win over the Express Saturday night at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre.



Highlights courtesy of Cary Derksen and Purple Penguin Productions.

EXPRESS RETURNING TO COQUITLAM

The return of the Express to Coquitlam for the 10-11 season is now finalized.

The City of Coquitlam and the Express have cleared the final hurdle and have reached a 3 year lease agreement for use of the renovated Coquitlam Sports Centre.

The deal was struck Monday night at a City of Coquitlam Council meeting.

Getting a lease agreement done was the last obstacle making the relocation of the Express official.

On December 1st, the Express officially filed their application to re-locate the club back to Coquitlam with the BCHL. Then back in the middle of January, the BCHL Board of Governors unanimously approved the Express application for re-location.

The Express originally played in Coquitlam for their first four seasons in the BCHL from 2001-2005. Then re-located to Burnaby for the 05-06 season.

Click below to hear from Express President & GM Darcy Rota.