EAGLES @ EXPRESS HIGHLIGHTS

Here's the highlights from Coquitlam's 5-1 home ice win over the Surrey Eagles Wednesday night.



Highlights courtesy of Cary Derksen.

EXPRESS SPLIT FINAL 2 WEEKEND GAMES

The Express made it 3 consecutive wins on Saturday night with a 5-1 win over the Merritt Centennials.

The powerplay got the home team off to a fast start with markers from Steve Axford and Brad Reid.

The turning point came in the 2nd period again on special teams. With Riley Mcintosh and Matt Hutchinson in the box, the Cents had a 5 on 3 advantage for over a minute. It was the biggest test of the season for the struggling Express PK which met the challenge. Luke Hernandez came up with a game turning save robbing Max Vallis with a great right pad save on a back door feed. That sequence set the tone for the first perfect night on the penalty kill for the Express of the season.

That prevented the Cents from getting some life. Coquitlam killed off the penalties and took advantage of the momentum. Minutes later Brad Reid scored his second of the game to open up a 3-0 Express lead.

The Express extended their lead in the third period with Austin Carroll re-directing Matt Mazzarolo's point shot for his first BCHL goal to give the Express a 4-0 lead. Then Riley Mcintosh made a great heads up slap pass to Garrick Perry who tipped it home for the Express' 3rd powerplay goal of the game.

Kameran Crawford spoiled Luke Hernandez's shutout bid with a screened point shot with less than 3 minutes to go to round out the scoring.

Less than 24 hours later the Express were right back at it for their third game of the weekend in Surrey. It was a re-match from Friday's game where the Express knocked off the Eagles 3-2 in the home opener.

Surrey was looking for a measure of revenge on home ice and to try and snap a 2 game losing streak.

Coquitlam opened the scoring on a quick transition play which resulted in Zac Ashdown scoring on a breakaway midway through the first period.

But the lead didn't last long. Just 36 seconds later off a won faceoff in the Express zone Eric Cooper wired a shot over the shoulder of Khaleed Devji to tie it up.

Then Mike Krogvich gave the Eagles their first lead on a powerplay roofing a feed from behind the Express net over the shoulder of Devji.

Surrey added another before the period was done. Jeff Vanderlugt used his size to come down the right wing and protect the puck. Then fire a perfect pass on the tape of Bradley McGowan who re-directed it over Devji to give Surrey 3 unanswered goals to end the 1st period.

The Express chipped away at Surrey's lead in the 2nd period with Destry Straight scoring his second goal of the season sliding it past Andrew Hunt early in the middle frame. Then with the Express on the powerplay, Jason Grecica pulled the Express even scoring his second goal in as many games vs. his old mates at 15:33.

With momentum in their back pocket, the Express had a chance following Grecica's goal to take the lead for the second time with a powerplay.

But the Eagles swung the game in their favour as the Morley brothers broke out shorthanded and Brandon put it in front for Tyler who re-stored the Surrey lead with a shorthanded goal. It was the first shorthanded goal allowed by the Express this season.

Then in the third the Eagles pulled away with goals from Micheal Stenerson, Jeff Vanderlugt and Brandon Morley's first BCHL goal to make the final 7-3 in favour of the Eagles.

The rubber match of the 3 games in less than a week between the Express and Eagles will go Wednesday night at the Coquitlam Sports Centre.

CHAD GRISDALE INTERVIEW

Friday night I interviewed BCHL Comissioner John Grisdale. Saturday I interviewed his son Chad who was the Express original captain in the 01-02 season.

We took a walk down memory lane about the Express first season. And caught up what he is doing now with his life.

Enjoy.

Click to hear from Chad.
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CENTENNIALS @ EXPRESS HIGHLIGHTS

Here's the highlights from Saturday's 5-1 win over the Merritt Centennials.



Highlights courtesy of Cary Derksen.

EAGLES @ EXPRESS HIGHLIGHTS

Here's the highlights from the Express 4-2 win over the Surrey Eagles at the home opener Friday night.

Highlights courtesy of Cary Derksen.

EXPRESS WIN IN RETURN TO COQUITLAM

It was 5 1/2 years between home games for the Express at the Coquitlam Sports Centre. And last night the Express made it a memorable night with a 4-2 win over the Surrey Eagles on this historic occasion.

It didn't take long for the Express to give the home fans, some new faithful and some old faces from the first go round in Coquitlam something to cheer about.

Just 4 and a half minutes into the game Garrick Perry drove the puck hard to the net. And former Eagle Jason Grecica was there to bang home the loose puck for his first goal of the season to open the scoring.

Then just 3 and a half minutes later the Express struck again. Destry Straight did some nice work to bounce off a check along the boards. Then put a pass on the tape of Brad Reid who slid home his 4th goal of the season to give the Express a 2-0 lead.

The game marked the Express debut of Matt Mazzarolo who was acquired from the Surrey Eagles earlier this week.

The veteran defenceman got involved in the game physically early getting re-acquainted with his old mates. Including exchanging hits with Mike Krgovich.

Coquitlam went to the dressing room after 20 minutes with their 2 goal advantage.

Two of the biggest keys for the Express to be successful was to stay disciplined and shut down their top line of Richard Vanderhoek, Bradley McGowan and Jeff Vanderlugt.

Vanderhoek entered the game leading the BCHL in scoring with 16 points. And McGowan and Vanderlugt were right there with him among the top scorers in the league.

That line has done almost all of the scoring for the Eagles in this young season. Most of that damage was done on the powerplay which went 14/26 53.84% in their 3 game sweep of a Island road trip last weekend.

Surrey got their chance to get back into the game early in the second period with a powerplay. And they took advantage with Mitch Jones sending a nice pass down low to McGowan who quickly slid it across to Vanderlugt to buried the feed to get the Eagles on the board.

The Eagles powerplay struck again in the second period with Richard Vanderhoek blasting a shot past Khaleed Devji from the high slot to tie the game. And just like that, the Eagles powerplay turned the game around striking on both of their 2nd period powerplays.

With a 2 goal lead erased entering the third period, the Express didn't show any signs of being rattled. They stuck to their game plan and worked on just continuing their attack.

This young season so far, the Express have shown that their best period is the third. That trend continued Friday night.

Alex Petan, who missed the last 2 games with an illness broke the deadlock 5:21 into the third as he picked off a Eric Cooper pass in the high slot and wired a wrist shot past Andrew Hunt for his second goal of the season.

Now that the Express had the lead again, it was time to shut it down. They calmly stayed composed and executed the game plan. Trying to keep the puck 200 feet away from their own net as much as possible. When defending, protect the middle of the ice, block shots and keep the Eagle skaters to the outside.

Surrey had their chances in the third period with a pair of power plays. But when it mattered most, the Express PK rose to the challenge and kept the Eagles off the scoresheet. Much like last weekend in Prince George with Express killing off a key penalty to Riley Mcintosh.

Garrick Perry iced the win for the Express when he took advantage of another Eagles in zone gaffe intercepting a cross ice pass then diving and poking the loose puck into the empty net to seal the win.

The win for the Express is their biggest to date this young season. It was a test to truly see what this team is made of against one of the league's better teams this young season. They rose to the challenge and conquered it.

5 on 5 is when the Express were at their best. They limited the quality scoring chances against. The Eagles top line didn't have a lot of great chances. And it was on the powerplay where they did their damage. The Express limited the Eagles to just 26 shots. Goaltender Khaleed Devji turned 24 of them aside to pick up his second win.

The 26 shots allowed was the first time this season the Express were able to allow fewer than 30 shots on goal. The Express fired 34 shots the way of Eagles cage.

Quietly the Express have managed 34 shots on goal in 4 of their first 5 games this season.

The Express are right back at it Saturday night when the 1-5 Merritt Centennials come to town. Then the Express have a re-match with the Surrey Eagles Sunday afternoon at 4.

JOHN GRISDALE INTERVIEW

Friday night I had a chance to speak with BCHL Comissioner John Grisdale. We covered a number of topics. The return of the Express to Coquitlam, his son Chad's experience with the Express in their first season in 01-02, the Vernon Vipers back to back National Championships, and the fall of the Williams Lake Timberwolves.

Enjoy...

Click to hear from John.
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EXPRESS SPECIAL PULL OUT SECTION

Flip to page 19 for the special section on the Express. And my stories on David Jones, Andrew Ladd, Brandon Yip, Milan Lucic and Kyle Turris.

Stories courtesy of Coquitlam Now.

Open publication - Free publishing - More bc

EXPRESS ACQUIRE MAZZAROLO

The Express picked up some much needed veteran experience on the blueline. Matt Mazzarolo comes to the Express from the Surrey Eagles in exchange for future considerations.

Mazzarolo (90) is in his 3rd BCHL season has 116 career BCHL games with 5 goals and 19 assists for 24 points.

He gives the Express some size on the backend standing at 6'3 and weighing in at 200lbs.

Mazzarolo became expendable for the Eagles when Mike Krogovich returned to the club and the Eagles needed to open up a 20 year old spot.

EXPRESS SPLIT NORTHERN TRIP

The Express went 1-1 in their 2 game northern road swing this weekend.

They lost 3-1 to open the trip Friday in Quesnel. Then bounced back Saturday with a 4-3 win in Prince George.

Clayton Chessa scored a pair of goals for Quesnel with Spencer Graboski setting him up each time.

The turning point came in the second period just seconds after Mitchell Deacon scored his first BCHL goal on a perfect feed from Zac Ashdown re-directing the pass home. That goal cut the Quesnel lead to 2-1. But just 20 seconds later Sterling Bear banged home a loose puck to re-store Quesnel's two goal lead.

Khaleed Devji took the loss. But he was the difference from the outcome being worse. He made some spectacular saves among the 36 shots sent his way.

The Express were without defenceman Jared Eng who stayed home with a minor injury. His absence had the biggest impact on the Express powerplay which went 0/6.

Quesnel's second period powerplay goal came on their first powerplay of the night.

24 hours later Jon Calvano was hoping for a much better start from his hockey club in Prince George.

That's exactly what he got. The Express opened the scoring on Massimo Lamacchia's 3rd goal of the season on a tap in after Jason Grecica re-directed a Garrick Perry shot.

Coquitlam dominated the shots on goal in the first half of the first period jumping out to a early 11-0 advantage. Prince George didn't register their first shot on Luke Hernandez until the 9 minute mark.

Click to hear Riley Mcintosh level Justin Fillion.

The Express juggled some of their top 2 lines on this night. Taking Garrick Perry off the unit with Reid and Destry Straight. Perry played with Massimo Lamacchia and Jason Grecica. Zac Ashdown moved up to the line with Reid and Straight. The move appeared to spark the 2nd year Express. Ashdown took a feed from Straight on transition and slid a wrist shot through the legs of Kirk Thompson for his first goal of the season at 11:56.

Click to hear Ashdown's first period goal.

Prince George started to turn the game around in the 2nd half of the opening period. Jujar Khaira scored his first BCHL goal on a late first period powerplay. The Express have now allowed a powerplay goal in each of their first shorthanded situations in all 4 games this young season.

Brendon Fornwald was assesed a hooking penalty at 11:49. He then got his message across to referee Justin Neufeld and the man in stripes gave him an extra 2 minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct.

It took the Express just 9 seconds to capitalize on the opportunity. Brad Reid put a perfect pass on the tape of Ashdown who re-directed it home for his second of the night from the lip of the crease.

Inspite of the Express lead, it was the Spruce Kings with the edge in play. Khaira added his second powerplay goal of the game and the Express lead was down to 3-2 after 40 minutes. Prince George outshot the Express 16-10 in the second period. And a shot advatage that was once 11-0 for the Express, was now just 28-27 for Coquitlam after 40 minutes.

Prince George completed their comeback early in the third when Chris Bodo poked home a loose puck lying in the goal crease.

The captain then came up with a perfect time for his first goal of the season. Off the faceoff in the defensive zone, Garrick Perry pushed the play forward and cut to the Spruce Kings net and fired home the go ahead goal for the Express at 5:11.

Click to hear Perry's game winning goal.

Prince George pressed hard in the final 15 minutes, but couldn't get another puck past Luke Hernandez who had an outstanding outing stopping 44 of the 47 shots sent his way for his first BCHL win.

Riley Mcintosh was a dominant force for the Express on the blueline. He blocked a countless number of shots and passes. He controlled the pace of the play for the Express coming out of their own zone with his speed and skill.

Mcintosh had 2 anxious minutes late in the third period with him on the penalty box for hooking. But the young Express defence came up with their biggest kill of the game that allowed the Express to preserve the win.

Steve Axford didn't hit the scoresheet. But had a great game just doing the little things right.

Brad Reid created numerous chances for himself. But just couldn't find the net on this night. But like he told me afterwards, "The win is what matters most."

The Express finished the first 4 road games on the season with a 2-1-1 record picking up 5 of a possible 8 points.

Up next is the home opener Friday vs. the Surrey Eagles.

Shots:

Express 37

Spruce Kings 47

Powerplays:

Express 1/2

Sprce Kings 1/5

My 3 stars:

3. Zac Ashdown scored his first 2 goals of the season.

2. Riley Mcintosh best player on the ice for both teams. Was dominant all night.

1. Luke Hernadez 44 saves for his first BCHL win.

EXPRESS ROAD GAMES ON USTREAM

Due to some technical problems with the broadcast on Saturday, and if you didn't see the link here on the blog or on the BCHL message board, you probably didn't have a chance to check out the game.

Starting Friday in Quesnel, the games will be broadcast on ustream. They will still be available on the BCHL website. But I will add a link to the blog for you to listen to the games as well.

Here is the link for the Express road broadcast page.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/coquitlam-express-broadcast

EXPRESS PICK UP 1ST WIN

Coach Jon Calvano and rookie goaltender Khlaeed Devji each picked up their first BCHL wins as the Express knocked off the Cowichan Valley Capitals 5-3 Saturday night.

Jordan Grant for the Caps and Alex Petan for the Express traded 1st period power play goals and the teams were even at 1 through 20 minutes.

Massimo Lamacchia scored for the 2nd straight night with a point shot that hit the stick of a Caps player and handcuffed Alex Peck to give the Express a 2-1 lead.

The lead didn't last long as just over 3 minutes later Troy Paterson wired a slap shot through Devji to tie the game.

The Express red hot powerplay struck again in the third period to restore the lead. Riley McIntosh scored his first goal on a cheeky little play. He fired a feathery soft point shot that got past a screened Alex Peck. The screen was just as crafty as the shot as Jason Grecica was screening the goaltender and got out of the way just in the knick of time to avoid getting hit by the shot. The Caps goaltender had no clue where that puck was.

The goal for Mcintosh was his first in 139 games regular season and playoffs. (138 WHL/1 BCHL) dating back to November 30 2007 when he was a member of the Kelowna Rockets.

Then just 17 seconds later Destry Straight scored what would turn out to be the game winner as Garrick Perry led him with a pass and he cut to the net and beat Peck with a great shot beating him top shelf short side for his first BCHL goal.

The Caps had a chance to pull back within one when Matt Hutchinson was called for hooking at 12:09. The Express came up with a clutch kill to keep the lead at two. In fact it was the first penalty killed off in 4 shorthanded situations this season for the Express.

Shawn Mueller did pull Cowichan within one sliding the puck under Devji on a one timer at 17:43.

Cowichan pressed hard in the final 2:17, but the Express didn't break under the pressure and Brad Reid sealed the win with an empty net goal at 19:51 for his 3rd goal in this young season.

Devji stopped 28 of the 31 shots sent his way. This following a strong relief performance 24 hours earlier in Victoria.

Shots:

Coquitlam 24

Cowichan 31

3 stars:

3-Austin Evans - 1 assist in a losing cause.

2-Khaleed Devji - 28 saves for first BCHL win.

1-Garrick Perry - Assisted on Straight's game winning goal, and Reid insurance marker into the empty net.

Up next, the Express stay on the road for games next weekend in Quesnel and Prince George.

EXPRESS CAPS BROADCAST AVAILABLE HERE

http://bchl.insinc.com/audio_player/audio_player.php?stream=bchl-burnaby.asx

RESILIANT EXPRESS FALL IN OT TO GRIZZ

It was a wild and entertaining season opener for the Coquitlam Express. But at the end of the night they found themselves on the losing end of a 6-5 OT decision to the Victoria Grizzlies.

The result certainly wasn't from a lack of effort or entertainment. The game was a back and forth affair as the game progressed.

Victoria got off to a quick start with Joel Lowry banging home a loose puck at the lip of the crease for a power play goal just 1:36 into the game.

Victoria added to their lead when Dylan Nowakowski chipped a loose puck over a sprawled out Luke Hernandez to give Victoria a 2-0 lead at the 10:00 mark.

Steven Axford cut the Grizz lead to one just minutes later wiring a wrist shot past Matt Ginn at 14:03.

Then with Massimo Lamacchia in the box for holding, Victoria re-stored their 2 goal advantage when Lowry banged home his own rebound just 3 minutes after Axford's tally for his second powerplay goal of the period.

Victoria out shot the Express 16-7 in the opening 20 minutes. And that is reflective of Victoria's control of the puck in the Express zone for a good portion of the first period.

It wasn't a good start for new head coach Jon Calvano. He sent a message to the troops for the start of the 2nd period when Khaleed Devji came out for the start of the period to replace Hernanadez.

The 17 year old product of the Grandview Steelers came in and stablized the Express crease. And Coquitlam started to turn the game in their favour.

Glorious chances started to come the Express way, Garrick Perry had a pair, Steve Axford had a great opportunity to pull the puck around Ginn. But the Victoria netminder was doing all he could to keep Victoria in a 2 goal buldge.

Coquitlam did pull back within one on the powerplay when Jaden Schmisser's point shot was stopped, but Jesse Halikas was there to bang home the rebound at 10:31.

Just 4 minutes later however, this back and forth game resumed. Madison Dias poked a loose puck under Devji to re-store Victoria's 2 goal lead which they took to the locker room.

Coach Calvano continued to make adjustments as the game went on.

One of the most prominent saw rookie Destry Straight get promoted to the top line with Garrick Perry and Brad Reid.

That line showed some magic to open the 3rd period. Reid and Straight came in on a 2 on 1 break, Reid took the shot and Ginn made the save, then the rebound was lying in the crease for Straight to bang home. But somehow Ginn fired out the left leg and took a gift wrapped goal away from the Express youngster.

As the second period progressed and the third began, the Express started to pick up their play and put more pressure on the Grizzlies. They weathered Victoria's early storm, were a little battered, but showed strong signs of recovery.

Less than 5 minutes into the third period the Express got back within a goal when Massimo Lamacchia scored directly off a faceoff by going straight forward on the draw and firing it past Ginn.

Then the top line struck to pull the Express even. Straight continuing his strong play with the top line put a perfect pass on the tape of Brad Reid who buried it at 11:23. So the Express had erased a 2 goal 3rd period lead for Victoria.

The back and forth game continued when just 2:23 later Victoria re-stored their lead when Pierce Eviston roofed a loose puck over Devji to give Victoria a 5-4 lead.

Calvano came right back and sent out their top line again and they got the job done. Straight continuing his strong play came down the left wing fired a shot, and Brad Reid jammed home the rebound to tie the game at 5 with his second of the period just 1:23 after Eviston's tally.

From there, this wild game went to overtime.

Victoria opened the overtime with a flurry of nearly 2 minutes of puck possession in the Express zone.

The best Express chance in overtime came when Riley Mcintosh rushed the puck up the ice, his wrist shot caught a piece of Ginn's glove and was lying in the crease, Lamacchia went to jam it in but was checked on the play.

Then Victoria was awarded a great chance to win it when Brad Reid hooked Wesly Myron and Myron was awarded a penalty shot. Myron went eye to eye with Devji who stared him down and came up with a clutch save to keep the game going.

But Myron would get some measure of revenge moments later when he put a pass on the tape of former Express Ryan Stanimir who slid the puck under Devji to give Victoria the 6-5 OT win.

The Express can be proud of the effort they put forth in this game. They didn't give up, and battled hard to get themselves in a position to tie it and eventually get it to overtime.

Matt Ginn may have allowed 5 goals in this game, but he may have been one of the biggest reasons the Express didn't pull it out in regulation with some of the saves he made.

Shots:

Express - 36

Grizzlies - 40

Powerplays:

Express - 0/3

Grizzlies - 2/2

3 stars:

3 - Brad Reid - 2 third period game tying goals.

2 - Pierce Eviston - 1 goal and 1 assist.

1 - Joel Lowry - 2 goals and 1 assist. His line that included Madison Dias and Ryan Stanimir were a threat every time they were on the ice.

The road trip will continue Saturday in Cowichan.

PERRY EXPRESS CAPTAIN FOR 10-11

COQUITLAM, B.C. – The Coquitlam Express begin their 2010-11 campaign with a new home at the Poirier Sports & Leisure Complex, a new Head Coach in Jon Calvano and new leadership on and off the ice as Calvano named his captains for the season.

Garrick Perry, an Apple Valley, Minnesota native, who returns to the Express for his third season was named Captain by the coaching staff. Perry led the team last season in goals with 29 and is eager to take on the role of captain.

“I’m very humbled to be given this opportunity and to represent the Express,” Perry said.
“This is a great organization that I have had the pleasure of being a part of the past two seasons and I also look forward to working with my teammates in bringing the Express back to the top of the BCHL.”

Calvano chose Perry based on his commitment to the Express over the last two seasons and his overall leadership to the team as a 20-year old.

“With this season being his final season of Junior Hockey eligibility, he has shown a tremendous work ethic on and off the ice and a personality that makes the other kids gravitate to him,” Calvano stated.

Fellow 20-year old B.C. natives Brad Reid and Riley McIntosh were named Assistant Captains and will wear the “A” on their Express sweaters this season. Massimo Lamacchia, a 19-year old Ontario native was also named an assistant captain.

EXPRESS TOP 10 COMING

This upcoming season will be number 10 for the Express in the BCHL. So as recognition of a decade in the BCHL, I will produce a series of features that will air on the broadcasts then get posted on the blog throughout the season of the top 10 moments in Express franchise history.

I have yet to completely figure out the order in which they will be unveiled, but you will certainly know as I get closer to finalizing every thing.

So stay tuned to the broadcasts and the blog in the days and weeks to come as this countdown gets rolling.

MCLELLAN TO FACE OLD TEAM FRIDAY

Tomorrow's pre-season finale just got a little more intriguing with former Express head coach Dave Mclellan being behind the bench helping SFU this season.

Here's the story from the Tri City News.

Dave McLellan has a new team and the first squad it will face, ironically, is his old one.

McLellan joined the Simon Fraser Clan men’s hockey program coaching staff for the upcoming B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League season, it was announced Wednesday. First on the squad’s agenda is to square off tonight (Friday) in an exhibition game versus the Coquitlam Express. Puck drop at the Sports Centre is 7 p.m.

McLellan joins SFU following five seasons with the B.C. Hockey League’s Express, including the last three years as the team’s head coach. He was fired afte last season and replaced by Jon Calvano. The Jr. ‘A’ Express spent the past five seasons playing out of Burnaby before returning this season to their original home, Coquitlam.

His experience with the Express included a Royal Bank Cup national championship as an assistant coach in 2006 when current NHLer Kyle Turris of the Phoenix Coyotes helped lead the club to victory. At SFU, McLellan will work primarily with the team’s defencemen.

“Dave has a great deal of experience and success coaching at a high level of junior hockey,” said SFU general manager Jeff Dubois. “He’s familiar with a number of our players from his time with the Express and it’s going to be a tremendous benefit having him on board with our program this season.”

Tri-City players currently on the SFU team roster include defenceman Kyle Boyko of Anmore and forward Kyle Leung of Port Coquitlam.

Previously, McLellan spent 10 summers in Japan from 1999 through 2008 working in player development with the Nippon Paper Cranes, a professional team in the Asian league. He worked alongside former NHL coach Dave King during the decade he spent overseas.

“It was a really neat opportunity,” said McLellan, who also spent time with the Japanese national team. “To meet a guy [like Dave King] with that much experience and take over a program that was already entrenched, I learned a lot. From a technical level, it was great to learn how to work with a pro and he certainly gave some good guidance.”

CHIEFS DERAIL EXPRESS EARLY AND OFTEN

The Express saw their pre-season record fall to 3-2 after a 7-5 set back vs. the Langley Chiefs Thursday night.

It was a much different story 24 hours later for Robin Billingham and the Express.

After a 23 save on 24 shot performance in the 2nd half yesterday in Surrey, Thursday Billingham allowed 6 goals in the first period on 16 shots.

Langley's top line of Matt Ius, Josh Meyers and Brad McBride were dominant in the opening period. Ius opened the scoring just 6 seconds into the game. McBride had made it 2-0 by the time the game was just 34 seconds old.

Once the dust had settled after the opening period, the Chiefs took a 6-0 lead to the locker room.

Langley's top line of Ius, McBride and Meyers had combined for 4 goals and 5 assists for 9 points in the first period.

Robin Billingham's night was done after a 7th goal on the 25th shot sent his way at the 9:48 mark of the 2nd period.

Brad Reid scored the Express' lone goal in the 2nd period. The Express veteran had a chance for a second goal in the period but couldn't beat Wyatt Galley on a penalty shot.

Langley took their foot off the gas pedal in the third period resting their top line.

To the Express credit they didn't give up in the third period and battled back to make the final outcome more respectable.

Coquitlam scored 4 goals in the third period including Reid's second of the game. Destry Straight had a pair of goals and Paul De Jersey had the other Express marker.

Newly acquired Jared Eng made his Express exhibition debut and added a pair of assists.

Khaleed Devji was perfect stopping all 12 shots sent his way in 30:12 of action.

The shots finished even at 37 apiece. Coquitlam went 2/11 on the powerplay while Langley went 0/7.

The pre-season schedule wraps up Friday night at the Coquitlam Sports Centre vs. Simon Fraser University.

EXPRESS ACQUIRE ENG

The Express have added some help on the backend acquiring defenceman Jared Eng from the Victoria Grizzlies in exchange for future considerations.

This gives the Express another experienced defenceman. Something that was lacking when training camp opened.

Eng (92) is entering his second season in the BCHL. Last year in Victoria the North Vancouver native posted 3 goals and 14 assists for 17 points in 48 games. Eng also played 1 game as an AP with the Express in the 08-09 season.

Personally, I like this move very much as the Express have picked up a player who can help the powerplay, move the puck and be a vital piece to the Express defence for years to come.

Coach Jon Calvano is very familiar with Jared as he played under coach Calvano with the Vancouver North West Giants (BCMML).

Click below to hear from Coach Jon Calvano and Jared Eng.

EXPRESS HOLD ON FOR WIN VS. SURREY

The Express bent, but didn't break in a 3-2 win over the Surrey Eagles.

Surrey outshot the Express 44-29 in the game, but it was the men between the pipes for the Express who stood tall.

Goaltenders Luke Hernandez and Robin Billingham had very strong outings splitting duties in the crease. Hernandez got the start and stopped 20 of 21 shots in 30:35 of action. Robin Billingham played the final 30:25 and stopped 22 of the 23 shots he faced, including 16 of 17 pucks sent his way in the third period.

After a scoreless first period, Brad Reid and Konrad Sander scored goals just under 4 minutes apart to give the Express a 2-0 lead.

Surrey responded to pull even after Tyler Morley scored at 9:44 of the third period.

Destry Straight broke the dead lock with 4:41 to go and the Express held on the rest of the way.

The win improved the Express pre-season record to 3-1. They will play again Thursday night vs. the Langley Chiefs at the Burnaby Winter Club. The exhibition schedule will wrap up Friday night vs. SFU at the Coquitlam Sports Centre.