WILD SEASON ENDER FINISHES IN TIE WITH CHIEFS

In their first meeting since game 7 of the 2004 playoffs, the Coquitlam Express and Chilliwack Chiefs finished a 6-6 tie to end the regular season for the Express.

Justin Georgeson and Brady Shaw each scored a pair of goals for the Express. The Chiefs meanwhile got hat-tricks from both Malcom Gould and Mathieu Tibbet to pace their offensive attack.

It was a back and forth game that saw the Express start fast. Brady Shaw scored his two goals in the first period to give the Express a 2-0 lead after the first period.

A powerplay goal by Justin Georgeson and a even strength marker from Jace Hennig in the second period opened up a 4-0 Express lead.

A goaltending change for the Chiefs pulling Mitch Gillam for Bryton Udy helped wake the visitors up. A pair of goals by Gould and a single by Tibbet had cut the Express lead to one after 40 minutes.

Alex Kerfoot converted a feed from behind the net helped put the Express back up by 2. Then Georgeson's second of the game opened up a 3 goal Express lead with 12 minutes to go. The two goal performance from Georgeson capped off a strong finish to the regular season for the 2nd year Express forward. He scored 6 goals and 2 assists for 8 points in the final 5 games of the season.

Chilliwack, still with a chance to move up into third place in the Interior conference kept applying the pressure on the Express.

Mathieu Tibbet scored his second and third goals of the night to pull the Chiefs back within one with just over 2 minutes to go in the third. Then Malcom Gould tied it up with his hat-trick goal with just 8 seconds remaining in the third period. Chilliwack fired 18 shots the way of Express netminder Cole Huggins in the third period alone.

Both teams had their chances to win it in the extra 10 minutes, but nothing was decided.

Chilliwack out shot the Express 48-29.

The Express finished the season with a 36-19-3-2 record for 77 points and a 4th place finish in the Coastal Conference. Franchise records were set this season for most wins and points in a season. Plus fewest losses in a season.

A playoff opponent is still to be determined for the Express. All that is known at this point is that they will play the first place team in the Coastal conference.

At the conclusion of Friday's games, there's still a chance that the opponent could still be any one of the three other playoff teams Surrey, Powell River or Cowichan Valley.

The Express could play the Surrey Eagles if the Powell River Kings lose their final two games in regulation in Victoria and Nanaimo, and if Cowichan Valley loses their final game.

The Express and Powell River Kings will play each other if they just pick up a single point in their final 2 games.

Whoever the opponent is, the playoffs begin next Friday.

It will be an Express and Cowichan first round matchup if they win their final game vs. Langley and the Kings lose their final 2 games in regulation.

PETAN PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Coquitlam Express right winger Alex Petan has been named BCHL Player of the Week for the week ending Mar. 4, the league announced on Monday.

Petan led the Express to back-to-back wins over the Langley Rivermen and a 3-2 victory over the Nanaimo Clippers. The Delta native started the week hot, posting a hat-trick in his first game against the Rivermen, a goal and two assists in the second, and finished with a goal versus the Clippers.

The 5-foot-9, 175-pounder leads the Express in points and has moved to sixth in the BCHL with 37 goals and 48 assists on the season.

Honourable mentions this week go to Cowichan Valley Capitals forward Brett Knowles (three goals, two 1st Stars), Surrey Eagles defenseman Steve Koshey (two goals, four assists), Penticton Vees forward Travis St. Denis (three goals two assists, one 1st Star, one 2nd Star), Penticton Vees defenceman Mike Reilly (two goals, two assists, one 2nd Star) and Chilliwack Chiefs forward Malcolm Gould (four goals, one 1st Star, one 3rd Star).

CLIPPERS @ EXPRESS HI-LITES

Here's the highlights of the Express' 3-2 win over Nanaimo Sunday.



Highlights courtesy of Cary Derksen.

RECORD SETTING WIN

The Coquitlam Express set a franchise record with their 35th win of the season 3-2 over the Nanaimo Clippers.

The win breaks the mark set in back to back years in 05-06 and 06-07. The win also keeps the Express perfect this season vs. Nanaimo having won all 6 head to head meetings.

Alex Petan kept up his strong weekend by opening the scoring on the powerplay less than 3 minutes into the game. He converted a nice pass by Justin Georgeson and slid it past Billy Faust.

The goal capped off a 7 point weekend for the Express captain. He had a hat-trick and scored the game winning goal in the 5-4 win over Langley Friday. Saturday he had a goal and 2 assists including helping set up Zach Hodder's game winner with 33 seconds left. Could those numbers be worthy of BCHL player of the week honours?

The first period saw a rare parade to the penalty box for the Express being shorthanded 4 times. Included in that was a 5 on 3 disadvantage for 38 seconds.

Josh Phillips scored just his second goal of the season from the slot to tie the game at one shortly after the 5 on 3 had expired.

Clinton Atkinson wrote his name into the Express record book in the second period. His powerplay goal was his 9th of the season. It was also his 55th point of the season which tied an Express franchise record for most points in a season by a defenceman set by Brad Hunt in the 07-08 season. Atkinson has picked up goals in 4 of his last 7 games.

Alex Kerfoot picked up his 41st assist on the goal. That helper set a new Express record for most assists in a season by a rookie breaking the mark of 40 set last season by Destry Straight.

The 4th powerplay goal of the game between the two teams pulled the Clippers even again at two. Graeme McCormack made a great back door pass to Andrew Gladiuk who slid it past Khaleed Devji.

The game remained tied at two until the midway mark of the third period. Zach Hodder fired a shot wide of the goal, it bounced off the end boards right to Justin Georgeson who snapped in the net and got just enough on it to find the net despite the best efforts of a Nanaimo defender to try and get a stick on Georgeson's shot and block it.

Khaleed Devji picked up his 4th career BCHL assist on the goal. He had 3 helpers in his first BCHL season last year.

The assist was a nice bonus on what was a very solid performance for the Express goaltender. He was steady all game long turning aside 40 of 42 Clipper shots sent his way.

This weekend was the 9th time this season the Express have played 3 games in 3 nights. The Express improved their record to a remarkable 6-3 in the 3rd game of the back to back to back sets.

Not much time to rest for the Express. They will rest up Monday before hitting the road for games in Victoria Tuesday and Wednesday in Nanaimo. They will then wrap up the regular season Friday vs. Chilliwack.

EXPRESS CLUTCH UP FOR ANOTHER LATE WIN

It was deja vu all over again for the Express as they posted their second straight 5-4 win over the Langley Rivermen thanks to a late game winning goal to sweep the home and home.

Friday night it was Zach Hodder helping set up Alex Petan's game winning goal with 1:43 to go. Saturday night the roles were reversed as Petan helped set up Zach Hodder who scored the game winning goal with just 33 seconds left in the third period.

Again the Express were able to jump early on the Rivermen. This time around they were able to find their offence as Brady Shaw and AP Eric Margo scored first period goals for the Express. The extra skating room at the Langley Events Centre helped open up the game a little more. Coquitlam fired 21 first period shots on 16 year old Rivermen netminder Nic Renyard.

Friday the Express got goals 3:16 apart in the second period to cut into a 3-0 Rivermen lead. Saturday Mario Puskarich scored twice in a span of 3:17 by firing a pair of quick wristers past a screened Cole Huggins each time to tie the game at two.

Justin Georgeson put the Express back in the lead shortly thereafter on the powerplay as he took a feed from Petan and snapped it into an open net just 1:48 after Puskarich's 2-2 goal.

The teams kept trading goals in the third period. Peter McMullen snapped a wrist shot from the right wing by Cole Huggins.

Alex Petan put the Express back in the lead after taking a feed out of the corner from Mitch Nardi and snapping a shot top shelf for the captain's 36th goal of the season.

Less than a minute later however the game was tied again. Jackson Playfair tipped a Austin Plevy shot for a powerplay goal to tie the game at 4.

With the game on the line in the dying moments, Cole Huggins came up with the save of the game for the Express robbing Sebastien Pare in front of the net with a great glove save with about 3 minutes to go.

That save proved to be a game saver for the Express as in the final minute Zach Hodder read the play and pinched down from his right point position as was in the right spot to bang home a rebound to put the Express in the lead for good.

The win for the Express was their 34th of the season which ties the franchise record for most wins in a season set in both the 05-06 and 06-07 seasons.

Not much time to rest for the Express as they will play their third game in as many days Sunday afternoon vs. Nanaimo.

RIVERMEN @ EXPRESS HIGHLIGHTS

Here's the highlights of the Express' playoff clinching 5-4 win over Langley Friday night.



Highlights courtesy of Cary Derksen.

EXPRESS PUNCH RETURN TICKET TO PLAYOFFS

The Coquitlam Express clinched a second consecutive trip to the Fred Page cup playoffs thanks to a hard fought 5-4 come from behind win over the Langley Rivermen.

The club earned at least the 4th and final Coastal conference spot by posting their 33rd win of the season.

It wasn't the easiest of contests vs. a Langley team that played a close checking affair all night long and made the home team work for everything that they got.

The Express jumped on Langley hard in the opening minutes of the game and opening a size able early advantage in shots. Goaltender James Barr was strong turning aside every Express bid sent his way.

Ben Greiner opened the scoring against the flow of play sliding a sharp angle shot through the legs of Cole Huggins on just the second shot of the game for Langley.

Now with the lead, Langley really slowed the game down. They sat back in their neutral zone trap and made life difficult for the Express coming out of their own end. It certainly didn't do anything for the entertainment value of this game.

Late in the opening frame Chris Tracy extended the Langley lead cutting into the slot and firing a shot over the shoulder of Huggins. The goal came just seconds after a Rivermen powerplay had expired.

A powerplay goal by Darnell Dyck gave Langley a 3-0 lead 5 minutes into the second period. That goal ended Cole Huggins night after 3 goals on 11 shots.

A three goal deficit for most teams facing a club like Langley trying to slow it down and stifle the offensive attack of most teams might be too much to overcome. But it's not too much for this years edition of the Express.

They finally got the boost they were looking for as they began mounting their comeback as Alex Kerfoot teed up a slapshot for Clinton Atkinson to give the Express a shorthanded goal.

There's no doubt that goal turned the fortunes of this game back in favour of the Express.

Riding the momentum of the shorthanded marker, the Express pressed hard looking to get back into the game. Just 3;16 after Atkinson's tally, Zach Hodder made a nice drop pass to Alex Petan who quickly fired it past Barr and the lead was cut down to one.

The Express kept applying the pressure until the end of the second period looking for the equalizer.

That goal didn't come until the Express got just their second powerplay of the game early in the third. Brady Shaw tried a centering pass which was blocked but the puck came right back to Shaw who easily put it in the net for his 14th powerplay goal of the season to tie the game at 3.

Alex Kerfoot picked up his second assist of the game and 41st helper of the season on that goal. Kerfoot's 41 assists now ties him with Destry Straight for the most in a season by an Express rookie.

But just 30 seconds later Langley went ahead again. Alex Petan whiffed on a pass on a 4 on 2 rush allowing Austin Plevy and Darnell Dyck to break out 2 on 1 the other way. Plevy put a perfect pass on the tape of Dyck who roofed it over a sprawled out Khaleed Devji.

Again the Express mustered the energy to mount a comeback. Malcom McKinney made a great behind the back pass to Petan who one timed it home to pull the Express even at 4 with his second of the game.

McKinney finished the game with a pair of helpers. It was hard not to notice him on this night. Aside from his slick play making, McKinney was also making his presence felt physically on this night. He delivered at least three solid hits. One of those hits knocked rookie defenceman Bo Pellah out of the game in the second period.

The clock ticked down to the final minutes of the third period still tied at 4. Alex Petan finally broke the deadlock with 1:43 to go. He fired a shot from the middle of the ice wide of the Langley goal, but was able to gather his own rebound and finish off his second hat-trick of the season to give the Express their first lead of the game.

It was also the second hat-trick for the Express captain vs. Langley this season.

What makes this win impressive for the Express is how they never allowed themselves to get frustrated with Langley's tight checking style and maintain their composure which allowed them to come back and win. If there's anything that can be learned from what we've seen from the Express during this 5 game homestand that is now complete, it's that the Express are never out of a game. They've had a few games where they've came from behind.

Even though they played a number of teams that tried their best to try and shutdown the Express explosive attack, they never lost focus and found ways to work for the full 60 minutes and find a way to win.

This home stand has proven that the Express are never out of a game. And they will battle a team hard all game long.

The Express and Rivermen will go at it again for the second of a home and home Saturday night in Langley.

A playoff opponent for the Express is still to be determined. What is known is they will begin their quest to BCHL supremacy two weeks from tonight on March 16th.