AHL WOLVES SIGN FORMER EXPRESS CAPTAIN HUNT

The Chicago Wolves have signed former Express Captain Brad Hunt. The Maple Ridge native played with the Express for parts of 3 seasons from 2006-08. In 123 games with the Express he scored 20 goals and 73 assists for 93 points.

He captained the Express for the 07-08 season where he would set a then franchise record for points in a season by a defenceman with 16 goals and 55 points. That record was recently broken this season by Clinton Atkinson. Following the 07-08 season, Hunt would embark on a 4 year University career at the Bemidji State.

See the full press release below from the Wolves.

The Chicago Wolves have signed defenseman Brad Hunt to an Amateur Tryout Contract (ATO).

HUNT led Bemidji State University with 21 assists and ranked third on the team with 26 points in 38 games during his senior campaign this year. The 23-year-old defenseman dished out two helpers in his final collegiate game as the Beavers fell to North Dakota 4-3 on March 10.

The Ridge Meadows, British Columbia, native amassed 24 goals, 88 assists and 112 points while appearing in all 150 games during his college career with Bemidji State from 2008-12.

EXPRESS ON BCHL ALL STAR TEAMS

The BCHL today announced members of the first and second all star teams, plus an all rookie team.

Numerous members of the Express were named to the various squads.

See the full press release from the BCHL below:

The British Columbia Hockey League is pleased to announce its all-stars for the 2011-12 season. The winners were chosen after a survey of BCHL coaches and executives.

BCHL First Team

Interior Conference

F – Wade Murphy, Penticton Vees D – Mike Reilly, Penticton Vees

F – Paul De Jersey, Prince George Spruce Kings D – Brett Corkey, Vernon Vipers

F – Joey Benik, Penticton Vees G – Michael Garteig, Penticton Vees

Coastal Conference

F – Alex Petan, Coquitlam Express D – Craig Dalrymple, Powell River Kings

F – Devin Gannon, Cowichan Valley Capitals D – Clinton Atkinson, Coquitlam Express

F – Alex Kerfoot, Coquitlam Express G – Andrew Hunt, Surrey Eagles

BCHL Second Team

Interior Conference

F – Mario Lucia, Penticton Vees D – Reece Willcox, Merritt Centennials

F – Travis St. Denis, Penticton Vees D – Troy Stecher, Penticton Vees

F – Connor Reilly, Penticton Vees G – Mitch Gillam, Chilliwack Chiefs

Coastal Conference

F – Cohen Adair, Powell River Kings D – Jon Jutzi, Powell River Kings

F – Matt Brown, Cowichan Valley Capitals D – Graeme McCormack, Nanaimo Clippers

F – Tyler Morley, Surrey Eagles G – Sean Maguire, Powell River Kings

All Rookie Team

F – Alex Kerfoot, Coquitlam Express D – Mike Reilly, Penticton Vees

F – Steven Fogarty, Penticton Vees D – Devon Toews, Surrey Eagles

F – Mario Lucia, Penticton Vees G – Mitch Gillam, Chilliwack Chiefs

EXPRESS VS. KINGS PRIMER

The Coquitlam Express and Powell River Kings will meet for the first time in the BCHL playoffs starting Friday in Powell River.

This series has the number 1 seed in the Kings going up against the number 4 seed in the Express.

There are a number of interesting story lines entering this series. On paper there are some things that stand out for sure.

Both teams can put the puck in the net. The Express finished the season with the 2nd most goals in the BCHL this season with 245. But the Powell River Kings finished the season 3rd in the BCHL with 223 goals scored this season.

A trademark of the Express all season long has been their depth. As a whole the Express have more players that put up better offensive numbers than the Powell River Kings. The Express can boast having 5 players that put up better numbers than the Kings top scorer Cohen Adiar who led the Kings with 58 points this season.

On the other side of the coin, under Head Coach Kent Lewis, the Kings trademark has been their ability to keep pucks out of the net. The Kings were the stingiest team in the BCHL to score against the season allowing the fewest goals of any team in the league with 127.

Head to head the season series was very one sided in favour of the Express posting a 6-1-1 record vs. the Kings this season.

Special teams is another unique match up in this series. The Express finished the season with the 2nd best powerplay in the BCHL at 27.54%. It will be going up against a Kings penalty killing unit which was 3rd in the BCHL at 82.01%.

Directly head to head the Express did have a considerable advantage, the Express were 13 for 35 on the powerplay going 37.14%. On the penalty kill, the Express shut down the Kings in 34 of 37 opportunites 91.89%.

Travel and fatigue may play a factor the longer the series goes with 7 games scheduled to be played in 9 nights if it does go the distance. And the final 3 games would be played on consecutive nights. If you have ever taken the 5-6 hour trip from the Mainland to the Sunshine coast with 2 ferries each way, you understand how much of a grind the travel could be.

With the Kings having home ice in this series, it does mean they will take one less trip. They made the Hap Parker Arena a very difficult place to play this season having won 24 of 30 home games this season and only losing 4 times in regulation.

However, the Express did hand the Kings 3 of their 4 home ice regulation losses this season. And that includes sweeping a pair of games in Powell River in back to back games on February 11th and 12th.

Not only will the Express enter this series with the confidence that they've walked into Powell River and won numerous times this season. They also have the knowledge in their back pocket of being a strong road team all season setting a franchise record with 17 wins this season.

The Kings also had a strong road record this season by posting the 2nd most wins away from home in the BCHL this season with 18. But they did go winless in 4 games in Coquitlam this season with a 0-3-1 mark.

Both teams had strong second halves of the season and had their share of strong runs of play. The Express did have a 8 game winning streak in the second half of the season. Overall they went 22-7-1. The Kings did go 8-2 in their last 10 games. They also had a 10 game winning streak in the second half of the season which was halted by the Express.

It has the makings of being a very good series with 2 very good teams meeting each other. Lets get it started.

Here's a breakdown of some of the key numbers for both teams this season.

EXPRESS VS. KINGS BY THE NUMBERS
Top Scorers
Express		Kings
Alex Petan - 33G, 50A, 88PTS Brady Shaw – 33G, 36A, 69PTS Alex Kerfoot – 25G, 44A, 69PTS John Siemer – 28G, 31A, 59PTS Clinton Atkinson – 9G, 50A, 59PTS		Cohen Adair – 32G, 26A, 58PTS Evan Richardson – 19G, 36A, 55PTS Craig Dalrymple – 20G, 29A, 49PTS Teagan Waugh – 22G, 23A, 45PTS Matt Scarth – 20G, 18A, 38PTS
Goatender Statistics
Cole Huggins - 21-6-2 2.99 GAA, .918 Sv. % 2 SO Khaleed Devji – 16-13-1 3.48 GAA, .897 Sv.%		Sean Maguire – 17-12-1 2.33 GAA .913 Sv. % 3 SO Jonah Imoo – 7-0 0.94 GAA, .950 Sv. % 3SO
Special Teams Statistics
COQ PP – 27.54% - 2nd in BCHL PR PK – 82.01% - 3rd in BCHL		PR PP – 18.86% - 10th in BCHL COQ PK – 81.65% - 4th in BCHL
Head to Head Records
Coquiltam - 6-1-1-0, 13PTS		Powell River – 1-6-1, 3PTS
Oct. 9 @ CQ 4-3 W Oct. 14 @ CQ 4-4 T Nov. 18 @ PR 5-3 W Dec. 29 @ CQ 2-1 W Jan. 7 @ CQ 4-1 W Feb. 2 @ PR 3-1 L Feb. 11 @ PR 3-2 W Feb. 12 @ PR 3-1 W		Oct. 9 @ CQ 4-3 L Oct. 14 @ CQ 4-4 T Nov. 18 @ PR 5-3 L Dec. 29 @ CQ 2-1 L Jan. 7 @ CQ 4-1 L Feb. 2 @ PR 3-1 W Feb. 11 @ PR 3-2 L Feb. 12 @ PR 3-1 L
Head to Head Special Teams Statistics
COQ PP vs. PR – 13/35 – 37.14% PR PK vs. CQ – 22/35 – 62.85%		PR PP vs. COQ – 3/37 – 8.11% COQ PK vs. PR – 34/37 – 91.89%
INDIVIDUAL HEAD TO HEAD STATISTICS
Express scoring vs. Kings	Kings scoring vs. Express
Alex Kerfoot – 6G, 4A, 10PTS Alex Petan – 5G, 5A, 10PTS Clinton Atkinson – 0G, 10A, 10PTS Brady Shaw – 4G, 3A, 7PTS Mitch Nardi – 4G, 3A, 7PTS Taylor Bourne – 2G, 1A, 3PTS John Siemer – 1G, 2A, 3PTS Malcom Mckinney – 0G, 2A, 2PTS Justin Georgeson – 0G, 2A, 2PTS Cody Michelle – 2G, 0A, 2PTS	Steven Schmidt – 3G, 4A, 7PTS Cohen Adair – 2G, 4A, 6PTS Evan Richardson – 2G, 4A, 6PTS Daniel Schuler – 2G, 1A, 3PTS Matt Scarth – 1G, 2A, 3PTS Craig Dalrymple – 2G, 1A, 3PTS Teegan Waugh – 1G, 1A, 2PTS Jon Jutzi – 1G, 1A, 2PTS Teal Burns – 1G, 1A, 2PTS Chris Williams – 0G, 2A, 2PTS
GOALTENDING
Cole Huggins 3-1 2.06 GAA .937 Sv. %	Sean Maguire 1-5-1 3.48 GAA .870 Sv. %
Khaleed Devji 3-0-1 1.84 GAA .949 Sv. %	Jonah Imoo Did not play vs. Express this season

EXPRESS CLEAN UP ON BCHL AWARDS

The BCHL handed out their year end awards Tuesday, and the Coquitlam Express cleaned up on the Coastal Confernce side taking three awards in recognition of their strong seasons.

Captain Alex Petan is the Coastal Conference MVP. The third year forward had a break out season leading all Coastal Conference scorers with 38 goals and 50 assists for 88 points. He was 9 points clear of the 2nd highest scorer in the Coastal Confernce Cowichan Valley's Devin Gannon. Overall Petan finished 5th in BCHL scoring.

Petan becomes the third player in Express history to win the Coastal Conference MVP award joining Kyle Turris and Carlo Finucci who won it in back to back years in 2007 and 2008.

Rookie Alex Kerfoot won 2 BCHL awards. The Coastal Conference Rookie of the year and Most Sportsmanlike player. This season Kerfoot scored 25 goals and 44 assists for 69 points in 51 games. The 17 year old forward was tied with teammate Brady Shaw as the top scoring first year forward in the BCHL. The next highest scoring first year forward in the BCHL was Surrey's Alex Hagen who finished with 43 points, 26 points behind the West Vancouver native. And Kerfoot was only penalized for 24 minutes this season.

Kerfoot becomes the 4th player in Express history to win the Rookie of the year award joining Brett Hemingway 2002, Kyle Turris 2006 and Destry Straight 2011. Plus he is just the second player to win the Most Sportsmanlike player award joining Brock Bradford who won it in 2004.

Here's the full press release from the BCHL:

The British Columbia Hockey League is pleased to announce its award winners for the 2011-12 season. The winners were chosen after a survey of BCHL coaches and executives.

Vern Dye Memorial Trophy – Most Valuable Player
Interior Conference: Paul De Jersey, Prince George Spruce Kings
Coastal Conference: Alex Petan, Coquitlam Express

Bruce Allison Memorial Trophy – Rookie of the Year
Interior Conference: Mario Lucia, Penticton Vees
Coastal Conference: Alex Kerfoot, Coquitlam Express

Best Defenceman Award
Interior Conference: Mike Reilly, Penticton Vees
Coastal Conference: Craig Dalrymple, Powell River Kings

Bob Fenton Trophy – Most Sportsmanlike Player
Interior Conference: Regan Soquila, Merritt Centennials
Coastal Conference: Alex Kerfoot, Coquitlam Express

Joe Tennant Memorial Trophy – Coach of the Year
Interior Conference: Fred Harbinson, Penticton Vees
Coastal Conference: Matt Erhart, Surrey Eagles

Non-voting awards

Brett Hull Trophy – BCHL Top Scorer
Paul De Jersey, Prince George Spruce Kings (41 goals, 57 assists for 98 points)

Goaltending Award (Lowest goals-against average of goalies with 1,000 minutes played)
Michael Garteig, Penticton Vees (1.93 GAA, 2,578 minutes played)

Wally Forslund Award – Top Goaltending Tandem (best combined goals-against average)
Sean Maguire and Jonah Imoo, Powell River Kings (2.05 GAA)

RECORD SETTING SEASON

The recently completed regular season for the Coquitlam Express can claim the title as the best ever in the 11 season history of the Express in the BCHL.

Numerous team and individual records were broken by the 11-12 edition of the Express.

Here's a look at the new marks that were set this season.

First and foremost, the Express set new marks for most wins (36), points (77) and fewest losses in a season (19). The previous marks for wins was (34), fewest losses (20) and points (74) were set in the 05-06 season. The year the Express won the Royal Bank Cup. The Express also had 34 wins the following season in 06-07.

A new record was also set for road wins this season with 17. That's 34 post game honks of the horn from the team bus as they departed the rink. The old record was 14 road wins set in the 07-08 and 05-06 seasons.

When it comes to individual marks, we'll begin with the most important position.

Despite not starting the season with the Express, goaltender Cole Huggins put his name into the Express record book a few times. He's the first goaltender in Express history to finish the season with a goals against average under 3 at 2.99. Bryce Luker previously set the goals against average record with a 3.03 mark in 05-06.

Huggins also set a new record for save percentage in a season with a .918 mark. Mark Dekanich held the old save percentage record by turning aside .910% of the shots sent his way in 03-04. (Minimum requirement for goaltending records is 10 games played)

Defenceman Clinton Atkinson set new benchmarks for defencemen this season. He set new standards for points (59) and assists (50) by a blueliner in a season. Brad Hunt who captained the 07-08 team held the team record for points with 55 in 07-08. Hunt also shared the assists record in a season with Alan Mazur. They both had 39 helpers in the 07-08 and 04-05 seasons.

Rookie Alex Kerfoot had 44 assists this season. That breaks the mark that was set a year ago by Destry Straight who had 41 assists in his only season in Express colors.

As a compliment to the overall team depth this season for the Express. They had 5 20 goal scorers, (Petan 38, Shaw 33, Siemer 28, Kerfoot 25, McKinney 21). That ties the mark for most 20 goal scorers in a season which was originally set in the 03-04 season.

There were a few other achievements that came close to setting new marks for the Express this season.

The 245 goals the Express scored this season is the 3rd highest total in franchise history. The 260 goals scored by the 06-07 season is the franchise record. The 03-04 team scored the 2nd most goals in a season with 254. And by giving up 13 goals in their final 2 games of the season, it cost the Express a chance at setting a new mark for fewest goals allowed in a season. This season the Express gave up 204 goals. The 06-07 team is the only one to not give up more than 200 goals in a season allowing 198. The 05-06 season saw the Express allow 202 goals.

Captain Alex Petan scored 38 goals this season. That is the 5th highest total in a season by an Express player.

Brady Shaw's 15 powerplay goals is the 5th most overall by an Express player. It's also the 2nd most in a season by a rookie. Brett Hemingway set the Express rookie powerplay goal record in the teams first season in the BCHL in 01-02 with 21.

Alex Kerfoot's 69 points is tied for 3rd most in a season by a rookie. He now shares that mark with Nashville Predators forward Brandon Yip who put up his numbers in the 03-04 season.

Zach Hodder's 12 goals this season is the 2nd most in a season by a defenceman. Brad Hunt holds the record with 16 set in 07-08.

Cole Huggins' 21 wins is the 4th most in a season. The record is 29 set by Kevin Jebson in 07-08.

CHIEFS @ EXPRESS HIGHLIGHTS

Here's the highlight's of Friday's wild 6-6 tie between the Express and Chiefs.



Highlights courtesy of Cary Derksen.

EXPRESS 11-12 AWARD WINNERS

Prior to the season finale vs. the Chiefs, the Express handed out their year end player awards.

Here's the list of winners for the 2011-12 season.

3 stars award - Alex Petan

Most popular player - Brady Shaw

Rookie of the year - Alex Kerfoot

Most improved - Cole Huggins

Community service - Jason Bird

Outstanding defenceman - Clinton Atkinson

Unsung hero - Malcom McKinney

Top forward - John Siemer

MVP - Alex Petan

Scholarship award - Alex Petan