The Coquitlam Express have acquired 20 year old defenseman Ryan Coghlan (95) from the Merritt Centennials in exchange for future considerations.
This season he has 2 goals and 7 assists for 9 points in 23 games with Merritt this season. The move instantly gives the Express a defenceman with 169 career games of junior hockey experience in the BCHL and WHL.
In 88 career games with the Cowichan Valley Capitals, Nanaimo Clippers and Merritt Centennials he has 5 goals and 13 assists for 18 points and 88 PIM's. He also appeared in 23 career playoff games last season with the Nanaimo Clippers where they advanced to the Fred Page Cup final.
Coghlan also has 81 career WHL games with the Saskatoon Blades and Prince Albert Raiders with 7 goals and 12 assists for 19 points and 48 PIM's.
The Nanaimo, BC native stands at 6'0 and weighs in at 215lbs.
"Coghlan will bring big game experience and a more calming influence to our defense group." - Express Head Coach and GM Barry Wolff
The Express return to action on New Years Eve when they will face Coghlan's old team the Merritt Centennials at 4pm in Merritt. They will kick off 2016 at home on Saturday night when the Express play host to the Prince George Spruce Kings. You can hear all the action on Tri City Radio CKPM FM 98.7.
Udahl commits to BU - Photo courtesy of Damon James
Forward Erik Udahl (96) has committed to Boston University. His commitment takes place immediately and he has moved on to BU to begin his NCAA career. The Terriers play in the Hockey East Conference.
The move allows the Warpole Massachusetts native to play his college hockey in his hometown.
Udahl had seven goals and four assists for eleven points in 33 games with the Express this season. Last season he had nine goals and ten assists for 19 points in 48 games with the Langley Rivermen.
In 81 career BCHL games over parts of the last two seasons with the Express and Rivermen, Udahl had 16 goals and 14 assists for 30 points.
"We're extremely proud of Erik, his work ethic and desire to improve his game are two big reasons he's getting this opportunity. It's a tough time to lose a player to the next level, but this is why we're in junior hockey to help move players to the next level. This is a great opportunity for Erik to go to a great program and school close to home." - Express GM and Head Coach Barry Wolff.
"I would like to thank Head Coach Barry Wolff and the Coqutilam Express for a great first half of the season. I'm sad to be leaving, but playing for Boston U is my dream school and I'm very excited to face every challenge thrown at me. I wish the Express the best of luck for the rest of the season and I will miss everyone in the organization very deeply." - Erik Udahl.
The Express would like to thank Erik for his contributions to the team and best of luck at BU.
06 RBC Cup champ Keith Seabrook - Photo courtesy of Damon James.
In the first Express alumni night in the teams 15 year history, the former players were given a show by the modern day Express in the form of a 8-2 win of the Surrey Eagles. Click here for boxscore
Among the alumni in attendance were former captains Dylan Herold and Alex Petan. Members of the 2006 Royal Bank cup team including Max Grassi, Keith Seabrook, Mark Soares, coach Dave McLellan, support staff Paul Ng, Mischa Polzin, Barry Jebolt and Bill Reimer. Plus 2014 Fred Page cup champion Brendan Lamont.
It didn't take long for the Express to get their offense flowing, Eric Udhal got the offensive parade going converting a pass out from behind the net from Alex Ambrosio to open scoring.
Pinchuk slides home a highlight reel goal - Photo courtesy of Damon James.
88 seconds later Luca Leone scored his first of two on the night for a 2-0 lead. That goal started what would be a career best four point night for Leone. His line with Owen Stout and Jack Surowiec had shown some good chemistry in recent outings that would explode on this night. Leone had just two assists since his last goal on November 13th vs. Surrey.
From there the Express confidence was only growing. Jarrel Pinchuk scored a highlight reel goal attacking the Eagles defense on the rush then beating Eagles goaltender Justin Laforest to the poke check and sliding it under the goaltender for a 3-0 Express lead.
That goal brought Laforest's night to an end pretty quickly.
Daniel Davidson was welcomed to the game by Leone's second of the game finishing off a 2 on 1 with Austin McIlMurray. This all coming before the game was 10 minutes old.
Austin McIlMurray capped off the first period with a power play goal in the final minute of the opening period.
The onslaught just kept on coming in the second period.
Leone and Surowic had lots to smile about - Photo courtesy of Damon James.
Luca Leone then got in the spirit of giving by playing the puck through his feet then setting up Charlie Barrow for a 6-0 Express lead.
Then Austin McIlMurray scored his second of the game and the third power play goal of the night for the Express to make it 7-0.
Taylor Green had three assists in the game and extended the longest current assist streak in the BCHL to 6 games.
Kurt Black and Paul McAvoy struck for the only Eagles goals on the night in the final minute of the second period and with just under 6 minutes to go in the third period.
Troy Robillard - Photo courtesy of Damon James.
Then the line of Stout, Leone and Surowiec capped off an 8 point night with Surowiec finishing off a pretty passing play between Stout and Leone. Surowiec had 1 goal and 1 assist, Stout had two assists while Leone had four points.
The win pulled the Express back to the .500 mark at 15-15-1-4. The Express will play their final game before Christmas Saturday night in Langley. The Express sit four points back of Langley for third place in the Mainland division.
Two Express alumni now in the NHL took some time from their busy schedules to record special messages as for alumni night Friday vs. the Surrey Eagles.
David Jones
Andrew Ladd
Special thanks to David, Andrew, the Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets for helping make this happen.
Lawson Fenton with a furry friend - Photo courtesy of Damon James
The Express completed a weekend sweep of a home and home set with the Surrey Eagles with a 5-2 win Saturday night in Coquitlam. Click here for boxscore
It was the 2015 teddy bear toss night for the Express. Captain Jackson Cressey is the answer to the trivia question of who scored the goal that got the bears flying? He re-directed a Colton Kerfoot pass midway through the first period to open the scoring.
J. Cressey got bears flying - Photo courtesy of Damon James
Like the night before in Surrey, the Express top line had another solid night offensively. Austin McIlMurray scored a power play goal from the slot for a 2-0 Express lead after the first period.
Matt Michie put the Express up 3-0 in the second period as he pounced on a loose puck in the crease following a chance for Cam Bertsch. The line of Bertsch, Eric Udahl and Matt Michie had a solid night for the Express creating chances with their speed all night long.
Jack Surowiec - Photo courtesy of Damon James
The Eagles quickly responded shortly after the Michie goal thanks to a deft Donovan Ott tip of a Trent Huitema point shot. That would be the only goal to beat Express goaltender Lawson Fenton who only faced 10 Eagles shots in the first two periods.
Jackson Cressy capped off a second straight two goal night by tipping a Austin McIlMurray shot early the third period for a 4-1 Express lead. Last night the line of McIlMurray, Cressey and Kerfoot combined for 9 points. Saturday they combined for 8 points with two goals and an assist from Cressey, one goal and two assists for McIlMurray and two assists for Kerfoot.
With the absence of Blake Hayward at the World Junior A Challenge, Jack Surowiec has been moved to his spot on the line with Luca Lenoe and Owen Stout. That line the last two games and most notably tonight has shown some chemistry and generating chances. That line didn't hit the scoresheet but they had some good shifts in the Surrey zone. Most notably in the third period. That is something the coaches have stressed about wanting to see more of recently.
Fenton made 19 saves for the win - Photo courtesy of Damon James
Jeffrey Stewart was credited with the second Eagles goal finding a loose puck and poking it past Fenton. The Express goaltender saw his team play a pretty clean game in front of their goaltender who made 19 saves for his 6th win of the season.
Cam Bertsch rounded out the scoring in the dying seconds of the game with an empty net goal.
The Express will play their third straight game against the Surrey Eagles next Friday in Coquitlam. It will be a special night as the Express welcome back a number of former players and staff for the first ever alumni night.
The line of Austin McIlMurray, Colton Kerfoot and Jackson Cressey scored four of the five Express goals in a 5-1 win over the Surrey Eagles at the South Surrey Arena. Click here for boxscore
The Express captain scored a pair of goals and Colton Kerfoot had four points with one goal and three assists.
Cressey and Kerfoot - Photo Courtesy of Garrett James
Before the big guns got going it was Kurt Black who opened the scoring for Surrey six minutes into the game.
Just two and a half minutes later Jackson Cressey scored his first of two on the night to even the game at one.
Then Colton Kerfoot scored a power play goal late in the first period for a 2-1 Express lead after 20 minutes. That goal pulled Kerfoot back into a tie with Cressey for the team lead in goals with 17. Cressey and Kerfoot have gone back and forth atop of the Express goal scoring race recently.
The Express captain went back into the lead in the second period with his 18th of the season taking a Kerfoot pass in the slot and burying his own rebound past Justin LaForest for a 3-1 Express lead after two periods.
Throughout the night the Express got solid contributions from all four lines. Luca Leone showed signs of breaking out with some of the chances he created in the second period.
Keegan Jones - Photo Courtesy of Garrett James
Owen Stout helped pulled the Express into a 4-1 lead when he dangled his way to the Eagles net and
Jarrell Pinchuk jumping into the rush poked home a loose puck lying in the crease.
There were some decent hits delivered on each side. Jake Brien continued his solid first season in the league by delivering a number of hits throughout the night.
Most of the hits on the night were clean except for one that led to the final goal of the night. Eagles defenseman Matthew Brown stretched out with his forearm and delivered a hit to the head of Cam Bertsch. The Express forward was a little shaken up following the hit.
Jack Surowiec - Photo Courtesy of Garrett James
The Express got their best revenge by converting on the power play. Austin McIlMurray unleashed a one timer under the crossbar from the left circle to round out the scoring.
The line of Cressey, Kerfoot and McIlMurray combined for four goals and five assists for nine points.
Tyger Howat had a tidy night making 30 saves for his 7th win of the season.
The Express and Eagles will meet again Saturday night in Coquitlam.
Charlie Combs scored a pair of goals and added an assist in a 6-3 Wenatchee win over the Express.
It was Wenatchee's fourth win in five games vs. the Express this season. Click here for boxscore
Green celebrates with Michie after his goal - Photo courtesy of Damon James
Wenatchee struck first after the Express failed to complete a D to D pass and Austin Chavez stole the puck and beat Lawson Fenton with a backhand just over five minutes into the game.
The last time Wenatchee visited the Express, it was the Express penalty kill that was key to help them to victory. It played a big role for the Express in the first period.
The Express killed off a pair of Wild power plays to keep the Wild only up a goal. Upon the conclusion of Matt Michie's penalty he came out of the box and took a pass from Taylor Green and scored on the breakaway to tie the game at one. Express netminder Lawson Fenton drew the second assist on the goal. It was in very similar fashion to the goal that Jack Surowiec scored recently vs. Prince George.
Jackson Cressey scores a shorthanded goal - Photo courtesy of D. James.
Jackson Cressey returned to the Express Wednesday after selection camp for the World Junior A Challenge. He gave the Express their first lead of the night late in the first period stealing the puck in the corner and cutting to the net to score his second shorthanded goal of the season for a 2-1 Express lead after the first period.
Bryan Yoon pulled the Wild even in the opening minute of the second period. He snapped a shot under the pad of Lawson Fenton just 35 seconds into the period. That goal gave the Wild some life who fired the first five shots of the period.
Colton Kerfoot stemmed the Wild momentum as he teamed up with Jackson Cressey for a give and go at the Wild line, then Cressey slid it to Kerfoot who beat Chase Perry on the short side for a 3-2 Express lead.
Charlie Combs dressed for just his third game with the Wild Wednesday. He made quite an impact for the Wild on this night. He made a nice chip play on the boards at the Express line to get past the defense then feather a perfect pass across to Blake Christensen to even the score at three. Wild goaltender Chase Perry had the second assist on the play.
Lawson Fenton finished with 25 saves - Photo courtesy of Damon James
Then Combs took a saucy little pass from Brendan Harris to score a power play goal with Alex Ambrosio in the box serving a elbowing penalty for a hit I thought was clean.
The Express entered the third period trailing by a goal. They opened the period with 90 seconds of power play time but were unable to generate a shot. It was a sign of things to come for the Express. It took them until the midway mark of the third period to register their first shot of the period. The Express finished with just 19 shots on the game.
In the meantime the Wild added to their lead when Daniel Nachbaur undressed the Express defense and scored a highlight reel goal for a 5-3 Wild lead.
Then Combs capped off a a three point night by scoring as Express netminder Lawson Fenton was caught in no mans land while he was heading to the bench for the extra attacker in the final minute of the game.
Up next for the Express this weekend is a home and home with the Eagles starting Friday in Surrey.
