WORLD SERIES WAGER

Express assistant coach Jason Fothergill and I are having a little wager on the World Series between Philadelphia and New York which begins tonight.

I have taken the defending champion Phillies. While Jason is pulling for the Yankees who are seeking their 27th crown.

The winner gets $10.

Jason is picking the Yankees in 6. While I'm picking the Phillies in 6.

GO PHILLIES!

It's more just about cheering against A-Rod and the Bronx Bombers for me.

EXPRESS PRETTY IN PINK

The Bunraby Express did their part Sunday afternoon to support the Canadian Breast Cancer foundation. During the game vs. the Victoria Grizzlies, the Express players taped their sticks with pink tape.

Regardless of what color the Express tape on their sticks, their effort was much improved as they knocked off the Grizzlies 4-1 on Sunday. The win was just the 2nd win for Burnaby in 12 games in the month of October.

The Express showed early that they were ready to play and showed lots of jump in the opening minutes of the game getting off to a good start. The Express were more physical, skating harder and overall just taking their intentisty to another level.

Penalties however halted Burnaby's strong start as they were shorthaded three times in the opening period. The Express penalty killing stepped up killing off all 3 Victoria powerplays in the opening period.

The most notable performance during the penalty kills for Burnaby was the play of goaltender Harrison May.

He was on top of his game in the opening period keeping Victoria off the board.

The Express number 1 goaltender had played well in each of his previous two outings on home ice. But, he was the 2nd best goaltender on the ice. That was one area that had to change for the Express to get back in the win column. May needed a performance where he was the best goaltender on the ice after being out played by Langley's Andrew Walsh and Surrey's Vinny Lessard in the Express last two home games.

It was a tough task to ask of the Express netminder. But it had to be the case with the Express being blanked in their previous 5 periods of hockey heading into Sunday.

Burnaby needed a performance from their goaltender that would at most see just one goal allowed in order to have a chance to win.

May's performance in the opening period showed he was ready to meet the challenge.

After kiling all 3 first period Victoria powerplays, (mainly thanks to May) the Express resumed their pressure on Victoria in the Grizzlies zone.

The game was scoreless after 20 periods. The goalless drought had extended to 6 periods or the equilvalant of 2 games going back to Thursday's 8-1 loss in Langley for Burnaby.

Finally the Express found the back of the net again in the 2nd period when Alex Petan fed a pass back to Simon Denis who blasted home his first goal of the season through the legs of Colin Fernandes.

Hear Denis' 1-0 goal here.

The Burnaby goal was their first goal in 1:26:25 of game action dating back to Garrick Perry's goal at 18:32 of the first period Thursday in Langley.

Petan's assist on the goal was his first BCHL point. And the goal for Denis was his first of the season and just the 3rd goal this season from an Express defenceman. David Dotan and Matt Ridley have the others.

Now with the Express in the lead, they picked up their game in an attempt to add to their advantage. The Express had numerous quality chances but couldn't get another puck past Fernandes who was doing his part to keep Victoria in the game. The Express chances included a shot from Rich Manley that rang off the crossbar.

The Express also had a total of 5 powerplays in the second period but couldn't score on any of them and the Grizzlies remained just one goal down. The Express powerplay struggles continued on this day.

The Express were 0 for 22 on the powerplay in their previous 4 games heading into Sunday's matchup with Victoria.

The question at that point raised was, would the Burnaby's inability to convert on any of those powerplays come back and hurt the Express?

Thanks to those powerplays for Burnaby, they outshot Victoria 12-2 in the 2nd period. And much like Harrison May's play in the first period, Colin Fernades' play in the 2nd period kept Victoria in the game.

The Grizzlies pulled even at 6:13 of the third period on a powerplay. Jordan Heywood pinched in from the blueline and took a centering pass and snapped it past Harrison May.

The tie however only lasted 13 seconds as Garrick Perry took a stretch pass, cut to the Grizzlies net and jammed the puck under Fernandes to re-store Burnaby's lead.

Hear Perry's game winning goal here.

The Express got some insurance less than 6 minutes later on a pretty passing play. Matt Ridley hit Jon Puskar with a pass at the Victoria blueline. Puskar then quickly tipped it into the middle of the ice to spring Brad Reid on a breakaway. And Reid made no mistake deking to the backhand and roofing it over a sparawled out Fernandes to give the Express a 3-1 lead.

Hear Reid's 3-1 goal here.

Reid then rounded out the scoring by hitting the empty net scoring from his own zone for Reid's second of the game giving Burnaby a 4-1 lead.

Overall, it was a drastically improved performance for the Express. Dave Mclellan's troops had played well in each of their previous 2 home games but didn't get the result they wanted. The Express took their compete level up another notch and the were paid off with the win and the 2 points in the standings.

All 18 Express skaters were better. They were more physical, resulting in more battles for the puck won. They skated harder resulting in more races to the puck won. And more often that not, the Express were first on the puck in all 3 zones.

That compete level allowed Burnaby to get the puck out of their zone on a regular basis. At the other end of the rink, the won puck battles allowed Burnaby to get to the puck to the net more often creating more scoring chances.

Harrison May on this day was outstanding. The Express needed their goaltender to be the best goaltender on the ice and he provided that type of performance stopping 27 of the 28 shots he faced.

The most important thing to remember for this Express team following Sunday's win is to remember the compete level they brought to the rink Sunday and they have to do it every night they hit the ice. If they do that, the wins will come again on regular basis like they did in September.

Shots:

Burnaby 28
Victoria 28

Powerplays:

Burnaby 0/6
Victoria 1/6

3 stars:

3. Simon Denis - Scored his first goal of the season to open the scoring and added an assist.

2. Garrick Perry - Scored the game winning goal. Added an assist as well. Overall, he was one of Burnaby's best skaters and showed great leadership being a physical force and playing with an edge.

1. Harrison May - Was the best goaltender on the ice. His stellar played allowed his team to stay in the game and give them an opportunity to win.

Up next:

Friday in Penticton. The Express will need a effort level similar to Sunday's game vs. Victoria to have a shot at the high flying Vees. Burnaby has risen to the challenge each time they have played vs. the BCHL's elite.

Penticton will be without number 1 goaltender Sean Bonar and defenceman Joey Laleggia who will represent Canada West in the upcoming World Junior A Challenge in Summerside PEI. The Vees will also be without forward Beau Bennett who will play for the defending gold medalists from the USA. Bennett currently sits 3rd in BCHL scoring.

GRIZZLIES @ EXPRESS HIGHLIGHTS

Here's the highlights of Burnaby's 4-1 win over the Victoria Grizzlies Sunday afternoon.



Highlights courtesy of Cary Derksen and Purple Penguin Productions.

CHIEFS @ EXPRESS HIGHLIGHTS

Here's the highlights from Friday's 2-0 win by the Chiefs over the Express.



Highlights courtesy of Cary Derksen and Purple Penguin Productions.

CHIEFS BLANK EXPRESS

It was a perfect 2 for 2 if you're the Langley Chiefs this week vs. the Burnaby Express. Langley took the opening game between the two team 8-1 in Langley Thursday night. Friday, the Chiefs blanked the Express 2-0 at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre.

Andrew Walsh posted the shutout for the Chiefs stopping all 35 Express shots in the Chiefs crease. The Langley goaltender in fact stopped all 60 shots he faced in the final 5 periods of the home and home series with Burnaby.

Joe Walter opened the scoring for the second consecutive night by taking a feed from Trevor Gerling on a 2 on 1 break and tipping the pass by Harrison May to open the scoring at 7:23.

The Express had their chances throughout the game. On this night the greatest example of a team unable to catch a break when struggling for offence came when Matt Ius had a chance to put the puck past Walsh and Ius had his stick break. That was followed seconds later with Rich Manley unable to slide it past Walsh and it slid wide of the Chief net.

The effort for Burnaby on this night was a lot better than it was the night before in the 8-1 setback in the Langley Events Centre. Burnaby was better defensively and competed harder.

Walsh's best save of the 2nd period came on a Burnaby powerplay when the Express set up Rich Manley for a one timer, but Walsh came across with his left pad and rob the Burnaby forward.

Langley extended their lead to two when Jordan Sims picked up speed through the neutral zone, cut around Jimmy Geerin and drove to the net and beat Harrison May with a shot to the stick side.

Now with a two goal lead, it was up to Andrew Walsh to shut down Burnaby the rest of the way.

The third period saw Burnaby have 3 opportunities on the powerplay to cut into the deficit, but couldn't find the back of the net. Including a 6 on 4 advantage late in the game.

Burnaby's effort was much better overall than 24 hours earlier. But the results remain the same with the Express ending up on the losing end. This game had similarities to Burnaby's last home game vs. Surrey where the Express ran into a hot goaltender that was tough to beat.

The loss for Burnaby was their 10th in 11 games in the month of October.

The offence collectively has really dried up for the Express in their last 3 games. Burnaby has scored only 2 goals in their last 3 games on 111 shots on goal.

The powerplay has completely dried up in the Express last 4 outings going 0 for 22.

The loss for Burnaby saw them fall to 7th place in the Coastal Conference standings tied with Nanaimo with 14 points. Nanaimo gets the tie breaker by picking up the same amount of points in fewer games. 8th place Cowichan Valley sits just one point back of the Express.

Shots:

Burnaby 35
Langley 31

Powerplays:

Burnaby 0/7
Langley 0/7

3 stars:

3. Harrison May - Had a bounce back performance in the Express crease after being pulled 24 hours earlier. May stopped 29 of 31 shots he faced.

2. Joe Walter - Scored the games opening goal for the second consective night. Walter's goal proved the be the game winning goal.

1. Andrew Walsh - Stopped all 35 Express shots for the shutout. Stopped 75 of 76 Express shots in the home and home series and the last 60 he faced in the final 5 periods.

Up next:

Home Sunday afternoon vs. Victoria.

CHIEFS 8 EXPRESS 1

I think the headline pretty much speaks for itself. The Express lost the opening game of their home and home with their top rival the Langley Chiefs. Thursday's loss was the Express' 9th set back in their last 10 games in the month of October. And the Express have now lost all 8 games away from home this month.

Langley opened the scoring 6 minutes into the game when Joe Walter's shot squeaked through Harrison May and dribbled into the net.

The Express had a pair of great chances to pull even moments later.

First, Andrew Walsh did well to come across to his right and get his right pad down to deny Jon Puskar on a 2 on 1 break. That save was followed moments later with Walsh turning away Rich Manley as he got in behind the Langley defence, but Walsh poked the puck away from Manley.

Late in the period the Express did break through. Garrick Perry slid a puck under Walsh to pull the Express even at 18:32. The goal for Perry broke a pair of lengthy droughts for the 2nd year forward.

The goal was his first point in his last 8 games. And his first goal in his last 11.

Perry had very little time to savour his goal when just 13 seconds later the Chiefs restored their lead when Dennis Robertson's shot from the left point got past May to give the Chiefs a 2-1 lead.

Langley took the lead into the room. Having a lead after 20 minutes is something foriegn to this Express team. They've only had the lead after the first period just twice this season. And haven't lead after 20 minutes in 13 games.

Early in the 2nd came a real back breaker for Burnaby, Langley won a neutral zone faceoff and Dennis Robertson fired the puck from beyond the Burnaby blueline and it got past Harrison May to give the Chiefs a 3-1 lead.

That goal would mean the end of the night for Harrison May who was yanked afterwards after allowing 3 goals on 19 shots.

Nick Enegren came in to replace May, but it didn't get much better for Burnaby and Enegren didn't get much help.

Travis Irving and Mac Roy both out battled Simon Denis for pucks in front of the Express net for Langley goals to give the Chiefs a 5-1 lead through 40 minutes.

The third period just saw more goals ending up in the back of the Burnaby net with Enegren getting very little help.

Irving added his 2nd of the period at 3:56 to give the Chiefs a 6-1 lead. That was followed by Marcus Watson getting past Todd Fletcher, Watson's shot was stopped but Brad Goss got to the net first beating the Express defence to bang home the rebound to make it a 7-1 Chiefs lead.

The final nail in Burnaby's coffin on this night was sealed in the final minute when Mitch Pacey came out of the penalty box and took a feed from Trevor Gerling and Pacey scored on the breakaway to round out the scoring.

Final score:

Chiefs 8 Express 1.

Shots:

Express 41 Chiefs 37

Powerplays:

Express 0/7
Chiefs 1/5

3 stars:

3. Andrew Walsh - Quietly had a steady night in the Chiefs crease stopping 40 of 41 Express shots. His performace was easily overlooked with the lopsided score in favour of his club.

2. Travis Irving - Scored a pair of goals and had a fight with Luke Challier in the third period.

1. Dennis Robertson - Scored a pair of goals to set the tone for the Chiefs and take the wind out of the Express sails. Robertson also added an assist.

Next up:

Home vs. Langley Friday night.

JONES A SMASH IN MINNESOTA

Last year I showed former Express Milan Lucic hitting Toronto's Mike Van Ryn through the glass.

Well tonight, it was Express alum David Jones of the Colorado Avalanche hitting Minnesota's Nick Schultz breaking the glass.



Hey, the way Andrew Ladd plays, I wouldn't be surprised to see him level someone through the glass some time soon. I wouldn't want to play against him. He hits his opponents hard.