Coquitlam Express

Coquitlam Express
City	Coquitlam, British Columbia
League	British Columbia Hockey League
Division	Mainland
Founded	2001
Home arena	Poirier Sport & Leisure Complex
Colors	Black, Gold, White
General manager	Barry Wolff
Head coach	Barry Wolff
Website www.coquitlamexpress.ca
Franchise history
2001–05	Coquitlam Express
2005–10	Burnaby Express
2010–present	Coquitlam Express

The Coquitlam Express are a Junior "A" ice hockey team based in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Mainland Division of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). They play their home games at the Poirier Sport & Leisure Complex.

Although the team had played in the neighbouring city of Burnaby for the previous five years, on 14 January 2010 it was announced that the BCHL Board of Governors unanimously approved the relocation of the franchise back to Coquitlam for the 2010/11 season.

The team's ownership group includes Darcy Rota (President), Robert Clough, Pat Delasalle, Tim Delasalle, Brian Hannigan, Dave Lowry, Ian Mansfield, Kirk McLean, Bill Ranford, and Robert Lambie (Treasurer).

History

The Coquitlam Express began play as a new franchise in the BCHL for the 2001–02 hockey season, and played in the city for four seasons at the Coquitlam Sports Centre. Due to unsatisfactory conditions at the Sports Centre (specifically a reduction of parking due to the construction of a new aquatic complex next door), the team relocated to Burnaby for the 2005–06 season.

Burnaby originally had a junior "A" team by the name of the Burnaby Bulldogs, which played in that city for 4 seasons (1998–2001). That team relocated to the city of Port Alberni, on Vancouver Island for the start of the 2002 season, and was renamed the Alberni Valley Bulldogs.

The 2005–06 season saw the Express win the league championship (Fred Page Cup) and the Mowat Cup by defeating the Langley Hornets in four games, the Chilliwack Chiefs in 5 games, the Victoria Salsa in 5 games, and the Penticton Vees in six games. The team then defeated the Fort McMurray Oil Barons in six games for the Doyle Cup and entered the National Championship as Pacific Region winners.

The Express won the Royal Bank Cup 2006 (National Championship) by defeating the Yorkton Terries by a score of 8–2. In the Semi-Final against the Fort William Northstars, they scored the tying goal with 12 seconds left in the third period then went on to win 3–2 in overtime. During the round-robin they had a record of 3–1, which seeded them 2nd in the Tournament, behind the hometown hosts Streetsville Derbys.

In 2006–07 the Express were highly touted as a top team in the Canadian Junior Hockey League, with the likes of Kyle Turris and Tyler McNeely. They set out to repeat as Royal Bank Cup champions again, but fell short. In the first round of playoffs the team beat the Langley Chiefs in 7 games and in the second round lost to the eventual BCHL league champions Nanaimo Clippers in 7 games.

2007–08 saw a coaching change from Rick Lanz (Colorado Avalanche Western Scout) to Dave McLellan. The team was not been very well-supported since the move from Coquitlam, and struggled in attendance for the 3rd straight year. Although the team enjoyed a little success in the regular season it was the Victoria Grizzlies that ended the careers of Carlo Finucci, Kevin Tipper, Todd Bowman, Brad Hunt, and Mike Rempel.

As of 17 October 2009, the Burnaby Express were averaging just 548 fans per game, which was the second lowest attendance of the 17 teams in the BCHL at the time. This is half the attendance the team averaged in their final season in Coquitlam (1,091 fans per game).

With the team in last place in the Coastal Conference, on 16 January 2010 the Express announced the firing of coach Dave McLellan. General Manager Darcy Rota took over the interim coaching duties, with Bill Zaharia and Tyler Kuntz named as Assistant Coaches for the remainder of the 2009–10 season. On 13 April 2010, the Express named Jon Calvano as their new head coach.

The 2010-11 season marked the Express' return to Coquitlam. They played their first game back at the newly renovated and renamed Poirier Sport & Leisure Complex on 24 September 2010, where they defeated the Surrey Eagles 4-2. Coquitlam would make the playoffs for the first time in 3 years, losing in the first round to the Eagles in four games. The following year they would again be eliminated in the first round, this time to the Powell River Kings in six games. Following the 2011-12 season, the Express would name Jon Calvano as General Manager on top of his existing coaching duties.

The 2012-13 season saw a great start for the Express until they were hit with multiple injuries within a short period of time, which resulted in them struggling for most of the latter half of the season and failing to reach the postseason for the third time in five years. Calvano would be fired at the end of the season.

Barry Wolff was announced as the team's new head coach on 22 April 2013, and in his first year was able to lead the Express to their second Fred Page Cup championship, and their first appearance in the Western Canada Cup, where they finished fourth following a 5-3 loss in the semifinal to the Spruce Grove Saints. Wolff would eventually be named the 2014 coach of the year by the Coquitlam Sports Hall of Fame.

Season-by-season record

original Coquitlam Express logo

Season	GP	W	L	T	OL	GF	GA	Pts	PIM	Finish	Playoffs
2001-02	60	20	32	-	8	230	305	48		4th, Mainland	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 1-4 (Chiefs)
2002-03	60	24	29	1	6	228	270	55		4th, Mainland	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 3-4 (Chiefs)
2003-04	60	32	26	1	1	254	212	66	2312	3rd, Mainland	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 3-4 (Chiefs)
2004-05	60	25	31	1	3	211	258	54	1421	3rd, Mainland	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 3-4 (Chiefs)
2005-06	60	34	20	1	5	231	202	74	589	2nd, Mainland	Fred Page Cup, Mowat Cup, Doyle Cup, Royal Bank Cup Champions
2006-07	60	34	25	0	1	260	198	69	1232	4th, Coastal	Lost in Conference Semifinals, 3-4 (Clippers)
2007-08	60	33	24	0	3	218	219	69	922	4th, Coastal	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2-3 (Grizzlies)
2008-09	60	18	35	1	6	170	245	43	829	4th, Mainland	Did not qualify
2009-10	60	18	36	0	6	175	256	42	878	8th, Coastal	Did not qualify
2010-11	60	22	28	1	9	218	253	54	594	7th, Coastal	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals 0-4 (Eagles)
2011-12	60	36	19	3	2	245	204	77	626	4th, Coastal	Lost in Conference Semifinals 2-4 (Kings)
2012-13	56	24	31	1	0	161	210	49	529	5th, Mainland	Did not qualify
2013-14	58	27	26	2	3	226	226	59	692	3rd, Mainland	Fred Page Cup, Mowat Cup Champions, 4th in Western Canada Cup
2014-15	58	25	28	1	4	218	238	55	642	4th, Mainland	Lost in Division Semifinals 1-4 (Chiefs)
2015-16	58	22	29	1	6	185	247	51	794	4th Mainland 14th BCHL	Lost in Div. Semifinals 0-4 (Chiefs)
2016-17	58	11	44	2	1	121	305	25	-	6th, Mainland 17th, BCHL	Did not qualify
2017-18	58	15	38	4	1	138	210	35	-	5th, Mainland 16th of 17, BCHL	Lost in Div. Semifinals 0-4 (Vees)
2018-19	58	28	24	3	3	209	198	62	-	3rd, Mainland 9th of 17, BCHL	Lost in Div. Semifinals 1-4 (Spruce Kings)
2019-20	58	47	9	1	1	227	127	96	-	1st, Mainland 1st of 17, BCHL	Won Div. Semifinals 4-0 (Rivermen Balance of Playoffs Cancelled
2020-21	20	6	11	3	0	64	93	15	-	3rd, Coquitlam Pod	Playoffs cancelled
2021-22	54	22	26	1	5	176	217	50	-	7th Coastal	Lost Conference Quarterfinals

NHL alumni

• Mark Dekanich
• David Jones
• Andrew Ladd
• Milan Lucic
• Kyle Turris
• Patrick Wiercioch
• Brandon Yip
• Brad Hunt

Awards and trophies

Royal Bank Cup

• 2006

Doyle Cup

• 2006

Mowat Cup

• 2006
• 2014

Fred Page Cup

• 2006
• 2014

Cliff McNabb Memorial Trophy
Coastal Conference Champions

• 2006

Mainland Division Champions

• 2014

Bob Fenton Trophy
Most Sportsmanlike (Coastal)

• Colton Kerfoot: 2016
• Alexander Kerfoot: 2012
• Brock Bradford: 2004

Bruce Allison Memorial Trophy
Rookie Of The Year (Coastal)

• Brett Supinski: 2015
• Alexander Kerfoot: 2012
• Destry Straight: 2011
• Kyle Turris: 2006
• Brett Hemingway: 2002

Brett Hull Trophy
Top Scorer

• Corey Mackin: 2015
• Carlo Finucci: 2008

Vern Dye Memorial Trophy
Most Valuable Player (Coastal)

• Corey Mackin: 2015
• Alex Petan: 2012
• Carlo Finucci: 2008
• Kyle Turris: 2007

See also

• List of ice hockey teams in British Columbia

External links

• Official website

Preceded by Weyburn Red Wings

Royal Bank Cup Champions 2006

Succeeded by Aurora Tigers