Coquitlam Express

Coquitlam Express
City	Coquitlam, British Columbia
League	British Columbia Hockey League
Conference	Coastal
Founded	2001
Home arena	Coquitlam Sports Centre
Colours	Red, Black, White
General manager	Darcy Rota
Head coach	Jon Calvano
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 Coastal Conference of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). They play their home games at Coquitlam Sports Centre.

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 Langley Hornets, 4 games to 0, Chilliwack Chiefs, 4 games to 1, Victoria Salsa, 4 games to 1 and the Penticton Vees, 4 games to 2. The team then defeated the Fort McMurray Oil Barons, 4 games to 2, for the Doyle Cup and enter the National Championship Tournament 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 they almost lost to the Fort William Northstars 3–2 in overtime and scored the tying goal with 12 seconds left in regulation time. 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 CJAHL, 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 rounds 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.

In 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 is the second lowest attendance of 17 teams in the BCHL. 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.

Season-by-season record

Original Coquitlam Express logo

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	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, 1-4 (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		7th, Coastal	Lost Division Quarter-final

NHL alumni

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

Awards and trophies

Royal Bank Cup

• 2006

Doyle Cup

• 2006

Mowat Cup

• 2006

Fred Page Cup

• 2006

Cliff McNabb Memorial Trophy
Coastal Conference Champions

• 2006

Bob Fenton Trophy
Most Sportsmanlike (Coastal)

• Brock Bradford: 2004

Bruce Allison Memorial Trophy
Rookie Of The Year (Coastal)

• Kyle Turris: 2006
• Brett Hemingway: 2002

Brett Hull Trophy
Top Scorer

• Carlo Finucci: 2008

Vern Dye Memorial Trophy
Most Valuable Player (Coastal)

• 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