The Coquitlam Express are a Junior "A" ice hockey team based in

Coquitlam Coquitlam ( ) is a city in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Mainly suburban, Coquitlam is the List of cities in British Columbia, sixth-largest city in the province, with a population of 148,625 in 2021, and one of the 21 municipa ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada. They are members of the Coastal Conference of the

British Columbia Hockey League The British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) is a Junior A ice hockey league from British Columbia under Hockey Canada and BC Hockey. Founded in Vernon in 1961, the BCHL now includes 18 teams. From 1993 to 2021, the league was a member of the Ca ...

(BCHL). They play their home games at the

Poirier Sport & Leisure Complex Poirier Sport & Leisure Complex is a 190,000-square-foot multi-purpose all-season recreation complex in Coquitlam, British Columbia. Arena The arena-side of the facility is used by a wide variety of groups, including hockey, lacrosse and ringett ...

. Although the team had played in the neighbouring city of

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...

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.

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 Poirier Sport & Leisure Complex is a 190,000-square-foot multi-purpose all-season recreation complex in Coquitlam, British Columbia. Arena The arena-side of the facility is used by a wide variety of groups, including hockey, lacrosse and ringett ...

. 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 four seasons (1998–2001). That team relocated to the city of

Port Alberni Port Alberni () is a city located on Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The city lies within the Alberni Valley at the head of the Alberni Inlet, Vancouver Island's longest inlet. It is the location of the head offices o ...

, on

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

for the start of the 2002–03 season and was renamed the

Alberni Valley Bulldogs The Alberni Valley Bulldogs are a Junior "A" ice hockey team based in Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Island Division of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). They play their home games at Weyerhaeuser Arena ...

. 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 The Fort McMurray Oil Barons are a Junior A ice hockey team in the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL). They play in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada at the Centerfire Place. The Oil Barons have won three AJHL playoff championships, three regular ...

in six games for the

Doyle Cup The Doyle Cup is an ice hockey trophy won through a best-of-7 series conducted annually by the Canadian Junior Hockey League to determine the Pacific region berth in the Centennial Cup, the national Junior A championship. From 1971 to 2021, the se ...

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 The Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) is an association of Canadian junior A ice hockey leagues and teams and was formed in November 1993, emerging from the Canada West Association of Junior 'A' Hockey. The champion of the Canadian Junior H ...

, with players like

Kyle Turris Kyle Turris (born August 14, 1989) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He was selected third overall in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft by the Phoenix Coyotes. He has also played with the Ottawa Senators, Oulun Kärpät, Nashville Pr ...

and Tyler McNeely. In the first round of the BCHL playoffs, the team beat the Langley Chiefs in seven games before losing to the eventual BCHL league champions Nanaimo Clippers in seven games during the second round. The 2007 off-season saw a coaching change from Rick Lanz, a scout for the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

, to Dave McLellan. The team was not very well-supported since the move from Coquitlam and struggled in attendance for the third straight year. By 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 was 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 Darcy Irwin Rota (born February 16, 1953) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who spent eleven seasons in the National Hockey League. Playing career Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Darcy's formative years including Bantam ...

took over during the interim, with Bill Zaharia and Tyler Kuntz named as assistants for the remainder of the 2009–10 season. On 13 April 2010, the Express named Jon Calvano as their next 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 made the playoffs for the first time in three seasons, 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 named Jon Calvano as general manager on top of his existing coaching duties. The 2012–13 season saw a great start for the Express until the team lost players to multiple injuries within a short period, including

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

draftee

Alexander Kerfoot Alexander Douglas Kerfoot (born August 11, 1994) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the fifth round, 150th overall, by the New Jersey Devils in the ...

. The team struggled for most of the latter half of the season and failed to reach the postseason for the third time in five years. Calvano was fired at the end of the season. Barry Wolff became the team's next head coach on 22 April 2013 and in the following season led the Express to their second Fred Page Cup championship, and their first and only appearance in the

Western Canada Cup The Western Canada Cup (WCC); was the Junior 'A' ice hockey championship for western Canada from 2013 to 2017. The annual five-team event consisted of the host team and the champions from the four western leagues (Alberta Junior Hockey League, Bri ...

, where they finished fourth following a 5–3 loss in the semifinal to the AJHL's

Spruce Grove Saints The Spruce Grove Saints are a junior A ice hockey team in the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL). They play in Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada, with home games at Grant Fuhr Arena. History The Saints' franchise is the only franchise remaining fr ...

. Wolff was named the 2014 coach of the year by the Coquitlam Sports Hall of Fame and the team earned team of the year honours. The team achieved mixed success for the next couple of seasons, finishing fourth in the mainland division and eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in two consecutive seasons. The 2016–17 season again had the Express sustain many player injuries, resulting in a franchise worst 11–44–2–1 (25 points) record and finishing last in nearly every statistic. The following season continued the trend and after recording only three wins and eight points in the first half of the season, Wolff was fired and replaced with former OJHL's

Toronto Patriots The Toronto Patriots are a junior "A" ice hockey team from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of Ontario Junior Hockey League. History Quinte (1996–1998) In 1996, the Quinte Hawks of Deseronto, Ontario were granted expansion into the ...

head coach Jason Fortier. The team turned around under Fortier until the 2019–20 season where the Express posted a franchise-best 47–9–1–1 (96 points) and won the Ron Boileau Memorial Trophy for the first time as regular season champions. Their performance over the regular season was enough to earn Fortier Coach of the Year honors for the 2019–20 season. Unfortunately, after winning their first round matchup with the Langley Rivermen,

Hockey Canada Hockey Canada (which merged with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association in 1994) is the national governing body of ice hockey and ice sledge hockey in Canada. It is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation and controls the majority ...

cancelled the remainder of the Junior A season nationally due to the global

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, ending their run for a third league title. Fortier would leave the team in the off-season, with Dan Cioffi, coach of the BCMML's Valley West Giants, named as his replacement. He, however, would resign after the league's extended pre-season was paused by the Provincial Health Officer. Adam Nugent-Hopkins, older brother of Edmonton Oiler

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Ryan Jarromie Noel Nugent-Hopkins (born April 12, 1993) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and alternate captain for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Nuge" by Oilers fans, Nugent-Hopkins was selected ...

, took his place for the rest of the season alongside new GM Tali Campbell. He would coach the team to a 6-11-3 record in a 20 game pod season played against the Surrey Eagles and Powell River Kings. Brandon Shaw, previously assistant coach of the

, would be named head coach for the team's first full season since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. After a rough start, he would rally the team to a 22-26-6 record to bring the team back up to 7th in the Coastal Conference. The Express would be eliminated by the Chiefs in the first round but not without taking the series to a full seven games. Shaw would move up to become an assistant coach with the OHL's

Niagara Icedogs The Niagara IceDogs are a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League based in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. The franchise was originally known as the Mississauga IceDogs and founded in 1996. The team was relocated to St. Cathar ...

, leaving the team to find their fourth head coach in three seasons. Not only was it announced that Vees assistant coach Patrick Sexton would become the new bench boss for the 2022-23 season, but on 17 August 2022 it was announced that a newly-retired Kyle Turris would be returning to the Express as a special advisor to GM Campbell and as a player development coach.

Season-by-season record

''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''

Notable alumni

Mathew Barzal Mathew Barzal (born May 26, 1997) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). Barzal was selected by the Islanders in the first round, 16th overall, of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. He ...

Mark Dekanich Mark Adam Dekanich (born May 10, 1986) is a Croatian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He was selected by the Nashville Predators in the fifth round (146th overall) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. Playing career As a youth, Dekanich pla ...

* Brad Hunt * David Jones *

Andrew Ladd Andrew Joseph Ladd (born December 12, 1985) is a Canadian professional ice hockey winger for the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played for the Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Atlanta Thrashers, Winn ...

Milan Lucic Milan Lucic (; born June 7, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played major junior hockey with the Vancouver Giants in the Western Hockey League (WHL) for three seas ...

Wyatt Russell Wyatt Hawn Russell (born July 10, 1986) Retrieved December 31, 2016Archivedfrom the original on November 10, 2013. is an American actor and former ice hockey player. Russell portrayed Corporal Lewis Ford in Julius Avery's 2018 horror film ''Overl ...

* Clay Stevenson *

* Patrick Wiercioch *

Brandon Yip Brandon Michael Harry Yip (; born April 25, 1985) is a Chinese-Canadian professional ice hockey right wing who is currently playing with HC Kunlun Red Star of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He has previously played in the National Hockey L ...

Awards and trophies

Royal Bank Cup Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

*2006

*2006 Mowat Cup *2006 *2014

Fred Page Cup The Fred Page Cup is a championship ice hockey trophy, won by a tournament conducted by the Canadian Junior Hockey League. The award is given to the winner of a round-robin and playoff between the Bogart Cup champions of the Central Canada Hoc ...

*2006 *2014 Cliff McNabb Memorial Trophy
Coastal Conference Champions *2006 Mainland Division Champions *2014 Ron Boileau Memorial Trophy
Regular Season Champions *2020

Bob Fenton Trophy
Most Sportsmanlike (Coastal) *

Colton Kerfoot Colton may refer to: Places Australia * Colton, South Australia, a locality in the District Council of Elliston * Electoral district of Colton, South Australia England * Colton, Cumbria * Colton, Leeds (a village to the east of the city.) ...

: 2016 *

: 2012 *Brock Bradford: 2004 Bruce Allison Memorial Trophy
Rookie Of The Year (Coastal) * Brett Supinski: 2015 *

: 2012 * Destry Straight: 2011 *

: 2006 * Brett Hemingway: 2002

Brett Hull Brett Andrew Hull (born August 9, 1964) is a Canadian–American former ice hockey player and general manager, and currently an executive vice president of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Calgary Flames, ...

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 *

: 2007 Michael Garteig Trophy
Top Goaltender * Clay Stevenson: 2020 Wally Forslund Trophy
Top Goaltending Duo * Clay Stevenson & Jack Watson: 2020 Joe Tennant Memorial Trophy
Coach of the Year * Jason Fortier: 2020

References

External links