It will be a very different Coquitlam Express when fans next get to see the team play at home Feb. 17.
But general manager Tali Campbell says its character and mission remain the same, even as four new players take to the ice at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex and three depart after a busy BC Hockey League trade deadline day for the Express.
Coquitlam traded forwards Ryan Staples and Dane Pyatt, along with defenseman Leo Eperjesi, to the Surrey Eagles for 20-year-old forward Cam Russo and Nolan Flynn, who will turn 20 on Feb. 25.
The Express also acquired Swedish defenseman Alexander Stahl from the Alberni Valley Bulldogs for future considerations.
As well, the team signed forward Connor Seeley. Coquitlam had acquired him in January, but an injury made his playing status uncertain.
Seeley was the property of the Trail Smoke Eaters, but he was playing for the Old Grizzlys in the Alberta Junior Hockey League where he scored 22 points in 30 games and was the team’s captain.
Campbell said while the player movement may seem like a lot all in one day, the fine-tuning of the Express lineup has been in the works for some time.
“For us it was just trying to push that needle a little bit forward while not wrecking the dressing room either.”
Campbell said a pair of losses last weekend to the Prince George Spruce Kings provided a little added impetus to get the deals done.
“It certainly gave us that reassurance that we need to make some moves,” he said of the 3-2 setbacks — one of them in overtime — to a team with 13 fewer points than Coquitlam.
Russo, who’s originally from Middleton, MA, is in his first season in the BCHL. He scored seven goals and added 19 assists in 38 games for the Eagles.
Flynn, who’s also from Massachusetts, has 15 points in 28 games.
Campbell said he’ll bring more speed to Coquitlam’s forward corps.
“Flynn is a rocket out on the ice.”
Stahl is from Ljungby, Sweden, and in the 30 games he played for the Bulldogs, he had four points.
Campbell said the 6’1”, 194 lb. defenseman is a “tough, physical presence on the blue line.”
He added the acquisitions will give Express head coach Jeff Wagner more options to move players around in his lineup as well as provide a robust buffer in case of injuries. But they won’t drastically alter the team’s style of play.
“I think our identity as that blue collar team remains the same,” Campbell said. “We’re a team that works our butts off every single day.”
For the Express, which slipped to fifth place in the BCHL’s Coastal Conference standings after the weekend losses, that work recommences on Monday, when the Surrey Eagles visit Poirier for a special Family Day matinee that begins at noon with free admission for all families (everyone is invited to bring a donation of non-perishable food items for the SHARE food bank).
Campbell said the presence of two former Eagles in Coquitlam’s lineup and three former Express players on the visitors’ bench adds a little extra spiciness to the bonafide start of the season’s stretch drive to the playoffs, that begin in April.
“It adds a level of excitement for the players to play against their old teammates and play with their new teammates for the first time,” he said., adding the team is also eager to avenge a 7-1 loss on home ice to Surrey on Jan. 25.
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