The final game of the regular season for the Coquitlam Express turns out to have been a preview of the first round of its post-season.
The Express will play the Victoria Grizzlies in a best-of-seven series that begins Friday, April 4, in Victoria. Game two will be played Saturday, April 5, also at the Q Centre. The series then shifts to the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex in Coquitlam for game three on Tuesday, April 8 at 7 p.m., with game four scheduled the next night, also at 7 p.m.
The teams rounded out their regular season schedules Saturday in Coquitlam when the Express defeated the Grizzlies 4-3 in a shootout.
Cam Russo scored the decisive goal in its seventh round.
The game was sent into overtime after Victoria battled back from a 3-1 deficit in the third period on goals by Reagan Hiscock and Malcolm Green. Neither team managed to score in five minutes of extra play although the Grizzlies had a 9-4 advantage in shots.
Express scorers were Carson McGinley, Nolan Flynn, and Koray Bozkaya, whose goal was his first of the season.
Victoria opened the scoring when Alex Hebblethwaite beat Coquitlam goaltender Andrew Ness 3:09 into the first period.
The win by the Express, along with a 4-2 loss by the Nanaimo Clippers to the Surrey Eagles Saturday, elevated Coquitlam to fifth place in the BC Hockey League’s Coast Conference standings and a reprise with Victoria, which finished fourth.
It was the second nail-biting victory in as many nights for the Express, which also defeated the Langley Rivermen 3-2 in overtime on Friday at the George Preston Arena. The victories snapped a five-game losing streak for Coquitlam.
Saturday’s win over the Grizzlies was the Express’s second in the teams’ four games this season. Coquitlam previously defeated Victoria 3-2 on Nov. 16, but lost their next two meetings, 5-1 and 6-5.
The other Coast Conference first-round playoff series include:
- first-place Chilliwack Chiefs vs. eighth-place Prince George Spruce Kings
- second-place Surrey Eagles vs. seventh-place Alberni Valley Bulldogs
- third-place Cowichan Valley Capitals vs. sixth-place Nanaimo Clippers
Former Express signs in Syracuse
Another former Coquitlam Express player has turned pro.
Noah De La Durantaye, who captained the team in the 2019-20 season and was part of its foreshortened exhibition campaign during the COVID-19 pandemic. He then headed to Princeton University where he scored 55 points in 117 games.
The Crunch is the American Hockey League farm team of the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning.
So close for Port Moody alumnus
Port Moody's Ryan Tattle came within a whisker of playing for a Frozen Four NCAA Div 1 hockey championship.
Tattle's University of Connecticut Huskies lost 3-2 in overtime to the Penn State Nittany Lions in their regional final, Sunday in Allentown, PA.
Tattle, who played four seasons for the Express, scored 18 goals and added 14 assists in his junior season at UConn. His onetime Coquitlam teammate, Nick Carabin, is also with the Huskies.
Carabin joined UConn as a graduate student following four years at Princeton University.
Port Moody goalie Callum Tung, who played with the Port Moody Panthers of the Pacific Junior Hockey League prior to a season with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs, is also a Husky.
Future Express also experiences championship heartbreak
Future Express forward Cole Bieksa and his Fairmont Prep Academy lost its bid to become the 2025 Chipotle-USA Hockey national 3A champions when it lost in Sunday's final, 3-2 in overtime to Minnesota's Shattuck-St. Mary's. The game was played in Irvine, California.
It was the fourth straight national high school championship for the team from Faribault, Minn.
Bieksa, the 18-year-old son of former beloved Vancouver Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa, and his teammates at Fairmont Prep in Anaheim recently won the California 1A state hockey championship.
The Express announced on Feb. 28, Cole Bieksa will join the team next season. He's eligible for the 2025-26 NHL Entry Draft.
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