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Heading into the start of the BCHL season, the Coquitlam Express will need to 'win by committee'

The Coquitlam Express opens its BC Hockey League season on Friday, Sept. 20, against the Chilliwack Chiefs, 7p.m. at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex
Mario Bartel
Mario Bartel

The Coquitlam Express may wear black and gold hockey jerseys, but their collars are blue through and through says the team’s coach, Jeff Wagner.

Heading into his first full season as Express bench boss, following three as an assistant, Wagner said his players will “win by committee.”

It’s an honest assessment of a team he’s counting on to put in an honest effort every time they step on the ice.

 

 

“It’s the next-man-up mentality,” Wagner said. “You’re out there waiting for your number to be called and from there, it’s just go do your job.”

The commitment to work ethic is at least partly due to a lack of apparent top-end talent, said Wagner.

Gone are four of Coquitlam’s top five scorers from last season, Drew Garzone, Jacob Manfre, Cole Melady and Michael Rubin, as well as starting goaltender Adam Manji. That leaves it to a new leadership group to show the way and so far, Wagner said, he likes what he’s seen at practice and in the four exhibition games the Express split with two wins and two losses.

The new Express captain, forward James Shannon, “embodies exactly what we want in a player and a teammate,” said Wagner, while Port Moody’s Jackson Krill is ready to build on the 18 points he scored in 51 games last season. As well, veteran defencemen Cooper Wilson and Sam Frandina have the skill and maturity to steady the team’s back end.

They’ll be capably supported by veterans like Joseph Odyniec and David Brandes, said Wagner.

Newcomers to the Express ready and eager to turn heads include big Sovakian defneceman Leo Eperjesi and the Pendy brothers — Max and Trip — from Far Hills, New Jersey.

As well, fifth-year winger Andrej Kovacevic returns to the Express after breaking in to the BC Hockey League with the team during the pod season in 2020-21 then moving on to the Langley Rivermen and Cowichan Valley Capitals. He’s looking to recapture the form that saw him score 41 points in 52 games for the Rivernen two seasons ago before slipping to 35 points in 47 games in Langley and Cowichan last season.

Perhaps Coquitlam’s biggest uncertainty heading into the new season, which begins Friday, Sept. 20, when the Chilliwack Chiefs visit the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex, is in net.

With the team’s starter the last two seasons, Adam Manji, off to American International College in the NCAA, his backup, Ethan Simcoe, was expected to slide easily between the pipes. But he was hobbled by injury in training camp and failed to see any action in exhibition play.

That’s got Wagner looking to Eric Young, who played four games last season in a third-string role for the Express, and 17-year-old Mitchell Pearce, a call-up from Coquitlam’s U18 developmental team, to hold the fort.

Like Wagner said, it’s all about the next guy stepping up.

“Our focus is the here and now and just getting better every day,” he said.

• The Express follows up its season-opener on Friday with a second home game Saturday, against the Cowichan Valley Capitals, 7 p.m,. at Poirier. Next weekend the team will be in Prince George for back-to-back games against the Spruce Kings Sept. 27 and 28.

Once again, all BCHL games are being streamed on FloHockey.