The Coquitlam Express will begin selling playoff tickets this week.
And the team’s general manager says he couldn’t be happier to be able to say that. Even if he doesn’t know who his squad will be facing when the first round of the BC Hockey League's post season begins April 1.
Tali Campbell said a weekend sweep of three games against opponents from Vancouver Island is a testament to the growing belief Express players have in each other and their coaching staff.
“We’re firing on all cylinders,” he said after the team defeated the Nanaimo Clippers 3-2 Sunday afternoon in Nanaimo.
The victory capped a remarkable 36-hour stretch that started Friday with a 5-3 win over the Coastal division-leading Alberni Valley Bulldogs in front of more than 1,800 fans at the Poirier Sport and Recreation Complex. Saturday, the Express defeated the Victoria Grizzlies 2-1 in Victoria.
The Express have now won six games in a row.
But more importantly, Campbell said, the team has shown it can defeat anybody in its division. That’s a good situation to be in, considering Coquitlam’s first-round opponent will be one of three divisional rivals — the Clippers, Langley Rivermen or Chilliwack Chiefs — depending on how those teams fare in the final week of the regular season. The Express face the Chiefs in Chilliwack on Saturday.
Campbell said the acquisition of veteran forwards like Mateo Dixon, Mirko Buttazzoni and Trevor O’Brien, along with goaltender Carter Woodside and defenseman Brenden Pentecost, has provided the solid foundation the team’s otherwise young roster needed to grow and learn how to win. They’ve also bolstered the success of veteran captain Ryan Tattle, who now has 60 points in 51 games, and defenseman Matthew Campbell, who received an honourable mention Monday as one of the BCHL’s Three Stars of the Week.
Campbell said the team’s pieces are falling into place at just the right time.
“They’ve really started to figure it out,” he said.
A key piece has been the play of back-up goaltender Adam Manji. Since returning from an injury that sidelined him for several weeks in the middle of the season, he’s won five times and lost twice after only winning once in eight appearances prior to getting hurt.
Campbell said having a top back-up ready to step in should starter Woodside falter “is a good situation.” In fact, he added, all through the Express lineup it’s getting tougher and tougher to determine who’s going to play.
“Everyone is playing really well right now.”
Campbell and Tattle score in win over Nanaimo
Against Nanaimo Sunday, Tattle and Matthew Campbell scored third period goals to overcome a 2-1 deficit to the Clippers. Ray Hamlin scored Coquitlam’s other goal, late in the second period.
Woodside stopped 22 of the 24 shots he faced in the Express net to earn his 14th win of the season.
Home on the road
Coquitlam will actually be the home team in its game Saturday against the Chiefs in Chilliwack that concludes the regular season for both sides. That’s because the game is one of several the league has to make up for cancellations in December and January after storms and flooding cut several highway connections in the province.
