Riley Johnson and Colby Pederson played most of their minor hockey together. They grew up seven kilometres apart and their birthdays are a day apart.
But neither had any idea the other was contemplating a move from Raleigh, North Carolina to Coquitlam to pursue their hockey dreams in the BC Hockey League with the Express.
Fittingly, it was a common connection that sent the two 18-year-olds on their journey 4,300 km west and north from home. Pederson had a coach who knew Express’ coach Barry Wolff, and Johnson had played in front of Wolff at a national tournament. Having a buddy along made it easier for both of them Pederson said.
“I was excited to have a little piece of home with me,” Johnson said.
Especially when that home is in a new country where hockey is ingrained in the national identity. It’s not just a long way from Raleigh in miles, but also culturally.
There’s just three hockey rinks in Raleigh, and none of them have heated seating areas, Pederson said. To find competitive opponents often meant travelling because other teams didn’t want to go to Raleigh; one year, when the boys were 13, their team played only one game on home ice.
Their football and basketball-loving friends had no idea what they were up to.
“They didn’t understand we’re going away every other week to play hockey,” Johnson said. “It was a tough concept for some people to grasp.”
Both boys said it was the Stanley Cup victory in 2006 by the Carolina Hurricanes — who play in Raleigh — that kicked their interest in hockey into high gear. In fact, one of the Hurricanes’ players, Rod Brind’amour, was even their coach for a stretch when they were eight years-old.
And while the quality of players and coaches improved as more took up the sport, a couple of tastes of hockey in Canada — including an invitation to play at the famous PeeWee tournament in Quebec City — told them they had much further to go in their development. And to achieve that they’d have to go far.
“We never had as much ice time as we do here,” Pederson said. “Here, we’re on the ice every day and we can skate anywhere.”
“Everybody just cares so much about the sport,” Johnson said.
Both boys are taking a year off school after graduating from high school last spring to concentrate on hockey, a touchy subject back home, said Johnson.
“It’s an experience you can’t pass up,” Pederson said.
They’re treating it as a gap year, honing their hockey skills in pursuit of a hockey scholarship — Pederson is hoping to land somewhere in the U.S. Northeast while Johnson dreams of playing for a school in the Big 10 conference. A month into their rookie seasons in the BCHL, both realize they’re on a steep learning curve.
“It’s a lot more physical, better hockey all around,” Johnson said. “You definitely need to push the pace.”
“Speed is a big thing here,” Pederson said. “I’m learning to use my head when I’m skating.”
They’re definitely not in Raleigh anymore, Johnson said.
“I think we made the right choice.”
Road unkind to Express
The Coquitlam Express can’t get home soon enough.
The BC Hockey League team lost all three of its games on a weekend road trip through Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast.
Their road weariness may have caught up to them Sunday in a 7-0 loss to the Power River Kings, after the team dropped narrow one-goal decisions to Nanaimo on Saturday and the Victoria Grizzlies on Friday.
The Kings, who lead the Island division with nine wins in 14 games, feasted on the Express with four goals in the first period, another in the second and two in the third. They outshot the visitors 45-20.
It was a grim way to end a slog through the tough Island division in which four of the five teams are playing .500 hockey or better.
The Express were able to stay competitive with the second-place Grizzlies in a tight 2-1 loss in which they only gave up three more shots than they are able to fire at Victoria goalie Zachary Rose. Colby Pederson scored the lone goal for Coquitlam.
On Saturday in Nanaimo, the Express battled back from a 4-1 deficit early in the third period but Eric Linell’s goal with 14 seconds left and Coquitlam goalie Clay Stevenson on the bench for an extra attacker fell just short in a 4-3 loss.
Christian Sanda and Aiden Wagner scored the other goals for the Express, who are in last place in the Mainland division with three wins and eight points in 17 games.
Coquitlam hosts the Surrey Eagles on Saturday, 7 p.m., at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Centre.
