Summer has barely begun, but hockey season is just three months away.
The Coquitlam Express will open its 2023–24 BC Hockey League season on Sept. 22 at home against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs.
The Surrey Eagles visit the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex the next night.
Most of the team’s home games this season will be on weekends: 14 on Friday evenings, seven on Saturday evenings.
There will also be two Sunday matinees: Oct. 15 against the Chilliwack Chiefs and March 31 against the Victoria Grizzlies to conclude the regular season.
The annual school game, where the stands are packed with kids from local schools, is scheduled for Jan. 24 against the Chiefs.
As well, the Express will host the Powell River Kings at noon on Family Day, Feb. 19.
Express general manager Tali Campbell said staff are busy planning a full schedule of events and promotions to heighten the fan experience.
They include a new party pit, a birthday section in the stands and a new merchandise area.
“Our fans can expect to see exciting, fast-paced hockey and we’re looking forward to making our community proud,” Campbell said in a news release.
Coquitlam’s busiest months will be December, February and March, when the team plays nine games in each.
After a home game Dec. 16 against the Bulldogs, the Express will be absent from Poirier for more than a month with a run of seven road games including back-to-back games in Powell River on Dec. 29 and 30, as well as visits to Alberni Valley, Nanaimo, Surrey and Vernon.
Still to be determined is Coquitlam’s schedule at the BCHL’s annual showcase that gathers all the league’s teams in one location to play a pair of games in front of scouts and college recruiters. It will be held in Seattle Oct. 22–26.
BCHL schedule makers were thrown a bit of a knuckleball just last week when the owners of the league’s only American team, the Wenatchee Wild, announced they had acquired the Winnipeg Ice of the Western Hockey League and will moved the Major Junior franchise to the the Central Washington state city, suspending its membership in the BCHL.
Graham Fraser, chairman of the BCHL Board of Governors, said the league is assessing its next steps, including determining the future for Wild players.
It’s the latest wrinkle in a summer of upheaval for the BCHL.
On June 9, the Board of Governors approved the sale of the Langley Rivermen to local businessmen Dana Matheson and Jamie Schreder. Matheson runs a logistics company while Schreder is in real estate.
And on June 1 the league officially became independent from Hockey Canada, freeing it from the sanctioning body’s restrictions on roster composition as well as the origins of players. Teams are now able to recruit players as young as 16 from out of province, as well as two players from outside North America.
The move also means teams have to find places to play for affiliate players who can no longer participate in leagues sanctioned by Hockey Canada, like the Pacific Junior Hockey League, or events like the World Junior Hockey Championships.
The Express recently announced the formation of its own affiliate team for U18 players, Coquitlam HC, that will be part of the hockey academy program at nearby Centennial Secondary School and play games in the Junior Prospects Hockey League that is comprised of 13 team in B.C. and Alberta.
For a link to the full 2023–24 schedule for the Coquitlam Express, go to the team’s website.
GOLF TOURNEY
The Express also announced it will host its third annual charity golf tournament on Sept. 13 at Westwood Plateau.
This year’s event will help FOCUS Canada, a non-profit organization that helps families going through adversity.
The event begins at noon with a shotgun start and includes a round of golf, cart rental and a buffet dinner. There’s also an online auction and raffle.
For more information, or to register, go to the Coquitlam Express website.
