Awizard on the ice, Port Moody native Jace Hennig is now a Warrior on it as well.
The 16-year-old forward with the Coquitlam Express has committed to the Merrimack College Warriors of Massachusetts -- becoming the third Express player this season to have agreed to jump to the NCAA Div. 1 ranks this B.C. Hockey League season.
Hennig play four games as an affiliate play with the Express before being signed by the club at the Jan. 10 trade deadline. He picked up his first BCHL points with a goal and one assist during Coquitlam's 5-2 win Jan. 20 over the Victoria Grizzlies.
"This is great news," Express head coach Jon Calvano said of Hennig, who's a goal and three assists for four points in 12 outings with the Express. "[It's] good for local young kids to see how [our] program benefits the younger players."
The BCHL prides itself on being a feeder league to NCAA and CIS schools and giving the opportunity for young hockey players to further develop their skills while receiving a post-secondary education. Other Express players previously signing on with big-name schools this campaign were Alex Petan to Michigan Tech Huskies and Rajan Sidhu to the RIT Tigers of Rochester, N.Y.
Before joining the Express, Hennig racked up 52 points, including 24 goals, in 24 games with the Vancouver North East Chiefs of the Major Midget League.
Meanwhile, the Express split a pair of 3-2 decisions on the weekend, falling to the host Cowichan Valley Capitals on Saturday before rebounding to trip the Clippers in Nanaimo on Sunday.
The results kept the Express in the thick of the Coastal Conference race with a 25-15-2-2 record, good for fourth spot with 54 points and just four back of the Surrey Eagles and the Capitals, who are locked in a second-place tie. Powell River Kings lead the eight-team pack with 62 points.
Against Nanaimo, Alexander Kerfoot's second goal of the game with 5:19 remaining allowed the Express to pull out a one-goal win.
Versus Cowichan, tallies by Kerfoot and Justin Georgeson weren't quite enough as the Express fell by one to the Caps.
Huggins was outstanding in the Coquitlam cage, stopping 42 shots.
Next, the Express return to the road for three tough games in three nights, starting tomorrow (Thursday) when they visit the Kings in Powell River.
ICING: Penticton Vees are by far the cream of the 16-team BCHL crop and appear set to make history. The 40-3-0-2 Vees, who own a whopping 23-point lead atop the eight-team Interior Conference standings, have recorded 28 straight wins -- just one shy of the league record of 29 set by the New Westminster Royals in 1989-90.
