After a stumbling start, the Coquitlam Express are looking a lot more like the team that won the B.C. Hockey League championship last season.
With points in 10 of their last 12 games and a five-game win streak to start November, the Express (9-13-1-4) have crept to within nine points of the first-place Prince George Spruce Kings (15-10-0-2), their opponents tonight and Saturday at the Coliseum.
The Express went 4-11-0-2 in the first two months of the season. Part of the reason for the abrupt turnaround has been the play of goaltender Chris Tai. Express head coach and general manager Barry Wolff acquired the former Lethbridge Hurricane from the Lloydminster Bobcats of the AJHL on Oct. 27. Tai, who turns 19 on Dec. 1, has a 2.92 goals-against average and .914 save percentage in six games with the Express.
The Express also bolstered the defence a month ago with the addition of 20-year-old Dustin Cave from the Sherwood Park Crusaders and 18-year-old Cole Bevan, who brings WHL experience from the Swift Current Broncos and Saskatoon Blades.
"Our goaltending and our defensive game was hurting us a little bit and shoring that up a little bit helps and Tai has played real well for us," said Wolff.
Just seven players remain from last year's Fred Page Cup champions and one of them, left winger Corey Mackin, is leading the BCHL scoring race with 25 goals and 43 points in 27 games. The 19-year-old Ferris State recruit plays on a line with centre Brett Supinski and right wing Brendan Lamont.
"Corey has been unreal, he's really raised his level and hopefully he can keep that going," said Wolff. "Last year he played with [Adam] Rockwood and [Ryan] Rosenthal so he obviously benefitted from that and it's great to see him take it on his own this year. With his work ethic he's taken it upon himself to fill some of the void we lost last year. He goes hard and finds open ice and obviously when he gets chances he's putting them in the net."
The other Express returnees from last year are forwards Lamont, Joey Santucci, Jackson Cressey, Daniell Lange and Cody Boyd, as well as defenceman Anthony Gardner.
Secondary scoring has come from the line of Santucci, Cressey and Colton Kerfoot, a Harvard recruit and former Vancouver Northwest Giant who finished second in B.C. Major Midget League scoring last season with 38 goals and 86 points in 40 games. With Santucci still recovering from hand surgery, Lange will play the right side this weekend with Cressey at centre and Kerfoot at left wing.
The Express are coming off consecutive losses - 2-1 to Chilliwack and 4-1 to Alberni Valley. The injury-riddled Kings ended a two-game slide Tuesday night at home with a 7-4 win over West Kelowna.
The Kings will be without six regulars, including two of their top-three scorers, this weekend when they face the Express. Forwards Justin Rai (15-16-31) has an upper-body injury and Chad Staley (13-17-30) is out with an ankle sprain, while forward Jarryd Leung won't play due to a sprained thumb after taking a shot on the hand in his first shift a week ago against Alberni Valley. The Kings are also missing defenceman Karan Toor, who hasn't played all season due to a groin injury, and forward Riley Hawes (concussion). Blueliner Ryan Fritz will serve the second of a three-game suspension for a hair-pulling incident during a fight in the Alberni Valley game and defenceman Valik Chichkin has been suspended one game for taking part in the second fight in the same stoppage of play late in Sunday's game against West Kelowna.
"We're a wounded group, no doubt about that," said Kings general manager Mike Hawes.
The Kings will dress five affiliate players, including forwards Stephen Egan of Smithers, Austin Turner of Terrace and defenceman Tavis Roch of Quesnel, all called up from the 100 Mile House Wranglers of the KIJHL. Forwards Austin Gray and Colton Thomas of the Cariboo Cougars will play tonight but won't be available Saturday because the Cougars will be in action that day at Kin 1 against the Okanagan Rockets.
The Spruce Kings have won two of the three games against the Express this season, all played in Coquitlam.
"They've been coming on strong and I think it's going to be real tough test for us," said Mike Hawes. "At this point of the year the kids understand the systems, they understand the expectations, it's all attention to detail. But it's tough when you have six regulars sitting in the stands and you have to bring in affiliated players who are less familiar with our systems."
The Kings will likely dress Alex Brooks-Potts in goal tonight. (7 p.m. start). He's been playing every other game, alternating with Jesse Jenks. Together they've formed one of the top goaltending tandems in the BCHL this season.
