The following story was scheduled to appear in the Tri-City News.
Despite exiting the first round of the BC Hockey League playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, there’s no time for Coquitlam Express general manager Tali Campbell to wallow in disappointment.
Even as players head home for the summer following Sunday’s 5-1 loss to the Victoria Grizzlies that eliminated the Express from the post season in six games, Campbell is putting together a busy schedule that includes further building out of the program’s development teams, attending spring evaluation camps, managing more renovations to its off-ice training and lounge facilities across from the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex, meetings with scouts, as well as potential recruits and their families.
“The work never stops anymore,” Campbell said.
This summer, though, presents some new challenges.
A recent decision by the NCAA to accept players from the Canadian Hockey League into its Div. 1 programs beginning Aug. 1 has significantly altered the junior hockey landscape.
The allure of preparing players for lucrative scholarship opportunities at American universities to continue developing on the ice while getting an education was once the BCHL’s ace-in-the-hole over the Western, Ontario and Quebec Maritime Junior hockey leagues, which the NCAA had considered professional because of the stipend players get to help them cover expenses while living away from home.
Play to strengths
With that advantage now gone, Campbell said the Express and the rest of the BCHL teams must play to their strength of giving young men the time, space and tools to develop and mature as players and individuals ready to take the next step in their hockey journey, whether that’s college programs at U.S. or Canadian schools, or even turning pro or semi-pro.
“Our league has always been the long runway league,” Campbell said.
Already that approach has paid dividends with a commitment from potential 2026 NHL draft prospect Cole Bieksa, the son of beloved former Vancouver Canucks defensemen Kevin Bieksa.
“I think the reputation of our program just gets boosted by something like that,” Campbell said, adding the 18-year-old forward, whose Fairmont Prep Academy team in California just missed out winning the Chipotle-USA Hockey national 3A high school championship, will still have to earn his place on the Express come September.
Home-grown talent
Campbell said the increased competition for players also boosts the importance for BCHL teams to cultivate home-grown talent through their own developmental pathway.
“The feeder system is critical to the lifeline of our program,” said Campbell of the Coquitlam HC program that’s partnered with School District 43 to give local players as young as 13 a chance to hone their game in an intensive hockey environment while going to school at nearby Centennial and Port Moody secondary schools.
“We need to get families and kids into our programs at a young age, show them exactly what we offer over the course of three to four years.”
Still, Campbell said, with several players who were key to the Express’s run to the playoffs graduating out of the BCHL, including goaltender Andrew Ness, forwards James Shannon, Joseph Odyniec, Andrej Kovacivic and Mason Kesselring, along with defensemen David Brandes and Sam Frandina, uncertainty about what the team will look like come September abounds.
With more options available, players and their families are unlikely to make quick decisions about where to play until training camp is nigh.
Toughen up
“Every player is going to try their best option,” Campbell said, adding he’s targeting those who do choose the Express to be bigger and more willing to go to the wall for their teammates when the going gets tough.
We have to set the expectation that from Day One, you’re going to have to give a hit, you’re gonna have to get into a lane to block a shot,” Campbell said. “We owe more to our fans, we owe more to our corporate partners and the community.”
Express announce soccer partnership
The Expess is making tracks in soccer.
The BCHL team has announced a strategic partnership with Coquitlam Metro-Ford Soccer Club’s new Evolution FC program that competes in the semi-pro League1 BC.
The league positions itself as a bridge from high-performance youth soccer to the sport’s elite professional and amateur leagues like the Canadian Premier Soccer League and the new women’s Northern Super League.
Campbell said the arrangement will create opportunities for cross-promotion and marketing of the hockey and soccer teams while allowing Evolution FC to draw upon the expertise the Express already have in place for public relations, game day management and ticketing.
“This partnership is about more than just sports,” said Campbell in a news release. “It’s about united two organizations that are passionate about community, youth development, and creating unforgettable experiences.”
The Evolution FC team already has a win and a draw in its first two matches in the nine-team men’s league while the women’s side has a win and a loss. Both teams are based at Coquitlam’s Town Centre Stadium.
MARIO BARTEL 