Tag: hockey

‘I took a leap of faith’: From the Coquitlam Express to the Stanley Cup finals

This story originally appeared in the Tri-City News June 4, 2024

A former member of the Coquitlam Express will be part of the Florida Panthers’ effort to win the Stanley Cup when their final series against the Edmonton Oilers begins Saturday, June 8 — by making sure every seat in the team’s Amerant Bank Arena is filled.

But Taralynn Reburn won’t be electrifying the packed house with ice-length rushes or thundering hits on Oilers’ superstar Connor McDavid.

As the Panthers’ vice president of ticket sales and service, Reburn relies on good customer service and building relationships with new fans to help grow hockey culture in South Florida. It’s a tall order in a part of the world where most people’s connection to ice is to keep their margaritas cold.

Fickle market

“This market can be quite fickle,” Reburn said. “Fans traditionally go in the direction of the team who’s winning.”

Fortunately for the BCIT grad who started her career as the director of sales and marketing for the Express from 2009-12, the Panthers have been doing a lot of that; this is the team’s second straight appearance in the Stanley Cup finals and they follow a run of three straight by Florida’s other NHL team, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“We’re proving to the NHL that this is a hockey state with competitive teams and we’re a destination franchise that players want to be with,” Reburn said.

Following her stint with the Express, Reburn spent almost two years in sales roles with the Vancouver Whitecaps soccer team and more than eight years with the Vancouver Canucks. She said connections she made within the industry led her to Florida in 2022 even though she’d never been there before.

“I took a leap of faith and it has been great ever since,” Reburn said.

It’s also been a lot of work.

Engaging fans

Reburn said engaging fans in Florida requires a constant commitment to make them feel like they’re a valued part of the team’s success with perks like access to the Panthers’ new practice facility in downtown Fort Lauderdale and the organization’s involvement in youth hockey.

“Once people get into the building and see a game for the first time, they’re hooked and love the speed of the game compared to other sports,” she said.

Two consecutive years of Stanley Cup finals has also energized the market, Reburn said.

Panthers’ flags are draped on condo balconies, signs are planted on front lawns, restaurants and bars are tuning in their TV’s to the games.

“There’s a visible increased interest in the team,” Reburn said. “I overhear more conversations in the grocery store now about the Panthers than I ever have before.”

Even though Florida’s opponent is from north of the border, the ex-pat Canadian said she’s all-in to see the Cup remain in America, where it’s been ensconced since 1994.

“I’m 100 per cent Panthers on this one and have even converted a few from the west coast to cheer us on, too,” Reburn said.

But what if the cards had fallen slightly differently and it was her former employer, the Vancouver Canucks, that prevailed in the seventh game of its quarter-final series against the Oilers and then defeated the Dallas Stars?

“I was hoping for a Florida-Vancouver final,” Reburn said. “It would have been an exciting and unique opportunity. It’s just the beginning for this new core of the Canucks and their time will come.”

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‘Everyone. knows Reid’: Meet the heart and soul of the Port Moody Panthers

This story first appeared in the Tri-City News Aug. 24, 2024

The “heart and soul” of the Port Moody Panthers doesn’t score game-winning goals or throw thundering checks that have opposing forwards looking over their shoulder.

But, says Panthers’ general manager Brian Wiebe, Reid Demelo’s tireless work ethic, enthusiasm and dedication to his teammates make him vital to the success of the junior “A” hockey team.

Demelo is the Panthers’ equipment manager.

Wiebe said the 23-year-old’s attention to detail laundering jerseys and socks then hanging them neatly in players’ stalls, collecting and sorting sticks, gathering pucks and water bottles, along with a multitude of other tasks, ensure the team’s focus is entirely on what they need to accomplish on the ice, whether in a game or even just at practice.

“He’s such an important part of the team,” Wiebe said.

So much so, the Panthers recently announced it had signed Demelo to a 10-year contract extension.

The move was more of a social media stunt, Wiebe said. But the almost 4,000 views the announcement has generated on the team’s X (formerly known as Twitter) and Instagram accounts is about eight times more than a routine post about a player signing or game result might generate.

“Everyone knows Reid,” Wiebe said.

Demelo lives for sports.

He’s an accomplished Special Olympian who competes in basketball, soccer, swimming, track and field, softball, golf, speed skating and fitness. He was active in athletics at Heritage Woods Secondary School, helping out with varsity programs like basketball. He said he probably spends more time at the Port Moody Recreation Centre, either working out in the gym or working with the Panthers, than he does at home.

“I just love being here,” Demelo said.

Demelo’s relationship with the Panthers began when the team’s head athletic trainer invited him to help out. Along with his duties in the dressing room, he works as a timekeeper during games and mans the gate at warmups to ensure players get off the ice promptly.

Demelo is also the Panthers’ biggest cheerleader — not always an easy task as the team routinely finishes at or near the bottom of the Pacific Junior Hockey League (PJHL) standings.

Demelo said he tries not to let the losses get him down, as the players need all the support they can get.

“It’s my hometown,” Demelo said, adding he’s become friends with several players over the years.

Wiebe said Demelo’s positivity is infectious.

“It rubs off on our players, parents and fans.”

More importantly, Demelo’s role with the Panthers teaches everyone in the organization lessons about acceptance, perseverance and the pay off that comes from working hard.

It’s hard to put a price on that, Wiebe said.

“They see how big a part of the team Reid is. He’s our heart and soul.”

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‘She will never forget this’: How a mom went to a Coquitlam Express hockey game and ended up at a Taylor Swift concert

This story was originally published in the Tri-City News on Dec. 10, 2024. It proved to be one of the most read of the entire year, generating more then 20,000 page views.

Kylie Wright and her daughter went to a Coquitlam Express hockey game Sunday and ended up at the biggest event to hit Vancouver since the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Wright and eight-year-old Saoirse were the winners of a pair of tickets to Sunday’s final concert of Taylor Swift’s monster Eras tour at BC Place.

Their names were randomly drawn from the 1,450 ticket holders to the game between the Express and the Powell River Kings Sunday afternoon at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex.

As well, fans could earn extra opportunities to win by donating $20 to the KidSport Tri-Cities or by winning the Chuck-a-Puck contest that’s held between the second and third periods.

Shortly after the Wrights won, Kylie’s husband picked them up from the arena to get them into Vancouver in time for the concert.

Wright said the whole experience was a thrill, especially as it was the first-ever live concert for Saoirse.

“You made an eight-year-old’s dream come true and she will never forget last night,” she commented on the hockey team’s Facebook page on Monday.

Express general manager Tali Campbell said the promotion that was sponsored by Sussex Insurance was equally exciting for the team.

He said more than 87.5 per cent of the ticket holders to Sunday’s game were new customers and the buzz of fans dressed up, crafting signs and singing to the Taylor Swift music that played during breaks in the play carried all the way to Edmonton where he was with the U14 Coquitlam Hockey Club team for a tournament.

“It was the talk of the arena from teams all across BC and Alberta about the unique promotion we were running,” Campbell said, adding the event also brought in $2,160 for KidSport Tri-Cities.

“As a one-time campaign, this was probably our most successful.”

Swift’s show on Sunday was the last of three sold-out concerts at BC Place and capped the artist’s record-breaking tour that comprised 149 sold-out events spanning five continents over two years.

The Express also ended up winners, 2-1, over the Kings. It was the team’s second straight win after a 4-3 overtime victory over the Chilliwack Chiefs on Saturday

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Coquitlam Express face off-season challenges after playoff disappointment

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.

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