Did anyone have 11 goals on their friday night BCHL bingo card? Cause if you did you’re in luck. The Cowichan Capitals and Coquitlam Express put on an offensive showcase in the land of the big hockey stick. Coquitlam tacked on 7 in the contest, which is impressive in its own right, but the speed at which they got on the goal sheet might rival it. Coquitlam has always coveted speed, and it was out in full force in the first 60 seconds. Drew Garzone and Jake Manfre went on a break which resulted in a top right corner snipe for the Smithtown New York at 0:28 and then 30 seconds later the Express got on another odd man rush thanks to the hustle of Gavin Giesbrecht to beat the defensemen back to Cowichan’s zone. Insert a beautiful centering pass from Jackson Krill and Giesbrecht unleashed another top right corner blast.
Then comes the second period, where instead of pure speed it was strength and getting to the right areas that manufactured the two goals for Coquitlam. Joe Odyniec powered his way to the front of the net from below the goal line which set up James Shannon’s first BCHL goal after Odyniec’s opportunity was stopped. Then at 6:29, Kasper Walther-Sneve muscled his way into some prime real estate to receive a pass from Jake Manfre from the right corner.
In the third, Jackson Krill whipped a wrist shot while in full motion down the right wing side, pouncing on a Capitals defender’s error. At this point its 5-2, but remember what I said in the pre game insights? Don’t count Cowichan out until the final whistle. 17:31 into the period Ronan O’Donnell cashed in on a one timer from the left circle to make it a 2 goal game during a 4 on 3 powerplay. Then they’d take something out of the Express handbook and score with the extra attacker a minute later. 5-4.
Now if you managed to avoid looking at the cover graphic for this story, you might be sweating a bit. And in that case I’m happy to report the Express gathered their resolve and then finished the game the way they started it. Two empty net goals courtesy of Logan Morrell and Tanner Attew would relieve the pressure and send this one to its 7-4 final score. Ethan Simcoe earned his first BCHL win in this one, stopping 32/36 and even grabbing an assist. Solid grit was shown from the young netminder, who persevered through several huge opportunities for Cowichan, as well as a massive collision in front of the goal partway through the third.
STARS
1st Jake Manfre (1G, 1A)
2nd Gavin Giesbrecht (1G)
3rd Ethan Simcoe (32/36, 1A)
Next up for the Express is a date with the Grizzlies at the Q! Puck drop scheduled for tonight at 6pm PST
