It’s International Women’s Day which means the ladies are taking over the Poirier tonight. The Express go toe-to-toe with the Langley Rivermen and Coquitlam are proud to welcome some special guests!
Singing the anthem will be Elizabeth Irving, who regularly sings the anthem at Vancouver Canucks games. A very cool full circle moment as the Train Station was one of the first places she sang anthems for hockey games.
In the PA booth our Ryan Chilton will be joined by Caroline Frolic. She is a well-known voice in the Vancouver radio scene and regularly does PA for the Abbotsford Canucks.
Dropping the puck for this game is the President of the Tri City Predators, Coquitlam’s female minor hockey organization, Heather Fox.
The product on the ice is sure to be fast and furious as the Express and Rivermen both battle for playoff positioning as the season comes to a head. The motivations are varied for both teams, however. Langley still hasn’t clinched a playoff berth so every point matters with only seven games remaining on their schedule. The Cowichan Capitals trail them by six points and the Powell River Kings are behind by eight. If Powell River can get hot at the end of the year, both Cowichan and Langley should be afraid.
Then on the side of the Express, they are nine points out of home ice advantage for the opening round of the playoffs. Getting hot to take momentum into the post season will be paramount, especially if it yields home ice at the Train Station. The path doesn’t get any easier though with Langley in the hunt for securing their post season spot and the teams above Coquitlam equally hungry for the home ice in round 1.
The Rivermen and Express both come into tonight’s contest with similar outlooks over their last 10 games, playing around .500 hockey and trying to gain some real traction. The goals for and goals against numbers are eerily close and the powerplay has been a struggle lately for each. The huge edge Coquitlam holds is their stellar penalty kill coming into this one as 83.3% has them in a tie for first in the BCHL.
A player to watch for the Express tonight is Jake Manfre. He only has one goal in his last six games so he will be working hard to change that trend and that motivation is against a team he has feasted on this season. In the prior seven meetings with the Rivermen, Manfre has scored in five of them. If the Chef can get cooking, Langley will need to contain him in a hurry before they become the main course.
This season series has been exciting with the record at 4-3 Coquitlam as the eighth and final game is set for a 7pm puck drop this evening at the Poirier.
Grab your tickets and come cheer on the Express and the incredible Women in Sport around our community and beyond. If you can’t make it the FloHockey broadcast will be there as always and we have a few special interviews lined up!
– Ian Wilson
