Can you believe its finally here? Welcome to the start of the 2023-2024 campaign as tonight your Express take on the Alberni Valley Bulldogs at the Train Station!
The Express are coming off an impressive pre-season that saw them return a 4-2 record as they worked to solidify the lineups for the season. They dropped the first game to Surrey and then would go on a 4 game win streak before losing the final tune-up to the Eagles once again.
On the side of Alberni Valley, their preseason saw a split of games against the Clippers and two wins against Cowichan. Their player to watch coming out of exhibition is surely Callum Tung. In his two appearances the Port Moody product was perfect, stopping all 65 shots he faced. If he’s in goal, the Express will have quite the problem to solve.
There’s a lot to be excited about after seeing some of the bright incoming talents and returning grizzled vets for the Express. This team looks to be physical and balanced on both ends of the ice while maintaining a level of discipline any team is going to need to make a deep run into a successful campaign.
A plethora of returning faces to watch out for going into game #1 of the season including: Drew Garzone, Ethan Rosenoff, Evan Brown, Jake Manfre, and Gavin Giesbrecht up front, with veterans Michael Rubin and Luke Vardy on the blueline and the Burnaby Brick Wall himself Adam Manji between the pipes.
Don’t sleep on the new blood joining the crew though. There are so many exciting talents bolstering this roster and something tells us you’re gonna enjoy the fireworks and passion they bring to the ice every night. Throughout the season we’ll be sure to get you well acquainted with them as the Express look towards a dominant 2023-2024.
The team also unveiled their new leadership core for the campaign which consists of: Luke Vardy, Sam Frandina, Adam Manji, Jake Manfre, Michael Rubin, Logan Morell and Gavin Giesbrecht. This weekend the A’s will be worn by Vardy, Morell and Manfre. A captain has yet to be named but with this locker room, there are certainly plenty of deserving candidates.
Grab your tickets for tonight’s contest HERE and we’ll see you at the Train Station!
Can’t make it out? Tune in on FloHockey for the broadcast. We’ve been hard at work behind the scenes this offseason to bring some exciting upgrades!
– Ian
