BCHLCoastal Conference

Coquitlam Express: Graduating players and eligible returnees

Brian Wiebe

The biggest change for the Coquitlam Express this off-season is there will be an entirely new coaching staff and general manager. The change comes after head coach Jason Fortier and assistants Sam Waterfield and Jamie Jackson couldn’t agree to terms on a new contract.

Regardless of the difference behind the bench, the Express is still coming off its best regular season in franchise history. With so much success, there are many impactful players moving on to college or have aged out of junior hockey.

In total, Coquitlam has eleven players committed to school for this fall and three who aged out as 20-year-olds. Up front, only Danny Pearson, Christian MacDougall, Adam Trotman, Tyler Schleppe and Ryan Tattle are eligible to return while on the blueline, it’s just Drew Cooper and James Bohn. In goal, Joe Howe is the incumbent as he’s committed to Cornell University for 2021-22

The depth chart is based on coaches going with a 23-man roster of 13 forwards, eight defencemen and two goaltenders.

Graduating Players

Greg Lapointe (St. Lawrence University)
Connor Gregga (Minnesota State University)
Massimo Rizzo (University of North Dakota)
Cooper Connell (Bentley University)
Will Margel (University of New Hampshire)
Joshua Wildauer (Lake Superior State University)
Nicholas Carabin (Princeton University)
Noah De La Durantaye (Princeton University)
Steven Bellini (Minnesota State University)
Wyatt Head (University of Alaska-Anchorage)
Jack Watson (Rochester Polytechnic Institute)
Ethan O’Rourke (aged out)
Bradley Ong (aged out)
Joey Berkopec (aged out)

Eligible Returnees

(* indicates an open spot – assuming the team goes with 13 forwards and eight defencemen)

Forwards
Adam Trotman (00)
Danny Pearson (00)
Tyler Schleppe (01)
Ryan Tattle (01)
Christian MacDougall (01)
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

Defencemen
Drew Cooper (00)
James Bohn (02)
*
*
*
*
*
*

Goaltenders
Joe Howe (01)
*

Brian Wiebe

Brian's been involved in the BCHL in a variety of capacities for 17 years. From 2002 to 2012, he served in several roles around the Merritt Centennials organization, including as team president, board member, beat writer, colour commentator, webmaster, media and communications coordinator and marketing assistant. He's been writing about the BCHL since 2008 and served as colour commentator on the TSN 1040 broadcasts in 2012-13. BCHLNetwork is one of Brian's many passion projects that he balances around his full-time job as an instructor in the Radio Arts and Entertainment Program at BCIT in Burnaby.