By Ryan Pinder
Coquitlam’s Coach Calvano
Jon Calvano is the new bench boss of the Coquitlam Express. After a year that saw the express leave Burnaby, and Dave McLellan let go down the stretch, Calvano will be looked upon to provide stability for a franchise that has struggled mightily in the past two seasons. Calvano has been the head coach of the Vancouver NW Giants Major Midget program for the last four seasons and in that tenure has won the BC Major Midget League, the Pacific Region qualifier for the Telus Cup, a Mac’s Midget Title, and has graduated dozens of great players to Junior leagues across Western Canada.
Graham Gone to RPI
After taking the Alberni Valley Bulldogs from worst to first in the Coastal Conference this past season, Nolan Graham has elected to pursue his coaching career at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for the upcoming season. Graham spent two seasons in the BCHL as a player in the late ‘90s before playing with the RPI Engineers from 1999 to 2003. Graham joined the coaching ranks as an understudy of Bill Bestwick in Nanaimo, before finally jumping at the opportunity to run his own program last season. The Bulldogs have named Paul Esdale (an assistant with Alberni last season) the new full time bench boss.
Warrior Crosses the Bridge
One silver-lining in the Westside Warriors season-ending series loss to the rival Penticton Vees was the strong play of their younger players that would return for the 2010/2011 season. While the Warriors will still return a large number of last year’s roster, Colton Sissons won’t be one of them. After posting 22 points in 58 games as a 16-year-old last season, Sissons will continue his junior career on the other side of Lake Okanagan with the Kelowna Rockets. The Rockets GM Bruce Hamilton acquired Sissons’ rights from Saskatoon Blades at the trade deadline in January for feisty defender Curt Gogol.
Vipers Just Win
The Vernon Vipers have represented the league well as the BCHL champion in each of the last two seasons. The Vipers have gone 8-3 in the Doyle Cup, while they have lost just once in a dozen contests at consecutive RBC Cup matches. The snakes went 6-0 in Victoria in 2009 and lost just once in OT in Dauphin this season. The Vipers have built a strong case for the BCHL being the class of Canadian Junior A, having lost six of 13 BCHL finals games compared to just four loses in 23 Doyle Cup and RBC Cup games over two seasons.
Scholarly Vees
The Penticton Vees continue to amass NCAA scholarships at a staggering rate. Since the season has ended, D - Bo Dolan (‘90) has committed to the RPI Engineers for the 2010/11 season, and F – Andrew Pickering (‘89) is off to Alaska-Anchorage to join the Seawolves next season. The Vees have a total of 18 NCAA commitments from the 2009/10 roster (one is an ‘AP’ player) - nearly double the next best total in the nation. head coach & GM Fred Harbinson’s college ties have made his program a desired destination for college hopefuls around the continent.
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