History
Introducton
Introduction
In 1990 while running the Port Coquitlam Saints' Intermediate "A" team, Reg Thompson decided he had enough of Poco's players leaving town to play Junior "A" in another city. Reg, boldly predicted in five years he would have a Junior "A" team in Port Coquitlam. The other team's response was no way! I guess they didn't want their talent pool to dry up. On May 4th, 1995 the first Saints' Junior "A" team suited up and took to the floor against Coquiltam. In what would turn out to be a classic before 500 fans. The Saints' sent the big crowd home happy, when Intermediate call up Peter Morgan tied the game with just two seconds remaining to gain an 8-8 tie.
Year One
Year One
Some firsts in the Saints' opening season:
The first ever coaching staff was Head Coach, John Allen and assistant coaches, Harry Preston and Chris Cowie.
The first ever Saints' goal scored by Jeff Ratcliffe at 8:57 of the first period.
The first power play goal by Cory Butler.
The first assist by Kyle Bellegay.
The first visit to the sin bin by Jeff Fernquist.
The first game stars were Jeff Ratcliffe and Jake Lawson.
The first anthem singer was Ron Burrows.
The first Saints' team captain was Steve Penner.
The Saints' first trade was Brad Downey from South Fraser for futures.
The first major surprise was walk on Shea Sanche from Saskatchewan who finished with 19 goals.
The first Saints to play in a Junior "A" All-Star game were; Jeff Ratcliffe, Jake Lawson, Steve Penner, Kyle Bellegay, Brian Dales, Scott Daunais and Rodney Berkey.
Some team highlights from the Saint's first season were:
The team's biggest signing was Jake Lawson from Nanaimo who finished the season with 39 goals and 52 assists and was on the first team All-Star squad, was named the League MVP and Rookie of the year.
The team finished 5th with a record of 5-16-4.
Year Two
Year Two
The Saints' introduce Mike O'Reilly as their new head coach.
New Saints' players were Brennan Eyles from Prince George and Wade Bowley from Richmond.
The Saints' trade Rod Berkey to South Fraser to complete the Brad Downey deal.
The Saints' defeat the Coquitlam Adanac's and the New Westminster Salmonbellies for the first time.
The Saints' star, Jeff Ratcliffe signs to play field lacrosse at UMGC.
The Saints' call up young standout, Richard Morgan and he scores 30 goals in just 13 games.
The two Morgan brothers, Peter and Richard, both set franchise records by scoring 8 goals in one game.
The Saints' popular, Aaron (Dirty Harry) Harrison scored his first Junior "A" goal.
Peter Morgan sets another franchise record scoring 66 goals in his first season and was named League Rookie of the Year. (two years in a row for the Saints)
Jeff Ratcliffe was named MVP in the league All-Star game and has hardest shot clocked at 134 KM.
The Saints find toughness in character player, Jeff Corbett from the Junior "B" Saint's.
The Saints finish third in their first winning season at 13-12.
In their first ever playoff series they lose 4-1 to the Bellie's.
Jeff Ratcliffe again finishes second in scoring with 56 goals and 66 assists and is named to the first All-Star team.
Year Three
Year Three
As we begin year three the Saints have Mike O'Reilly returning as head coach with ex-Saint Wade Bowley and Alex Bruce as assistant coaches. There are only two words to describe year three for the Saints and that is Minto Cup. The Saints are loaded in their quest for the "Cup" with such standouts as Jeff Ratcliffe, Jake Lawson, Peter and Richard Morgan, Darcy Rhodes, Steve Penny, Regan Stidolph, Aaron harrison and Marc Downey. The team will also be bolstered by other veterans like Ryan Scott, Mike Fernquist, Derek Wintermans and Chris Knox. To add intensity, we have our own Intermediate standouts from the League and Provincial Championship Saints in the form of Jamie Raffan, Steve Conkin and Rich Michel. The league had announced that the schedule will be 20 games for this year only, next year we might see it return to 25 games.
Year Four
Year Four
The Saints add Al Gillespie to the coaching staff to complement Mike O'Reilly and Wade Bowley. Players to watch for this season are Peter Morgan, Darcy Rhodes, Steve Penny, Ryan Scott, Mike Fernquist, Jamie Raffan, Steve Conkin, Rich Michel, Nathan Trobridge, Kevin Gilpin and Derek Wintermans. The Saints add top rated rookies: Travis Gillespie, Thi Pho Heng, Jordan West-Pratt and Brandon Dorman. The Poco Saints' Intermediate "A" win streak ended at 50 games when they lost 10-9 to the Surrey Stickmen. The Saints were led by Peter Morgan's amazing 62 goals followed by Darcy Rhodes with 46. The Saints defeated Surrey in the opening round of the playoffs but were swept in four straight games by powerhouse, Burnaby.
Year Five
Year Five
The Saints' goaltenders were Andrew Leyshon and Chris Standing.
The Saints lost standout local player, Travis Gillespie to Orangeville.
The Saints' top rookie was Josh Joseph, who drove from Squamish for practices and games.
The Saints finished fifth in the standings with a record of 8-14-2.
Year Six
Year Six
The Saints' top rookie was Colin Sherbanuk from Edmonton.
The Saints' new coach was Andrew Graham.
The Saints host the All-Star game with Andrew Leyshon, Josh Joseph, Colin Sherbanuk, Thi Pho Heng and Dale Lupul all taking part.
Coach, Andrew Graham pulls off the biggest trades in Saints' history getting Bryan Poole, Adam Smith, Randy Daly and Lane Laycock at the deadline.
The Saints lose three straight to Victoria in the playoffs.
Year Seven
Year Seven
The Saints' coach, Andrew Graham continued his trading ways by sending goaltender, Andrew Leyshon, to Burnaby for Chris Gorrie. The Saints missed the playoffs with Jarrett Dorman the leading goal scorer with 24 followed by Josh Joseph with 22.
Year Eight
Year Eight
The Saints' new coach is Danny Philip who said his team will play a run and gun style.
The Saints' new assistant coaches were Terry Campbell and Paul Joseph.
The Saints' captain, Rob Van Beek is expected to lead the team in a rebuilding year.
The Saints started the season going 0-10 before defeating the Coquitlam Adanac's 13-10 in overtime.
The Saints finished the season with a 2-22 record.
Year Nine
Year Nine
The Saints' new coach was Gerry Van Beek with assistant coaches Karl Christiansen and Terry Mosdell.
The Saints sign scoring star, Derek Lowe who ends up leading the team in scoring with 71 points.
The Saints end up with a 9-15 record and in fifth place.
The Saints were knocked out of the playoffs by New Westminster.
The Saints' top rookie was Rob McGowean from Calgary.
Year Ten
Year Ten
The Saints returned Gerry Van Beek and his staff and finished fifth place with a 7-11 record.
Year Eleven
Year Eleven
The Saints open the season with a brilliant 16 year old rookie, Curtis Dickson, who finished the season as their top scorer with 62 points.
The Nanaimo Timbermen join the league and finish last.
The Saints finished in sixth place and lost three straight to Victoria in the playoffs.
Year Twelve
Year Twelve
This is another rebuilding year for Gerry Van Beek and his staff as they build around young star, Curtis Dickson. The team has veteran leadership from Tyler Crompton, Travis St. Germain and Jarret Bradley.
