Canes' Drop Another to Calgary

Just like the two previous meetings before last night, Calgary played a stifiling game, limiting the Hurricanes chances and shutting out Lethbridge 4-0. Again, the Hitmen didn't give Lethbridge much to work with. Juha Metsola I thought was good in goal and came up with some big saves, but he didn't seem to have much support in front of him. The Canes' have now lost 4 game on the year, 3 have been to Calgary . What a difference a year can make. The Hurricanes dominated the Hitmen all of last season, but Calgary, in the early going anyway is returning that favour this year. I'm sure the players are a bit frustrated over not solving Calgary yet. Hopefully that'll come.
The Canes' now have a few days off before resuming play next Tuesday when they host Prince George at the Enmax Centre. Vancouver makes it's first of two visits to Lethbridge next Saturday and then Adam Chorneyko returns with his new team, the Saskatoon Blades a week from this Sunday. If you have any feedback on my blog or something you'd like to see, drop me an e-mail at pat@clearskyradio.com

Hurricanes Aquire Goalie from Kelowna

Lethbridge, AB – Lethbridge Hurricanes General Manager, Roy Stasiuk, announced this afternoon that the Canes have acquired the rights to 89-born goaltender Torrie Jung from the Kelowna Rockets in exchange for a conditional 6th round draft pick in the 2010 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft.

Jung is a veteran of over 50 Western Hockey League games with a career record of 21-27-4-8. Last season, Jung tallied a 13-12-0-5 record with a pair of shutouts and a goals against average of 2.86, good enough to rank him 18th in the WHL. The 6’1”, 175 pound native of Nanaimo, BC was selected in the 7th round (183rd overall) of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“Torrie Jung is top rated goaltending prospect and we believe he will add another veteran presence in our locker room while providing us with some depth at the goaltending position.” said Stasiuk adding “This addition is not an indication we are disappointed with the performance of our starting goaltender Juha Metsola or rookie back up Michael Tadjdeh. Michael has been outstanding in his work ethic and we know his experience this season in a backup role with a WHL club will only aid his future development.”

Good pick up I think for the Canes! I know Torrie persoanlly from my BC days and can tell you he's quailty players who comes from a good family. A nice edition for Lethbridge!

Game Day vs. Calgary, Canes' Beat Bruins, and Overage Chorneyko headed to Saskatoon

Well, another day and couple more points for the Hurricanes. Last night, Lethbridge won the territorial battle with the visiting Chilliwack Bruins, only to find themselves trailing 1-0 going into the 3rd period. Whatever was said in the dressing room though following 40 minutes of hockey ignited a blaze under the Canes'. They came out flying in the 3rd and scored 3 straight to win the game 3-1, improving to 7 and 3 on the season. Goaltender Michael Tadjdeh played his first ever WHL game and got the win between the pipes for Lethbridge. Mitch Fadden again was a force. He almost scored the highlight real goal of the year late in third when he he made some kind of crazy move out nowhere and nailed one off the crossbar. Too bad that didn't go in! Cam Braes and Brent Henke scored the other two.
Tonight the Canes' will try and solve the Hitmen again. Lethbridge has only 3 blemishes on it's record, two courtesy of Calgary. Tonight's game is essentially a battle for top spot in the conference, albeit it's still a young season, but the Hurricanes I think would love to get a win against what was supposed to a rebuilding Calgary team. That's a pretty good team in Cow Town , rebuilding or not. A Lethbridge win and that would put the Canes' in a 4-way tie for first in the East with Calgary, Saskatoon, and Swift Current.
Now to the overage situation. GM Roy Stasiuk told Dick and I on the broadcast last night that forward Adam Chorneyko would be traded to get Lethbridge to the limit of 3-20 year olds. This morning, the Canes announced they've dealth him to Saskatoon for a 5th round draft pick in the 2009 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft. Stasiuk says in a team news release, “With the return of Mitch Fadden, we are obviously forced to meet our overage quota of three players and have fulfilled that obligation. Adam has gotten off to a tremendous start with 7 points in 8 games and even more noteworthy he’ll be missed by our organization and his teammates.” He will be missed no doubt. He's a hard worker and nice guy to boot. He'll definitely help out the Blades. Tonight's game starts at 7 with the pre-game show on CJOC at 6:30.

Here's how the Canes' and Hitmen match-up tonight...............

Head to Head Record 2008-09 Regular Season
Lethbridge 0-2-0-0
Calgary 2-0-0-0
Head to Head Record 2007-08 Regular Season
Lethbridge 5-1-0-0
Calgary 1-5-0-0
Last 5 Years record between teams
Lethbridge 14-14-2-3
Calgary 19-13-1-0
Lethbridge vs. Calgary Last 5 Years record at Lethbridge
Lethbridge 6-8-1-2
Calgary 11-5-1-0
Lethbridge vs. Calgary Last 5 Years record at Calgary
Lethbridge 8-6-1-1
Calgary 8-8-0-0
Previous Meetings This Season
Calgary 3 @ Lethbridge 1 (Oct 10 2008) Final
Lethbridge 2 @ Calgary 4 (Oct 2 2008) Final

Game Day vs. Chilliwack....Overage Deadline Day

A good game by the Hurricanes on Monday afternoon to get them back into the win column. The winning goal by Colton Sceviour early in the third wasn't the prettiest. A giveaway by Regina's goaltender turned out to be the difference in a 3-2 Lethbridge win. Lethbridge improved to 6 and 3 on the year as they get set tonight to host Chilliwack. These two teams will play again in a couple of weeks when the Canes' travel into BC to take on the Bruins, Kamloops, and then Kelowna. Mitch Fadden's first game back was more than noticeable. He scored once and added one assist. His play was strong and he was a force out there no question. Today is the overage cutoff deadline and with the Canes having 4 20-year olds (Fadden, Chorneyko, Wright, and Versteeg) GM Roy Stasiuk has a tough decision to make. Fadden, I think made a pretty darn good case for himself on Monday. Let's face it. It's tough to let go or trade a guy that was your leading scorer last season and brings so much offensively. Really, each of those four players brings something special to the game. Not any easy decision......not by any means.
Tonight was also supposed to mark the return of former Hurricane D-man Jesse Craige. He was traded to Chilliwack in the off-season in exchange for Cody Smuk. I was informed this morning that Jesse suffered a broken jaw in a game last weekend and will be sidelined for the Bruins for 4 to 6 weeks. Too bad. A lot of people I think were hoping to see him play here again.
Tonight's game is a 7 o'clock start. The pre-game show on CJOC at 6:30. E-mail Dick and I at hurricanes@pttwireless.ca or call us in the post game show at 403-388-4646

Here's how the two teams match up:

Head to Head Record 2008-09 Regular Season
Lethbridge 0-0-0-0
Chilliwack 0-0-0-0
Head to Head Record 2007-08 Regular Season
Lethbridge 1-0-0-0
Chilliwack 0-0-0-1
Last 5 Years record between teams
Lethbridge 2-1-0-0
Chilliwack 1-0-0-2
Lethbridge vs. Chilliwack Last 5 Years record at Lethbridge
Lethbridge 1-0-0-0
Chilliwack 0-0-0-1
Lethbridge vs. Chilliwack Last 5 Years record at Chilliwack
Lethbridge 1-1-0-0
Chilliwack 1-0-0-1

Canes' win on Turkey Day...Welcome back Fadden!

Fadden Left

Was it just me or did Mitch Fadden show yesterday just how darn good of a hockey player he is? I thought Mitch was a huge factor in Lethbridge's 3-2 victory over Regina. He had 1 goal and 1 assist to help the Canes' improve to 6 and 3 on the year. Again as I said on the broadcast last night, Fadden isn't going to be the end all and be all here, but what he brings to the game is critical and important. Mitch Fadden plain and simple is one of the most offensive and dynamic players in the WHL and I thinnk people who watched yesterday's game witnessed how he can control things on his own and change a game. Yes, he's that good, but let's not forget he can't do it by himself. I thought the whole team played well and they out shot Regina overall. Too bad though the game was decided on a bad giveaway by Pats Goaltender Jeff Bosch. Early in the 3rd, he misplayed the puck behind his goal and gave it right to Colton Sceviour who scored what turned out to be the game winner. I suppose things like that happen. It's part of the game, but in the end Lethbridge got the win and that's what really counts in the end for Lethbridge fans.
I liked the Hurricanes jump yesterday and their determination. The power play also clicked scoring twice. The Pats also scored 2 goals with the man advantage. Lethbridge was full value for the win and they were getting a lot of pucks through to the net as well. That's been one of their challenges as of late. After today, former Hurricanes Jesse Craige and the Chilliwack Bruins are here tomorrow and then it's off to Calgary again on Thursday!
Still no word on when Zach Boychuk and Luca Sbisa will be back from their NHL teams. Stay tuned.........

Thanksgiving Game Day vs. Regina

Happy Thanksgiving! Up and at em' here this morning getting ready for today's matinee at 2pm against Regina. The Hurricanes will try and rebound this afternoon following a loss on Friday to Calgary. We'll see if forward Mitch Fadden is back in the line-up today for his first game back with Lethbridge this year. He was let go from Norfolk of the AHL last Thursday and was expected back late Friday. The Canes' could use his offensive prowess. They need to generate more shots on goal and maybe having their leading scorer back from last year will help them do that. Lethbridge has been outshot in all but one game this season.
Wednesday is the overage cutoff date in the WHL, meaning teams with more than 3-20 year old's, like the Hurricanes will have some tough decisions to make. With Fadden returning, Lethbridge has 4 overage players currently with the team. The three players that've been here since the start of the season have made a big case for themselves to stick around. This is a tough situation to be in for any GM, especially when these guys are such quality hockey players and good people. There are some teams in the WHL have have one or two overage spots open, so it'll be interesting to see if there are any teams willing to wheel and deal before Wednesday. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
It's a busy week for the Canes'. After today, they play Chilliwack here at home on Wednesday and Thursday it's off again to Calgary. This afternoon's game is 2 o'clock start. The pre-game show on CJOC at 1:30. You can send us an e-mail at hurricanes@pttwireless.ca or call us in the post-game show at 403-388-4646.