Canes' Unable to Solve Tigers...Next Up Red Deer Tonight

A 2-1 loss for the Hurricanes on home ice last night to rival Medicine Hat. The Tigers opened the scoring in the first and then added another in the second to go up 2-0. Lethbridge started to claw it's way back when Eric Mestery scored his first of the year to cut the M.H. lead to 2-1, but that would be as close as the Hurricanes would get. The loss drops the Hurricanes back to below one game under .500 at 11-12-0-1. Lethbridge outshot the Tigers 41-23 and had their chances especially in the first period and again in the late stages of the 3rd. Medicine Hat goaltender Ryan Holfeld was the game's first star. One person who emailed in the post game show was upset with the Hurricanes shots, suggesting all 41-shots directed towards the Tigers goal "were right at him". That I disagree with. Yes, there were a number of shots that went into Holfeld's chest, but the Hurricanes did make him work for a few of those stops. The Hurricanes need to finish their chances too. Cam Braes was set up nicely in front of the net in the second and he put it over top. As Assist. Coach Matt Kabayama said on the post game show, the team does need to generate more shots from outside and in close. I thought the effort was there overall, but the Canes' came up short.
Another person who sent us an email talked about a need for the Hurricanes to beat "the good teams". I do in a sense agree with that. If the Hurricanes want to get back into the thick of things in the Eastern Conference they will have to start making noise against teams like Medicine Hat, Saskatoon, Calgary, Kootenay, Regina, Brandon, etc. I suppose the Canes' are expected to beat those teams lower than them in the standings, but as I've said before no game is a given win in this league and teams have to work for everything. Nothing comes easy.
Tonight we'll get our first look-see at Red Deer. The Rebels have improved over last year, but are still struggling after 28 games played. Red Deer is 8-15-0-5. They're led by Landon Ferraro and Cass Mappin who are one-two in scoring on that team. These two teams will play a couple of times before the Christmas break. The Rebels will be in Lethbridge December 5th which is Teddy bear Toss Night at the Enmax Centre. Tonight's game is 7:30 start. The pre-game show on CJOC at 7.

Hurricanes & Tigers Tonight at the Enmax Centre

A solid performance by the Lethbridge Hurricanes Wednesday night. After a scoreless first period, the Hurricanes and Prince Albert Raiders exchanged 8 goals, with the Canes' notching 6 en route to 6-2 victory. The Hurricanes are now back to the .500 mark with a record of 10-10-0-1. It was, I thought the best played game by Lethbridge in a number of weeks. The club played a solid 60-minutes and looked quite good keeping up the pressure in the P-A zone. Lethbridge also did a good job limiting those turnovers we saw to be problematic in previous games over the past while. That, as well as getting a few good bounces for a change also helped out the fortunes of this hockey team.

Is it me or does Carter Ashton look like a man possessed lately?! He's ramped up his game 3 or 4 notches in the past couple of weeks and seems to be using every asset he has to control the play. Mind you playing with Zach Boychuk and Colton Sceviour doesn't hurt either, but Ashton has been more of dominant player lately for the Canes'. I think that's the Carter Ashton Hurricanes management envisioned before this season even started.

Speaking of Colton Sceviour, he was a late scratch Wednesday. He was seen walking around in a suit with a bandage over one of his wrists. Talking with Associate Coach Matt Kabayama in our post game show the other night, it could've been a reaggravation of an older injury. His status for tonight's game against Medicine Hat isn't known right now.

This'll be the 4th meeting of the year between the Canes' and Tigers with The Hat holding the edge in the season series 2-1. The Tigers have turned their season around since a slow start. They're 14-7-2-3 heading into this game tonight. They've played 3 more games than Lethbridge on the year so far, in what is again looking like another interesting Eastern Conference.

I guess there's no place like home as they say and I think the same goes for the Canes' right now. They're an impressive 9 and 3 on home ice, but have struggled away from the friendly confines of the Enmax Centre. Tomorrow the Hurricanes will close out 3 games in 4 nights with a trip into Red Deer to take on a much improved Rebels team.

Tonight's game against the Tigers is a 7pm start with the pre-game show on CJOC at 6:30 with myself and Dick Gibson.

Game Day: Canes' vs Prince Albert...Hurricanes Swing Late Day Deal with Moose Jaw

A win is a win and for the Lethbridge Hurricanes Sunday's victory over the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings was an important one in probably more ways than one. This team needed a victory, something positive to build on after a tough stretch of only one win in it's previous 9 games. The Canes started out strong scoring 3 goals in the first period and if you ask head coach Michael Dyck he'd likely tell you that's exactly what he wanted to see from his hockey team. Edmonton got two of those goals back in what was a penalty filled 2nd period, but Lethbridge managed to add a couple more and win it 5-3. It wasn't a flawless win, not by any means, but right now that's what this club needed...to taste victory again and given the fist pump and smile by goaltender Juha Metsola after the clock clicked down to zero, it was likely some relief for the team as well.
Tonight the Hurricanes will take on Prince Albert for the first of 4 meetings this season. The Raiders are sitting a few points ahead of the Canes' in the Eastern Conference standings, but have played 6 more games than Lethbridge so far this season. P-A is lead by Justin Bernhardt and Ryan McDonald who are one-two in scoring on their team this year.
Lethbridge has been working a lot on it's power play lately in practice. It's one area the team is trying to improve on. They've been trying a number of different things to find a spark on the man advantage, but so far it's been tough sledding.
Another win here tonight versus the Raiders, and the Canes' will be back to the 500 mark and improve their home record to 9 and 3.
We'll likely see similar line combinations tonight as well. The coaching staff tweaked a few things the other night and that seemed to add something to the Canes' game. One thing is for sure, with this league being as good as it is and competition very tight between the teams Lethbridge will have to play with a lot of intensity every night. No game is a given anymore and teams have to work for wins. If the Hurricanes come out and work hard each game they can beat any team on any night. The work ethic, the drive, the determination, and that “edge” that GM Roy Stasiuk talks about all have to be there. That's what has made this team successful in the past. That's Hurricanes Hockey!
Tonight's game versus Prince Albert is a 7 o'clock start from the Enmax Centre. The Pre-game show on CJOC at 6:30.

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Lethbridge, AB – Lethbridge Hurricanes General Manager, Roy Stasiuk, announced this afternoon the Canes have traded forward Cody Smuk; along with a 5th round draft pick in the 2009 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft to the Moose Jaw Warriors in exchange for the rights to 18 year old goaltender Todd Mathews and Moose Jaw’s 6th round pick in the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft.

Mathews started 20 games last season with the Warriors as a rookie backup to Moose Jaw starting goaltender Joey Perricone, compiling a 9-5-0-1 record with a 2.75 goals against average and a save percentage of 0.895. With the Warriors early struggles this season Mathews had amassed a record of 3-7-0-1; before recently being reassigned to Notre Dame of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, where he won his first start this past weekend.

“At this point, our expectation is for Todd Mathews to remain at Notre Dame and continue to develop his skill and confidence. This move allows us to add an 18 year old goaltender with more then 30 WHL games under his belt and add overall depth to our roster at the goaltending position.” said Stasiuk adding “With the addition of Drew Hoff and the return of forwards Garrett Taylor and Dan Iwanski from injury, we feel that this will also give Cody Smuk an opportunity to play more minutes for a different team as well as allowing him to play closer to his hometown of Saskatoon.”

Ashton & Yadlowski Ranked by NHL Central Scouting

Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes are proud to announce 91-born forward Carter Ashton and 91-born defenseman Brennan Yadlowski have both been ranked in the Top 25 of NHL Central Scouting Service’s Western Hockey League Fall Preliminary rankings. Ashton, the Hurricanes 1st round pick (7th overall) in the 2006 WHL Bantam Draft has been ranked 6th among WHL skaters while Yadlowski has been ranked 25th.

Ashton, finished his rookie season in 2007-2008 with nine points (5G, 4A) in 40 WHL games. He tallied his first career hat trick this past weekend in a 5-3 win over the Edmonton Oil Kings and has already eclipsed his totals from last season with 14 points (10G, 4A) and a plus-6; plus/minus rating in the 2008-2009 season.

Yadlowski had a solid rookie campaign in 07-08 and has logged good minutes as a rookie defenseman in the WHL. He was a fifth round pick and the first defenseman chosen by the Hurricanes in the 2006 WHL Bantam Draft (97th overall). In 2008-2009, Yadlowski has been a consistent contributor to a developing Hurricanes defense. The youngster has notched five points (1G, 4A) (including his first WHL goal) and an impressive plus minus rating of plus-8.

Both players have also seen success in the Hockey Canada “Program of Excellence” as both Yadlowski and Ashton competed in the 2008 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in London, ON as members of Team Pacific and Team Western respectively. Ashton walked away with a bronze medal as a member of Team Western. Most recently, Ashton was selected as a member of the National Men’s Under-18 Team at the 2008 Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament in Piestany, Slovakia and Breclav, Czech Republic. Ashton scored the game winning goal in the final to give Team Canada their fourth gold medal in their last five years at this tournament.

Both Ashton and Yadlowski hail from excellent hockey lineage as Ashton is the son of former NHL journeyman Brent Ashton. While Yadlowski is the son of Warren Yadlowski, who played for the Calgary Wranglers prior to the team moving to Lethbridge to become the Hurricanes. Yadlowski’s brother Austin is a Hurricane sdraft pick selected by the Canes in the tenth round (216th overall) of the 2008 WHL Bantam Draft

Hurricanes Down Edmonton; Hurricanes This Week Tonight

Well the Canes' got back into the win column last night with a 5-3 home ice victory over the Oil Kings. Lethbridge really needed that win to help build some confidence and give a boost to the team. I thought the Hurricanes played well in the first and were rewarded with a 3-0 lead after one. The second period was riddled with penalties, fights, and the ejection of Edmonton Coach Steve Pleau. He was kicked out and given a bench minor after arguing with the ref about a match penalty given to one of his players during a second period scrap. Apparently the Oil Kings player was fighting with a playing cast which I was told was approved by the league. Pleau was furious with the call and showed his displeasure. Lethbridge received a 5 on 3 power play for 2 straight minutes, but failed to score. Edmonton came back to make it 3-2 Canes, but in the 3rd Lethbridge picked things up again, scored two more and eventually took the game 5-3.
It was a much needed win for the Canes' as they get ready for Prince Albert which pays a visit on Wednesday.
The Hurricanes got caught on a few giveaways during last night's game as well, one of which turned into an Edmonton goal. Lethbridge will have to work to eliminate those turnovers. Coach Michael Dyck did a little line shuffling last night too. He put Carter Ashton between Sceviour and Boychuk and Brent Henke between Bancks and King. Those two lines worked very well with Ashton scoring a hatrick, Sceviour 4 assists, and King two goals. The Canes also played with some extra edge in what was a chippy affair. Yes, it wasn't a perfect victory but it was a win, something positive for this team to build on going into 3 games in 4 nights this week.

Hurricanes This Week is back on the air tonight at 7 on CJOC. Our guests include Gregg Drinnan from the Kamloops Daily News, Hurricanes forward Carter Bancks, and your calls.

Canes' Back at Home...Bring on the Oil Kings!

It's been a tough 3 weeks for the Lethbridge Hurricanes. The team has been struggling away from home with only one win in it's past 9 games. On Friday, the Canes' dropped a 4-2 decision in Cranbrook to the Kootenay Ice. I thought the Hurricanes started out well, scoring less than 2 minutes into the game, but a couple of penalties mid way through the opening frame put the Ice into the lead and the Hurricanes just couldn't come back.

Lethbridge continues to have trouble getting the power play going. They've been trying a number of different combinations hoping to find away to spark a few goals and propel this team back into the win column. The Hurricanes are in a funk right now. This team will have to work it's way out plain and simple. All streaks come to an end whether it be winning streaks or losing streaks. Perhaps tonight is the night the Canes' turn the tide and get this season back on track.

As frustrated as fans may be, I don't think anyone is more frustrated than the players and coaches themselves. Again, the Canes' must carry a positive attitude into each game, forget about what happened in the last one, and just keep forging ahead. Living in the past and dwelling on this current skid will do them no good. Don`t worry Hurricanes faithful, things will turn around. The talent is there, it's just a matter of it all coming together. On the flip side, it's no longer early in the season, we're already a quarter in. Lethbridge needs to start making up some ground on the rest of the Eastern Conference. My gut still tells me though that come the end of this regular season, the Lethbridge Hurricanes will be right in the thick of things.

Tonight the Canes' face the Edmonton Oil Kings for the first time this season. This is a much improved Edmonton club over last year and will be no walk in the park. This should be a pretty good game at the Enmax Centre. The puck drops at 6pm. The pre-game show on CJOC at 5:30.