Canes' Open Regular Season Tonight

Well, it seems like it's been forever since the Lethbridge Hurricanes last played a meaningful hockey game.

The Canes' last game was back in early April when they lost out to the Calgary Hitmen in the playoffs and since then, the Hurricanes have been the talk of Lethbridge with changes in the front office and behind the bench.

Tonight, Rich Preston and his coaching staff as well as a fairly young group of Hurricanes players will open the 09/10 WHL season against the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook. This is one of 8 games on the road for the Hurricanes to start the year as the ongoing renovations at the Enmax Centre will keep the team away from home until October 9th. Some people think this might be a distraction for the team as it tries to rebuild with a new guy in charge and a young squad to boot. Perhaps starting on the road for 3 weeks is not a good thing, maybe it is. With all the changes this team has gone through and a relatively young line-up to start the season, beginning on the road might not be all that bad. I think this will give the Hurricanes a chance to bond early and really get to know each other, yours truly included. There's always a learning curve when you make coaching and General Manager changes.

As I mentioned previosuly, Lethbridge begins this season with a very young and for the most part inexperienced defence. Brennan Yadlowski won't be back until after the first two games this weekend, so Eric Mestery and Max Ross will have to lead on the back end. Rich Preston has told me shoring up the defence is something high on his to-do list. He made a good point to me the other day. He says it's his philosophy that if you're in need of a defenceman and a forward, who do you go after first? His answer: A defenceman. He says in his mind, you have to build a team from the back out. I think he hit the nail on the head there. As for forwards, Preston seems happy with the talent up front. I'm personally excited to see what kind of year Ryon Moser, Mark Reners, and Austin Fyten are going to have. There's been a fair bit of chatter in Lethbridge regarding those three players. And then there's the Hurricanes overage situation, or the lack there of. Carter Bancks is the only 20 year old right now, leaving the Canes' in a pretty good spot with two overage positions still available on the team. The cut down das for WHL teams for overage players is October 15th. In goal, Michael Tadjedeh and Ville Kolppanen will likely be the two to start the year, as Brandon Anderson is still tending to a bit of an injury. Both Tadjdeh and Kolppanen had good camps, saw a tonne of shots, and played well.

The Canes' had penalty trouble in the pre-season. I think if there's any one area this team can help themselves with early on, it's staying out of the penalty box as much as possible. If they can do that, they can give themselves a chance to win.

I'm sure a few players will be nervous especially those who haven't played a regular season game in this league yet. Once the puck drops though, it'll be hockey as usual. I think the Hurricanes have everything to gain and nothing to lose this season. It should be fun and it all starts tonight.
As I mentioned earlier Carter Bancks, Eric Mestery, and Austin Fyten have returned from NHL camps and will play tonight. Lethbridge also starts the season with 10 rookies: G - Brandon Anderson; G – Ville Kolppanen; F – Mark Reners; F – Michael Sofillas; F – Philip Tot; F – Ryon Moser; F – Neil Tarnasky; D – Drew Graham; D – Brandyn Hulit; D – Reid Jackson.

Tonight, the pre-game show starts on CJOC, 94.1 The Lounge at 6:30 with myself and Colour Analyst Fred Jack and the face-off not expected from the RecPlex until about 7:10 after the opening announcements in Cranbrook.

Tomorrow, the Hurricanes will be in Medicine Hat for the Tigers home-opener. It's a busy opening weekend in the WHL!

Enjoy the game!

Thanks,
Pat