Hurricanes @ Prince George Tonight

Hi from Prince George!

Well this is the last leg of what has been three weeks of hockey on the road to start the season for the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

The Canes’ lost 5-3 in Kamloops Wednesday and are now 0-6 on the season. This team is hungry for a win and wants to come home to Lethbridge with at least one, hopefully two ticks in the win column.

We arrived here late yesterday afternoon, settled in to our hotel, and went for a nice team meal. Now it’s time to get down to business. This is the first time back to Prince George for the Hurricanes since 2007. The Canes’ will play back-to-back here tonight and tomorrow before heading back home to Lethbridge and finally the team’s home opener one week from tonight against Edmonton.

Hopefully this team can take the positives from the game against the Blazers the other night and put that into a full 60 minutes here in P.G. Things can only get better I think. Some of these younger players on this Hurricanes team have learned and have seen a lot in the past 3 weeks. Many have never played at this level before. Whether this sounds like an excuse or not, it does take some time for all things to come together. If history says anything though, the Hurricanes have a good shot at winning one or both of these games. Lethbridge has pretty much owned the Cougars the past few seasons. I'm sure P.G. would like to change that trend.

Are the players and coaches frustrated? Yeah, I’d have to say so. Anyone would be, given the start to the season, but the approach they’re all taking is the right one. No one is down, no one is panicking. In fact, the mood on the bus up here yesterday was quite good. The players seemed fairly relaxed. Mind you it was quiet for the first hour or so as it was like a classroom on the bus. All the players, rookies and veterans had a study hall for the first part of the trip. The noses were in the books and the calculators were busy. That’s a testament to the team’s commitment to education first. The Hurricanes Educational Advisor Jim Stewart is on the trip with us. The players have a strong respect for him. He's the man that helps keep these players focused on their school work outside of hockey. Not to mention, Associate Coach Matt Kabayama constantly nails home the importance of doing homework, walking from the front to the back of the bus making sure everyone is done what they have to do.

Tonight's game at the C.N. Centre in Prince George is an 8pm start. The pre-game show on CJOC at 7:30.