Hurricanes Win Home Opener 5-2

A packed arena in Lethbridge went home happy campers last night as the Lethbridge Hurricanes put on a good performance, defeating Edmonton 5-2.

The Hurricanes I thought played a rock solid game and had it not been for Oil Kings goaltender Torrie Jung, that score could've been a lot more in favour of Lethbridge. The Canes' had numerous scoring chances, but the game remained close until the 3rd period when Lethbridge scored 4 times. Mitch Maxwell notched a pair, his first WHL goals and Brent Henke, who's been hot as of late scored two as well. Henke opened the scoring with a power play goal in 2nd. It's the third game in a row that Henke has scored first for Lethbridge. Then it was the Carter Ashton show. Ashton scored one of the prettiest goals you'll ever see, taking a drop pass from Cam Braes and undressing Torri Jung in the Edmonton goal. It was certainly a thing of beauty! Ashton now has 6 goals on the season and 4 of those goals were for the highlight real.

So, the Hurricanes have now won 3 games in a row. What a difference a few wins can make. The sold out crowd of 4000 in Lethbridge last night got a taste of the new-look Hurricanes lead by Rich Preston. I think if this team can play a similar style each game, the fans here will be filling the Enmax Centre on a regular basis this season. Perhaps the Canes' were running high on what was opening night in Lethbridge, but it was fun to watch. It's just a matter of keeping that tempo up each night.

The Hurricanes penalty kill and power play were big factors again. The PK killed off all but one Edmonton power play and remains in the top 10 in WHL. The Lethbridge power play went 2 for 6. Those are numbers that the coaching staff I'm sure like.

All in all, it was great to be a home for once. The fans enjoyed it, so did the players, and coaches. It was a great environment to be in. Almost playoff-like with a buzz in the air.

Next up, the Saskatoon Blades are here tonight. The Blades have been an up and down team early on this season, but are coming off a 6-3 win in Red Deer Friday. This will also be a rematch of last year's first round playoff series, which the Canes' won in 7 games.

Tonight's match-up against the Blades is a 7 pm start from the Enmax Centre. The pre-game show on CJOC at 6:30.

Thanks,
Pat