The Medicine Hat Tigers came back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Hurricanes 5-4 last night.
A pretty good opening frame for the home town Canes' Sunday. Lethbridge opened the scoring 1:30 in when Cam Braes scored his 10th of the season. For the second game in a row, the Hurricanes scored on their first shot of the night. Medicine Hat would get that one back moments later to even the score 1-1 when Wacey Hamilton slipped one by goalie Brandon Anderson. Lethbridge would regain the one goal lead when Carter Bancks banged home a lose puck for his 10th on the season. It was a fairly chippy first period too with a number of penalties and fight between Mitch Maxwell and Bretton Cameron.
The second period started out very good for the Canes', as Austin Fyten scored on a 5 on 3 power play to give Lethbridge a 3-1 lead, but cue the comeback by the Tigers. Three unanswered goals by Thomas Carr, Taylor Gal, and Emerson Etem stunned the crowd and the Hurricanes quickly went from a 2 goal lead to a one goal deficit. It's the second night in a row that Medicine Hat battled back from a sizeable deficit to take the lead in a hockey game. It seems the Tigers play some of their best hockey when their backs are up against the wall. Medicine Hat really turned things around when Lethbridge went up by a pair early in the second.
In the third, the Tigers would get a big insurance goal when Joey Frazer scored to put the Tigers up 5-3. The Canes' tried a late rally when Carter Bancks scored his second of the night to make it a 5-4 game, but that would be as close as the Hurricanes would get in this one. The Hurricanes out shot the Tigers 23-21. Give the Tigers some credit. For the second game in a row they came from behind to win a hockey game. The Tigers are 9-1-0-1 in their last 11. Lethbridge is 2-7-1-1 in their last 11. Hurricanes goaltender Brandon Anderson was given an interference penalty on a rather strange incident late in the game. Anderson left the net for the extra attacker with less than a minute to go and left his goal stick laid out across the goal line to prevent a slow moving puck from crossing the goal line. The referees caught it and called the rookie netminder for interference. I'll admit, I've never seen that before. That penalty had the Hurricanes finish the game on the penalty kill. Associate Coach Matt Kabayama chuckled on our post game show about it and said it was a rookie mistake on Anderson's part and that it would never happen again.
Sbisa Heading to World Juniors
I talked with Canes' Defenceman Luca Sbisa before last night's game. He'll be heading off at the end of this week to take part in the Swiss National Team's World Junior camp being held in Prince Albert. He's pretty excited. This will be his second World Juniors with Switzerland. He played back in 2007. As for the 2010 Swiss Olympic team, Sbisa feels he and another defenceman are likely the only two players that would be shoe-ins to make the team. Sbisa did tell me that those running the Olympic Men's hockey team for his country have told him how he plays in the World Juniors will go a long way to determining if he gets a spot on the Swiss Olympic team. Like I said earlier, Sbisa did say however, he feels he's got a very good chance of making that team. Really, I can't see why he wouldn't!
Hurricanes This Week
Our last Hurricanes This Week talk show of 2009 goes tonight on CJOC at 6pm. Fred and I will once again be LIVE from the Sharkclub on Mayor Magrath Drive. Brian McNaughton, the President of the Hurricanes Board of Directors will join us to give us a mid-season report. We'll also get a bit of a mid-season run down with Paul Kingsmith from Global TV. He'll stop by in the last half of the show. After tonight's program we'll take a two week Christmas break and resume the talk show January 4, 2010. Any questions can be e-mailed to hurricanes@pttwireless.ca.
Thanks,
Pat
The views expressed on this blog are those of the moderator and contributors and are not endorsed by 94.1 CJOC or the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Bancks was fantastic in this one, AGAIN. Anyone who says he doesn't give it all every game just has no clue.
ReplyDeleteA game in which I think the Tigers were outplayed by the Canes for the most part. Unusual and unfortunate to keep them from ANY powerplay goals, yet to allow 5 goals anyway.
The officiating was pretty consistent in this one, but as usual, the Tigers got away with five or six line changes, one resulting in the GWG.
Etem didn't do anything special that the Canes couldn't handle. He's fast, but no fantastic shot or original moves that I saw on Sunday. He got thumped a couple of times, he went for the net hard and got a garbage goal, and another from the half-wall into an empty net.
Tigers are the best in the dub at taking the puck hard to the net, and any player that doesn't have the puck is skating hard straight to the net to get a goal off his head or skate or nose or to draw a penalty. I wish our guys did this more often!
Anderson had his worst game of the year... unfortunately it came against the team we want to beat the most. - Richie.
Maybe there is a reason Canes are in the position they are in. This comment about Etem. Our you kidding me? Etem didn't do anything special, what does that mean? Etem is always a hard nose player. He will put the puck in the net. Whether it was a garbage goal or empty net it still counts. He goes hard to the net everytime and if you don't have a body on him at all times he will blow by and SCORE!!! Keep thinking the way you do and watch the team go down further than they already are. Etem and McColgan, both US players will be in top rookie scorers just wait and see.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, Anonymous Etem/American fan, it is "Are you kidding?" not "Our you kidding."
ReplyDeleteFurther to this lesson in formatting a sentence for you, let me assist you to read also. I didn't write that Etem wasn't any good, I wrote that Etem didn't do anything special that the 'Canes couldn't handle.
I see now that Etem scored only one goal (into the emply net from the half-wall) and had no assists in this particular hockey game. The rest of the game the Canes were better, and shut him down.
We lost because Brandon Anderson didn't play his best game. We sure didn't lose because Etem was playing.
I wrote that the Tigers were best in the WHL at taking the puck hard to the net (can you read??). You practically wrote the same thing.
You should consider that as good as you think Etem is, even with his 36 points, he has managed to play defense poorly enough to earn an overall -1 +/- rating on a Medicine Hat team that is tied for third place in the WHL. = C- !
(His fellow Tigers Cameron & Hamilton both have more points than Etem, and are +17/+19)
Etem's 16 year old team mate, Kessy, from Saskatchewan, gets less ice time, yet has 15 points and is +9.
As for Etem's fellow American, McColgan with Kelowna, that you like so much. McColgan is -13, in effect reducing him to net 23 points for the year and that takes him out of the top 10 rookies.
If you like 17 year olds, take a closer look at home grown Connolly with the Cougars. He is over a point a game (hurt) and +2 on a team with 6 wins!
Want to see another rookie hockey player than both Etem and Mc-whoever from north of 49?? Take a look at 16 year old Adam Lowry from Calgary playing in Speedy Creek (20 pts, +11, on a 500 club)
Good hockey players play well in both ends of the rink. That is why Canada will beat the USA in the next 20 olympics.
Go Canes! - Richie.
Hello Pat
ReplyDeleteIs there anywhere online that we can list to a rebroadcast of your "Hurricanes This Week" show?
Yes. If you got to www.cjocfm.com and click on podcasts and then on Hurricanes This Week. You should be able to download all the shows.
ReplyDeleteWell professor, give me an "F" for grammer. What can I say I failed English twice. Thanks for the humor though.
ReplyDeleteDon't feel the need to argue about Etem or any other player. Etem, Moser, whoever are all pretty good players. Someone gave you a heads up to watch him and you bash his play. I guess all I can say to that is, he scored and it counted. That one point was all they needed. Tigers win 5 - 4
Maybe you should of shut him down from the start to the end. Not after he scored.
Did someone hit a nerve that you had to post the olympic games for the next 20 years. That just tells me exactly what I have heard and exactly what I wanted to know. Thanks buddy.