Canes' Blank Blazers....Rebels Tonight

(Juha Metsola right recorded his 5th shutout of the year last night)


A solid effort by the Hurricanes last night in front of just under 5000 fans at the Enmax Centre.

Lethbridge battled with the Kamloops Blazers for the 3rd and final time this season. The Canes' came away with a 2-0 victory. Kamloops started out with a fair bit of jump in the first 3 to 5 minutes, but after that the Hurricanes kind of took control of the game. Carter Bancks, the game's first star scored with 9 seconds to go in the first period to give Lethbridge a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of play. In the second, the score would stay the same until late in that period, when Captain Ben Wright on the power play would wire a point shot low along the ice beating Blazers goaltender Justin LeClerc to give the home side a 2-0 lead heading into the 3rd. There was no scoring in the final frame as the Hurricanes would go on to win 2-0. Juha Metsola recorded his 5th shutout of the season in goal for the Canes'. Lethbridge out shot Kamloops 33-18.

I thought the Hurricanes did a very good job by limiting the Blazers scoring chances last night as well. They were also very disciplined and stayed out of the box. Kamloops only had 2 power plays to work with all night long. It was also a physical affair too. A number of big hits were thrown, a couple by Luca Sbisa, who played his first game back in front of the home town fans since being re-assigned from the Philadelphia Flyers just over a week ago.

The win helped Lethbridge keep pace with Medicine Hat and Swift Current, which also won last night as the battle for playoff positioning continues. The Canes' did make up some ground on Kootenay as the Ice lost 2-1 in Red Deer. Lethbridge jumps a point over the Ice and into 6th place in the Eastern standings.

Zach Boychuk was the energy player last night. He was our Hardest Working Hurricane and very much deserving of that honour. He's played well since his return to the line-up after an ankle injury. If this Lethbridge team plays down the stretch as hard as it did last night, this team should be hitting it's stride going into the post-season. As much as wins are important, as I've said before getting better and getting that cohesiveness as a team in the final weeks of the season is equally key to success.

Tonight the Canes' will host the Red Deer Rebels. Lethbridge holds the edge in the season series. The Canes' have shutout the Rebels 3 out of the 4 meetings so far. The two clubs will meet in Lethbridge one final time in early March. Game time tonight is 7 o'clock. The pre-game show on CJOC at 6:30.

Tonight Jordan Karst will provide colour on the broadcast. Jordan is our producer at CJOC and has followed the WHL for last number of years and has been in broadcasting for the past few years. He's also a product of Lethbridge College's Broadcast and Communications Program.

Hurricanes Host Blazers Tonight

After 5 days off from game action, the Hurricanes hit the ice tonight as they host the Kamloops Blazers.

This will be the 3rd and final meeting of the year between these two teams with Kamloops winning both previous games (5-2 Oct. 31st in Kamloops and 4-3 Dec. 9th in Lethbridge). The Canes' will be without Dwight King and Mitch Versteeg who were both suspended for one game following incidents during the Hurricanes last game in Tri-City. Captain Ben Wright could be back tonight as well. He missed the last game after being slightly injured in the Canes' game in Everett last Saturday.

Lethbridge has 14 games to go and the battle continues for playoff spots in the East. Lethbridge trails Swift Current (4) by 5 points and Medicine Hat (5) by 4 points. The Canes' are also even in games played with both those teams. The Hurricanes also play their next 3 games at home including tonight before heading on the road for 5 straight. Tomorrow Red Deer comes to town and then next weekend it's back to back against the Tigers.

(D) Eric Mestery has been practicing with the team the last while. He hasn't played a game since January 13th when he was injured in Moose Jaw. He's been out with concussion symptoms. He could return soon as well, but again like with most teams when it comes to players that've experienced a concussion it's always a good idea to never come back too early. Teams I think take extra precautions when getting players back in the line-up after head injuries.

The Hurricanes are 5-4-1-0 in their past 10. The Blazers come into this game at 5-5 in their last 10 games.

Game time tonight is 7 o'clock from the Enmax Centre. The pre-game show on CJOC at 6:30.

Tonight I will be joined in the booth by Darrell Rumold who will provide colour on this broadcast. Darrell works for CTV in Lethbridge and has played hockey in the NCAA and in the QMJHL. He's a product of Lethbridge College's broadcast program.

Hurricanes Announce Hall of Fame Inductees

The Sutter Brothers and former coach John Chapman will be inducted into the Hurricanes/Broncos Hall of Fame next week.

Brian, Darryl, Duane, Brent, Rich, and Ron Sutter all played their junior hockey in Lethbridge with the Broncos while Chapman coached the team from 1980-1986 and posted over 200 wins with the organization. As for the Sutters, no family in North America is more prominent in hockey than the Sutters. The six Brothers played with the Lethbridge Broncos between the years of 1974-1983 and between them collectively played in over 5000 NHL games!

Last year, the Canes'/Broncos Alumni Committee inducted Steve Tambellini, Jamie McLennan, and former broadcaster Steve "Foggy" Falwell into the hall.

The induction ceremony takes place Next Friday February 20th before the Hurricanes host the Medicine Hat Tigers. John Chapman spoke with the media in Lethbridge earlier this week. Here's the interview with Chappy:
http://www.box.net/shared/2ufzagbrjn

More Canes' Suspensions

Forward Dwight King and Defenceman Mitch Versteeg will each sit out one game after the WHL handed down suspensions to the two Canes' players yesterday as a result of actions during the Hurricanes/Tri-City Americans game this past Sunday in Kennewick, WA.

King was ejected early in the first period of that game for a hit from behind and Versteeg stepped in late in the game as teammate Cody Castro was involved in a fight in the final minute.

The two will miss Lethbridge's next game this Friday versus Kamloops at the Enmax Centre.

With Versteeg not available Friday, it's hoped D-man Ben Wright will return. He missed the Canes' last game against the Americans after suffering a slight injury the night before in Everett.

Between injuries, suspensions, and world juniors over the last few months, the Hurricanes have had very few games where they've iced a full line-up.

Enmax Renos to Impact Canes' Next Season

Last night on our weekly hockey talk show "Hurricanes This Week" we had a chance to speak with Ashley Matthews, the GM of the Enmax Centre to get a better idea of the 33.7 million dollar renovation project and how that'll impact those who use the building during construction and what improvements people will see when it's all said and done in 2011.

Matthews told us the renos are expected to start in April and should be complete over the next two years, but there will be an impact to the Hurricanes. We found out last night that because of the scope of the project, the Hurricanes will have to start their new season in the fall on the road, likely for about 3 weeks. They won't have access to the Enmax Centre until about October 8th. The team will also have to hold it's training camp at either Henderson or Nicholas Sheran Arenas.

I guess it's a bit of short term pain for long term gain if you look at it that way. The building should look great once it's all finished. They'll be a new and much bigger entrance way to the building, new box suites, new concessions, improved dressing rooms and training facility for the Hurricanes, new offices for the team as well, not to mention a 200 seat banquet room too, a new score clock (separate from the total reno cost itself), new media area on the east side of the arena, improved washrooms, etc.

These improvements to the Enmax aren't just for hockey. It'll improve the viewing pleasure for concerts, trade shows, and whatever other events the building takes on.

To listen to the entire interview with Ashley Matthews, here's the link to Monday's talk show:
http://www.cjocfm.com/pages/3264290.php

Canes' Close Out U.S. Road Swing Tonight

(View of the Toyota Centre ice in Tri-City from the broadcast booth)


Hi from Kennewick!

The Lethbridge Hurricanes will try and finish off their U.S. trip by going 3 and 1 down south.

The Canes' won their second game on this swing 5-4 last night in Everett. Kyle Beach was the game's 3rd star notching one goal and 2 assists against his former team and in his first game back at Comcast Arena since being traded to Lethbridge. The Hurricanes got off to a great start Saturday night scoring 3 times in the first period. The Canes' would add another one early in the 2nd to go up 4-0, but that's when the Silvertips got back into the game and made things interesting. Everett got two goals in a span of 1:13 to cut the Canes' lead to 4-2, but early in the 3rd Kyle Beach would score what turned out to be the game winner. The Tips added two more in the final frame, but Lethbridge would hold for the victory and get another big 2 points in the race for positioning in the Eastern Conference. Carter Ashton, Brody Sutter, Brennan Yadlowski, and Austin Fyten scored the other Lethbridge goals. Michael Tadjdeh got the win between the pipes. One thing Lethbridge did well was forcing the Tips into turning the puck over. 3 out of the 5 Canes' goals were the result bad giveaways by Everett. The Hurricanes took advantage of those mistakes. The Canes' now have 28 wins on the season and sit in 6th spot in the conference going into this game tonight in Tri-City.

Kyle Beach left the building with a big smile on his face. He played well in his return to Everett. He'll be looking to help lead the way this evening here in Kennewick, WA. This will be a good test for Lethbridge. The Tri-City Americans are one of the top teams in the WHL again this year. They sit in 2nd place in the Western Conference and have 37 wins in 55 games. This will be the first time the Hurricanes will play against Mitch Fadden since he was traded to Tri-City for Drew Hoff and Eric Mestery. Fadden scored 4 times last night here in Kennewick to lead Tri-City to a 7-1 win over Seattle. Hoff and Mestery I'm sure will be excited to play against their former team as well. The Americans have a very good club this year and their record and consistent play clearly show that. They are a very offensive-minded team led by Fadden, Taylor Procyshen, and Jason Reese. Those are 3 players the Canes will have to keep close watch on tonight.

Lethbridge would love nothing more than to come home with 3 wins in 4 games on this trip. This will be a very good test no question. The Canes will have to play simple hockey given it's their 4th game in 5 days on the road. Lethbridge will have to stay out of the penalty box as well and take advantage of their chances. The Americans, like Calgary and Vancouver don't give their opponents much. Tri-City is also playing its 3rd game in 3 days, so really both teams are no worse for wear.

Should be another fun one!

Game time tonight is 6 o'clock (Alberta time). The pre-game show on CJOC at 5:30.

Hurricanes This Week:

Monday night Marty Baceda from Global TV Sports in Lethbridge will co-host the one hour talk show with me. Our guests this week include:

1. Ashley Matthews, GM of the Enmax Centre. He will talk to us about the upcoming renovations to the Enmax and what that will mean for hockey fans heading into the future.

2. Hurricanes forward Dwight King

3. Cam Moon, Radio voice of the Red Deer Rebels