Canes' Win 5-2 in MJ....@ Swift Current Tonight

(Above: Pictures of the Moose Jaw Civic Centre from the outside and from the broadcast booth. For those who've never seen it, now you know why it's been called "The Crushed Can"! Citizens of Moose Jaw this week voted 60 to 40 in favour of building a new multi-plex arena. This old facility will remain the home of the Warriors for a couple of years until the new building is ready)

A solid effort by the Hurricanes last night in Moose Jaw.

Unlike the previous few games, Lethbridge was able to start strong and finish strong as well. The Canes’ carried the play for pretty much the entire game out shooting the Warriors 41-17 en route to a convincing 5-2 win. Lethbridge was up 2-0 early and 3-0 after one. They added one more in the 2nd and another in the 3rd. The Warriors scored twice in the 3rd. Dwight King led the way with two goals and was awarded the game’s first star honours. Colton Sceviour, Zach Boychuk, Carter Bancks, and Ben Wright also played well for the Canes’, who last night recorded their 31st win of the season in 64 games. The power play went 2 for 7.

With 8 games to go, the Canes’ will need another solid effort tonight in Swift Current. The Broncos are still 7 points ahead of the Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference standings after an overtime win versus Edmonton last night. If Lethbridge wants a shot at catching them, winning tonight is a must. This should be a good match up. Both teams have kind up been up and down like a teeter-totter all season. Tonight is a very important game for both teams, no doubt.
It was important for this Lethbridge team to get that taste of victory again. Even the mood on the bus on the short ride back to Regina after the game was more relaxed and less business-like. It’s a funny thing, winning. It can sure change a team’s outlook and attitude. The Hurricanes have something positive to build on going into Swift Current this evening.

Physical play was evident last night in Moose Jaw. The Hurricanes laid a number of big hits, including Luca Sbisa and Mitch Versteeg. It always seems that when this Canes’ team throws the body and plays a more aggressive game, they are more often than not successful.
This game in Swift Current is the last regular season meeting between the Canes' and Bronocs.

Swift Current leads the season series 2-1. Game time tonight is 6:30. The pre-game on CJOC at 6.

Hurricanes @ Moose Jaw

(Above is a picture of Ace, the Canes bus driver hauling the team to practice in Regina)

The Hurricanes will try and right the ship tonight against the Warriors.

The Canes' have been sailing on some choppy seas the past couple of weeks and are looking to get that taste of victory again. With 9 games to go, the Hurricanes find themselves only 4 points ahead of Prince Albert and Edmonton and still one point behind Kootenay. Lethbridge needs to put together a good performance this evening in Moose Jaw. Let's be honest, this is a game that the Canes' should win, but as we all know nothing is a given in this league. Moose Jaw won't be making the playoffs this year, but that doesn't mean this Warriors team is going to close up shop and mail Lethbridge the 2 points. The Warriors have nothing to lose and everything to gain. It's the opposite for the Hurricanes. The Canes' tonight need to put together a solid game from start to finish, not 20 minutes here or 30 minutes there. They need to start strong and end strong and maintain that through the whole game.

Captain Ben Wright could make his return tonight on the blue line. He's missed the Hurricanes last 3 games with a thigh injury. Juha Metsola played well in his return from injury in the 4-2 loss in Brandon on Wednesday. His presence was felt for sure between the pipes.

One of the emails I received at the end of Wednesday's game from a frustrated Hurricanes fan suggested Lethbridge should just pack it in and call it a season because nothing seems to be working. I truly understand where he's coming from, but I can say no team in this league, including the Hurricanes are going to give up and call it a year. Yes, things haven't gone the way a lot of us expected, but I know this Lethbridge team will not pack it in.

Yesterday was a good day of practice for the Canes'. After that we all headed out to do a little 5 pin bowling. Yours truly bowled a 168, but it was Carter Bancks who finished with a 175. Ace the bus driver had a 166, and that was followed by Austin Fyten and Brent Henke. It was a lot of fun for the boys. After that a nice team supper and back to the hotel.

Tonight's game from Moose Jaw is a 6pm start. The pre-game show on CJOC at 5:30.

Hurricanes Drop 4-2 Decision in Brandon

Hi from Regina.

The Hurricanes lost their 3rd in a row last night, 4-2 in Brandon. It was the third time in the past three games that the Canes' started off strong in the first period, but mid-way through the 2nd things started to go downhill. After a 1-1 tie following the 1st, the Wheaties scored 3 times in the 2nd to take a 4-1 lead. Lethbridge managed to get one back and after a scoreless 3rd the game would end 4-2. Colton Sceviour and Zach Boychuk scored for the Canes' who now have a little more company in the Eastern Conference. With both Prince Albert and Edmonton winning last night, the Raiders and Oil Kings are just 4 points back of the Hurricanes. Those two teams have been battling for 8th and 9th place. It's company, I'm sure the Canes' would rather not have at the moment.

I think the Hurricanes need to approach the remaining 9 games with a sense of urgency and as one person told me last night play as if it's a do or die situation. I tend to agree. There is really no margin for error at this point. The Canes' need to play full out from here on in and tomorrow's game in Moose Jaw I feel is must win game for Lethbridge.

Today, the Canes' will have the day off. We arrived here in Regina around 3 in the morning. The boys will practice here this afternoon, we all plan to go bowling as a team after that and then head out together for a nice meal. After that, it'll be back down to business tomorrow with 3 games in 3 days!

Talk to you then. I'll set up the Canes'/Warriors match-up tomorrow.

Lethbridge @ Brandon Tonight

Hello from Brandon, Manitoba.

We arrived here last night around 9 pm after a roughly 11 hour bus ride from Lethbridge. The Hurricanes will take on the Wheat Kings for the final time this season, barring a meeting in the playoffs of course. The Hurricanes are coming off back-to-back losses to the Medicine Hat Tigers on the weekend and currently sit in 7th place in the conference, one point back of Kootenay, 7 back of Swift Current, and 8 behind the Tigers. With 10 games to go, the Hurricanes are going to have to play play-off like hockey before the post-season. They need to find a stride over the next couple of weeks before playoff time hits. This should be a good game this evening. The Wheaties have been one of the hottest teams since the Christmas break and are currently in a battle with Saskatoon for 2nd place in the conference. Those two teams are separated by just 4 points.

Just before we left yesterday, the WHL brought down a 3 game suspension on Canes' forward Kyle Beach. This bring to 8, the total number of games Beach has been suspended since arriving in Lethbridge at the trade deadline. A lot of Hurricanes fans are a little frustrated over this latest suspension. One email I received yesterday states" How does Beach get tagged again, but yet the antics of Tigers defenceman Matt McCue go unnoticed by the league brass?". Another fan even suggests "there's a double standard here" and questions why Medicine Hat gets nothing. I'm not saying Beach is a saint here. He has to take responsibility for his actions yes, but doesn't every other player in the league? I do understand the frustration of Lethbridge fans upset about this. There were more than 230 penalty minutes in that game on Saturday. Beach will not be able to play again until Sunday in Regina.

On the injury front, Goalie Juha Metsola is cleared a ready to go for tonight's game after sitting out the last two with a lower body injury. Ben Wright appears to be better and will be a game time decision. There's a chance he might sit this one out tonight though.

I really think another important thing for this Lethbridge team is to not get rattled and let some of these things, like suspensions get them off their game. The team needs to keep it's focus in the remaining games. They still have an shot at catching at least Swift Current for 5th, but they'll have to play at a pretty clip to get it done.

Tonight's game is a 6 o'clock start from Brandon. The pre-game show on CJOC at 5:30.

Canes' Hitting the Road This Week

The Lethbridge Hurricanes will be heading out for 4 games on the road this week in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

The Canes' are coming off back-to-back losses (6-3 & 8-3) to Medicine Hat this weekend and now find themselves 8 points behind the Tigers with 10 games to go in the in the regular season. The game in the Hat on Saturday saw the Hurricanes start very strong, taking a 2-0 lead just over 5 minutes into the game. The Tigers would get one back. Lethbridge took a 3-1 lead in the 2nd, but that would be all the scoring for the visitors as Medicine Hat would score 7 straight to win it 8-3. At one point, the Hurricanes were out shooting the Tigers 34-12 and on the other side of a 4-3 score after 2 periods. Starting goaltender Michael Tadjdeh was pulled after the 5th goal and replaced by rookie call-up Brandon Anderson. I thought he played very well coming off the bench. Goaltending was an issue for the Hurricanes in both those games. In the 3rd, the Tigers would add 4 more. Tyler Ennis scored 4 times for the Tigers.

That game was loaded with fights and penalties. It was actually like watching old time hockey to be honest. As far as I was concerned, there were way too many calls against both teams. I think it was really difficult for the Tigers and Hurricanes to get any flow going. Just when the play would pick up, the whistle would go and someone would be heading off to the box. I know it was a chippy affair, but just too many penalties. There was a total of 20 power plays between the two teams. The penalty trouble also proved troublesome for Lethbridge in the final period. Despite dominating Medicine Hat for the first 30 or so minutes, the Tigers managed to change the tide and win the game.

The Hurricanes now hit the road for games Wednesday in Brandon (6pm), Friday in Moose Jaw (6pm), Swift Current Saturday (6:30pm), and Regina Sunday Afternoon (5pm). This team has 10 games to fine tune things before the playoffs hit. This team I think has the talent to do some serious damage come the post-season. Some of my fellow broadcasters here in the dub have told me that very thing. The Hurricanes need to play their game and not get distracted by things that happen throughout the course of a game. I believe this team can do it. I also know though, there is growing frustration amongst some Hurricanes fans who want this team to succeed. They want to see the Hurricanes hit their stride heading into the post-season.

Injury-wise, Juha Metsola and Ben Wright missed the Hurricanes last two games. Both I think are still day-to-day. I would expect Juha to return this week.

Tonight on CJOC at 7pm it's "The Hurricanes This Week". Paul Kingsmith from Global TV will co-host the show with me tonight. Our guests include Canes' forward Kyle Beach and Jon Keen, the radio voice of the Swift Current Broncos. We were hoping to get Kevin Meunch, the director of WHL officiating, but he couldn't make it tonight. Hopefully we'll get him on next week instead. Our last talk show for the season will be March 16th.