CRANBROOK, B.C. - Four quick goals in the first period helped the Kootenay ICE to a lop-sided 7-1 win over the Hurricanes Saturday night, in the final regular season game for both hockey clubs.
The Kootenay ICE would open the scoring with three quick goals before the game was even 8 minutes old. First off it was James Martin who wired a point shot on a power play, beating Dylan Tait to make it 1-0 Kootenay. 61 seconds later, Cody Eakin fired a shot that beat Tait on the glove hand side to put the ICE ahead 2-0. Kootenay would score once more a few seconds later. Joe Antilla jammed the bouncing puck by Tait to give the ICE a big 3-0 lead. That would be three goals in 1:19 for Kootenay. They weren't done there. Just over two minutes after that Cody Eakin scored his second of the night on a two-on-one rush to make it 4-0 for the home team. That would be it for Dylan Tait in goal. He was pulled after giving up four goals on 8 shots. The Hurricanes would get one of those back before the period would end. Brody Sutter, who continues to have a great season despite missing half the year with injury, scored his 18th to cut the ICE lead to 4-1 after 20 minutes of play. The ICE out shot Lethbridge 10-6.
In the second, the ICE would jump ahead 5-1. Kevin King knocked the puck by Brandon Anderson after a mad scramble in front of the Lethbridge goal. That helped Kootenay regain it's four-goal lead. Kootenay continued to roll and would add two more. Matt Fraser scored another one on a power play to make the score 6-1. Just over a minute after that, the ICE would make it 7-1. Brandon Anderson went to poke-check the puck away from Brendan Hurley, it went off the Kootenay forward and into the goal. It was just that kind of night for Lethbridge. That's the way the period would end. Kootenay out shot the Hurricanes 27-14 through two periods of play.
In the third, no offence to talk about. The ICE out shot Lethbridge 11-8 in the final frame and that game would end 7-1 for Kootenay. Overall, Kootenay held the edge in shot 38-22. The power plays looked like this: Kootenay ICE 2 for 4 and Lethbridge Hurricanes 0 for 3.
Head Coach and G.M. Rich Preston told me last night that Brandon Anderson will be heading out Monday to hook up with the Hershey Bears, the A.H.L. affiliate of the Washington Capitals. The Caps signed Anderson to an entry-level contract prior to this W.H.L. season. The Bears sit second in the A.H.L's Eastern Conference
THE NUMBERS: SEASON AT A GLANCE
The Hurricanes finish the 2010-2011 season with a record of 23-36-5-8 for a total of 59 points. Contrast that with last season when the Canes' also missed the post-season. 20-44-5-3 for 48 points. In terms of victories, just three more this season than last and an overall increase of 11 points. The hockey team's attention will soon turn to the 2011 W.H.L. Bantam draft in early May. They will have two first-round picks, both in the top four. One will be their own and the other will be from Regina through the Carter Ashton trade from last season. Lethbridge will have four picks in the top 30.
Fred and I would like to thank all our listeners who've tuned into the radio broadcasts throughout the course of this season as well as the Monday night radio show. It's been a slice. Too bad things have to end early again and here's hoping for a big improvement come September when this team hits the ice for the 2011-2012 season. This is why we do what we do. Hopefully you've enjoyed the content here on the blog as well. That's exactly why I decided to to start this thing a couple of years ago, so the fans of this team would have another avenue to get Hurricanes information and see what other fans have to say. Have a great spring and summer. Of course any Canes' news that takes place over the next few months leading up to next season I will post up as well. As mentioned, a lot of eyes will be on the Bantam draft.
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tough season...Canes have to look at everything coaching and all players.. rather than going in this season and saying there were only a couple spots open there should be maybe only a couple of sure spots guarenteed, Rich should probably move up and try and find a couple of good young coaches, maybe see what they can do with aall their picks and maybe get a good 19 yr old to help this team. other wise we could be saying the same thing next year..need some leadership to help the rookies and any new prospects that make the team..I hope they do things quick and not wait until the summer find a good coach that has worked in a good system and is ready to move up .. other teams have done it.. rich coaching in the bigs doesn't mean he can coach in the dub these kids are a diff generation they need to be motivated and they still need to have fun come on rich..move up put the team ahead of ego..
ReplyDeleteG.C.
A good note by GC......totally agree with comments on coaching....Preston would gain respect if he were to step down as coach....he has had 2 years at the helm of this team and has not been successful......Furthermore, having high draft picks and good prospects ready to make the team is encouraging, BUT they need strong,effective coaching to develop and help the Canes regain success and respect in the WHL.
ReplyDeletedean brockman as assistant coach 4 sure, this guy is a whiz at working with the young kids..as 4 preston it hard to say he is not the man 4 the job 4 the simple reason that as a GM he does not want 2 give up anything until his prospects come into the picture..give RP a good team and then judge him then...also a ? 4 fred,u said next year it time 2 make some changes 2 right the ship and bring in some players that can turn things around 4 the better. do you think this will happen when the emphasis is all about drafting a team year after year to make a strong player's list...why kill everything 4 next year when it was all about 1 to 2 years away from success...just wondering..
ReplyDeletebob
I think that the Canes will have to look for a young coach to be at the helm for next season. Rich Preston has not been the coach everyone has been hoping for when he came in two years ago. A tough season for the canes, but lets hope that next year they will be able to regain their composure and make the playoffs with all of their exciting prospects coming in. All the best to the three 20 year olds: Ross, Maxwell, and Reddington, in your future plans.
ReplyDeleteAD
What a great improvement over last year! 09/10 the Canes winning percentage was .278 (based on 20wins in 72 games) and in 10/11 the WP was .317 based on 23 wins in 72 games. Last year they finished 20th overall, this year 19th. This season they scored more goals and give up more -90 compared to -97 in the previous season. This team did not show any improvement over last season and over the course of this season we did not see the improvement of any significance. Only Brody Sutter showed the biggest improvement over last year. The power play was brutal, the penalty kill was so-so only because they took so many penalties this year.
ReplyDeleteSo Preston/Kabayama have done nothing with this club except let it stagnate.
I agree with a couple of the other posters that Preston needs to look at what he has accomplished over his first two full years and reassess his coaching abilities.I also agree that just because he was a long time assistant coach in the NHL does not make him a top-notch WHL coach. Kabayama has been in charge of the defense for a long time and the d-corps have not improved.
After a long hard look in the mirror, Preston should step down from the coaching ranks and find a quality jr coach to take over handling the boys (not men as in the NHL) and give Kabayama his walking papers. I do think that Preston has the makings of a good GM, but as a coach? No!
Before 2011-2012 becomes a repeat of the last two seasons, he needs to look long and hard at his future role with this club.
I wonder if the "media round table" will actually have the "jam" to ask the questions that should be asked, get their true feelings on this year and next year out in the open, and forget the platitudes and back patting that they are so accustomed to hand out, regardless of walking that fine line. I hardly doubt it, but curiousity will have me listening.
TM
Pat, when you do the wrap up interview please please ask Rick what he is going to do for the fans concerning "the guarantee"? Probably not a fun one to ask since I expect the reaction to be salty at best. It has to be asked though.
ReplyDeletePreston needs a good assistant coach. Kabayama should not be coaching in this league. Get an experienced Junior A head coach or a WHL calibre coach who can teach. Preston knows what it takes to be a pro and can provide that guidance to the boys and be GM while a good assistant can do the x's and o's and teach/motivate the boys....didnt seem like a lot of positive motivation or strategy coming from the bench from the assistant coach this year and the boys did not progress during the year and that has to be the responsibility of the assistant coaches.....Thank you Pat and Fred for a great job again this year. Canes have some of the best prospects in the league next year so it should be a more dynamic year....
ReplyDeleteI would love it if TM showed some jam, put his name -- his full name and some contact info on a post, and asked Preston these questions. He can be reached at 403-381-1986. He's also been on the radio show more than a few times and Pat has requested emails. But don't forget to sign your name.
ReplyDeletePat, Fred, Paul, Marty and I always do.
-- Dylan
Plus, guarantees are always stupid. I like the moxie of a guarantee, but they are stupid. Even Messier's guarantee for the Rangers was dumb.
ReplyDeleteAnd the number's 328-1986. Damn moderator should've caught it ;)
-- Dylan
People just love to complain. Look back in the history, if the Hurricanes win a game, there are but one or two comments, but if they lose, wow, there are always a dozen or more. There are a lot of problem with the team, the board and the fans. Nothing will be solved until we turn the page... with the team and the board and with some fans. No season should end without the traditional handshake at center ice after a hard fought playoff series. I am tired of being pretty good for one year and then in the basement for the next ten. If nothing changes and now, the team as we know it will be a thing of the past. There is no way we can take losses of $500K+ per year and expect to have the bankroll to hire the best hockey people. It is time for EVERYBODY to wake up. There is nothing wrong with the team that another 1000 fans per night wouldn't cure.
ReplyDeleteano 11:21 you think 1000 fans will make this team win..wake up and go smoke something with Dylan you both are high..
ReplyDeleteKris.
What would another 1000 tickets do for the Hurricanes? First of all it would increase the atmosphere in the rink that for the most part is pathetic. Secondly it might just give the team enough cash to hand ask Rich Preston to either leave or at least live in a town where he is drawing a paycheck. It is bad enough to be a GM that is travelling back and forth to Calgary, but when you add the coaching onto that, then something has to suffer. We saw that on the ice this year. Changes have to be made once and for all, maybe we should start at the board level.
ReplyDeleteGM
TM....just to comment on your "jam" towards the media. Let me remind you that asking the members of the media to come out and say what they think, could jeopordize their working relationship with the club, especially the GM/Coach.Lethbridge does have a very small town mentality and and hence the public's need to know the dirt or whatever, comes to the surface. Of the media, the person that needs to walk a fine line is the play-by-play person who is with the players and staff on a regular basis. If the rest of the media spends their time "badmouthing" the hockey staff, their interviews could become very short. Rightly or wrongly, that is the situation here and for the media. In a major city like, Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver, the media can voice their opinion a lot easier and do.
ReplyDeleteEven dealing with the "rumors" about players wanting out, draft picks who do not want to come here and Bryan Maxwell heading to Vancouver as an assistant coach, are not always easy for the media to verify, so they do not discuss them. (I can just hear the complaining if Bryan Maxwell does end up in Vancouver)!
So TM, it is easy to criticize the media because they don't give you "their thoughts" because you will not get them.
It might be easier to get Dylan to give you his thoughts if you bribed him with some of the Enmax mini donuts and shaved ice.
RJS
RJS
I do like donuts and shaved ice, but bribery doesn't work. The problem most people have is that Pat, Fred, Marty, Paul and I analyze, we don;t fire off knee-jerk reactions. In the long view, this team is in Year Two of a rebuilding project and I'll be a lot more critical if they're in the same spot this time next season. A lot more. As it is, I've seen enough junior hockey to know this is sometimes what it takes.
ReplyDeleteOver the past 12 or so years, Brandon, Saskatoon, Swift, Tigers, Portland, Moose Jaw, Kamloops, Regina, Prince Albert and even the vaunted Tri-City Ams have struggled. The problem in Lethbridge is that the board keeps getting rid of everyone.
Had they kept Mike Dyck, the coaching philosophy would have stayed the same, the players would have known what to expect from a style of play. Had they kept Stasiuk, we could have had a similiar type of jack-of-all-trades player (Moser, Tot, Braes, Fyten) -- those 15-30 goal-a-year guys who also play defence. Some of those guys haven't panned out, but the style is similiar.
When you turf everyone, you give an aura of instability to the whole organization. When Brandon or Saskatoon or Red Deer struggle, the philosophy doesn't change, reassuring fans, thanks to past success, that the style works.
The Canes bring in a new guy and we have no idea if Preston's style works. We have no idea after two years because he has to get another year to show it works. Of course, if it doesn't we're back to where we were two seasons ago as media covering a whole new front office. And that front office will get a two-year grace period.
-- Dylan
How are you going to get another 1000 fans to watch that product?? Winning comes first. It's not just Lethbridge fans that only support winning....ALL cities are like that!! Just check the bottom of the league and you'll see the poorest attendance. For the team to finish out of the playoffs for two years and hardly finishing strong this year, they didn't draw too badly (my opinion obviously).
ReplyDeleteThere's far too much else going on in Lethbridge (ie. U of L Pronghorns sports, high school sports) to think that another 1000 people are going to pay those prices to come to a game and watch what I saw this year (for the most part). Does the Board of Directors understand that we can go to a university sporting event or a high school event (an entire tournament over a 3 day weekend) for half the cost of going to one Hurricane game?? They are the same age if not older (university), so I don't understand that arguement at all.