Monday 1 October 2012

Hurricanes This Week

The Lethbridge Hurricanes start week 3 of the this WHL season with a .500 record at 2-2 after rebounding this past weekend in Cranbrook with a 4-2 win over the Kootenay ICE.

It was a solid effort for 60 minutes compared to their previous game when they lost 3-0 and were totally dominated by the Edmonton Oil Kings.  Even Head Coach and GM Rich Preston said his team was "schooled" in that game, but the Canes did a good job on Saturday, holding the ICE to under 20 shots the entire night and saw their power play click 3 times.  Russ Maxwell had an outstanding game with 4 points.

This week, the Hurricanes play only twice, both south of the border.  On Wednesday, the Canes pack up and hit the road to Kennewick, Washington as they get set to play the Tri-City Americans on Friday night.  That game will see the return of Hurricanes goalie Ty Rimmer to his old stomping grounds and he'd love nothing more than to leave the Toyota Centre will one more win under his belt.  On Saturday, the Canes will travel back north to play the Chiefs in Spokane.  Both games are 8:00 pm (MDT) starts.  The pre-game shows on CJOC at 7:30. The Canes next home game is next Tuesday (Oct. 9) when they host the visiting Prince Albert Raiders.

Starting this month and heading into the first two weeks of November, the Hurricanes play 12 of their next 16 games at home, so no question a very important stretch of hockey for this team.

HURRICANES THIS WEEK

Hurricanes This Week is back on CJOC Monday night at 7:00 (MDT).  Joing Fred and I will be Hurricanes Captain Graham Hood, Board of Directors President Brian McNaughton, and Craig West, the radio voice of the Tri-City Americans.

Thanks,
Pat

14 comments:

  1. Do statistics tell the real story or can they be misleading?
    Three former Hurricanes, each of them who are overages find themselves picking up points early on in the season. Nick Buonassisi is tied for the league lead with 4-5 (9pts); Ryon Moser 2-6 (6pts) Landon Oslanski 2-2 (4pts) which matches Russell Maxwell's total. The Canes management decided to deal away those three. Mind you, you can't keep them all. (I know that Moser was dealt long before he became an OA)

    Morgan Klimchuck who the Canes could have drafted ahead of Jay Merkley has 3-2 (5pts) while Merkley struggles to find the net.

    More stats? Canes are the most penalized team averaging 28.5 minutes per game, more than triple that of PG the least penalized. Canes PK is 17th working at 70% while their PP is 15.4% 19th and less than half of Calgary's league leading 37.5%.

    According to Pat's blog, Preston admitted that the Canes were "schooled" by the Oil Kings. Which IMHO, means that the "teacher"got schooled as well. Don't blame the players for that one.

    So, do the stats tell the true tale of the Canes? The Canes are one of the youngest teams again this season, one of the least experienced in terms of games played in the WHL.

    As Pat says, October is a huge month. For all concerned.

    It will be interesting to see what if anything he and Fred get from BM tonight.

    RJ

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  2. RJ,

    Fair points and I agree we need to improve on our special teams.

    I am tired of us fans giving these kids excuses to lose. 72 games a year is a lot of time for these kids to play and there is no better development than the games. As far as Merkley don’t you think these kids need to take responsibility for their play? All the other 95 born from last season have shown improvement.

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  3. Easy RJ...four games in and Canes are 2 and 2....of the three players you mentioned 2 are teams with fewer wins than the Canes. Buonassisi not being kept instead of Hood was a serious mistake but you seriously think Oslanski and Moser should have been kept over Rimmer and Johnston....really, I would like what you are smoking??? Scott

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  4. How does anyone expect Merkley to show his stuff or improve if he doesn't see the ice? He had limited ice last year and for every game this year except for the Kootney game, which was a big surprise to keep hearing his name on the radio when its normally not there. Hard to get points from the bench!

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  5. I'm convinced Anon 3:42 must be Merkley's dad if he thinks the kid isn't getting enough ice time.

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  6. 3:42 you are right on the money. Merkley has not had the ice time from the beginning. Klimchuck has never played below the 2nd line from the moment he arrived in Regina. They drafted him as a top 6 forward and despite the fact some of the older players last year may be stronger they made a commitment to develop Klimchuck as a top 6 forward. They lived with his mistakes and persevered with his development. Currently Klimchuk plays 1st power play and on Reginas 1st line playing with the most skilled players on their team.. Merkley has played the majority of his time on the 4th line both last year and this year. In many ways his 12 goals and 11 assists last year were amazing with so little ice time. 4th line often is less than 5 minutes and I would suggest there is hardly a player in the league that could put up numbers with that amount of ice. Merkley was drafted for his skill . Give him ice and pp and you will see him get better and better. Play him on the 4th line and he will fade away and you will get nothing for him. Merkley is every bit as good a Klimchuck. Its easy to look just at the stats and make assumptions but there is often a lot more to the story....

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  7. Before I am pounced on, I deliberately asked the question at the start. Do statistics tell the real story or can they be misleading?

    At no time did I mention mistakes on decision or suggest that one player be taken over another. I just provided stats and the question about what they provide.

    It was just a question.

    Oh and I do not smoke!

    RJ

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  8. Good to hear from Brian McNaughton in fluent and coherent manner on some serious matters...hope he is right that the team is on the right track now.....The ON ICE PRODUCT AND HOW THE TEAM PERFORMS is paramount for this team.
    Good to hear Fred Jack pose good questions of the president.

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  9. Good to hear from Brian McNaughton in fluent and coherent manner on some serious matters...hope he is right that the team is on the right track now.....The ON ICE PRODUCT AND HOW THE TEAM PERFORMS is paramount for this team.
    Good to hear Fred Jack pose good questions of the president.

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  10. I think some of RJ's stats tell the true story and some are misleading. Sorry for sitting on the fence. The PP stat is the truth. It sucks lol. So is the PK. Both need improving. But the player point totals don't paint an I don't believe Preston is giving Merkley a fair shake. He is a skilled forward, not a sandpaper/grit forward. Seems to me that Preston expects him to play a grinder/sandpaper role (ie. mixing it up in front of the net, playing on the edge, being a Darcy Tucker-type player). That's NOT who he is nor has he ever been that and should NEVER be expected to be that type of player.

    In my opinion, Preston is misusing Merkley. When Merkley doesn't go into the dirty areas, he finds himself on the bench. I think Preston needs to wake up to what he drafted in Merkley. He drafted a skilled player who would excel playing with other skilled players.

    I was not in favour of using Merkley on the top 2 lines last year, but that was last year. I'd like to see him get more ice this year too. Didn't he have good chemistry with Watson last year?

    Darren

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  11. Pat, are you able to post a video of the Kessy hit on Pilon? None of the three sites (the WHL, Canes, and Tigers) include it in any of their highlights. Thanks

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  12. Tough suspension for Ramsey having to sit 5 games but given the financial situation of the Canes maybe the $1,000 fine hurts more! I guess it will be Macaroni and Cheese dinners for the boys on this road trip!

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  13. I have a possible solution to the coach issue. Move Preston from the bench to the press box. Move Chis to the bench as head coach. I am not sure if the players like Chis as a coach but he seems like he tells it like it is. He could coach d and goalies and MK could coach forwards. Chis would get a raise but at least team would only have to pay for the raise not new coaches. This would only work if the players like the way Chis coaches. Good win on the weekend for the team. Are the players improving because of expeience or coaching? I think it is because of experience. AJ

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  14. My last comment wasn't very well written. Sorry.

    But I'd like to add one thing....in regards to the Canes getting "schooled" by the Oil Kings....there won't be too many teams that WON'T get schooled by the Oil Kings this year. It isn't a coaching thing as much as is it a superior team with superior talent and experience. So, in my opinion, it was the players that got schooled. No amount of coaching could overcome that amount of talent and experience.

    Darren

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