Sunday 20 October 2013

Calgary Hitmen Down Hurricanes 6-3 at Saddledome

CALGARY - Jake Virtanen scored a first period hatrick as the Calgary Hitmen beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes 6-3 Sunday afternoon at the Saddledome.

 The Calgary Hitmen got off to a very quick start in this game. Less than a minutes into the first period, Jake Virtnanen scored on the first shot of the afternoon to give Calgary a quick 1-0 lead. Shortly after that, Virtnanen would get another one, beating Chris Tai upstairs in the Hurricanes net. That would make it 2-0 Hitmen on just two shots on goal. The Hurricanes would get one of those back when Remi Laurencelle potted his 1st of the season thanks to some hard work in front of the Calgary goal. That cut the Hitmen lead to 2-1. Calgary though would score a few minutes later to get that one back and again it was Jake Virtanen with his 3rd goal of the game and less than 9 minutes into the contest, it was 3-1 Calgary. The Canes made a goaltending change after that. Chris Tai allowed 3 goals on 5 shots and was replaced by Corbin Boes. The Hurricanes settled down after that and had some great scoring chances, but Mack Shields kept the puck out for the Hitmen. Calgary took the 3-1 lead into the dressing room after 20 minutes. Lethbridge held a 14-9 edge in shots on goal.

In the second, the Hitmen would just ahead 4-1 at the midway point of the period when Brady Brassart got a nice bounce when his shot went off the leg of Ryan Pilon and behind Corbin Boes to give the Hitmen a three goal lead. The Hurricanes would again cut into the Hitmen lead, this time on the power play. Ryan Pilon's point shot beat Shields in the Calgary goal, the make it a 4-2 in favour of Calgary. In the dying seconds of the period Calgary would jump ahead by three again when Brady Brassart put home his 2nd goal of the game to make it 5-2 Hitmen through 40 minutes of play. The Hitmen held a slight edge in shots 26-24. The Canes thought they had a goal right at the end of the period, but it was waved off after a the Canes were given a penalty.

In the third, the Hurricanes would get a late power play goal by Giorgio Estephan, his 3rd of the season to make it a 5-3 game in favour of Calgary. The Canes pulled the goalie with a couple of minutes to go, but Josh Thrower would put the puck into the empty goal to give Calgary a 6-3 lead and that's the way this one would end. The Canes were out shot 42-29 in this hockey game. Lethbridge played a very disciplined game as Calgary only had 2 power plays. They didn't score. The Hurricanes were 2/4. The loss drops the Canes record to 2-10-0-1. The Canes have one victory in their last 9 games.

GM Robson Busy With Trade Talks

During the 1st Intermission from Calgary, GM Brad Robson talked about potential trades. Jaimen Yakubowski and Sam McKechnie were sent home Friday after the pair requested to be traded. Robson said Sunday, "I have lots of offers for those two players, up to 15 teams I've spoken with. I'll get back to everyone over the next couple of days. I'd like to get at least one 94 born player with size. Probably forwards. Maybe a 95 too. I do have a few potential deals though which are defencemen in trade talks"


No Hurricanes This Week

For the second week in a row, there will be no Hurricanes This Week radio show Monday (Oct. 21). Because of CJOC's live coverage of the 2013 civic election, the radio program will not air this week. Our next show is set for Monday, October 28th at 7:00 pm MDT.

Next Up

The Hurricanes return home for a big stretch at the ENMAX Centre. The will play their next 8 games on home ice between October 22nd and November 9th.  Over the next few weeks, the Canes will play host to Portland, Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Tri-City, Brandon, Regina, Spokane, and Red Deer. This is a very important home stand for this club. The Canes play host the Winterhawks Tuesday night (Oct. 22) on "Pink in the Rink" night. The defending WHL Champs are making their only visit to Lethbridge this season. Game time is 7:00 pm MDT. The pre-game show on CJOC at 6:30.

Thanks,
Pat

13 comments:

  1. 15 teams interested in our two Canes ...impressive that many teams all higher in the standings than the Canes find value in these two young men and the worst team in the league doesn't...makes one think....40 plus shots again tonight so hopefully Canes can get a couple players for whom the word "defense" is not a foreign word. I see Jamal Watson was a healthy scratch for the second straight game. Maybe there is a 3 player deal being worked on.
    CaneTrainWreck

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  2. Watson is not a healthy scratch. He's got a lower body injury. Hasn't practiced or played for the last few days. FYI.

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  3. Only heard parts of this game but sounded like the canes had some scoring chances and just could not finish. Just because 15 teams say they are interested in the 2 quitters doesn't mean they want to give up anything in return. As long as this team gives 90-100% every game I will give them credit. It is when the try factor really drops that it is frustrating.. Hoping some GM is dumb enough to give up some size and quality for the 2 that walked away. KAOS

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  4. @ CaneTrainWreck.....I have to assume you are spouting off on a topic with only half or less of the actual correct information. If you believe that Robson has, as he said, 15 teams interested in our two Canes, then I have a Bridge to sell you.

    What do you expect a GM to say in public? Duhhhh ....... I got 1 e-mail and no phone calls about the availability of the 2 players so I will give them away for nothing.

    Next caller gets both of them for a Ham Sandwich and a road map out of Lethbridge. Robson hopes he will get 15 inquiries about 2 of our top 3 scorers from last year.

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  5. Sorry Pat. I forgot to put a name to my comments. Oct 20 @ 20:53 was .... canesrock. Like Pat has asked....please put a name on your comments.

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  6. canesrock, why wouldn't there be interest in both these player, 56 goal between then as 18 year olds. unless the sky changes color they will still be in the dub as 20's....that could mean 100+ goal for any team in the next two years...I can see a lot of team wanting in on that....bob.

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  7. These trades will be devalued by timing alone, not by the kids. If this was days before the trade deadline the value would obviously be higher.

    A team in contention and can lock up two 19’s now and give the kids time to gel and learn their system.
    A mid/ bottom team can use these 19’s to try and provide a spark or use them as serious building blocks (options) at the deadline.

    Teams in this league have tape, scouting reports, likely ties to the agent and will not be scared off by character concerns.
    Teams are going to view the kids as being mismanaged and likely see 45 plus points from Mack and 30 plus goals from Yak. Not including playoff potential.
    Both are viewed as returning players for their 20 yr old season.

    At minimum we need to go 0.550 % for the remaining 59 games to be close to 8th. If that’s not likely to happen, go size and youth to build for next season. I still would like to see one dman and one defensive forward.

    NO doubt this situation set us back and it better be the last one with this staff.

    Long Run

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  8. Its a good thing the GM isn't playing poker. He would be called right now for bluffing..LOL. There are probably two serious deals being looked at. Lower end teams don't have too much to offer and high end teams don't really need 19 year olds, particularly if there might be issues. What you did last year means the square root of nothing. The GM does see the need for size and that makes good sense. Big teams are just tougher to play against. Trades are always a crap shoot especially when they involve players who have quit the team. You may not get what you want but you might get what you need. A couple big hard nosed wingers would be a good place to start.

    Enigma

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  9. Don't kid yourselves, Canes fans. There is very good value in these two players, and I would argue with anyone that thinks these two aren't eye-brow raisers for at LEAST 15 GMs. Considering their points and performances (and the lack of leadership/coaching in Preston), I just hope Robson doesn't undervalue them (and overpay for trades) like he has in the past. I would expect both to be impact players wherever they end up.



    Both of these players bring a lot to the table, I guess they just don't like the place setting here any more.... And I am not talking just about the Poker table that Preston let them go play at if they didn't feel like practising!!

    They are both effective on the PK (Together, they tied with Johnston for the team lead in SHORT handed goals last year; 2). They can both score; they both had twice as many goals as Ramsay last year, Yak is not afraid to drop 'em, and was only an "instigator" away from taking the PIMS lead from Ramsay last year. I am a season tic holder and I didnt attend a single game last year where Sam was not in the conversation for "Hardest Working Cane." Kind of like when Bancks was playing... You could give it to the guy EVERY game, but where is the fun in that... but TRUE.

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  10. I really can't understand how people can come out and basically call Brad Robson a liar, in regards to the number of teams interested in Sam and Yak. I would love to know what you are basing your facts on, in order to call him a liar about the number of teams interested in the two departed players.
    You are right, it is not 15 teams! It is now higher!
    No, I am not lying.

    Dump'n Chase

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  11. Dump n' Chase is correct. Brad Robson can not even think of being less than completely honest when it comes to dealing with the other GM's. We the public may get the vanilla version of this incident because not team is going to air it's laundry in public. That is just a fact of life!

    With respect to other teams they have scouts at every game and they know how all the players are playing especially their targeted players or positions that each team intends on improving. Each and every GM has areas of their respective teams that they are trying to improve on. GM's seem like to window shop and if they can get a deal for the right price they are all over it.

    Once they figure they can get a deal they will talk to their scouts who have been at the games and talked to their contacts in the targeted organization to get the dirt on what is going on. A GM may approach a player on his team to see if he has heard anything about what is going on with the targeted player. Yes players do have friends on other teams and they do talk.

    The GM from other teams know exactly what is going on because they have the information as well as they probably have gone through the same situation with their own team. So if Brad Robson was less than totally truthful none of the other GM's would deal with him. again we are only getting the vanilla story other GM's have the total story. Other GM's also know which other GM's would be interested in these players. It is just good business to have the facts.

    So 15 other GM's with an interest yes without a doubt!

    A View from Above

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    Replies
    1. wow, thanks for the upgrade, been watching jr hockey for decades and had no clue that was the case..interesting ..bob.

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    2. Glad I could enlighten you Bob

      A View from Above

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