Friday 6 December 2013

Hurricanes End Skid, Beat Raiders 3-1

LETHBRIDGE - Teagan Sacher was solid between the pipes in his first home start of the season as the Lethbridge Hurricanes ended a seven losing skid with a 3-1 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders Friday night.

 A very energetic first period by both the Hurricanes and Prince Albert Raiders in this one. P.A. had a solid opening 5 or 6 minutes and then the Canes came back with a few solid chances themselves. When it was all said and done, neither team was able to light the red lamp. Tegan Sacher in goal for Lethbridge and Nick McBride for the Raiders were perfect in the opening 20 minutes. The shots favoured the Raiders 12-11.

In the second, both team kept coming at each other to try and find the first goal in this one. Late in the period, the Canes would break the scoreless tie. With 3:07 to go, Macoy Erkamps let a shot go from the point. That was tipped in front by Russ Maxwell, for his 8th goal of the season giving Lethbridge a 1-0 lead. That also ignited the ENMAX Centre crowd into a frenzy as the fans began throwing their stuffed animals onto the ice as part of the 18th annual Teddy Bear Toss game. 2317 stuffed animals were thrown onto the ice after that goal was scored. On Monday (Dec. 9) a number of Hurricanes players will head to Chinook Regional Hospital and deliver some of these stuffed animals to children in the Pediatric Unit. That's the way the period would end. The Raiders held a 20-15 edge in shots on goal.

In the third, the Hurricanes would go ahead by a pair when Tyler Wong tipped home a Macoy Erkamps point shot just over a minute into the period. That was Wong's team-leading 12 goal of the season, giving Lethbridge a 2-0 lead. That was a huge goal because the Raiders turned up the heat for the rest of the period. At the midway point, P.A. would get to within one, when Dakota Conroy scored his 4th goal of the season against the Hurricanes in just two games. That made it a one goal game in favour of Lethbridge, The Raiders continued to come at the Canes hard in the final 10 minutes, but Teagan Sacher was great between the pipes to hold Prince Albert off the score board. With just over a minute to go, Riley Sheen iced the game with an empty netter, his 6th of season and the Hurricanes would skate away with a 3-1 victory. It's just the Hurricanes second win on home ice this season. It was a very disciplined game by both clubs. The Raiders went 0/2 with the power play, the Canes 0/0. The final shots favoured the Raiders 32-20.

Sounding Board for Drake

Hurricanes Head Coach Drake Berehowsky has brought in another set of eyes and ears. Former NHL coach George Kingston is here watching the club. He was the first-ever Head Coach of the San Jose Sharks and also coached back in the day in Minnesota with the North Stars and Calgary as an Assistant. Berehowsky says he's a great sounding board and Drake has also attended coaching clinics with Kingston. He says any time you can bring in a guy with a wealth of experience in different areas it's always good to have.

Tale of Two Seasons

The Lethbridge Hurricanes have played 31 games so far this season. They sit with a record of 4-23-2-2 on the season. Looking back at the same 31 game sample last season, the Hurricanes were one game above the .500 mark with a record of 14-13-1-3.

Next Up

The Hurricanes next action is Saturday (Dec. 7) when they travel up HIghway 2 to take on the Hitmen at the Saddledome in Calgary. Game time is 7:00 pm MST. The pre-game show on CJOC at 6:30. This will be the third meeting of the season between the two Central Division rivals. The Canes return home back-to-back game next week as they host Red Deer Tuesday (Dec. 10) and then Calgary comes to town again Wednesday (Dec. 11).

Thanks,
Pat

12 comments:

  1. love this comment about Kingston being here for an extra pair of an extra pair of eyes. drake is a young coach the canes are a young team and robson a new gm.the fact alone that they collectively want a third point of view from somebody that has been around forever tell me that db is willing to learn if his system are not working with the players he has or improvements need to be made somewhere down the line..in my line of work I run into people that tell me this is my first kick at the cat and I tell them everyone has to start somewhere..the fact alone the drake is willing to step out of his comfort zone and see if he is underachieving tell me we have a man that questions more that the players he question himself..great job tonight everyone...bob...

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  2. Bereowsky has a 4-23-2-2 record and you think he may be wanting to learn if his systems are not working? You honestly feel that he is stepping out of his comfort zone to see if he is underachieving? Are you for real? He didn't need to bring Mr. Kingston in for that. DB may be blowing it as the head coach of this team but he certainly isn't so stupid that he needs someone to tell him that.

    Great game by the players tonight. Nice to see Sacher do a great job in his first call in goal on home ice. Let's hope they start him tomorrow. There was lots of jump all game. Keep it up.
    David

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    1. love your comments david, you say drake is the sinking ship here is town dragging the rest of the team with it , then turn full circle by saying great game by the players tonight like they decided to say the hell with these system and win on their own...this team has shown it can do it on any given night, it just has to get to the point where its actually done every night..bob

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    2. Anonymous said...
      That is not what I said at all. I said that Drake knows he is not achieving with these kids or his systems or he wouldn't have brought in the "extra set of eyes". Good for him for doing so. It is the first indication we have seen that he actually accepts some responsibility for the team's record this season.

      As for the players winning last night, I am not saying they decided to hell with the systems but to be honest, I am not saying they didn't. All season long a number of us have watched the games and failed to understand why there is never anyone in front of the net. The centre is typically always up near the blue line. Any passes to the front of the net or rebounds given up by the goaltender immediately fall into possession of the opposing teams d-men. Last night both the first two goals were scored with a player right in the dirty area either tipping it in or disrupting the goaltender. Did DB finally decide that maybe his systems should be adjusted so that a player could be there or did the players finally decide to do what they know works and get in there? Who knows but they scored and won and that's what matters. I hold absolutely nothing against the players and will be there to support for as long as I am able. I did say it was a great game by the players because they are the ones who won it. I doubt much of that win came from behind the bench.
      David

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  3. To all the players thanks for a great game to watch! You all earned that win and gave the fans a great effort, thank you. Adding a coach for the coach is great idea, would be nice a to see Preston earn his last few paycheques being a sounding board for these guys. Like him or hate him he has seen it all. Forehand Backhand in

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  4. Very happy for the Boys! Great to win on Teddy Bear night. They are doing it on their own! Good to hear that Kingston is taking a look however as a player you have a 2 -3 year window to make a mark and should not have to waste a year or two while the coaches learn how to coach...go coach Midget AAA and learn!.....Bush League

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  5. A quick comment on Drake bringing in Mr. Kingston for "another pair of eyes." I applaud this decision. When we quit learning or wanting to learn or shy away from constructive criticism ( that does not include some of the comments by bloggers) we become ineffective in our job. Mr. Kingston is arguably a Dean among professional coaches and his insight will help all of the coaches not just Drake.

    Last nights game was one of the better games that I have seen the Canes play. The systems that the coaches are trying to instill in the players is beginning to bear fruit Shots were down and a lot of the shots were from the outside. Penalty kill lately utilizing the 1-2-1 system which most if not all teams are now using for the most part kept PA out of the scoring box. The defensive zone breakout is getting better even against a strong forechecking team like PA. Discipline was very good only two penalties. Goaltending by Sacher was excellent. He did not allow our team to get down early and made some very good saves. His rebound control prevented a lot of second and third shots. He deserves more starts. Competition for starting assignments between the goalies can only help this team. Sacher far and away deserving of first star, but this was a team win.

    Well done Canes and look forward watching you improve as a team.

    A View from Above

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  6. I am really happy to see the boys win. This should really bolster their confidence as they go up against Calgary.

    Pat, I can see a very noticeable difference in how the boys are playing. Individually they are much stronger but this is obviously not getting results. It seems to me that Coach Drake is heavily involved and takes a great interest in these boys. My question to you is this, Are these losses coming from lack of coordination between players? The fact that individually they are trying so hard that they haven't learned to work off each other and read each other. I am sure team dynamics has not been easy. We cannot blame one one thing or any one person, coaches included. What are your thoughts?

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  7. You know I have read Pats Blog for years. Thank you for all you do for the canes. I have never commented on this blog either. But it comes a time that someone needs to speak up. Pat and Fred on Air are so positive at times when the Canes have stumbled in the past few years. I appreciate it and so do the Players and staff and REAL Fans. I am tired of the negative comments and nasty remarks.by People that CLAIM to be Fans. Come on these are Kids we speak of. and watch. They are not adult Professional players making Millions of Dollars. Since it is Christmas perhaps you negative Scrooges can go play with your Black Coal and let us enjoy our team . The 2300 of us that turn out for every home game and listen to the radio shows for the away games are the Real fans. . We appreciate the efforst of the Lethbridge Hurricanes and We believe in the Lethbridge Hurricanes and show our pride in them by smiling when we lose and smiling when we win. You know Karma is what goes around. If you cannot say something Nice than be quiet. A silent Night from the bloggers that Yap to hear themselves Yap would indeed be a splendid Festive Season. By the way when the Canes start to win many games in 2014 what will you have to complain about then. We are proud of our team and we Believe in our team. Go Canes GO!
    From the fans Sections

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    1. Bravo!
      Like you, I am part of the 2300 die hard fans, who cheer the kids on through thick and thin. I can understand the frustration of all involved. Fans, players, coaches, the organization. We all have one thing in common, we want the team to succeed. We feel for the players and coaches. That is why we stand and applaud them after a good effort each period.
      Good on them last night. Duke seems to have raised his game a notch or two. Sheen and Cooper bring a lot to this club. Sacher's performance will put more pressure on Boes to be consistently solid. As for Drake asking for advice/insight from George Kingston, it takes a person of quality to ask for help.

      Here's hoping for at least a point tonight in Calgary.

      Dump'n Chase

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  8. Chris Tai will now be wearing stripes...oh no!

    He's a Tai-ger!!

    All great goals in this one for and against.

    I am sure that even the inventor of "off the glass" would tell the Canes they are over using this technique. Hopefully the new set of eyes gives them some counsel on this topic.

    Virtanen had his hat trick in the first 8 minutes on the Canes last visit to Calgary. Excited to see how this one result against PA will translate tonight against a team that believes it their birth right to beat us.

    Time for a second December "sweeeet victorrrry"?

    Richie.

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  9. Great win boys! Sacher played well! Interesting comments about the record a year ago vs today. The team only lost three players year over year Rimmer Johnston and Hood it is unreal that a team can have this record with so little turnover that wasn't self imposed ie all the trades they made etc. Hopefully another good effort against Hitmen tonight. Arnie

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