Saturday 8 February 2014

Kootenay ICE Double Lethbridge Hurricanes 4-2

CRANBROOK, BC -Sam Reinhart had a three point night as the Kootenay ICE beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes 4-2 Saturday night.

The Kootenay ICE opened the scoring in this game. Rinat Valiev took a great pass from Sam Reinhart and he buried behind Teagan Sacher to give the ICE a 1-0 lead. Before the end of the period the Hurricanes would even the score with a power play goal. Bryton Sayers' point shot was deflected in by Reid Duke, his 12th goal of the season and that tied things up at 1-1 after 20 minutes of play. The Canes had a number of great scoring chances in the first period and out shot Kootenay 19-7.

In the second, the ICE would regain their one goal lead. Jagger Dirk cashed in a rebound from behind the goal to give the home team a 2-1 lead and then a few minutes the ICE made good on a power play. A great passing play between Jaedon Descheaaneau and Sam Reinhart resulted in Reinhart scoring a pretty goal. That made it 3-1 ICE. It was also Reinhart's 3rd point of the hockey game. Through 40 minutes of play the Hurricanes held a slight 25-23 edge in shots on goal.

In the third, the ICE would increase their lead when Luke Philp got in on the offence with a nice backhander, beating Sacher on the short side. That made it 4-1 Kootenay. Things started to get a little rough a few minutes later as the penalty parade started for both teams. That Canes were given a power play for 4 minutes. Riley Sheen ripped home his 14th goal of the season to cut the ICE lead to 4-2. After that Sheen skated over the Kootenay penalty box, which was full at the time, and let them know he was upset. He was given a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct for that. The Canes pulled the goalie later on to try and come back from the two goal deficit, but that's as close as they would get and the ICE would win the game 4-2. The final shots ended even at 34-34 in this one. Lethbridge went 2/7 on the power play and Kootenay 1/4. The loss drops the Hurricanes record to 11-41-2-3 in 57 games this season. This was another chippy affair between these two Central Division rivals. There were several penalties called in this game against both clubs.

Hurricanes  This Week

Our weekly Hurricanes radio show is back on the radio Monday night (Feb.10). Fred Jack and I will be joined by General Manager Brad Robson. We will talk with Bruce Luebke, the radio voice of the Brandon Wheat Kings as well. We only have five Hurricanes This Week radio shows left on CJOC. The program starts at 7:00 pm MST.

Next Up

The Hurricanes are down to their final 15 games. They return home for their next three games. Wednesday the Brandon Wheat Kings pay a visit to the ENMAX Centre. This game will mark the return of Ryan Pilon to Lethbridge for the first time since he was dealt to the Wheaties a few months ago. Brandon is having a solid season and currently sit in 1st place in the East Division. On Friday (Feb. 14) then Canes will play host the Moose Jaw Warriors and then on Saturday (Feb.15) the Calgary Hitmen come to town. Game time for all three games is 7:00 pm MST.

Thanks,
Pat

18 comments:

  1. Sheen was by far the best Hurricane in this game. Puck on a string with speed. Too bad Drake's focus is on watching video and rearranging rosters, but doesn't include any information or knowledge about how to win hockey games. "Have patience, fans... we're getting better, our metrics prove it."

    Money for Nothing

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  2. Thought that the defence was much more solid with Erkamps (Riverboat Gambler) playing a forward position, Dpairings were the most solid they have been so far this season. PP is awful and will likely not change, Sheen, well, good player, selfish, he's not going to get us anywhere with his individual play, he had many opportunities to make some meaningful plays that may have allowed better scoring opportunities? Very unfortunate that we are now teaching with just two coaches and kinda wonder if the right guy was cut loose? Glad DB thinks at least a couple of players have learned something this season as posted in the Herald, the team itself appears to have learned very little though. Usually the type of success or lack there of, always falls on the head coaches shoulders? DB is by far not the answer to this puzzle either way, that is pretty clear!

    Get your Chicks for Free

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  3. Sheen a selfish player? With 23 assists and 14 goals I find it hard to call that selfish. Sometimes when there is nothing open you have to make individual plays. Personally I think often he is too UNSELFISH and tries make plays . If he were selfish he would have more goals and fewer assists .

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    1. Ya, selfish fits just fine, as in I just scored the 4-2 goal, so I'll skate by the penalty box and rub it in a bit and take a 2:00 min unsportsman like call to cancel the remaining 2:00 mins that Kootenay has remaining? I don't care about the remaining 2 mins of PP time, I don't care about the team, I'm doing what's best for me, and you are wrong Sean, if he was not selfish he may have had at least one more point, on this night don't you think?

      LBJ

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    2. I'm sure everyone would like a few more players like him on this team.. If Crosby was on this team some "expert " would call him selfish or an individual player because he has the puck on his stick more than most.
      As for his unsportsman like penalty, emotions were running high and it got to him . Can't really blame him too much for that.

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  4. Looking forward to listening to the Monday night show. Looking forward to hearing from Robson about how much progress the Canes are making this year, and about the beautiful rainbows that await us at the end of this (infinitely long) yellow brick road to the land of (B)OZ(O).

    PAT (& Fred, et al) - In consideration of the last five years of on-ice failure and the obvious (and understandable) difficulty the Board of Directors has had, and is having in running a multi-million dollar business of this nature... without any hockey expertise... in their spare time... and more importantly, without any apparent accountability or consequence of personal financial risk, don't you agree that its time the fans and shareholders of the Lethbridge Hurricanes explored the alternatives?

    You may have this information already, but if you don't, at the earliest opportunity, can you please ask Robson, McNaughton, or Robison to discuss the process of SELLING THE TEAM.

    A. What IS the process?
    B. What would be the possible/probable outcomes to Lethbridge Hurricane hockey shareholder fans?
    C. Where would the proceeds of the sale of the team go? (Is there currently a long term loan pending, and if so, who is listed as the BORROWER and the LENDER, and how much is remaining on the loan?)

    If the Shareholders wanted to, how would they go about making the team AVAILABLE for sale, then selling the team, or selling 49%, or selling 51% of the team to an owner, or group giving up ALL control of the operation, with the SINGLE (negotiable) caveat that the team MUST be kept in Lethbridge for a defined period of time?

    (i.e. Required process is followed, shareholders vote and agree to offer the team for sale with the caveat that it must remain in Lethbridge for ... say ... at least 20 years. Not oblivious to the disaster that is the Lethbridge Hurricanes, the WHL's due dilligence then approves the terms and sale to a group that aggrees the purchase terms and the caveat.

    The sale price is then paid to ??? by the new owner, and the new owner then removes the Board of Delusionals, hires/appoints a qualified and competent President &/or Manager who then resumes full control of day to day operations... writes up continued contracts, hires/fires others as deemed prudent... yada yada yada... and a competently run business motivated by expectation of annual profit BEGINS)

    Money for Nothing

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    1. Hmmmmm, where to begin? How about with the fact that this has been covered before but..... What the hey, let's rehash it again.

      First about process. My understanding is that the mandate of the board of directors of the Hurricanes is to operate the hockey club on behalf of the shareholders. They have to live by the articles of the company as decided by the original board when the club was formed. Again, to my understanding, nowhere in that document does it say the board should or can entertain an offer to sell the club. The only way it can be entertained is if it is presented at the AGM or at a special meeting. Regardless it would not be brought by the board as it is not in their mandate.

      What are the chances? Probably not great since it is commonly known that it would take much more than a 51% vote for the team to be offered up for sale.

      Don't know about any long term debt but obviously there's something there since McNaughton said they secured financing to pay their bills. Any excess proceeds would likely go into a trust fund to ensure any educational needs by the current and past players get met. That fund would likely still need to be managed by some type of board etc since many of the original shareholders have winced passed away etc. one thing I have heard many times is that ANY current shareholder would receive zero proceeds from the sale of the club.

      As for the idea of a "caveat" keeping the team in Lethbridge, I would say that any real business oriented owner wouldn't even consider that and I am not sure how that would hold up if challenged in court. Honestly, if I could be sure this team wouldn't go anywhere I am not sure if I wouldn't be in favor of a private owner, but having seen this city lose our team once before, AND the situation in Saskatoon with the alumni group, I am just not sure I am willing to take that chance.

      Public or private, I will go to games first and foremost because I am a fan of hockey. Currently I have the right as a shareholder to go to these meetings and voice my displeasure. That would definitely not be the case should there be a private owner.

      jhj

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    2. JHJ,
      The price and new owners is set by the WHL. After all debts/ any bought out contracts are paid off out of the selling price, the remainder will be put into a community trust fund and a board of trustees would be established to set guidelines and administer any requests for funds for various sports groups etc within the community. The player education fund would become the responsibility of the new owner.
      The decision to sell the franchise may be taken from the shareholders if the WHL decides to take over the control of the franchise. This was done a few years ago with community owned Kamloops and with privately owned Portland when the owner was told to sell the team. L

      Dump'n Chase

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    3. Dump,
      Yes, the decision may very well be taken out of the hands of the shareholders. That is their right as the owner of the league. That in itself is a scary thought, considering the Saskatoon situation. IF this team gets sold, I hope the new owner has deep pockets. People can say what they like, but if the support isn't there, the new owner will look at their options. They will have no choice. Just sayin.
      jhj

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  5. Per the Dylan Purcell article in today's Lethbridge Herald, us shareholders need to fully understand that the state of the Hurricanes union starts with the shareholders and we need to blame ourselves for the people that we have put into position to make all the decisions and operate this franchise as they see fit and at the end of the day, that is absolutely correct! So, if we have finally had enough of the seemingly endless dis-pleasure at all levels regarding this franchise, if we have finally had enough of loosing money, loosing players, loosing coaches and loosing fans? Then, we need to all show up at this years AGM with "sell the team" votes in hand and allow this franchise to be placed in the hands of an owner (s) that are hockey people and know how to operate this franchise at all levels! I guess it's put up or shut up time and we have the ball....

    LBJ

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  6. If that is your suggested plan of action, then the first thing that must be done, is notify the board that a motion to pursue the sale of the club must be place on the agenda of the AGM otherwise there will be no discussion. Any notice for a motion to be put on the AGM agenda must be done in writing more than 30 days prior to the AGM date and must have a seconder. (I believe that is the right procedure) You could also contact the board secretary to clarify the steps needed to get it on the AGM agenda.

    A fellow shareholder.

    Dump'n chase.

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  7. Then perhaps Mr. Versteeg should now make his move and conduct a formal meeting for the current shareholders to lay out his plan if he were to be successful with the acquisition of this franchise by sale? If everyone likes what they hear, a vote could be conducted right then and there, if the majority votes to transfer (sell) the franchise, a letter would then be drafted and seconded and presented to the board secretary to be placed of the annual AGM agenda? Or, a private shareholders meeting to discuss the sale of the team to a general private ownership group? Either way, the first step is to conduct a shareholders meeting to explore if in fact the sale of this franchise would be supported by the vast majority? Pretty clearly it would appear that we already know what we have and what is in store if we choose to do nothing at all...

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  8. Below you will find a response from the board after another interested shareholder asked for some clarification on the process this past November. That shareholder then was kind enough to forward the response to me.

    "There is a procedure that needs to be followed in order to have the
    franchise put up for sale. Either a shareholder can request a special meeting of the shareholders or a potential buyer can request a special meeting of the shareholders in order to make a presentation regarding the franchise being put up for sale.
    The Hurricane Board of Directors can not call for a special meeting of the shareholders for the purpose of selling the franchise.
    Then if it comes to a vote, 75% must vote in favor to put the franchise up for sale.
    Then if that occurs, the WHL accepts the applications of all potential
    buyers, sets the price of the franchise and will have the final say on who the purchaser is. Thus there is no guarantee of local ownership (as was the case of the recent purchase of the Saskatoon Blades in which an Edmonton businessman bought the team)."


    I hope this is accurate and I hope this helps clarify the process.
    I would also like to add that timing of this shareholder discussion about a potential sale and then the subsequent sale if we were to vote for one is very important. If we were to wait until the AGM for either to happen there is not a chance for the new owners to implement anything for the 14/15 season. And if I was a potential new owner you can bet that I would want my stamp on it before a new season started.

    So, as I suggested in a letter to the editor in November I believe it is time for Mr. Versteeg to carry the ball now and make it known who his group is and what their real intentions are with regards to the Hurricanes. As I said in that letter I believe they have nothing but the best plans for the franchise and that includes keeping it right here. I also think the league values having a team here in Lethbridge because of its strategic location for scheduling purposes.
    I realize Mr. Versteeg has a full time job playing hockey but surely he can spare some time soon and maybe we'll see him at a special meeting of the shareholders should he choose to call one.
    In closing, whether this team sells or not and even if you're spitting mad at the current board and coaching staff, we all have to step up and support the team. I can say that there have been very few times this season (and the past few for that matter) where the player's efforts have been disappointing and that's all I ask for now. I have time for a good effort even if we're not winning.

    Barry Knapp

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  9. I see that Brandon took it on the chin pretty hard as they were shown some extra special Medicine Hatian hospitality on Valentines Day week .... to the tune of 6-1 !!

    At a team worst minus-4 (and pointless) for the night, it looks like one of the Canes 2013 defectors, Ryan Pilon, may have been preoccupied with how many HE will be taking on the chin against his former club tomorrow night :)

    If he is not suspended by then, I predict Ramsay will be given the first right of refusal for pugilist honors. If Ramsay takes the high road or is serving WHL time for indiscretions from Feb 8 in Kootenay, then Erkamps or Folk would be just fine with me.

    Not saying he was wrong to request the trade, but it probably doesn't matter. You abandon your team fundamentally because they aren't winning.... He will need some ice (other than under his skates) at some point in Wednesday's game; just a matter of whether it will be most beneficial to him on his knuckles or on his face.

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  10. Sorry Tirade but that is ridiculous. If Seattle was to make it's way back through the city this season would you also be calling for McKechnie and Yakobowski to take a beating? I don't condone leaving a team high and dry but when it is not one player but five that leave along with a coach, you have to question what the heck has been going on that we don't even know about. We all know that DB sucks big time as the coach and leader of this team but you can't presume to know what has been happening behind closed doors. One, not good. Two, three, four, five? Where there is smoke there is fire. Hopefully our players show a little more class tomorrow night than what you are calling for.
    David

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  11. The players don't need to focus on or go out of their way to hit or fight Pilon, if we do that then he wins! He's just another player that that thinks he's better than he really is!!! Much rather beat the crap out of BWK's on the scoreboard and something tells me our guys are going to be stoked for this one and I hope we all make a special point of getting to the game to give Pilon his well deserved welcome home...

    LBJ

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  12. He did not request a trade, he quit.

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  13. He got his "welcome". Fans booed him everytime he touched the puck throughout the game. Pilon was nothing more than a pylon on Cooper"s overtime winner!
    Dump'n Chase

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