Friday 27 February 2015

Canes Lose 5th Straight, 3-2 to Edmonton

After ten days away, I'm back in the saddle blogging about the Lethbridge Hurricanes. The Club is down to its final 11 games in the regular season. It'll be interesting to see how things unfold when the off-season begins in less than a month for this club. The Canes will miss the playoffs for a 6th consecutive season. For a second year in a row though, the club will have a shot at the first overall pick in the WHL Bantam Draft in a few months as well as another top selection in this year's CHL Import Draft.

The positive is that the Canes have been playing better hockey since the WHL's trade deadline in early January. Again, there will be plenty of questions to be asked after the season is done and I'm sure the whole discussion about selling this long time community-owned franchise will heat up again in the weeks to follow the end of the season.

Other questions that'll be asked include the future of Head Coach and GM Peter Anholt. Will he be back running the show next year and beyond? Will he be offered a contract going forward? Does he want both jobs? Does he want just one of the two? Will the other coaches, Mike Craig, Bryan Maxwell, and Jeff Battah come back for another season under Anholt if he returns?  Again, plenty of questions going forward, likely guaranteeing another eventful off-season in Hurricane land!

With that said, the Canes played host to the Edmonton Oil Kings Thursday night at the ENMAX Centre. Edgars Kulda scored a couple of minutes into overtime as the defending WHL and Memorial Cup Champs beat the Canes 3-2.

The loss was the Canes 5th in a row.

The Hurricanes actually jumped out to a 2-0 lead in this hockey game. Mike Winther scored his 12th goal of the season to give the Canes a 1-0 lead early. That was followed up by Ryan Vandervlis who put home his 2nd of the season about six minutes later to give the home team a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes of play.

There was no scoring in the second period of this game, giving the Canes that same two goal lead heading in the final period.

In the third though, the Oil Kings came charging back. Brandon Ralph got the visitors to within one goal when he scored midway through the period and then with just over a minute to go, Edmonton tied the game with a power play goal from Brett Pollock. That tied things up at 2-2, sending the game into overtime. In the extra period the Oil Kings completed the comeback when Edgars Kulda scored and that would be it, Edmonton ended up scoring three unanswered goal to win the game 3-2.

The loss drops the Canes overall record to 18-35-5-3 in 61 games this season. Stuart Skinner was very busy in goal as the Oil Kings heavily out shot the Hurricanes 48-21. Edmonton went 1/6 on the power play and Lethbridge 0/5.

The Canes next action is Saturday (Feb. 28) when they take the Rebels in Red Deer. It's the first of five in a row on the road. Next week the Canes will travel east to Brandon Wednesday (Mar. 4), Saskatoon Friday (Mar. 5), and in Prince Alberta (Mar. 6). They'll return west, but play in Kootenay (Mar. 10). The Hurricanes have only four home games left, they're next game at the ENMAX Centre isn't until Friday, March 13th when they host Edmonton again.

Thanks,
Pat

15 comments:

  1. With the Board of Govenors not communicating with its shareholders, it's hard to tell what is going on with the vote to sell the club. I thought the vote was supposed to happen at the "update" meeting that used to be held in February, but so far, that meeting hasn't been announced. I have no idea where the Ron Robison stands on the issue of the sale as we haven't heard from him in a couple of months either. Last we heard, Robison made comments that spoke to the BOG holding a meeting in January to hold vote on the sale of the club. His comments seemed pretty pointed, but didn't seem to get any public response from the BOG.

    I would like to see Peter Anholt return in his current role as Coach/GM. He's done a fantastic job getting some new young faces into the lineup and the kids really seem to enjoy playing for him as their efforts and performances have been 100% better than they were for Berehowsky. I liked the way he moved out older players for draft picks and young prospects. It's hard to say how they will turn out in the long young, but they seem to be playing hard for him at this point of the season.

    LaRon

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    1. Well LaRon, if you are a shareholder and there was anything on the horizon, it is required by corporate law that you are notified in writing of any meeting including the agenda. So far, as a shareholder, I have not be notified. As to the BOD not communicating with the shareholders about the only thing they could communicate to us is speculation. When and if we (you) get a notice we know nothing for sure and are not entitled to know.

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  2. Yet ANOTHER game that Tyler Wong is by FAR the hardest working Cane. Estephan played the best I have seen him play, and still Wong was far better in all three zones. Wong has had another fantastic season. He probably leads the team in hits, he takes sticks in the face, he gets run from behind into the boards more than once a game, all with zero complaints by him, and zero calls by the brainless clueless dumb$*#&$ that call themselves officials, Crich and Anderson! Thanks for sucking at your jobs, fools!

    Too bad Winther has so little interest in playing any hockey. I think we saw him play like he cared one time since he has been here. Decent skill set, but no heart, no compete, no passion for the game.

    What is going to happen with Bellerive? Just over a week ago an interview quotes him as yet undecided whether to play in the dub or college. When do we need to sign him or trade his rights by? The team better not just waste this asset! ASK HIM! If he wants to play somewhere else, find out where and tell him you will sign him and make all his dreams come true! If he doesn't want to play here, then TRADE his worthless attitude for PLAYERS who aren't suck-tits! Don't WASTE this asset, Canes!!

    Jordy Nowanaplahere

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  3. Looking at the Bellerive situation one must consider where this young man is getting his point of view to make his decision. He has the opportunity to receive the best advice from both worlds. One his brother plays in the Dub and two his sister is on scholarship in the states. It is rumoured that he is the best of the Bellerive bunch so realistically he holds all the cards.

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  4. He (Bellerive) and many other players (thanks to Pilon and the other quitters that were rewarded for their actions) are now overwhelmed with entitlement and believe that they don't have to play on any rebuilding teams...thanks to the commissioner of the WHL and this problem is only going to get worse until someone in the league office put their foot down with a new rule that focuses on the "privilege rather than the "right" to play at the major Jr level?

    LBJ

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    1. Would you like being forced to work at a job that you absolutely hate?? Then why would you enforce that on a 18 year old?? There's nothing wrong with the rules. If they want to play, they play. If they don't, they don't play.

      LaRon

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  5. I agree with LBJ. Those guys never should have been rewarded for quitting, getting exactly what they wanted. Where do you draw the line? It's ok to quit if the team is in last place only? or bottom 3? 4? And how do you know if you are "too good" to play for that team?? As if Yakubowski, McKechnie or Olynek were too good for the Canes?! And guys like Duke who are playing on a much better team now yet still have about the same amount of points as Wong and Watson. The best result I've seen is one of the quitters ending up in Saskatoon, wish that had happened for more of them.

    Nothing but respect for talented players who as LBJ said, recognize their privilege to be playing here. Guys like Wong, and maybe a couple others, even Brayden Point being in Moose Jaw who is not far off the Canes. Those are the guys I'm always rooting for.

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  6. The rule should be that if you don't like the team that drafted you, then you can go to any of the 4 bottom teams in the entire league or you can go home, play Jr A and hope that one of the bottom 4 teams will give you an opportunity the next season? If Robison and his cronies don't do something about entitlement seeking players, then they might as well do away with the bantam draft process as it really only equates to an exercise in futility for the rebuilding teams? Pilon and his pals should only be recognized as quitters, if the BWK's ever win anything significant with these types, those victories will always be slightly tainted for real hockey people that believe in the proper development of teams and drafted prospects!

    LBJ

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  7. Think of this from a player and family perpective. They have likely spent over 100k getting him this far in his hockey career. All that could be wasted with one simple signature, a commitment to the Hurricanes. The Bantam draft is total crap, giving a bunch of old has beens and never weres total control of a 15yr old kid. For any of them to be hesitant to commit to a team is only natural. And to blame the league, the player or his family is not fair. Blame should fall solely on the Hurricanes Hockey Club. Bellerive is simply keeping his options open, and should he decide to pursue an NCAA scholarship how can you fault him. A 4 year degree from Harvard will carry him a lot further in life then playing 4 years in the Bridge.

    Players have left various teams at variuos times this season, all of them had their resaons. These are just kids playing a game, if they are home sick, have lost their passion or hate their coach, it should not matter to anyone but them and their parents why they return home. Derek Sutton

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  8. Imagine if every player had that same selfish way of thinking, there wouldn't be a team. And you honestly can say that you think all those kids decisions didn't affect anyone but themselves and their families?? That must be why Duke and Pilon are laughing in Brandon while Wong and Watson are sticking it out through a rebuild in Lethbridge and going through really hard times and a team that fell apart.

    You think that anytime a player disagrees with or doesn't like his coach he should just walk out on the team?? What a great character lesson! Good luck in life when those kids encounter any authority figure they don't like, its going to be a sad reality check for them. Of course I blame the kids and the parents, that would be the day I'd let my kid be so selfish and arrogant. And if home sickness is the issue as you said, of course they should return home, the dub isn't for them- quitting and demanding a trade has nothing to do with that so that argument was irrelevant. Nobody is faulting a kid who leaves to go to school, such as Topping, that is a whole different situation.

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    1. Well Wong and Watson are getting quite the oppoptunity here in Lethbridge, they would be fringe players on the very good teams. Lethbridge does not develop NHL players, plain and simple. DB and BR were jokes, so ya you be a "good parent" and send your son the Lethbridge to have to hockey coached right out of them. I cannot believe that people are still blaming the players for wanting out of the disaster that was the BR era. Derek Sutton

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    2. Ahhhh....It's nice to see that the "don't blame the kid" entitlement wing nuts are still lurking about. If I can attempt to clarify the "realistic" "real world" side of this discussion....

      I don't think that anyone is suggesting that a kid should continue to perform for a team, that in his camp's position, is not contributing to his development. But I think what really bothers people is the way that they go about effecting these changes. Refusing to play for a team that legitimately drafted you is bush league, and classless. It shows a lack of character...and that is that. A player that does not want to play for someone should make that point loudly known to management, and management should do everything it possibly can to make that arrangement. At no time should a player at this level be allowed to hold a team for ransom. No matter what the entitlement folks say, giving up on your team, and team mates is classless.

      More of the teams really need to make a statement, and tell these players that a trade will be considered, but until that time, this player will play for this team. If a player refuses, then he sits at home, playing for absolutely nobody, until the situation can be resolved (re: Forsberg)

      Unfortunately, the way these situations were dealt with with this team has set a dangerous precedent, one with far reaching implications for the entire league.

      Chuck

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    3. To all those who diss Bellerive and others that have left the Canes.

      Although the Hurricanes finally appear to be to turning things around with the new management and coaches, let's not forget how bad they have been for 5 years. The Canes record of developing players and helping them move onto any level of pro hockey has been horrendous.

      If I am a player who has a very realistic and legitimate chance of making it to the NHL like Bellerive has, I would not sign with the Canes until THEY PROVE TO ME that they are a REAL WHL CALIBER CLUB. I think Bellerive would be playing the odds if he was to sign with Pentiction for his 16 year old season. He would then be able to do whatever he wants to do after that. If the Canes have proven to have turned their gong show into a WHL level hockey club, he can sign and play for them. If not, he can try to get moved or go the NCAA route.

      What so many people just do not seem to grasp is we are talking about 15 YEAR OLD KIDS who are making decisions that will drastically effect them for the rest of their lives!

      canesrock

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    4. My comment had nothing to do with Bellerive as he has not made a commitment to this team. I am only talking about the ones who chose to come to the team and then quit. I actually think most comments I read are in regards to players who have been on the team and quit, not players who have yet to commit to a team. Nothing to do with 15 YEAR OLD KIDS as you say.

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    5. "You think that anytime a player disagrees with or doesn't like his coach he should just walk out on the team??"

      Yes, I do. The same as if you are allowed to quit a job if you don't like it.

      LaRon

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