LETHBRIDGE - Emerson Etem scored twice including his 60th goal of the season as the Medicine Hat Tigers beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes 3-1 Saturday night at the ENMAX Centre.
After a short delay so the Hurricanes could hand out their annual player awards (see the list below), the Medicine hat Tigers would jump on the home team early. Just 36 seconds into the first period, Emerson Etem fired a shot by Damien Ketlo for his 59th goal of the season to give Medicine Hat a very quick 1-0 lead on their first shot of the hockey game. As the period moved on, the Tigers would go up by a pair. Boston Leier stormed down the left wing and hammered a shot off the post and in, to give Medicine Hat a 2-0 lead. That's the way the period would end. The Hurricanes were out shot 13-5 in that opening 20 minutes of play.
In the second, the Lethbridge Hurricanes would get on the scoreboard early in the period. Russ Maxwell sent a pass out from behind the Tigers goal and Juraj Bezuch was right in front to score his 8th of the season and cut the Medicine Hat lead to 2-1. Later on in the period, Tigers' forward Jayden Hart took a hit against the glass from Tyler Kizuik in the Hurricanes zone and fell to the ice with very little movement. Hart was loaded onto a stretcher and taken to hospital for examination. After play resumed, neither team was able to score and the Tigers would take a 2-1 lead into the dressing after 40 minutes of play. The shots were a lot closer after two periods of play, 20-16 Medicine Hat.
In the third, the Hurricanes would have several chances to tie the game, the best coming in the final minute with the goalie pulled when Adam Henry made a great play to hold puck in at the blueline and send in Phil Tot who put the puck off the post. Emerson Etem would end up scoring his 60th goal of the season into an empty net with 0.8 seconds to go and that would give the Tigers a 3-1 victory. Lethbridge finished the night 0/3 on the power play while the Tigers went 0/2. Medicine Hat out shot the Hurricanes 34-28. The loss drops the Hurricanes overall record to 27-41-0-1 on the season. The Canes will finish the season at home two games below .500 at 17-19.
I have to tip my hat to the Hurricanes organization. During the first period, the Canes paid tribute to Medicine Hat Tigers play-by-play broadcaster Bob Ridley who called his 3000th WHL game on the airwaves Saturday. The Canes put up a picture of Ridley on the jumbotron saying congratulations from the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Classy move on the part of the Tigers main rival.
2011-2012 HURRICANES PLAYER AWARD WINNERS
Community Relations Award, Brody Sutter
Scholastic Player of the Year Award, Adam Henry
Most Sportsmanlike Award, Brody Sutter
Top Defenseman Award, Dan Johnston
Top Scorer Award, Brody Sutter
The 94.1 CJOC Three Stars Award, Damien Ketlo
Fan Favorite Award, Brody Sutter
Perseverance, Dedication and Sportsmanship Award, Brady Ramsay
Hurricanes Rookie of the Year, Sam McKechnie
Hurricanes Most Valuable Player, Damien Ketlo
NEXT UP
That's it for home games this season for the Lethbridge Hurricanes. They hit the road next week to close out the year with games Wednesday (Mar. 14) in Calgary, Friday (Mar. 16) in Red Deer and next Saturday (Mar. 17) in Medicine Hat. Wednesday's game from the Saddledome is a 7:00 pm (MDT). The pre-game show on CJOC at 6:30.
Thanks,
Pat
The views expressed on this blog are those of the moderator and contributors and are not endorsed by 94.1 CJOC or the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Pat,
ReplyDeleteAny update on Jayden Hart? He seemed to be in pretty bad shape... Hopefully he's okay.
Nothing yet. It looks like he hit his head against the glass before he fell to the ice. Once I find something out I'll give an update.
DeleteVery entertaining game....the Canes battled to the end and they have done that all year. Next year will be exciting. Thank you and best wishes to Brody Sutter, Damien Ketlo and other veterans who may not be back.
ReplyDeleteAwards ceremony were great...all the winners were worthy selections ...Sutter's 4 awards were all well deserved...he is a great representative of the Canes at nearly a point per game and an ambassador off the ice. Ketlo was the truly the MVP and I hope he gets a shot at the pros. McKechnie even though he lead rookie scoring with 27 pts his defensive play and work ethic is superb..and Johnston on defence with 28 points in 52 games and a plus minus team leader who logs alot of minutes against the oppositions best players was well deserved as top Defenceman....congratulations to all of them and best wishes to Sutter and Ketlo...!
ReplyDeleteAwards (what there is left of them) were certainly well deserved. I would have like to had a winner of the most improved (Brady Ramsay)but that award along with 7 others were not presented again for the second year in a row. Too bad the former BM decided to say thanks but no thanks to the companies and individuals who have donated trophies over the long history of the Hurricanes and in some cases the Broncos. Only to have them cast aside. Especially considering this is/was a celebration of 25 years.
ReplyDeletePat,
ReplyDeleteI see that when we traded for Liston and Galbraith, we gave up Anderson and "TBD draft picks." Is there any way that you or Fred can find out what the conditions of the "To Be Determined" picks are?
Anon 2:06 I couldn't agree more. It is just another example of taking the history of the club and throwing it out the window. It happened with the mascot, the trophies, the goal song (which he had to change back)and more. Maybe the next manager that comes in will reinstate those trophies and they should be.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see the Board hire a BM correctly. Meaning, stop the revolving door of Business Managers!
ReplyDeleteWe as fans are looking for stability. A winning team is only one part of that. Another part is making sure your front offices and admin are functioning efficiently and effectively as one.
I would agree that the sponsors should've been recognized and yes, there should be a Most-Improved Player Award. Ramsey would certainly have won that this year.
Anon 2:06....Why are the other awards (7?) not being awarded? Do you mean they are awarded at the banquet or they have been removed completely? Darren
Hey Darren, Anon 2:06 just wants to let you know that there are 7 trophies that have not been presented the last two seasons. Four of them that I can remember are the Most Improved,Hit of the Night, Top Prospect, Playoff Points Leader (that one is obvious) and three others. The is no longer a banquet, has not been for several years. The decision was made by the BMgr not to have all the trophies presented. The feeling was, there was too many. But when you check with the other teams, (18 trophies)figures in the middle of the pack as far as numbers go.
ReplyDeleteANON 6:51, there is one person (whose name we can't mention on this blog) that has kept the history alive. All the Alumni Hall of Fame inductions, Fallwell Night, Alumni Golf Tournament does focus on the history. Which brings up another question, where are all the Hall of Fame and WHL Championship Banners? Another BM decision?
I too would like to know where all the banners are? I'm hoping they were just taken down to be cleaned because of the reno's.
ReplyDelete