Canes Weekly Report
November 27, 2012 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Lethbridge Hurricanes News Release
Last Week:
Tuesday, November 20th - Hurricanes (2) vs. Calgary (3)
Lethbridge was a determined bunch from the outset as they carried the play for most of the period but they were held off the scoresheet despite outshooting Calgary 17-6 in the period. The Hitmen would score the lone goal with less than 2 minutes to go when Greg Chase a backhander past Ty Rimmer giving the Hitmen a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. The Canes continued to dominate play and at the 1:24 mark of the second period they were finally rewarded when Jay Merkley snapped a shot top corner from the circle pulling the Canes even with the Hitmen. Midway through the period, Calgary retook the lead on just their 8th shot on goal when Alex Roach fired a wrister on Rimmer making it 2-1 which is how things stood through 40 minutes despite the Hurricanes outshooting the Hitmen 34-10 in the game. Lethbridge looked to pull even in the 3rd but they would find themselves trailing less than two minutes into the period when Carson Samoridny scored to make it a 3-1 game. The Canes would continue to fight back and would get within a goal at the 6:11 mark on their 7th powerplay of the game. Ryan Pilon found the back of the net with his 3rd of the year but that's as close as Lethbridge would get as they lose their 3rd straight game.
Wednesday, November 21st - Hurricanes (2) vs. Calgary (3)
Tonight in Calgary capped off the back end of a home and home series and for the second straight night Calgary skated away with a 3-2 win. The Hitmen outshot the Hurricanes 17-6 in the opening period and Ty Rimmer was solid in goal as the teams were scoreless after the opening period. In the second, Calgary would break the scoreless tie with a power play goal at the 7 minute mark. Jaynen Rissling's shot went off Albin Blomqvist and past Rimmer, making it 1-0 Calgary. The Hurricanes would get that one back one a two-on-one rush when Reid Duke made a no-look behind the back pass to Axel Blomqvist who tapped his 2nd of the year behind Chris Driedger 5-hole making it a 1-1 game. Calgary would retake the lead when Alex Roach stepped across the blueline and hammered a shot that Rimmer got a piece of, but not enough as the puck trickled through and just across the goal line making it 2-1 Calgary through 40 minutes. The Hurricanes tied the game with just over 5 minutes to go in the period. Russ Maxwell fed Tyler Wong on a breakaway and with his family in the crowd; he would score his first career WHL goal. Ty Rimmer again stopped everything coming his way but with OT looming Jake Virtanen came out from behind the net and put one shortside on Rimmer. The game winning goal coming with just 27 seconds left to play as the Hitmen hand the Lethbridge Hurricanes their 4th straight loss.
Friday, November 23rd - Hurricanes (1) vs. Red Deer (2) / SO
The Hurricanes faced the Rebels for the first time this season and opened up the scoring when Sam McKechnie took the puck from behind the net and fed it to Jaimen Yakubowski who beat Patrik Bartosak with his 8th of the year at 5:59. The Canes would continue to get chances but were unable to put any more pucks in the net in the opening period and at the other end it was all Ty Rimmer as he stopped all 10 shots that he faced. Red Deer would get back to back powerplays in the first five minutes of the 2nd period but Rimmer continued to come up with one great save after another and deny them of a goal. Bartosak would do the same, denying the Canes of a pair of sure goals when both times the Canes had a wide open net but the Rebels netminder would go post to post and make some diving saves to keep Lethbridge at bay. It looked like Lethbridge would take a 1-0 lead into the second intermission but Conner Bleackley fired a shot from the slot that looked to go off a defencemen's skate and past Rimmer. That late tying goal coming with just 49 seconds to go and it was 1-1. In the third, the Rebels pounded 15 shots on Rimmer who made one spectacular save after the other while at the other end Bartosak also slammed the door on the Canes scoring chances. A shootout would be needed to determine a winner and the lone goal was scored by Matt Bellerive who beat Rimmer for a 2-1 victory.
2012 - 2013 Stats Leaders:
Points (25), Goals (14), Powerplay Goals (6) - Russell Maxwell
Assists (13) - Brady Ramsay, Daniel Johnston
Rookie Points Leader (13) - Axel Blomqvist
PIM's (74) - Jaimen Yakubowski
Plus/Minus (+13) - Daniel Johnston
Practice Schedule:
Monday - In Saskatchewan
Tuesday - Game Day at Saskatoon - 6:00pm
Wednesday - Game Day at Prince Albert - 6:00pm
Thursday - 1:30 - 4:00pm (Media availability 12:15 - 12:45)
Friday - 1:30 - 4:00 (Media availability 12:15 - 12:45)
Saturday - Game Day at Medicine Hat - 7:30pm
Sunday - Game Day at Edmonton - 4:00pm
Looking Ahead:
Tuesday, November 27th - Hurricanes vs. Blades - 6:00pm
It's the third of four meetings between the Hurricanes and Blades, but the first in Saskatoon. In their first meeting both teams were struggling with a combined 5 wins through 12 games. The Blades stunned the Canes with a 5-2 win on October 13th, but on November 3rd, Lethbridge overcame a 4-2 deficit in the 3rd period by scoring a pair of goals in a span of 2 ½ minutes late in the 3rd to send the game to OT. Despite hitting a bit of a tough stretch where they are winless in their last 5 games, the Canes have continued to roll since that meeting in early November and sit 5th in the East Conference with a record of 13-12-1-2. The Blades Jay Merkley has 2 goals against the Blades this season while Remi Laurencelle, Craig Leverton, Sam McKechnie, Graham Hood and Reid Duke all have 2 points versus Saskatoon.
Wednesday, November 28th - Hurricanes at Raiders - 6:00pm
The Hurricanes and Raiders will play for the third time this season with Lethbridge trying to post their first win against the conference rivals. In early October the Raiders, who were one of the hottest teams in the league at the time, skated away with a 4-1 win. Just over a week ago the two teams met again with 1st place overall in the East Conference on the line and the Raiders narrowly edged past the Hurricanes 3-2.
Saturday, December 1st - Hurricanes at Tigers - 7:30pm
The Hurricanes and Tigers renew their rivalry with the Canes up 2-1 in the series so far. The division rivals played a home and home to open the season with the Hurricanes winning 4-2 and the Tigers returned the favor in their opener the next night 5-1. On November 2nd, the Hurricanes pounded 53 shots on goal and chased Cam Lanigan (the then Goalie of the Month) on the way to a 5-2 win with Jay Merkley scoring a pair of goals and Craig Leverton adding 3 assists in the win.
Sunday, December 2nd - Hurricanes at Oil Kings - 4:00pm
This is just the second meeting of the season between the Hurricanes and defending WHL Champion Edmonton Oil Kings. The Canes met the Oil Kings in just their 3rd game of the season and got an all-star performance from goalie Ty Rimmer as he faced 60 shots and stopped 57 in a 3-0 loss. The Canes were outplayed and outworked, but were only down a goal heading into the 3rd period before Edmonton added two more for the win. Tristan Jarry stopped all 20 shots he faced and Lethbridge was 0/5 on the powerplay that night, but since then the Canes have gotten on a roll and have vaulted to 5th in the Conference.
Milestone Watch:
Ty Rimmer surpassed the 500 save mark this season on October 27th vs. Swift Current (he also became the first goalie in the CHL to hit 500 saves) Rimmer surpassed 3,000 saves (regular season) for his career. His 29 saves vs. Regina on October 26th gave him 3,003 for his career. He played his 100th WHL game (regular season) on October 6th and recorded his 10th career shutout on Oct. 23rd vs. Swift Current.
Graham Hood - hit the 100 career point milestone with 1 assist vs. Kootenay on September 29th
Brady Ramsay - recorded his 50th career point vs. Kamloops on October 19th, 2012
Russ Maxwell - played in his 150th career game on October 17th vs. Brandon
Ryan Pilon, Tyler Wong, Remi Laurencelle, Axel Blomqvist have all scored their first career WHL goals this season
Lenny Hackman and Joel Topping have all recorded their first career WHL points as well this season
News and Notes:
- U17's Team Pacific: Hockey Alberta announced their 22 man roster for the upcoming World Junior Under 17 Hockey Challenge in Victoriaville/Drummondville, Quebec starting on December 29th and Canes Rookie Forward Reid Duke was named to the team. In 22 games this season, he's 3rd in rookie scoring with 6 points (6A). Also competing will be Ryan Pilon and Kolten Olynek who were named to Team West. Pilon has played 16 games for the Hurricanes this season and he has9 points (3G, 6A) while Olynek leads the Saskatoon Contacts and the SMAAAHL with 29 points in just 14 games. Last year Jay Merkley, Craig Leverton, Remi Laurencelle and Macoy Erkamps all played in the tournament last year.
COMMUNITY CORNER:
The Canadian Tire/Global TV Teddy Bear Toss Night is coming up on Saturday, December 8th when the Lethbridge Hurricanes host the Kootenay Ice. Last year Graham Hood scored the "goal" that sent the bears flying and 2,928 bears were collected and donated to a number of Lethbridge and Southern Alberta organizations. Join us on December 8th for the big game and help ensure that no child goes without a toy this holiday season. Once again this year you can purchase a bear at either Canadian Tire location for $9.99 or more and receive a ticket to the game.
Tuesday, December 4th at 9:00am the Hurricanes will be making another school visit and this one will be to Gilbert Patterson to speak to kids in the Hockey Program. There will be time for a presentation by our players, Q & A and autographs afterwards with Graham Hood, Ty Rimmer, Adam Henry and Brady Ramsay.
Every Friday home game throughout the season is also "Food Bank Fridays". Be sure to bring a non-perishable food item for the Lethbridge Food Bank. Also look for the Food Bank on the concourse and be sure to enter your name into draw for a weekly prize (winners announced during the game - 3rd period)
EXCLUSIVE for Season Ticket Holders: This season we're introducing the Perfect Attendance! We want to reward our Season Ticket Holders for their perfect attendance. If their season ticket is scanned for every home game during the Hurricanes 2012-2013 regular season, they will be entered in a draw to win a free season ticket in 2013-2014.
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Western Hockey League Stories from November 27, 2012
- Red Deer Rebels' Patrik Bartosak Named Vaughn CHL Goalie of the Week - WHL
- Rebels' Patrik Bartosak Named Vaughn CHL Goaltender of the Week - WHL
- Hurricanes Unveil 5 for $75 Voucher Packs - Lethbridge Hurricanes
- Canes Weekly Report - Lethbridge Hurricanes
- Chiefs Weekly Report - Chiefs Leave on Long Road Trip - Spokane Chiefs
- Raiders Imports Selected to Represent Their Countries - Prince Albert Raiders
- Raiders Announce Launch of Second Half Season Ticket - Prince Albert Raiders
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