WHL Lethbridge Hurricanes

Canes Weekly

October 28, 2012 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Lethbridge Hurricanes News Release


Last Week:

Tuesday, October 23rd - Lethbridge (4) vs. Swift Current (0)

The Canes got off to a fast start just 5:47 in when Sam McKechnie scored his 7th of the year. The Broncos would get the first powerplay of the game, and it looked like Adam Lowry would bury the equalizer, but Ty Rimmer who was making his 13th straight start slid from one side of his crease to the other and stacked the pads to deny Lowry of the goal. Lethbridge was on a PP less than 5 minutes into the 2nd and Spencer Galbraith fired a point shot that went off a Bronco and past Eetu Laurikainen. Lethbridge would take a 4-0 lead after the second period thanks to a pair of goals 49 seconds apart as Jamal Watson scored his 3rd and then Russ Maxwell tallied his team leading 9th goal of the season. No scoring in the third as Ty Rimmer kept the Broncos off the scoresheet to record his first shutout of the season for the Canes (the 10th regular season shutout of his WHL career) in the 4-0 win.

Wednesday, October 24th - Lethbridge (2) vs. Moose Jaw (3)

The Hurricanes again got off to a quick start when Sam McKechnie with some outstanding hand-eye coordination, batted the puck out of mid-air and by Moose Jaw goalie Justin Paulic to give the Canes a 1-0 lead and that was how things stood after the first period. A different story in the 2nd and all it took was 8 minutes ... Justin Kirsch scored to make it a 1-1 game. The Warriors took the their first lead of the night when Tanner Eberle undressed the Hurricanes defence, walked in and snapped a bullet over Rimmer making it 2-1 and less than 2 minutes later, Morgan Rielly lifted a backhander into the top of net to give his team a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes. The Hurricanes would press to get back in the hockey game in the third period and with 3 minutes to go Jay Merkley burst out on a breakaway and scored his 4th of the season but this one ended 3-2 in favor of the Warriors.

Friday, October 26th - Lethbridge (6) vs. Regina (1)

It was a dominating performance from start to finish for the Hurricanes who scored first and went on to win the game for just the 3rd time this season when they do open the scoring. The rout was capped off by the Canes throwing a season-high 55 shots on net (prior high was 46 shots in a 6-1 win over Brandon on October 17th) Less than 3 minutes into the game Reid Duke picked up the puck along the half wall and made a nice pass to Jamal Watson who scored his 3rd of the year. The Canes would take a 2-0 lead on their first powerplay of the game when Russ Maxwell scored his team leading 10th. Jay Merkley tipped home his 5th of the year just 30 seconds later and the goal from Merkley extended his point streak to 7 games (5G, 3A) and again made it 3-0 Hurricanes. The Pats only had 4 shots on goal in the 1st period and they did manage to beat Rimmer when Colton Mayor scored after Regina took a timeout after the Hurricanes 3rd goal. Lethbridge would make it a 4-1 game after 20 minutes when Sam McKechnie scored his 9th. The Canes chased starting goalie Teagan Sacher and the Pats went with Matt Hewitt the rest of the way. Jamal Watson scored his 2nd of the game giving the Canes a 5-1 lead and that's how things stood through 40 minutes. In the 3rd, Ryan Pilon scored his first career WHL goal on the PP when his shot went off Colton Jobke and in to give the Canes a 6-1 lead which would stand as the final.

Saturday, October 27th - Lethbridge (4) vs. Swift Current (1)

The Hurricanes faced the Broncos for the 2nd time in less than a week and got off to a great start by generating a number of scoring chances off their 17 shots on goal. The lone goal of the first period came from Captain Graham Hood who beat Eetu Laurikainen to tally his 1st of the year on the PP. The Broncos pulled even in the 2nd period while shorthanded when Adam Lowry had a breakaway and rifled a shot past Ty Rimmer. The Canes restored their lead less than two minutes later when Craig Leverton scored his first of the year on a rebound and then Brady Ramsay fired a shot from the top of the circle to make it 3-1. Leverton added his 2nd of the game making it a 3 goal lead after 40 minutes. The Canes chased the opponents starting goalie for the 2nd straight game and Swift Current turned goaltending duties over to Landon Bow in the 3rd. He stopped all 13 shots he faced while Rimmer wouldn't allow another goal in the 4-1 Hurricanes win.

2012 - 2013 Stats Leaders:

Points (16), Goals (10), Powerplay Goals (5) - Russell Maxwell

Assists (9) - Axel Blomqvist, Graham Hood

Rookie Points Leader (9) - Axel Blomqvist

PIM's (45) - Jaimen Yakubowski

Plus/Minus (+8) - Daniel Johnston

Practice Schedule:

Monday - 1:30 - 4:00pm (Media availability 12:30 - 1:00)

Tuesday - Game Day vs. Vancouver

Wednesday - 1:30 - 4:00pm (Media availability 12:30 - 1:00)

Thursday - 1:45 - 3:15pm (Nicholas Sheran)

Friday - Game Day vs. Medicine Hat

Saturday - Game Day vs. Saskatoon

Looking Ahead:

Tuesday, October 30th - Lethbridge vs. Vancouver

The Lethbridge Hurricanes and Vancouver Giants will face each other three times this season, with two games at the ENMAX Centre and the final game on the road. The Hurricanes come into the game on a hot streak winning 4 of their last 5 games and currently have a record of 8-7-1-0. There's also the backstory to this matchup as tonight is the first meeting since the Hurricanes traded goalie Liam Liston to the Giants in the off-season. It's also the first meeting with Kale Kessy who was suspended 12 games for his hit on rookie Defenceman Ryan Pilon. Kessy was with the Medicine Hat Tigers at the time but was later dealt to Vancouver. Pilon missed 9 games due to the hit and finally returned to the Hurricanes lineup on October 20th. The Hurricanes swept the Giants in the 2011-2012 season with wins over 4-2 (December 10th) and 6-3 (January 17th) Against Vancouver, the Canes are led by Jaimen Yakubowski who has 3 points (3G), while Jay Merkley and Russ Maxwell have 2 points each.

Friday, November 2nd - Lethbridge vs. Medicine Hat

It's the 3rd of 8 meetings between the Hurricanes and Tigers. The teams opened the 2012-2013 season by splitting their home and home series back in September. The Hurricanes won their home and season opener 4-2 and the Tigers followed up the next night with a 5-1 win in their home opener. The teams split their 8 game season series in 2011-2012. Against the Tigers this season, the Canes are led by Sam McKechnie who has 2 points (1G, 1A)

Saturday, November 2nd - Lethbridge vs. Saskatoon

The Hurricanes and Blades will be meeting for their 2nd of 4 matchups this season. In their first tilt 3 weeks ago, both teams were struggling to get shots on net, struggling to score and struggling to win. At the time, the Hurricanes were 3-5 on the season while the Blades were 2-7 but the Hurricanes have been on an upswing since then while the Blades are still trying to turn their misfortunes around. In that first meeting though, the Blades skated away with a 5-2 win with Jay Merkley and Sam McKechnie scoring in the loss.

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. Rimmer played 100 career regular season WHL games (Oct 6th) He recorded his 10th career shutout on Oct. 23rd vs. Swift Current.

Axel Blomqvist is 7th in WHL Rookie scoring (9A)

Spencer Galbraith - recorded 200 PIM's for his career on October 27th vs. Swift Current

Ryan Pilon - scored his first career WHL goal vs. Regina on October 26th, 2012

Russ Maxwell - played in his 150th career game on October 17th vs. Brandon

Lenny Hackman - recorded his first career WHL point with 1 assist vs. Moose Jaw on October 20th, 2012

Brady Ramsay - recorded his 50th career point vs. Kamloops on October 19th, 2012

Remi Laurencelle - scored his first career WHL goal vs. Spokane on October 6th, 2012

Joel Topping - recorded his first career WHL point with his 1 assist vs. Tri City on October 5th, 2012

Axel Blomqvist - recorded his first career WHL point with 1 assist vs. Spokane on October 6th, 2012

Graham Hood - hit the 100 career point milestone with 1 assist vs. Kootenay on September 29th

News and Notes:

- Leading the Way: The Lethbridge Hurricanes named overage forward Graham Hood the 22nd Captain in Hurricanes history. Hood follows in the footsteps of four of his former teammates - Brody Sutter, Cam Braes (2011-2012), Mike Reddington (2010-11) and Carter Bancks (2009-10) who have worn the "C" during his time in Lethbridge.

- CSS Says: Central Scouting released its "preliminary watch list" for 2012 with Defenceman Adam Henry (who is sidelined until January with a heart condition) and rookie Forward Axel Blomqvist in the rankings. Henry finished with 21 points (4G, 17A) in 60 games last year while Blomqvist had 46 points in 38 games with Rogle J18 last season.

COMMUNITY CORNER:

On Sunday, November 2nd, the Lethbridge Hurricanes are proud to team up with ATB for the ATB Financial Hurricanes Hockey Clinic. This is the 2nd year of the event with ATB and the Canes and it's an instructional hockey clinic for boys and girls in the Novice and Atom age category. The event provides young players with the on-ice opportunity to meet some of the Lethbridge Hurricanes players while developing their hockey skills. This year's event is SOLD OUT once again and sessions run at 2:30pm and 3:15pm.

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.

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)

Check out the Lethbridge Hurricanes Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from October 28, 2012


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