WHL Lethbridge Hurricanes

Canes Weekly

Published on February 10, 2013 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Lethbridge Hurricanes News Release


COMMUNITY CORNER:

The School Visit scheduled for Mike Mountain Horse on Monday, February 11th at 8:30am has been POSTPONED. A date will be announced once confirmed.

Friday, February 15th 6:00pm "" It's the 8th Annual Sports Celebrity Dinner and Auction with Special Guest Curtis "Cujo" Joseph. Tickets are available $600 for a corporate table, $300 for ½ a table and Individual Tickets are $100 each. Also, CIBC Wood Gundy, Nick Polychronopoulos and Tom Ackerman are co-sponsoring a $600,000 Hole in One at the Alumni Golf Tournament in July. The 5 highest bidders (from the live auction at the dinner and auction) will get their shot. (Entrance into the Golf tournament is not included)

February 17th 2:30pm "" ATB Financial Skills Competition. Another treat during Family Weekend, the players will be split in to two teams and go head to head in a competition featuring events like Hardest Shot, Accuracy and Fastest Skater. Doors open at 2:00pm, the event is FREE however; food donations will be accepted for the Lethbridge Food Bank.

February 20th "" 6:00pm (Pincher Creek, AB) "" The Lethbridge Hurricanes will take part in their 2nd ENMAX Pond Hockey Clinic, this time in Pincher Creek. The players will assist Hockey Alberta officials through a variety of drills and then play a game of pond hockey before wrapping up with an autograph session with the Atom and Novice aged kids.

LOOKING BACK:

Tuesday, February 5th "" Hurricanes (5) at Regina (2)

The Canes needed to play a good road period and they got off to a great start. A powerplay that has struggled clicked just 5 minutes into the game when Axel Blomqvist scored his 6th of the season giving the Canes the early 1-0 lead. Josh Derko made it a 2-0 game only 35 seconds later on his 6th of the year and with 2 goals on 4 shots, that was all for Matt Hewitt. With Teagan Sacher now in goal, the Pats seemed to find some life and bounced back into the game. Chandler Stephenson cashed in a rebound off Ty Rimmer to cut the Canes lead to 2-1, but in the final few minutes of the period Lethbridge would regain its two goal lead on a goal from Jamal Watson. The Pats made it a 3-2 game in the second when Marc McCoy jammed the loose puck behind Rimmer. The Hurricanes would pick things up and put the game away with a pair of goals in the 3rd courtesy of Sam McKechnie's 24th of the year and the second of the night from Watson. Canes finished the night 1/4 on the PP while Regina was 0/7. Rimmer was stellar in goal again making 48 saves for his 22nd win this season.

Wednesday, February 6th "" Hurricanes (1) at Brandon (4)

On paper, facing the 12th seeded team in the East looked like an easy two points, but no games are a given and it was the Brandon Wheat Kings who jumped out to the early lead on a goal by Jens Meilleur. It stayed a 1-0 game until the final seconds of the period and just after a Canes PP expired, Axel Blomqvist tipped the puck past Curtis Honey making it a 1-1 game after 20 minutes. Both teams fought for the go-ahead goal in the 2nd period and with under 5 minutes to go, the Wheaties took the lead on a goal by John Quenneville. The Wheaties added to their lead in the 3rd when Taylor Cooper fired a wrist shot by Rimmer on the power play to make it 3-1 and before the game was done Meilleur scored his 2nd of the game for the 4-1 win. Lethbridge outshot Brandon 37-33 but came up empty in their 3 powerplay opportunities while the Wheat Kings were 1/4.

Friday, February 8th "" Hurricanes (1) at Prince Albert (2) / OT

The story in the first period was the goalies as both Ty Rimmer and Luke Siemens combined for 25 saves to keep it a scoreless game after the opening 20 minutes. A missed opportunity in the opening frame as well as Sam McKechnie was awarded a penalty shot but he was turned aside by Siemens. The Raiders opened the scoring in the 2nd period when Carson Perreaux's shot beat Rimmer, went off the post and in to make it a 1-0 PA lead after 40 minutes. The Hurricanes rallied with a goal in the final 7 minutes of the game when Joel Topping fired a point shot that beat a screened Luke Siemens. Topping's first career WHL goal tied the game. The Canes had a chance to win the game with a PP in the final 2 ½ minutes, but they couldn't bury the game winner. Another missed opportunity in OT and in the final 20 seconds Josh Morrissey was sprung free on a breakaway and he beat Rimmer for a 2-1 win. Lethbridge out shot PA 43-38 and ended the night 0/2 on the PP while the Raiders were 0/6.

Saturday, February 9th "" Hurricanes (2) at Saskatoon (5)

In front of a record crowd of 12,588 to celebrate 25 years at CUC, the Saskatoon Blades opened the scoring just over 5 minutes into the first period. Captain Brendan Walker fired a shot from between the hash marks which beat Ty Rimmer. Not too long after that, the Hurricanes would even things up. Kolten Olynek (2011, 2nd round draft pick) who was playing in his 2nd straight game with the Canes had a 2-on-1 rush with Remi Laurencelle and he scored his first-ever WHL goal to tie the game at 1-1. The Blades would regain the lead when Matt Stransky's shot got by Rimmer to make it 2-1 Saskatoon after 20 minutes. In the second, the Hurricanes kept pace with the Blades and pushed for the equalizer, but with 33 seconds to go in the period, a tough goal to give up as Walker would burst in to the Lethbridge zone and snap a shot over Ty Rimmer making it a 3-1 lead for Saskatoon. Nathan Burns made it 4-1 in the 3rd, but the Canes would get one of those goals back with a great individual effort from Ryan Pilon. During a 4 minute Saskatoon man advantage, the rookie Defenceman stole the puck and lifted a backhander over Makarov for his 5th of the season. Four minutes later Shane McColgan scored to make it 5-2 which would be the final in this one. Saskatoon outshot the Hurricanes 39-29 and finished the game 1/6 on the powerplay while the Canes were 0/3.

2012-2013 STATS LEADERS:

Points (43), Goals (27), PIMs (118) "" Jaimen Yakubowski

PPGs (9) "" Russell Maxwell

Assists (28) "" Macoy Erkamps

Rookie Points Leader (32) "" Axel Blomqvist

Plus/Minus (+12) "" Reid Duke

PRACTICE SCHEDULE:

Monday "" Day Off

Tuesday "" 1:30pm "" 4:00pm (Media Interviews: 12:15 "" 12:45)

Wednesday "" 1:30pm "" 4:00pm (Media Interviews: 12:15 "" 12:45)

Thursday "" 1:30pm "" 4:00pm (Media Interviews: 12:15 "" 12:45)

Friday "" 1:30pm "" 4:00pm (Media Interviews: 12:15 "" 12:45)

Saturday "" Game Day vs. Prince George

LOOKING AHEAD:

Saturday, February 16th "" vs. Prince George Cougars

The Hurricanes have just one game over the next 12 days and they'll host the Prince George Cougars on Saturday. It'll be the final game of their 2 games this season with the Hurricanes already winning their first matchup 3-2 back on October 12th. The Cougars made a coaching change in recent weeks and remain near the bottom of the West Conference standings still trying to hit the 20 win mark. The Canes sit 6th in the East, but will watch the scoreboard as teams around them make up games in hand this week. Against the Cougars, Russ Maxwell has 2 goals, and the Canes PP is 2/6 while the Cougars are 1/6.

In the 2011-2012 season PG swept their season series with wins of 6-3 and 4-2.

MILESTONE WATCH:

-Russ Maxwell: 3 points shy of 100 for his career; 6 games shy of 200 for his career Graham Hood: 4 games shy of 300 for his career. Ty Rimmer: on pace to break the single season saves record by a Canes Goalie (Jeff Ferguson, 1837 in 1987-1988), he's 86 away.

NEWS AND NOTES:

Central Scouting Says (Mid-Season Report): The NHL's Central Scouting bureau released their mid-season draft rankings and 3 Hurricanes were ranked. Jamal Watson is listed at 182, Axel Blomqvist at 185 and despite limited viewing as he missed the whole first half of the season recovering from a heart condition, Adam Henry is 213th.

Trade winds (WHL Deadline): The Canes made two trades ahead of the January 10th WHL trade deadline. In their first deal they shipped former 1st round draft pick Jay Merkley to Swift Current for LW Josh Derko and a 3rd rounder in 2014. They followed that with a trade for Defenceman Mike Simpson from Kootenay for a 5th round pick in 2013. The Hurricanes also reassigned defenceman Connor Sutton to the Okotoks Oilers of the AJHL.

Recognition: Jaimen Yakubowski became the first Hurricane to be named WHL Player of the Week (twice.) For the week of Nov. 26th "" Dec. 2nd, Yakubowski had 8 points (5G, 3A) in 4 games; the following week (Dec. 3rd "" 9th) he recorded 9 points (6G, 3A) in 3 games to be named POW. At this same time, Yakubowski was also named the CHL's Player of the Week for the week ending December 9th.

Back from U17's: Canes Rookie Forward Reid Duke (Team Pacific) and Ryan Pilon (Team West) rejoined the team on January 6th after competing at the World Under-17 Challenge. Canes prospect Kolten Olynek joined Pilon on Team West and returned to the Saskatoon Contacts of the SMAAAHL. Team West finished 9th while Team Pacific claimed 5th.

Check out the Lethbridge Hurricanes Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from February 10, 2013


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