GAME DAY: Hurricanes Entertain Hitmen
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes play the second of a three game home-stand tonight when they welcome the Calgary Hitmen in the first of six meetings this season at 7:00pm at the ENMAX Centre.
The Hurricanes are coming off a tight 5-4 victory last night over the Kootenay Ice. Jesse Zaharichuk led all scorers in the game against his former team with a goal and three assists. Ryley Lindgren had his second three-point night of the season and scored the game-winning goal with just 1:13 left in the hockey game. Five Hurricanes had multiple point games in the victory.
The Hitmen meanwhile were idle on Friday night and have not played since a 2-1 overtime victory last Saturday in Cranbrook against the Ice. The Hitmen are 2-0-0-0 to start the season despite missing seven players attending NHL camps on opening weekend – four of those seven players have returned.
Tickets are still available for tonight’s game online, by visiting the ENMAX Centre Ticket Centre or by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328).
2016-2017 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS:
Goals (2) – Ryley Lindgren Assists (4) – Ryley Lindgren
Points (6) – Ryley LIndgren
PIMS (16) – Igor Merezhko Plus/Minus (+2) – Igor Merezhko
Wins (2) – Stuart Skinner Shutouts (0) – N/A
Save % (.875) – Stuart Skinner Goals Against Average (4.50) – Stuart Skinner
WHO’S HOT:
– Jordy Bellerive has points in 3 straight games (1g-2a)
– Calen Addison has points in 2 of 3 games (1g-3a)
– Ryley Lindgren has points in 2 of 3 games (2g-4a)
2016-2017 REGULAR SEASON LEAGUE LEADERS:
– Ryley Lindgren is tied 4th in WHL Scoring with 6 points
– Ryley Lindgren is tied 3rd in WHL Assists with 4
– Igor Merezhko is 2nd in WHL Penalty Minutes with 16
– Calen Addison is tied 1st in WHL Defenseman Scoring with 4 points
– Calen Addison is 1st in WHL Rookie Scoring with 4 points & 1st in WHL Rookie Assists with 3
– Calen Addison is tied 2nd in WHL Power Play Assists with 2
– Stuart Skinner is tied 2nd in WHL Wins with 2
MILESTONE WATCH:
– Tyler Wong is 2 games away from 250 career games
– Tyler Wong is 8 goals away from 100 career goals
– Tyler Wong is 3 assists away from 100 career assists
– Tyler Wong is 11 points away from 200 career points
– Ryley Lindgren is 10 games away from 200 career games
– Brayden Burke is 5 points away from 150 career points
– Kord Pankewicz is 8 assists away from 100 career assists
– Giorgio Estephan is 10 games away from 200 career games
– Ryan Vandervlis is 14 games away from 100 career games
– Stuart Skinner is 8 wins away from 50 career wins
NEWS & NOTES:
Home Ice Advantage: The Hurricanes have won 30 of their last 38 regular season games at the ENMAX Centre dating back to last season, a winning percentage of .789%. The Hurricanes in those 38 games have scored a total of 180 goals, an average of 4.74 goals per game.
Troops Back: The Hurricanes will get some missing bodies back from NHL camps this weekend. Tyler Wong, Brayden Burke and Brennan Menell have all returned from camps. Wong was attending Maple Leafs camp, Burke was at Flames camp while Menell took part in Flyers camp.
Weekend Split: For the fifth straight year the Hurricanes will began the new season with a home-and-home with their Highway 3 rivals, the Medicine Hat Tigers and for the second straight year the teams split the opening games of the season. The ‘Canes earned a 4-2 win on Friday before dropping a 9-3 decision on Saturday at the Canalta Centre.
Six Attended NHL Camps: Six Hurricanes players attended NHL Training Camps this year. Tyler Wong (Toronto Maple Leafs), Giorgio Estephan (Buffalo Sabres), Brayden Burke (Calgary Flames), Egor Babenko (Arizona Coyotes), Brady Reagan (Ottawa Senators) and Brennan Menell (Philadelphia Flyers).
Reigning Central Division Champs: The Hurricanes begin to defend their Central Division title from 2015-2016. It was the first division title the organization had won since 1996-1997 when the Hurricanes won the WHL Championship. Only once in franchise history has the team won back-to-back division championships, which was 1989-90 and 1990-91.
Puck Mover: On September 12th the Hurricanes acquired puck-moving defenseman Brennan Menell from the Vancouver Giants in exchange for rugged d-man Darian Skeoch and a 4th round draft pick. Menell had 53 points for the Giants last season and finish second in team scoring.
Moving Pieces: The Hurricanes have been shuffled their roster since the end of last August. Moves include:
– Aug. 22 – Acquired Jesse Zaharichuk from Kootenay for Barrett Sheen.
– Sept. 1 – Signed forwards Evan Ladouceur and Shawn Harke, defenseman Alex Cotton and goaltender Adam Swan to WHL standard player agreements.
– Sept. 8 – Signed forward Connor Lyons and Jayden Davis to WHL standard player agreements.
– Sept. 12 – Acquired defenseman Brennan Menell from Vancouver for defenseman Darian Skeoch and a 4th round draft pick in 2018.
– Sept. 12 – Traded overage forward Carter Folk to Victoria for a 4th round pick in 2017.
– Sept. 14 – Re-assigned forward Drayton Thunder Chief to the Kindersley Klippers of the SJHL (Junior-A).
– Sept. 15 – Acquired forward Tanner Nagel from Portland for unsigned goaltender Shane Farkas.
– Sept. 20 – Acquired goaltender Ryan Gilchrist from Seattle for a conditional 7th round pick in 2017.
– Sept. 20 – Released goaltender Brandon Kegler.
– Sept. 30 – Signed forward Hayden Clayton to WHL standard player agreements.
