GAME DAY: Hurricanes Open 2023 with New Years Day Matinee in Edmonton
Edmonton, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes kick off 2023 with a New Years Day matinee against the Edmonton Oil Kings at Rogers Place this afternoon at 2:00pm MT.
The Hurricanes (20-14-0-1) ended 2022 with a 4-3 loss in Swift Current to the Broncos on Friday. Cole Shepard had a three-point effort with a goal and two assists while Tyson Zimmer and Tristen Doyle scored the other goals in the loss. Lethbridge enters play with a 9-8-0-0 road record this season while going 6-3-0-0 in their last nine away from home.
The Oil Kings (4-31-1-0) enter on a 14-game losing streak after suffering a 6-2 loss on Friday to the Red Deer Rebels. Noah Boyko and Rilen Kovacevic both had a goal and an assist in the losing cause while newly acquired goaltender Logan Cunningham made 16-saves in a relief performance. Edmonton has posted a 2-13-1-0 record this season at Rogers Place.
Today will be the third of six meetings on the season between the Hurricanes and Oil Kings and the first meeting in the Alberta capital. Lethbridge has posted a 1-1-0-0 record so far this season after earning a 4-1 win in their last meeting on December 14th at the ENMAX Centre.
Tonight’s game can be watched at Browns Socialhouse in Lethbridge, on WHL Live or heard on 106.7 ROCK.
DOWNLOAD GAME NOTES/STATS HERE: 2023-01-01 – LET at EDM
VS. OIL KINGS: Tonight will be the third of six meetings on the season between the Hurricanes and Oil Kings. The ‘Canes have posted a 1-1-0-0 record against Oil Kings this season after going 2-5-0-1 in eight games against Edmonton while falling in four-straight games in the first round of the WHL Playoffs. Over the last two years, Lethbridge has posted a record of 4-10-1-1 against Edmonton. The Hurricanes have gone 42-45-4-3 all-time against the Oil Kings while going 19-25-2-0 in 46 games in Edmonton.
2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
November 19th/2022 – at Lethbridge (4-3 EDM)
December 14th/2022 – at Lethbridge (4-1 LET)
January 1st/2023 – at Edmonton
January 7th/2023 – at Lethbridge
January 29th/2023 – at Edmonton
March 18th/2023 – at Edmonton
2021-2022 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
October 6th/2021 – at Lethbridge (2-1 EDM)
October 15th/2021 – at Edmonton (4-0 EDM)
November 2nd/2021 – at Edmonton (7-0 EDM)
November 26th/2021 – at Lethbridge (3-2 LET)
January 16th/2022 – at Lethbridge (5-4 SO EDM)
January 30th/2022 – at Edmonton (6-0 EDM)
March 25th/2022 – at Lethbridge (5-2 EDM)
March 27th/2022 – at Edmonton (5-1 LET)
2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS:
Goals (14) – Jett Jones & Logan Wormald
Assists (18) – Three Players
Points (30) – Jett Jones & Cole Shepard
PIMS (51) – Joe Arntsen
Plus/Minus (+7) – Chase Pauls
Wins (16) – Harrison Meneghin
Shutouts (1) – Harrison Meneghin
Save % (.914) – Harrison Meneghin
Goals Against Average (2.63) – Harrison Meneghin
WHO’S HOT:
– Cole Shepard has points in 3 straight games (1g-4a); 4 of 5 games (2g-5a); 22 of 34 games (12g-18a)
– Miguel Marques has points in 2 straight games (3a); 5 of 8 games (1g-6a); 7 of 14 games (2g-6a)
– Tyson Zimmer has points in 2 of 3 games (1g-2a); 13 of 16 games (9g-11a); 20 of 33 games (11g-18a)
– Joe Arntsen has points in 2 straight games (1g-1a); 3 of 5 games (1g-2a); 4 of 7 games (1g-3a)
– Logan McCutcheon has points in 6 of 12 games (1g-9a); 9 of 23 games (1g-12a)
– Logan Wormald has points in 2 of 3 games (3g); 7 of 9 games (7g-5a); 19 of 31 games (12g-14a)
– Jett Jones has points in 9 of 13 games (6g-10a); 15 of 23 games (10g-14a); 20 of 34 games (14g-16a)
– Tyson Laventure has points in 8 of 10 games (7g-8a); 14 of 20 games (10g-13a)
– Chase Pauls has points in 2 of 5 games (2g-1a); 3 of 8 games (3g-1a)
– Brayden Edwards has points in 4 of 11 games (2g-2a)
– Nolan Bentham has points in 3 of 5 games (1g-2a); 4 of 9 games (3g-2a)
REGULAR SEASON MILESTONE WATCH:
– Nolan Bentham is 15 games away from 150 career games
– Joe Arntsen is 5 assists away from 50 career assists
– Jett Jones is 10 games away from 200 career games
– Jett Jones is 3 goals away from 50 career goals
– Logan Wormald is 10 games away from 100 career games
– Cole Shepard is 21 points away from 100 career points
– Cole Shepard is 1 assist away from 50 career assists
– Tyson Laventure is 21 points away from 100 career points
– Tyson Laventure is 2 assists away from 50 career assists
– Bryan Thomson is 5 games away from 100 career games
– Bryan Thomson is 4 wins away from 50 career wins
NEWS & NOTES:
Thru 35: The Hurricanes enter tonight with a record of 20-14-0-1 (41 points) on the season after 35 games. The ‘Canes are 11-6-0-1 at home while posting a record of 9-8-0-0 on the road. In 2021-2022, Lethbridge had gone 15-17-1-2 after 35 contests. Lethbridge went 8-2-0-1 in November and were 6-4-0-0 December.
2022 Calendar: The Hurricanes ended the 2022 calendar year on Friday with a 4-3 loss to the Swift Current Broncos. In 2022, the ‘Canes posted a 44-31-2-2 record in 79 regular season games played. Lethbridge posted a record of 21-14-0-2 at home while going an impressive 23-17-2-0 on the road in 2022.
Streakin’: The Hurricanes enter play tonight having won six of their last nine games. Lethbridge has posted a 15-6-0-1 record in their last 22 games. The ‘Canes are equally as hot on home ice having gone an impressive 9-3-0-1 in their last 13 games on home ice while going 6-3-0-0 in their last eight away.
PP Clickin’: Entering tonight, the Hurricanes have scored at least one power play goal in eight of 12 games, going 14-for-50 (28%) in that stretch. The ‘Canes have scored a power play goal in 17 of their last 23 games in which they’ve had a PP opportunity. Lethbridge is 16-5-0-1 this season when scoring a power play goal and are 6-0-0-0 when they score two-or-more in a contest. But are 4-9-0-0 without a PPG.
Goals Galore: Over the last 12 games, the Hurricanes have scored a total of 43 goals, averaging 3.58 goals per game during that stretch. During the same 12-game span, the ‘Canes have allowed 39 goals against, for an average of 3.25 goals against per game. Lethbridge’s season average is 2.74 GFPG.
Two New Faces: On December 26th, the Hurricanes added 2006-born forward Trae Wilke and 2005-born forward Nolan Viesner to their roster for the remainder of the 2022-2023 season. Wilke, who was drafted in the second-round in 2021 while Viesner, who was listed and signed in 2021, has yet to make his WHL debut after missing the first half recovering from injury.
Rookie Tendy: Hurricanes netminder Harrison Meneghin was named the WHL Goaltender of the Month for November going 7-0-0-1 with a 1.96 goals against average and a .936 save percentage. Meneghin enters tonight with a 16-7-0-1 record, sitting four wins shy of becoming the 14th goalie in ‘Canes history to reach 20-wins in a season – he would become just the fourth rookie goaltender to reach that mark. He enters tonight 14-4-0-1 record in his last 19 starts.
Faceoff King: Jett Jones enters tonight as the WHL leader in faceoffs taken this season with 900 draws taken, averaging 25.7 draws per game. Jones has won 20+ faceoffs in a game four times this season, becoming the first Hurricanes centre-man to accomplish that feat on four occasions since the WHL began tracking faceoffs in 2017, surpassing Jake Leschyshyn and Giorgio Estephan – who both did it twice.
