GAME DAY: Hurricanes Open Second Half Against Hitmen
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes open the second-half of the WHL season tonight at 7:00pm as they welcome the Calgary Hitmen to the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
The Hurricanes (17-11-1-1) enter on a five-game home winning streak after ending the first-half with a 4-1 win over the Medicine Hat Tigers on December 15th. Noah Chadwick, Will Sharpe, Shane Smith and Kooper Gizowski scored in the win while Jackson Unger made 25-saves. Lethbridge enters with a 5-1-0-0 record in their last six games and are a league-best 13-2-1-0 on home ice this season.
The Hitmen (17-9-3-1) enter on a four-game winning streak after entering the Christmas break with an 8-5 win over the Prince Albert Raiders on December 18th. Carson Wetsch and Connor Hvidston each scored twice while Kalem Parker, David Adaszynski, Oliver Tulk and Maxim Muranov added the other goals; Eric Tu made 18-saves in the win. Calgary enters with an 8-2-0-0 record in their last ten games and are 7-7-2-0 on the road this year.
Tonight will be the fourth of eight meetings on the season between the Hurricanes and Hitmen; Lethbridge has posted an 0-3-0-0 record against Calgary this season and have lost four-straight against the Hitmen dating back to last season. Tickets for tonight’s game can be purchased by visiting the Yates Memorial Theatre or VisitLethbridge.com Arena Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.visitlethbridgearena.ca.
DOWNLOAD MEDIA KIT: 2024-12-27 – LET vs. CGY
VS. HITMEN: Tonight will be the fourth of eight meetings on the season between the Hurricanes and Hitmen. Lethbridge has gone 0-3-0-0 so far this season against Calgary while having posted a 4-1-2-0 record in seven meetings last year. The ‘Canes have posted an impressive 15-9-1-0 record in the last 25 meetings against the Hitmen, but have lost four-straight against Calgary dating back to last season. Lethbridge has posted an all-time 88-97-11-5 with six ties against Calgary.
2024-2025 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
September 29th/2024 – at Calgary (3-1 CGY)
October 19th/2024 – at Calgary (6-1 CGY)
November 1st/2024 – at Lethbridge (5-3 CGY)
December 27th/2024 – at Lethbridge
January 25th/2025 – at Lethbridge
February 2nd/2025 – at Calgary
February 11th/2025 – at Calgary
March 15th/2025 – at Lethbridge
2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
October 18th/2023 – at Lethbridge (3-2 OT LET)
October 22nd/2023 – at Calgary (4-3 CGY)
October 27th/2023 – at Lethbridge (4-3 OT CGY)
November 29th/2023 – at Lethbridge (4-1 LET)
February 3rd/2024 – at Lethbridge (6-0 LET)
February 25th/2024 – at Calgary (9-2 LET)
March 17th/2024 – at Calgary (3-2 CGY OT)
2024-2025 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS:
Goals (17) – Logan Wormald
Assists (23) – Brayden Edwards
Points (37) – Brayden Edwards
PIMS (51) – Trae Johnson
Plus/Minus (+15) – Logan Wormald
Wins (9) – Jackson Unger
Shutouts (1) – Koen Cleaver & Jackson Unger
Save % (.893) – Koen Cleaver
Goals Against Average (3.36) – Koen Cleaver
WHO’S HOT:
– Miguel Marques has points in 4 straight games (1g-3a); 6 of 7 games (2g-4a); 19 of 25 games (11g-22a)
– Brayden Yager has points in 2 straight games (1g-3a); 4 of 5 games (2g-8a); 16 of 23 games (12g-22a)
– Noah Chadwick has points in 2 straight games (2g-1a); 7 of 9 games (5g-4a); 15 of 28 games (9g-16a)
– Will Sharpe has points in 2 straight games (1g-1a); 4 of 7 games (1g-3a); 15 of 27 games (3g-19a)
– Kooper Gizowski has points in 2 straight games (1g-2a); 6 of 14 games (2g-8a)
– Logan Wormald has points in 4 of 6 games (4g-2a); 15 of 20 games (11g-12a); 24 of 29 games (16g-19a)
– Logan McCutcheon has points in 3 of 4 games (3a); 7 of 17 games (1g-7a)
– Brayden Edwards has points in 2 of 3 games (1g-2a); 4 of 7 games (2g-5a); 21 of 27 games (14g-23a)
– Shane Smith has points in 2 of 3 games (1g-2a); 3 of 6 games (1g-3a)
– Trae Johnson has points in 2 of 3 games (1g-1a); 5 of 9 games (2g-4a)
– Tristen Doyle has points in 2 of 5 games (2a); 6 of 14 games (9a); 10 of 20 games (13a)
– Leo Braillard has points in 4 of 6 games (3g-2a); 6 of 10 games (6g-2a); 13 of 25 games (12g-4a)
REGULAR SEASON MILESTONE WATCH:
– Tristen Doyle is 1 point away from 50 career points
– Shane Smith is 2 points away from 100 career points
– Miguel Marques is 1 goal away from 50 career goals
– Miguel Marques is 16 assists away from 100 career assists
– Will Sharpe is 11 games away from 100 career games
– Logan Wormald is 25 points away from 200 career points
– Brayden Edwards is 3 assists away from 100 career assists
– Kash Andresen is 19 games away from 100 career games
– Brayden Yager is 16 points away from 300 career points
– Brayden Yager is 16 games away from 250 career games
NEWS & NOTES:
Thru 30: The Hurricanes enter tonight with a 17-11-1-1 record (36 points) on the season after 30 games. The ‘Canes are 13-2-1-0 at home and 4-9-0-1 on the road so far this season. In 2023-2024, Lethbridge had posted a 15-13-2-0 record after 30 games. The ‘Canes were 15-14-2-0 last year after 31 games.
Central Diet: Lethbridge is in a stretch of nine consecutive games against Central Division opponents on Friday. The Hurricanes will face the Medicine Hat Tigers three times, Edmonton Oil Kings three times, Red Deer Rebels twice and Calgary Hitmen once during the stretch. The ‘Canes are 7-5-0-0 against divisional opponents so far this season while having gone 69-43-7-3 against the Central over the last four years.
Gus What: On December 27th, the Hurricanes announced the acquisition of 2004-born forward Jordan Gustafson from the Seattle Thunderbirds in exchange for overage forward Hayden Pakkala, two third-round draft picks and a fifth-round pick. Gustafson, who won a WHL Championship with the T-Birds in 2023, is a signed NHL prospect of the Vegas Golden Knights. He has appeared in 154 career WHL regular-season games collecting 127 points (55g-72a) along with 56 penalty minutes.
Goaltender of the Week: Jackson Unger was named the WHL Goaltender of the Week for the week ending on December 15th. The Calgary, AB, product posted a 3-0-0-0 record during the week with a terrific 1.00 goals against average and a .950 save percentage. In five games with the Hurricanes, Unger has posted a 5-0-0-0 record with a 1.80 GAA and a .922 SV%. Unger is the second ‘Canes goalie to be named the GoW after Koen Cleaver was named it for Week 1 on the WHL season.
Ying & Yang: Linemates Logan Wormald and Brayden Edwards have combined for 72 points (31g-41a) this season. The duo have assisted on 14 of their 31 goals this year with Edwards assisting on eight of Wormald’s 17 goals and Wormald helping on six of Edwards’ 14 goals. In their career, Edwards has assists on 28.6% of Wormald goals (50% of his goals over the last two years) while Wormald has assisted on 41.5% of Edwards career goals. When they both score in a game, Lethbridge is 15-0-1-0 all-time, including a perfect 5-0-0-0 this year.
Penalty Killed: The Hurricanes penalty kill has been terrific of late. In their last nine games, Lethbridge has allowed the opposition just five power play goals with the ‘Canes going 32/37 for a kill percentage of 86.5% in that span while having also scored three shorthanded goals. They have killed off 13 of their last 15 penalties taken. The Hurricanes PK is ranked eighth overall in the WHL this season.
World Junior Trio: The ‘Canes will have three players represent their countries at the upcoming 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa. Brayden Yager will represent Canada for the second straight season. Leo Braillard will also participate for the second-straight year representing Switzerland while Vojtech Port will suit up for Czechia. He was named to the team last year but wasn’t able to compete due to injury.
World Junior Manager: Hurricanes General Manager Peter Anholt is leading the 2025 Canadian National Junior Team for the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa. It is the second straight year Anholt has served in the role after leading the 2024 tournament which saw Canada eliminated in the quarter final. Hurricanes alumnus Brent Seabrook is also serving in the management group.
