GAME DAY: Hurricanes Visit Blades in Potential First Round Playoff Preview
Saskatoon, SK – The Lethbridge Hurricanes play the first of a two-game Saskatchewan road trip tonight at 6:00pm as they visit the Saskatoon Blades in a potential first-round playoff preview.
The Hurricanes (26-26-5-0) enter after earning a dominating 9-2 victory over the Calgary Hitmen at Scotiabank Saddledome last Sunday. Noah Chadwick and Brayden Edwards each scored twice while Miguel Marques, Carter Dereniwsky, Kash Andresen, Logan Wormald and Hayden Pakkala added the others in the win. Lethbridge ended a seven-game road losing streak with the win in Calgary and enter with a 10-18-0-0 record on the road this season. The ‘Canes currently sit eighth in the Eastern Conference.
The Blades (42-11-2-3) enter on a two-game losing streak after suffering a 5-0 loss on Saturday at home to the Red Deer Rebels. It marked the first time this season the Blades were shutout while it is just the third time this season Saskatoon has suffered consecutive losses while the first time they’ve suffered back-to-back losses at home this year. Saskatoon enters play tonight with a 23-3-1-0 record at home this season while sitting first overall in the entire WHL.
Tonight will be the final of four regular season meetings between the Hurricanes and Blades; Lethbridge has posted an 0-2-1-0 record against Saskatoon this season having suffered a 1-0 overtime loss in their last meeting. The game can be streamed on WHL Live, watched at Browns Socialhouse in Lethbridge or heard on 106.7 ROCK.
DOWNLOAD GAME NOTES/STATS HERE: 2024-03-01 – LET at SAS
VS. BLADES: Tonight will be the final of four meetings on the season between the Hurricanes and Blades. Lethbridge has posted an 0-2-1-0 record against Saskatoon this season after going 2-2-0-0 against the Blades last season. The ‘Canes have posted an all-time record of 85-69-9-4 with five ties against the Blades in 172 all-time meetings while going 41-37-4-2 with two ties all-time in Saskatoon. Over the last eight years, the Hurricanes have posted a record of 19-11-3-2 in 35 games against the Blades.
2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
December 1st/2023 – at Lethbridge (3-1 SAS)
February 6th/2024 – at Saskatoon (3-1 SAS)
February 16th/2024 – at Lethbridge (1-0 OT SAS)
March 1st/2024 – at Saskatoon
2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON SERIES:
October 4th/2022 – at Saskatoon (3-1 LET)
October 19th/2022 – at Lethbridge (3-2 SAS)
October 29th/2022 – at Lethbridge (2-1 LET)
March 4th/2023 – at Saskatoon (5-1 SAS)
2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS:
Goals (27) – Sean Tschigerl
Assists (40) – Miguel Marques
Points (65) – Miguel Marques
PIMS (103) – Landen Ward
Plus/Minus (+19) – Brayden Edwards
Wins (24) – Harrison Meneghin
Shutouts (3) – Harrison Meneghin
Save % (.918) – Harrison Meneghin
Goals Against Average (2.57) – Harrison Meneghin
WHO’S HOT:
– Sean Tschigerl has points in 3 straight games (1g-5a); 5 of 7 games (1g-7a); 14 of 27 games (14g-15a)
– Logan Wormald has points in 4 of 5 games (3g-4a); 6 of 13 games (4g-5a); 24 of 37 games (14g-26a)
– Brayden Edwards has points in 3 of 4 games (2g-4a); 4 of 7 games (3g-4a); 33 of 52 games (21g-33a)
– Miguel Marques has points in 2 of 3 games (2g-3a); 8 of 14 games (6g-8a); 26 of 38 games (21g-29a)
– Leo Braillard has points in 2 of 3 games (2g-1a); 4 of 12 games (3g-3a); 20 of 37 games (11g-19a)
– Tristen Doyle has points in 2 of 3 games (2g-2a)
– Logan McCutcheon has points in 3 of 5 games (5a)
– Joe Arntsen has points in 3 of 5 games (3a)
– Kooper Gizowski has points in 2 of 4 games (2g-2a); 4 of 14 games (2g-6a)
– Carter Dereniwsky has points in 2 of 4 games (1g-1a)
– Trae Wilke has points in 2 of 4 games (1g-1a)
– Noah Chadwick has points in 2 of 7 games (2g-2a); 8 of 18 games (3g-11a); 32 of 55 games (11g-35a)
– Dylan Sydor has points in 6 of 11 games (4g-3a); 13 of 23 games (9g-9a)
REGULAR SEASON MILESTONE WATCH:
– Logan McCutcheon is 11 assists away from 100 career assists
– Dylan Sydor is 8 points away from 100 career points
– Dylan Sydor is 4 goals away from 50 career goals
– Dylan Sydor is 4 assists away from 50 career assists
– Dylan Sydor is 9 games away from 200 career games
– Trae Wilke is 9 games away from 100 career games
– Miguel Marques is 9 points away from 100 career points
– Sean Tschigerl is 5 goals away from 100 career goals
– Brayden Edwards is 9 goals away from 50 career goals
– Leo Braillard is 15 assists away from 50 career CHL assists
– Harrison Meneghin is 8 wins away from 50 career wins
NEWS & NOTES:
Thru 56: The Hurricanes enter tonight with a 26-26-5-0 record (57 points) on the season after 57 games. The ‘Canes are 16-8-5-0 at home and 10-18-0-0 on the road so far this season. In 2022-2023, the Hurricanes had posted a 30-21-3-3 record after 57 games. Lethbridge posted a 3-6-2-0 record in February.
The Cap: Joe Arntsen skated in his 250th career WHL game, all with the Hurricanes, on February 9th in Brandon against the Wheat Kings. The former second-round draft pick (35th overall) in the 2018 WHL Draft. He has recorded 102 career points (27g-75a) along with 309 penalty minutes. Arntsen currently sits 14th all-time in Hurricanes games played (257). The Dinsmore, SK product is two games shy of matching Ben Wright (259) for 13th all-time in games played.
Home Sweet Home: The Hurricanes have been strong at home this season having posted a 16-8-5-0 record at the ENMAX Centre. The ‘Canes have collected points in eight of their last nine games at home posting a 6-1-2-0 record in that span while outscoring the opposition 34-17 in those eight contests. Lethbridge has posted an 8-2-3-0 record in their last 13 games at home.
Climbing Ranks: Hurricanes netminder Harrison Meneghin reached the 20-win plateau for the first time in his career on January 26th becoming the 14th goaltender in ‘Canes history to reach that mark in a season. Meneghin enters tonight with a 24-19-3-0 record on the year with a 2.57 GAA and a .918 SV% with three shutouts. Meneghin is sits 12th all-time in victories by a Hurricanes goaltender (43). He sits one win shy of David Trofimenkoff (44) for 11th all-time in ‘Canes history and two back of Brady Block and Juha Metsola (45) for a share of ninth all-time.
Hot Special Teams: The ‘Canes power play and penalty kill have been key since Christmas. Lethbridge’s power play has scored a goal in 11 of the 20 games going 16-for-68 (23.5%) in that span. The ‘Canes are 22-for-84 (26.2%) in their last 25 games. Meanwhile, the penalty kill has been sharp having killed 66 of their last 76 power plays against. The Hurricanes PK has gone 75-for-87 (86.2%) in their last 32 games.
Miggy-Wiggy: Sophomore forward Miguel Marques enters tonight with points in 24 of his last 34 games having collected 44 points (18g-26a). The Prince George, BC, product has recorded 50 points (21g-29a) in his last 38 games while he leads the team in assists (40) and points (65) while sitting 2nd in goals (25). He was ranked 33rd among NA skaters by Central Scouting. He’s on pace for 30 goals and 78 points this year.
NHL Ink: Hurricanes defenceman Noah Chadwick signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs on December 22nd. The Saskatoon, SK, product was a sixth-round (185th overall) selection by the Leafs in the 2023 NHL Draft. He became the first ‘Cane since Dylan Cozens (BUF) to sign an ELC deal. Chadwick has recorded 46 points (11g-35a) in 55 games with the Hurricanes this season. He is four points shy of becoming the first ‘Canes defenceman to record 50+ points in a season since Alex Cotton (67) and Calen Addison (52) accomplished the feat during the 2019-2020 regular season.
