GAME DAY: Hurricanes Welcome Tigers in Dairy Queen Home Opener
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes open the 2026-2027 regular season tonight at 7:00pm as they welcome the Medicine Hat Tigers in the Dairy Queen Home Opener at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
The Hurricanes ended the 2026 Pre-Season with a record of 0-4-0-0 after suffering a 7-3 loss to the Calgary Hitmen on Sunday afternoon at the Seven Chiefs Sportsplex. Owen Berge, Oliver Sichtar and Dominick Byrtus scored in the defeat while Koen Cleaver made 32-saves. Lethbridge ended the exhibition season with an 0-2-0-0 record at home and 0-2-0-0 on the road.
The Tigers concluded the 2026 Pre-Season with a record of 3-0-0-1 record. Medicine Hat split the final weekend of the exhibition season with a pair of shootout contests with the Swift Current Broncos – most recently a 3-2 shootout win on Saturday night. Reilly Pickford and Luke Ruptash scored in regulation before Jake Burmis scored the shootout winner; Ben Meyer and Cash Christie combined for 18-saves in the victory. The Tigers were 2-0-0-0 on the road in the pre-season.
Tonight will be the first of eight meetings during the regular season between the Hurricanes and Tigers. Lethbridge posted an 0-2-0-0 record against Medicine Hat in the pre-season while having gone 0-6-2-0 in eight match-ups last year. Tickets for tonight’s game can be purchased by visiting the Yates Memorial or VisitLethbridge.com Arena Ticket Centre’s, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.visitlethbridgearena.ca.
DOWNLOAD MEDIA KIT: 2026-09-17 – LET vs. MH
VS. TIGERS: Tonight will be the first of eight regular season meetings between the Hurricanes and Tigers. Last year, Lethbridge posted an 0-6-2-0 record against Medicine Hat marking the first time in Hurricanes history they were held winless in a season series against the Tigers. The ‘Canes have lost 20-straight games (pre-season, regular season and playoffs combined) to their Highway-3 rivals dating back to the 2024-2025 season. Lethbridge has posted an all-time record of 145-157-8-11 with seven ties against Medicine Hat while having gone 83-65-3-8 with three ties all-time at home against the Tigers.
2026-2027 REGULAR SEASON SERIES:
September 18th/2026 – at Lethbridge
September 19th/2026 – at Medicine Hat
December 12th/2026 – at Medicine Hat
December 30th/2026 – at Medicine Hat
January 2nd/2027 – at Lethbridge
January 8th/2027 – at Lethbridge
March 27th/2027 – at Lethbridge
March 28th/2027 – at Medicine Hat
2025-2026 REGULAR SEASON SERIES:
October 3rd/2025 – at Lethbridge (4-2 MH)
December 27th/2025 – at Lethbridge (5-1 MH)
January 10th/2026 – at Medicine Hat (7-4 MH)
January 31st/2026 – at Medicine Hat (8-4 MH)
February 20th/2026 – at Lethbridge (3-0 MH)
February 21st/2026 – at Medicine Hat (4-3 OT MH)
March 13th/2026 – at Lethbridge (6-3 MH)
March 14th/2026 – at Medicine Hat (6-5 OT MH)
2026 PRESEASON STATS LEADERS:
Goals (2) – Three Players
Assists (1) – 15 Players
Points (3) – Oliver Sichtar
PIMS (11) – Gavin Lesiuk
Plus/Minus (+1) – Five Players
Wins (0) – N/A
Shutouts (0) – N/A
Save % (.875) – Koen Cleaver
Goals Against Average (3.73) – Koen Cleaver
2025-2026 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS:
Goals (23) – Owen Berge
Assists (39) – Easton Daneault
Points (52) – Easton Daneault
PIMS (106) – Gavin Lesiuk
Plus/Minus (+3) – Oli Chenier
Wins (10) – Koen Cleaver
Shutouts (1) – Koen Cleaver & Leif Oaten
Save % (.879) – Leif Oaten
Goals Against Average (4.11) – Leif Oaten
WHO’S HOT (dating back to last season):
– Kade Duell has points in 5 straight games (2g-3a); 8 of 10 games (4g-6a); 16 of 22 games (7g-12a)
– Easton Daneault has points in 6 of 7 games (2g-9a); 9 of 11 games (4g-10a); 19 of 27 games (7g-21a)
– Tyden Lafournaise has points in 4 of 5 games (2g-2a); 5 of 11 games (3g-2a)
– Owen Berge has points in 5 of 7 games (2g-6a); 7 of 11 games (3g-9a); 13 of 20 games (12g-9a)
– Kyle Heger has points in 3 of 7 games (1g-3a); 5 of 10 games (3g-4a); 17 of 33 games (7g-14a)
– Kai Anderson has points in 2 of 7 games (3g-2a); 3 of 11 games (3g-3a); 5 of 16 games (4g-4a)
REGULAR SEASON MILESTONE WATCH:
– Carsen Adair is 16 games away from 150 career games
– Gavin Lesiuk is 4 games away from 100 career games
– Owen Berge is 8 games away from 200 career games
– Owen Berge is 24 points away from 100 career points
NEWS & NOTES:
Home Opener: The Hurricanes open the 2026-2027 regular season – their 40th season in Lethbridge – tonight against the Medicine Hat Tigers. It marks the 24th time the Hurricanes have welcomed the Tigers to open a season and first since the 2022-2023 season when Lethbridge earned a 5-4 victory. The ‘Canes have a record of 13-9-0-1 all-time against Medicine Hat in their home openers. Lethbridge is 23-13-0-1 with two ties in their history in home openers while going 20-17-0-1 with one tie in season opening contests.
The 40th: The ‘Canes are celebrating their 40th anniversary in Lethbridge during the 2026-2027 season. The Hurricanes began playing in the windy city in the 1987-1988 season after the Calgary Wranglers were relocated to Lethbridge. The franchise spans back to the originally Western Canadian Hockey League dating back to 1967 beginning as the originally Winnipeg Jets before changing names to the Winnipeg Club and Winnipeg Monarchs before the franchise moved to Calgary in 1977.
Four-Pack: The ‘Canes ended the 2026 Pre-Season schedule with an 0-4-0-0 record after suffering a 7-3 loss to Calgary on Sunday afternoon at Seven Chiefs Sportsplex. Lethbridge posted a record of 0-2-0-0 on home ice and on the road, including a pair of defeats to the Medicine Hat Tigers.
Balanced Attack: During the 2026 Pre-Season, the Hurricanes had a very balanced offensive attack scoring 10 goals in four games – an average of 2.50 goals per game. Oliver Sichtar led the ‘Canes in exhibition scored with three points (2g-1a) in three games. Of the 36 skaters that dressed for at least one game in the pre-season, 20 players recorded at least one point.
Back from Camp: A quartet of Hurricanes players have returned to Lethbridge after attending National Hockey League Rookie Camps. Logan Stuart and Gavin Lesiuk attended the Washington Capitals Rookie Camp, Dayne Beuker was with the New York Rangers while Kyle Heger participated with the Edmonton Oilers Rookie Camp. Stuart, Lesiuk and Beuker also attended summer development camps with their teams.
Returners: Of the Hurricanes 25-man roster, a total of 16 players are returning from last season, including two goaltenders, six defencemen and eight forwards. Of the 16 players, five of the top-six scorers from last year return for another season including Easton Daneault, Owen Berge, Kade Duell and Kyle Heger.
Top-3: The ‘Canes enter the 2026 Pre-Season schedule with just three overage players on their roster. Owen Berge, Kade Duell and Nathan Maloney return as the three 2006-born players the Hurricanes will carry to begin the season. Of the three, only Maloney sat outside the top-5 in team scoring last year.
New GM: On July 23, the Hurricanes officially announced Barclay Parneta as the club’s new General Manager. Parneta had held the Interim General Manager title since January 2026. He was originally hired by the ‘Canes as a Senior Advisor prior to the 2025-2026 season before overtaking as Interim General Manager following the resignation of Peter Anholt. Parneta previously served as GM of the Vancouver Giants for seven seasons from 2018 until 2025.
