Hurricanes Drop 4-1 Decision to Rebels on Thursday
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes suffered their third-straight loss to open the exhibition season on Thursday with a 4-1 defeat to the Red Deer Rebels at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
Lethbridge wrapped up their home portion of the 2026 WHL Pre-Season against Red Deer in their only match-up in the exhibition season. A total of five Hurricanes made their pre-season debuts in the game in the game including Leif Oaten, Nathan Maloney, Kade Duell, Kai Anderson and Carsen Adair. Lethbridge had a pair of early chances to open the scoring including a Dawson Spence breakaway, but he was unable to lift a shot over the sprawled left pad of Rebels netminder Nathan Salisbury. Quickly after the Spence chance, Cohen Pentney was denied in tight on a centering pass from Tyden Lafournaise as the game remained scoreless past the midway point of the opening period. Red Deer broke the tie at the 13:19 mark when Nolan Schmidt banged home his first of the pre-season to make it 1-0 on a goal-mouth scramble; Grayden Peterson and Owen DeWitt picked up the assists on the goal. Just over two-minutes later, the Hurricanes tied the game when Owen Berge had a pass deflect of a defender and in on a power play to draw even at 1-1; Jake Evans and Nathan Maloney earned the assists on the goal. The Hurricanes were outshot 11-4 in the first period by the Rebels.
Red Deer had a great start to the second period scoring twice in the first 70-seconds. Poul Andersen netted his second of the pre-season in the opening minute giving the Rebels a 2-1 advantage; Cameron Kuzma was credited with the lone assist on the goal. Just 19-seconds later, the Rebels added to their lead as veteran forward Patrick Sopiarz ripped home a long shot that found its way past Oaten putting Red Deer in front by a pair of goals; Luke Jamieson and Jake Missura earned the helpers on the goal. The Hurricanes attempted to push back and had a glorious chance when Pentney was sprung on a breakaway but was denied by the Rebel keeper to preserve a 3-1 contest. Late in the period, the ‘Canes had another great look when Berge rattled a wrist shot off the crossbar as Red Deer held the two-goal lead after forty minutes of play. Shots in the middle frame favoured Red Deer 14-6.
In the third period, the Rebels outshot the Hurricanes 8-6 and would score the lone goal of the period. At the 10:18 mark, Kuzma lifted home a wrist shot over the blocker of Oaten for his second point of the night and second goal of the exhibition season to give Red Deer a 4-1 lead; Paxson Madill and Andersen earned the assists on the goal. The Hurricanes pushed late to cut into the lead as a pair of goal posts from Evans and Will Scott on the same sequence denied Lethbridge their second goal of the game as Red Deer earned the victory which was former ‘Canes head coach Brent Kisio’s first on a Rebels bench.
The teams competed in the no-return overtime period which saw Chace Turchak end the pilot-project extra session on a breakaway just over three-minutes in the period.
The Hurricanes were outshot 33-18 in the contest by the Rebels. Lethbridge went 1/3 with the power play while Red Deer was 0/1 with the extra man.
Three stars of the game were:
1) Rebels – #9 Cameron Kuzma (1 goal, 1 assist)
2) Rebels – #11 Poul Andersen (1 goal, 1 assist)
3) ‘Canes – #29 Owen Berge (1 goal)
The loss for the Hurricanes was their third straight to open the WHL Pre-Season as their record fell to 0-3-0-0 in the exhibition season. Lethbridge’s home record finished with an 0-2-0-0 record in the pre-season schedule.
Lethbridge will end their tune-up season on Sunday afternoon when they visit the Calgary Hitmen at 4:00pm at the Seven Chiefs Sportsplex in Calgary. The Hurricanes will open the 2026-2027 regular season on Friday, September 18th when they welcome the Medicine Hat Tigers at 7:00pm for the Dairy Queen Home Opener at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Yates Memorial Theatre and VisitLethbridge.com Arena Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.visitlethbridgearena.ca.
Season Tickets for the 2026-2027 season, which will mark the Hurricanes 40th Anniversary season in Lethbridge, are now on sale. Premium Season Tickets are also available for an additional $250 per seat. Season Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Yates Memorial Theatre and VisitLethbridge.com Arena Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.visitlethbridgearena.ca.
