PLAYOFF GAME DAY: Hurricanes Look to Close Out Series Against Wheat Kings at Home in Game 5
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes will look to advance to the second round tonight as they welcome the Brandon Wheat Kings in Game 5 at 7:00pm at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
The Hurricanes (3-1-0-0) had their three-game playoff winning streak end on Wednesday with a 6-4 defeat in Game 4 in Virden to the Brandon Wheat Kings. Brayden Edwards, Brayden Yager, Shane Smith and Jordan Gustafson scored in the defeat while Jackson Unger made 26-saves in the game. Lethbridge has posted a 2-0-0-0 record at home during the playoffs while having gone 25-7-2-0 during the regular season. The ‘Canes have gone 4-0-0-0 against the Wheat Kings at home this year.
The Wheat Kings (1-3-0-0) staved off elimination and avoided the first-round sweep with the 6-4 win on Wednesday at Tundra Oil & Gas Place in Virden. Matteo Michels scored twice while Luke Shipley, Nolan Flamand, Nicholas Johnson and Quinn Mantei scored the others; Ethan Eskit made 38-saves in the start. Brandon ended a nine-game playoff losing streak with the win as they look to force a Game 6 back in Virden on Sunday afternoon.
Tonight will be Game 5 of their first-round best-of-seven series; Lethbridge eliminated Brandon in the fifth game of their second-round meeting during the 2018 WHL Playoffs. 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: 2025-04-04 – LET vs. BRD – GM5
2025 PLAYOFF SERIES: (*If necessary)
Game 1 – Friday, March 28th – 7:00pm MT – Brandon at Lethbridge (6-3 LET)
Game 2 – Saturday, March 29th – 6:00pm MT – Brandon at Lethbridge (4-3 LET)
Game 3 – Tuesday, April 1st – 6:00pm MT – Lethbridge at Brandon (3-1 LET)
Game 4 – Wednesday, April 2nd – 6:00pm MT – Lethbridge at Brandon (6-4 BRD)
*Game 5 – Friday, April 4th – 7:00pm MT – Brandon at Lethbridge
*Game 6 – Sunday, April 6th – 4:00pm MT – Lethbridge at Brandon
*Game 7 – Tuesday, April 8th – 7:00pm MT – Brandon at Lethbridge
2025 PLAYOFF STATS LEADERS:
Goals (3) – Brayden Yager & Leo Braillard
Assists (4) – Vojtech Port
Points (6) – Leo Braillard & Brayden Yager
PIMS (12) – Shane Smith
Plus/Minus (+5) – Carsen Adair
Wins (3) – Jackson Unger
Shutouts (0) – N/A
Save % (.909) – Jackson Unger
Goals Against Average (3.01) – Jackson Unger
REGULAR SEASON vs. WHEAT KINGS: During the regular season, the Hurricanes faced the Wheat Kings on four occasions posting a record of 3-0-0-1. Lethbridge went 2-0-0-0 at home while going 1-0-0-1 in Brandon. The ‘Canes outscored the Wheat Kings 14-7 in the four game season series averaging 3.50 goals per game while allowing 1.75 goals against per game. Lethbridge went 23.1% on the power play while going 80% on the penalty kill and 49.8% in the faceoff circle. The Hurricanes have posted a 78-85-4-2 record with 10 ties against the Wheat Kings all-time in the regular season.
2024-2025 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
October 12th/2024 – at Lethbridge (4-3 LET)
November 11th/2024 – at Brandon (3-0 LET)
February 28th/2025 – at Brandon (4-3 SO BRD)
March 7th/2025 – at Lethbridge (3-1 LET)
2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
October 11th/2023 – at Lethbridge (1-0 OT BRD)
January 20th/2024 – at Brandon (6-0 BRD)
February 9th/2024 – at Brandon (4-1 BRD)
March 8th/2024 – at Lethbridge (4-0 BRD)
2024-2025 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS:
Goals (31) – Brayden Edwards
Assists (57) – Brayden Yager
Points (82) – Brayden Yager
PIMS (92) – Trae Johnson
Plus/Minus (+35) – Logan Wormald
Wins (26) – Jackson Unger
Shutouts (2) – Koen Cleaver & Jackson Unger
Save % (.899) – Jackson Unger
Goals Against Average (3.15) – Jackson Unger
END OF SEASON STREAKING:
– Miguel Marques has points in 8 straight games (4g-5a); 10 of 11 games (5g-6a); 23 of 29 games (14g-24a)
– Jordan Gustafson has points in 2 straight games (1g-2a); 4 of 6 games (5g-2a); 14 of 18 games (14g-8a)
– Brayden Yager has points in 8 of 9 games (2g-9a); 10 of 12 games (2g-13a); 42 of 54 games (23g-57a)
– Brayden Edwards has points in 8 of 9 games (6g-4a); 11 of 13 games (8g-6a); 48 of 65 games (31g-46a)
– Leo Braillard has points in 7 of 9 games (4g-5a); 12 of 16 games (7g-11a); 32 of 53 games (26g-20a)
– Logan Wormald has points in 6 of 7 games (2g-11a); 15 of 19 games (10g-19a); 43 of 56 games (30g-40a)
– Noah Chadwick has points in 3 of 4 games (1g-2a); 7 of 10 games (2g-5a); 40 of 66 games (13g-40a)
– Kooper Gizowski has points in 2 of 5 games (4g); 9 of 15 games (9g-5a); 10 of 18 games (10g-5a)
– Logan McCutcheon has points in 3 of 8 games (1g-4a); 6 of 12 games (2g-8a); 7 of 16 games (2g-9a)
– Shane Smith has points in 3 of 8 games (1g-4a); 4 of 10 games (2g-4a); 10 of 21 games (8g-9a)
NEWS & NOTES:
Game 5’s: The Hurricanes have posted an all-time record of 11-12 in Game 5’s in their WHL post-season history. In 2018, the Hurricanes earned a 3-0 victory over the Wheat Kings in Brandon in their second round series to eliminate the Wheaties. The ‘Canes are 1-2 all-time in Game 5’s against the Wheat Kings.
All-Time Record: In the playoffs, the ‘Canes have posted an all-time record of 89-117 in 206 post-season games in their team history. Lethbridge posted an all-time record of 18-22 in 40 playoff series. The Hurricanes have posted an all-time series record of 14-3 when holding home-ice advantage – a win percentage of .823%. It’s the first time since 2019 Lethbridge has held home-ice advantage in a series.
Wheat Kings & Pretty Things: The ‘Canes will face the Brandon Wheat Kings for the fifth time in their post-season history. The last time the Hurricanes and Wheaties met in the post-season, Lethbridge defeated Brandon in five games (4-1) in the second-round in the 2018 WHL Playoffs. The ‘Canes are 2-2 in the previous four playoff meetings winning the series in 2008 and 2018 while falling in 1994 and 1998.
Playoff Experience: The Hurricanes enter tonight with a total of 323 man-games worth of WHL Playoff experience. The most experienced ‘Cane is Brayden Yager with 44 career post-season games followed by Jordan Gustafson who has appeared in 37 playoff games. By comparison, Brandon has 192 playoff man-games with Marcus Nguyen leading with 42 career games.
Nine-Straight: Hurricanes netminder Jackson Unger suffered his first regulation loss of the post-season in Game 4 to end a stretch of nine-straight playoff wins. The Calgary, AB, product allowed just 20 goals on the 302 shots he’s faced in the nine game streak posting a 2.20 goals against average and a .934 save percentage. The nine-straight wins included Games 6 & 7 of the 2024 Eastern Conference Championship Series, a four-game sweep in the 2024 WHL Championship Series and the first three games this playoff.
All-Stars: The WHL named Hurricanes Captain Noah Chadwick as a First Team All Star while Brayden Yager was named a Second Team All Star. Chadwick finished the regular season with 53-points to rank third among rearguards in the Eastern Conference while Yager ended the year with 83-points finishing fifth among forward in the Eastern Conference in points-per-game.
Cloud-9: The 2025 WHL Playoffs marks the ninth-straight season that the Hurricanes have qualified for the post-season while it will be the eighth-straight playoff that Lethbridge will compete in after the 2020 post-season was cancelled due to COVID. It extends the ‘Canes franchise record for consecutive years in the playoffs. Their previous longest stretch was six-straight years from 1989 to 1994.
This is 40+: The Hurricanes finished the 2024-2025 season with a record of 42-21-3-2 on the year. Lethbridge ended the year with a 25-7-2-0 record at home while going 17-14-1-2 on the road. It marked just the eighth time in team history the ‘Canes recorded 40-or-more victories and their first since 2018-2019. It was also just the sixth time Lethbridge finished with 25-or-more home ice wins in a season. It also marked the 11th time in team history that the Hurricanes eclipsed the 80-point mark during a regular season.
Hot Finish: The ‘Canes finished the season with a 24-7-2-1 record in their final 32 games – a 51-win pace over a 68-game schedule – while collecting a win percentage of .750 in that span. Lethbridge also finished the season going 11-3-1-0 in their final 15 home games while going 12-3-1-1 in their final 17 road games.
Comeback ‘Canes: During the regular season, the Hurricanes finished with the second-most come-from-behind victories when trailing after two periods of play ending the year with a 7-21-2-1 record. Lethbridge was tied with Medicine Hat with the seven wins while Seattle led the league with eight.
PP Rollin’: The ‘Canes power play was red hot in the month of February. Lethbridge went 13/41 in February with a success rate of 31.7%. In their last 24 games, the Hurricanes have gone 26/76 (34.2%) while having scored at least one power play goal in 12 of their last 16 games and 15 of their last 20 outings. Lethbridge’s power play ranked sixth overall in the WHL. The ‘Canes are 2/9 (22.2%) on the power play in the playoffs.
Penalty Killed: In their last 45 games, Lethbridge has allowed the opposition just 19 power play goals with the ‘Canes going 126/145 for a kill percentage of 86.9% in that span. The Hurricanes have allowed just nine power play goals in their last 28 games going 71/82 (86.6%) in those games. They have allowed one-or-less PPG against in 36 of 37 games and 42 of 44 contests. Lethbridge’s penalty kill was ranked first overall. The ‘Canes are 6/12 (75%) on the penalty kill in the playoffs.
