PLAYOFF GAME DAY: Hurricanes Open 2025 WHL Playoffs with Game 1 Against Wheat Kings
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes open the 2025 WHL Playoffs presented by Stringam Law tonight at 7:00pm as they welcome the Brandon Wheat Kings in Game 1 at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
The Hurricanes (42-21-3-2) ended the regular season finishing third in the Central Division and fourth-seed in the Eastern Conference standings amassing 89 points. Lethbridge ended the regular season with a 25-7-2-0 record on home ice while going 17-14-1-2 away from home. The ‘Canes posted a record of 20-4-0-2 against East Division opponents during the regular season while going 3-0-0-1 against Brandon.
The Wheat Kings (38-23-4-3) completed the 2024-2025 campaign as the second-seed in the East Division while finishing fifth in the Eastern Conference standings totaling 83 points. Brandon ended the season with a 19-9-4-2 record at home while going 19-14-0-1 on the road, amassing the second-most road victories among all Eastern Conference opponents. The Wheaties went 1-3-0-0 against the Hurricanes during the regular season while going 9-11-0-0 against Central Division opponents.
Tonight will be the first of the best-of-seven first-round playoff series between the Hurricanes and Wheat Kings. Lethbridge has posted a 2-2 record in four prior post-season meetings with Brandon having won the last two in 2008 and 2018. 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: 2025-03-28 – LET vs. BRD – GM 1
2025 PLAYOFF SERIES: (*If necessary)
Game 1 – Friday, March 28th – 7:00pm MT – Brandon at Lethbridge
Game 2 – Saturday, March 29th – 6:00pm MT – Brandon at Lethbridge
Game 3 – Tuesday, April 1st – 6:00pm MT – Lethbridge at Brandon
Game 4 – Wednesday, April 2nd – 6:00pm MT – Lethbridge at Brandon
*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
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 STATS LEADERS vs. BRANDON:
Goals (4) – Logan Wormald
Assists (3) – Anthony Wilson
Points (6) – Logan Wormald
PIMS (9) – Chase Petersen
Plus/Minus (+5) – Three Players
Wins (2) – Koen Cleaver
Shutouts (1) – Koen Cleaver
Save % (.957) – Koen Cleaver
Goals Against Average (1.50) – Koen Cleaver
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 1’s: The Hurricanes have posted an all-time record of 20-20 in Game 1’s in their WHL post-season history. Last year, Lethbridge suffered a 3-0 shutout loss in Game 1 against the Swift Current Broncos in their first-round playoff match-up. The ‘Canes earned a 5-1 win in Game 1 against the Wheat Kings in their 2018 WHL Playoff series.
All-Time Record: In the playoffs, the ‘Canes have posted an all-time record of 86-116 in 202 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 247 man-games worth of WHL Playoff experience. The most experienced ‘Cane is Brayden Yager with 40 career post-season games followed by Jordan Gustafson who has appeared in 34 playoff games. By comparison, Brandon has 115 playoff man-games with Marcus Nguyen leading with 38 career games.
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.
Locked Down: The Hurricanes ended the regular season as one of the best teams in the WHL when leading a game after two-periods of play finishing the season with a 25-0-1-0 record. Lethbridge, Everett, Prince George and Saskatoon were the only teams to not suffer a regulation loss when leading after two periods. The ‘Canes held the best point percentage, however, going .981 when leading after forty minutes. Lethbridge ended the year with a 35-0-1-1 record when either tied or ahead after two periods of play.
Stingy D: Lethbridge finished the regular season as the fourth-best defensive team in the WHL allowing 2.93 goals against per game, trailing Everett (2.62), Calgary (2.69) and Medicine Hat (2.84). The Hurricanes allowed three-or-less goals in 24 of their final 32 regular season games while allowing two-or-less in 19 of those games. The ‘Canes allowed three-or-less goals in 33 of their last 45 regular season games.
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 ranks sixth overall in the WHL.
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 is ranked first overall.
