PLAYOFF GAME DAY: Hurricanes Visit Warriors in Game 1
Moose Jaw, SK – The Lethbridge Hurricanes open the 2023 WHL Playoffs presented by Stringam Law tonight at 7:00pm in Game 1 of their first-round best-of-seven series against the Moose Jaw Warriors at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
The Hurricanes (36-26-3-3) finished the 2022-2023 regular season as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference standings. The ‘Canes ended the season with a weekend split against the Red Deer Rebels, falling 5-1 last Saturday on the road. Lethbridge finished the season posting a 4-3-0-0 record in their final seven contests. The ‘Canes posted a 15-16-2-1 record away from home this season.
The Warriors (41-24-0-3) ended the regular season in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. Moose Jaw posted a 6-2-0-0 record in their final eight regular season games, ending the regular campaign on Saturday with a 6-3 loss to the Saskatoon Blades. The Warriors recorded a home-ice record of 21-12-0-1 during the regular season.
During the regular season, the Hurricanes posted a 1-3-0-0 record in four games against the Warriors. Lethbridge went 1-1-0-0 at home while going 0-2-0-0 in Moose Jaw. Tonight’s Game 1 can be streamed on WHL Live, watched at Browns Socialhouse in Lethbridge or heard on 106.7 ROCK.
DOWNLOAD GAME NOTES/STATS HERE: 2023-03-31 – LET at MJ – GAME 1
VS. WARRIORS: Tonight is Game 1 of the best-of-seven first round playoff series between the Hurricanes and Warriors. Lethbridge posted a 1-3-0-0 record against Moose Jaw during the regular season, splitting a pair of games at the ENMAX Centre while going 0-2-0-0 on the road.
2023 PLAYOFF SERIES: (* if necessary)
Game 1 – Fri, March 31st, 7:00pm – Lethbridge at Moose Jaw
Game 2 – Sat, April 1st, 7:00pm – Lethbridge at Moose Jaw
Game 3 – Tue, April 4th, 7:00pm – Moose Jaw at Lethbridge
Game 4 – Wed, April 5th, 7:00pm – Moose Jaw at Lethbridge
*Game 5 – Fri, April 7th, 7:00pm – Lethbridge at Moose Jaw
*Game 6 – Sat, April 8th, 7:00pm – Moose Jaw at Lethbridge
*Game 7 – Tue, April 11th, 7:00pm – Lethbridge at Moose Jaw
REGULAR SEASON VS. WARRIORS: During the regular season, the Hurricanes faced the Warriors on four occasions, posting a 1-3-0-0 record. Lethbridge went 1-1-0-0 at home while going 0-2-0-0 on the road. The ‘Canes were outscored 18-14 in the four games (4.50 to 3.50 avg). Lethbridge has posted an all-time regular season record of 85-78-5-1 with six ties while going 32-49-1-1 with five ties all-time in Moose Jaw. Lethbridge is 8-14-1-0 all-time in 23 visits to the Moose Jaw Events Centre.
2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON SERIES:
October 15th/2022 – at Moose Jaw (4-3 MJ)
January 4th/2023 – at Lethbridge (5-3 MJ)
February 1st/2023 – at Lethbridge (4-1 LET)
February 21st/2023 – at Moose Jaw (8-4 MJ)
2022-2023 LET TOP SCORERS vs. MJ:
Blake Swetlikoff – 3G, 2A – 5 points
Joe Arntsen – 2G, 3A – 5 points
Anton Astashevich – 3G, 1A – 4 points
Nine Players – 2 points
2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS:
Goals (22) – Logan Wormald & Tyson Laventure
Assists (35) – Cole Shepard
Points (55) – Cole Shepard
PIMS (90) – Joe Arntsen
Plus/Minus (+11) – Chase Pauls & Tristan Zandee
Wins (19) – Harrison Meneghin
Shutouts (3) – Bryan Thomson
Save % (.919) – Bryan Thomson
Goals Against Average (2.63) – Bryan Thomson
END OF SEASON STREAKING:
– Tristan Zandee had points in 5 straight games (5a); 7 of 9 games (7a); 11 of 16 games (2g-10a)
– Miguel Marques had points in 3 straight games (1g-2a); 4 of 5 games (2g-2a)
– Tyson Zimmer had points in 2 straight games (2g); 6 of 7 games (3g-5a); 11 of 19 games (8g-7a)
– Anton Astashevich had points in 2 straight games (2a); 3 of 4 games (3a)
– Joe Arntsen had points in 4 of 5 games (1g-3a); 6 of 8 games (2g-4a); 18 of 27 games (5g-15a)
– Hayden Smith had points in 2 of 3 games (3g-1a); 3 of 5 games (3g-2a); 5 of 13 games (4g-3a)
– Brayden Edwards had points in 4 of 6 games (2g-5a); 6 of 11 games (4g-6a); 12 of 20 games (6g-10a)
– Noah Chadwick had points in 3 of 5 games (1g-3a); 5 of 12 games (2g-5a)
– Jett Jones had points in 4 of 7 games (2g-2a); 5 of 10 games (2g-3a); 32 of 55 games (17g-27a)
– Tyson Laventure had points in 2 of 5 games (2g-3a); 3 of 7 games (2g-4a); 23 of 40 games (19g-16a)
– Cole Shepard had points in 2 of 4 games (1g-2a); 3 of 6 games (1g-3a); 15 of 26 games (7g-14a)
– Logan Wormald had points in 2 of 3 games (1g-1a); 4 of 9 games (2g-2a); 7 of 14 games (3g-4a)
NEWS & NOTES:
26 Years Later: The Hurricanes will face the Warriors in the first round of the WHL Playoffs for the first time since 1997 when Lethbridge dispatched Moose Jaw in six games in the second round en route to the WHL Championship. This will mark just the third time in history that the ‘Canes and Warriors have met in the post-season with the only other meeting resulting in a five-game series win for Lethbridge in 1991.
Game 1’s: Lethbridge has posted an all-time record of 20-18 in Game 1’s in their WHL post-season history. Last year, the Hurricanes dropped a 4-1 decision to Edmonton in Game 1 of their first-round matchup.
Playoff Experience: The Hurricanes have a total of 60 man-games worth of WHL playoff experience. The most experienced of Hurricanes are Bryan Thomson and Tyson Zimmer who have both appeared in five previous playoff games in their WHL career. Moose Jaw has 172 man-games of playoff experience.
All-Time Record: In the playoffs, the Hurricanes have posted an all-time record of 86-108 in 194 franchise post-season games while posting an all-time series record of 18-20 in 38 previous playoff series. The ‘Canes were swept in the first-round of the WHL Playoffs by the Edmonton Oil Kings in last year’s post-season, marking the ninth time Lethbridge had been swept in a playoff series.
Down the Stretch: The Hurricanes posted a 4-3-0-0 record in their final seven regular season games. In those seven outings, the ‘Canes scored 27 goals, averaging 3.86 goals per game, having scored five-or-more goals in all four of their wins. Lethbridge averaged just 2.96 goals per game during the season.
Seventh Heaven: The 2023 WHL Playoffs marks the seventh straight season the Hurricanes have qualified for the post-season, marking a new franchise record for consecutive playoff appearances. The record surpassed the six straight years Lethbridge made the playoffs between 1988-89 and 1993-94.
35+ Wins: Lethbridge ended the regular season with 36 victories which marked the fifth time in the last seven seasons (not including the shortened 2021 season) that the ‘Canes have reached the 35-win mark. It was the 13th time in team history the Hurricanes reached that plateau. It is also the seventh consecutive season recording 30-or-more wins, the longest stretch in franchise history – previous long was five years consecutively from 1989-90 to 1993-94.
Second All-Time: Overage netminder Bryan Thomson finished his regular season career sitting second
all-time in victories in Hurricanes history with 59 career wins. He surpassed Logan Koopmans for second on March 24th while only trails Stuart Skinner, who is the all-time leader with 88 victories. The Moose Jaw product also finished fifth all-time in games played with 117 appearances.
4 x 20: The Hurricanes finished the 2022-2023 regular season with four players who reached the 20-goal mark. Logan Wormald and Tyson Laventure tied for the team lead with 22 goals while Jett Jones had 21 and Cole Shepard 20. Last season, the ‘Canes only had three 20+ goal getters, led by Justin Hall who recorded 34-goals. It’s the first time since 2019-20 season that the ‘Canes have four-or-more 20-goal scorers; that year the ‘Canes had five led by Dylan Cozens who scored 38-goals.
