Don’t mess with the locals
Lethbridge, AB – In front of a noisy westside crowd of just over 750 the Lethbridge Hurricanes triumphed with a 7-3 win over the visiting Red Deer Rebels in WHL preseason action on Tuesday night. Lethbridge local Cason Machacek had a memorable evening notching a career high three points (1G,2A) in the win. Max Ross, another Lethbridge product tallied a goal and an assist while Magrath native Mitch Maxwell (1G,1A), Saskatchewan product Graham Hood and Camrose, Alberta’s own Landon Oslanski (2A) also had two point nights.
Veteran Austin Fyten got the Canes on the board early when he snapped home a top corner laser mid way through the first before Red Deer answered right back off the stick of highly touted NHL Draft Prospect Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The Canes would open the scoring in the second frame when Hood bullied his way through to pull the puck from the corner and fed a pretty feed to rookie defenseman Adam Henry who scored from the top of the faceoff circle. Red Deer answered right back, again within a minute of the Lethbridge goal with the equalizer. Just as things were starting to look bleak for the hometown Hurricanes as they were killing off one of 14 Red Deer power plays on the evening – Machacek, jumped up into the rush, got a nice feed from rookie Michael Sofillas, made his move and roofed a breakaway attempt for a shorthanded goal which seemed to ignite the Canes offence.
Mitch Maxwell, last year’s leading goal scorer for the Canes scored just minutes later – just past the 12 minute mark off an a thread the needle pass from Machacek to give the Canes a 4-2 lead going into the third. Ross then tallied to open the scoring in the third for the Canes before Red Deer would finally answer back on the power play midway through the period. But the Canes would pull away in the final minutes with goals from Hood and newcomer Alex Kuvaev to pull out the 7-3 win.
In what was a spirited affair to say the least, with these Central division rivals combining for 131 penalty minutes with the Canes going 0 for 6 with the man advantage while holding the Rebs to 1 for 14. Both Cane goaltenders had a solid evening with Dylan Tait making 19 stops on 21 shots and Tanner Kovacs making 15 stops on 16 shots.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes would like to thank the U of L Pronghorns for all their support in making this event as success – as well as the fans who came out to support these young hockey players. The 50/50 draw earned just over $600 for donation to the U of L Men’s hockey team – appropriate since three former Hurricanes are currently playing for the Pronghorns – utilizing their WHL scholarships.
Scoring Summary – FINAL
Lethbridge – 7
Red Deer – 3
1st Period
LET – Austin Fyten (Russell Maxwell, Mitch Maxwell) 9:29
RD – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Aaron Borejko) 10:17
2nd Period
LET – Adam Henry (Graham Hood, Ryley Bennefield) 5:30
RD – Tyson Ness (Brett Ferguson, Colin Archer) 6:08
LET – Cason Machacek (Michael Sofillas, Derek Ryckman) SH 12:33
LET – Mitch Maxwell (Cason Machacek, Adam Henry) 14:09
3rd Period
LET – Max Ross (Cason Machacek) 2:39
RD – Josh Cowan (Mason Burr, Colin Archer) PP 9:37
LET – Graham Hood (Max Ross, Landon Oslanski) 17:53
LET – Alex Kuvaev (Landon Oslanski) 18:38
Goaltenders
LET: Dylan Tait, 29:52, 19-21
LET: Tanner Kovacs, 30:08, 15-16
RD: Bolton Pouliot, 60:00, 19-22
