GAME DAY: Hurricanes Entertain Hitmen

Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes play the second of a three-in-three weekend tonight as they welcome the Calgary Hitmen to the ENMAX Centre at 7pm in the first of a back-to-back, home-and-home with the Hitmen.

The ‘Canes are coming off a 5-2 loss last night at home against the Edmonton Oil Kings. Tyler Wong scored his team-leading 26^th goal and 55^th point in the loss while Jamal Watson scored his 24^th goal of the year and team-leading fifth shorthanded goal. Stuart Skinner made 29 saves in the defeat.

Tonight will be the fifth meeting of the season between the Hurricanes and Hitmen, Calgary has won three of the previous four meetings. The last time the two met was January 10^th when Calgary earned a 5-3 win in Lethbridge. The only victory for the Hurricanes came on October 1^st when they picked up a 4-3 shootout decision at the ENMAX Centre.

Hurricanes Top Scorers:                                                                     Hitmen Top Scorers:
Tyler Wong: 26G, 29A – 55 points                                                      Adam Tambellini: 45G, 34A – 79 points
Jamal Watson: 24G, 26A – 50 points                                                  Connor Rankin: 30G, 46A – 76 points
Giorgio Estephan: 21G, 27A – 48 points                                            Travis Sanheim: 14G, 36A – 60 points
Kord Pankewicz: 7G, 33A – 40 points                                                 Chase Lang: 24G, 31A – 55 points

2014-2015 STATS:
Power play (overall): The PP is 41/262 (15.6%)…(home): the PP is 26/136 (19.1%)
Penalty Kill (overall): The PK is 59/280 (78.9%)…(home): the PK is 29/129 (77.5%)

Division Matchups:
Central:   9-17-2-1                  East:        9-11-2-0                  BC:          2-7-0-2                    US:          0-4-1-0

Stats Leaders:
Goals (26) – Tyler Wong                                      Assists (33) – Kord Pankewicz            
Points (55) – Tyler Wong
PIM’s (113) – Devan Fafard                                  Plus/Minus (+4) – Tyler Wong
Wins (13) – Stuart Skinner                                   Shutouts (1) – Stuart Skinner/Jayden Sittler
Save % (.909) – Stuart Skinner                             Goals Against Average (3.51) – Jayden Sittler

Who’s Hot:
– Giorgio Estephan has points in 3 straight games (3g-1a); in 8 of 9 games (5g-4a); in 9 of 12 (7g-5a); has 45 points (20g-24a) in his last 38 games
– Jamal Watson has points in 3 straight games (1g-2a); in 9 out of 13 games (6g-9a); has 33 points (12g-21a) in last 30 games
– Tyler Wong has points in 7 of 8 games (4g-5a); has 39 points (18g-21a) in his last 38 games
– Brayden Burke has points in 3 of 5 games (2g-4a); has 29 points (8g-22a) in his last 30 games
– Mike Winther has points in 9 of 13 games (5g-7a); in 10 of last 15 games (5g-9a); has 15 points (5g-10a) in his last 17 games
– Kord Pankewicz has points in 2 of 4 games (2a); in 12 of 19 games (2g-14a); in 16 of 24 games (3g-17a); has 34 points (5g-29a) his last 38 games.

League Leaders:
Stuart Skinner – ranked 7^th in the WHL in save percentage (.909), T-4^th in SO wins (2), 18^th in minutes (2,209) and 9^th in saves (1,355)
Tyler Wong – ranked T-4^th in First Goals (6)
Devan Fafard – ranked 10^th in Penalty Minutes (113)
Andrew Nielsen – ranked 18^th in Penalty Minutes (101)

NEWS & NOTES:
Skinner Sensational: 16-year-old goaltender Stuart Skinner has been at the top of his game since the beginning of February. The Edmonton product has posted a 5-3-2-0 record in his last nine starts. In his five victories, Skinner has collected a 2.20 GAA and a .948 SV%.

Road Warriors: It’s been a crazy stretch for the Hurricanes having played nine games in nine different cities spanning every State and Province that a WHL team resides. The Hurricanes, over a three week span, had played in Seattle, Portland, Everett, Lethbridge, Red Deer, Brandon, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, and Cranbrook. The ‘Canes logged a total of 6,631 kilometres in a 21-day span. The ‘Canes played just their second home game in a month last night against Edmonton

Pank-You Very Much: Defenseman Kord Pankewicz has been one on quite the roll since mid-December. The 18-year-old defenseman who was acquired from the Brandon Wheat Kings at the start of the year currently sits fourth in Hurricanes scoring. Pankewicz has collected 40 points (7g-33a) and leads the ‘Canes in helpers. In his last 38 games, Pankewicz has scored 34 points (5g-29a).

Oh Captain, My Captain: Fourth year Hurricanes, and first year Captain, Jamal Watson is leading by example with the “C” on his chest. The longest serving Hurricanes is red hot as of late having collected 33 points in his last 30 games. Watson has also set new career highs in goals (24), assists (26), and points (50). He played in his 250^th WHL game (all with the Hurricanes) on Feb.7^th at Medicine Hat.

Beast Mode: Since the beginning of December, Giorgio Estephan has been red hot. Since being placed on a line with Brayden Burke and Tyler Wong, the 18-year-old Estephan has racked up 44 points (20g-24a) in his last 38 games. Estephan has already set career highs in goals (21), assists (27) and points (48). Estephan was ranked 67^th among skaters for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft by TSN’s Craig Button.

Wong-Derful: In his third WHL season, all with the Hurricanes, Tyler Wong is having a career year. The 18-year-old has already set new career highs in goals (26), assists (29) and points (55). The Cochrane, AB, product surpassed his previous career high of points (31) set last year in 16 less games. Wong is third in 6 first goals of a game. He has also opened the scoring for the Hurricanes 13 times. He played in his 150^th game Jan.17^th in Moose Jaw.

Alum in University Cup: The Hurricanes boast seven alumni playing in this weekend’s CIS University Cup in Halifax as Jesse Craige (2005-2008), Josh Derko (2013/14), and Brennan Yadlowski (2007-2011) are competing with the Albert Golden Bears; Philip Tot (2009-2012) and Max Ross (2008-2011) with the Calgary Dinos; Seth Swenson (2013/14) with Guelph Gryphons; and Cam Braes (2007-2012) with UNB Varsity Red.

Central Scouting Midterm Rankings: Two Lethbridge Hurricane defensemen were ranked on the latest NHL Central Scouting Midterm Rankings. 18-year-old defenseman Andrew Nielsen was ranked #69 (7^th among draft eligible WHL defenseman), while 17-year-old Kade Jensen came in at #164.

NHL Camps: Nick Walters signed an Amateur Tryout Agreement with the Columbus Blue Jackets and attended their Prospects Camp in September.

Prospect Watch: Jordy Bellerive, Nick Watson (Team BC); Zane Franklin (Team Alberta); and Brett Davis (Team Manitoba) all represented their provincial U16 teams at the Canada Winter Games held in Prince George in February. Zane Franklin won Silver, while Brett Davis won Bronze.

Jesse Sheen, Jake Ashton, and Ayden Roche-Setoguchi (Calgary Buffaloes); Connor Rokosh (SSAC Athletics); and Barrett Sheen (UFA Bisons) all participated in the Mac’s tournament in Calgary.

Jamal Watson is the longest serving Hurricane on the roster with 265 games played, the franchise record of games played with the Hurricanes is 336 held by Shane Peacock (1989-94)

Roster Age Breakdown:
1994 – 3 – (Walters, Fafard, Winther)
1995 – 1 – (Watson)
1996 – 8 – (Wong, Lindgren, Amson, Folk, Nielsen*, Allan, Pankewicz, Sittler*)
1997 – 9 – (Wesley*, Estephan, Skumatov*, Burke*, Baltram*, Jensen, Reagan, Kennedy*, Kegler*)
1998 – 2 – (White*, Vandervlis*, Skinner*)
*indicates rookie

NEXT GAME: The Hurricanes visit the Calgary Hitmen, Sunday, March 15th at 4:00pm MT.