GAME DAY: Hurricanes Kick Off 3-in-3
Lethbridge, AB – Tonight will be the final time that the Lethbridge Hurricanes will host their rival Medicine Hat Tigers. It will be the sixth of seven meetings on the season, with the final match up coming tomorrow night in Medicine Hat.
The Hurricanes have won one out of the previous five games this season against the Tigers; their lone victory coming December 27th at the ENMAX Centre, a 6-5 win. The last meeting between the ‘Canes and Tigers came January 27th in Medicine Hat when the Tigers took a 6-3 win.
The ‘Canes are coming off a big 4-3 win in Edmonton on Tuesday night, while the Tigers are coming off a 6-3 defeat to Brandon on Wednesday.
Hurricanes Top Scorers: Tigers Top Scorers:
Tyler Wong: 21G, 21A – 42 points Trevor Cox: 22G, 65A – 87 points
Giorgio Estephan: 12G, 21A – 33 points Cole Sanford: 41G, 38A – 79 points
Jamal Watson: 17G, 16A – 33 points Dryden Hunt: 25G, 40A – 65 points
Kord Pankewicz: 5G, 21A – 26 points Chad Butcher: 16G, 24A – 40 points
2014-2015 STATS:
Power play (overall): The PP is 30/195 (15.4%)…(home): the PP is 21/106 (19.8%)
Penalty Kill (overall): The PK is 37/200 (81.5%)…(home): the PK is 20/94 (78.7%)
Division Matchups:
Central: 5-14-1-1 East: 6-8-2-0 BC: 2-8-0-2 US: 0-2-0-0
Stats Leaders:
Goals (21) – Tyler Wong Assists (21) – Tyler Wong, Kord Pamkewicz & Giorgio Estephan
Points (42) – Tyler Wong
PIM’s (89) – Andrew Nielsen Plus/Minus (E) – Brayden Burke
Wins (9) – Stuart Skinner Shutouts (1) – Stuart Skinner/Jayden Sittler
Save % (.917) – Jayden Sittler Goals Against Average (3.12) – Jayden Sittler
Streaks:
– Kord Pankewicz has points in 2 straight games (2a); in 6 of 7 games (1g-5a); in 12 of his last 17 games (2g-13a); has 20 points (3g-17a) his last 21 games.
– Brayden Burke has points in 2 straight games (1g-1a); in 6 of 7 games (2g-a); in 11 of 13 games (4g-14a)
– Giorgio Estephan has points in 4 of 6 games (4g-5a); in 9 of 12 games (8g-11a); in 13 of 17 games (11g-16a); in 15 of last 21 (11g-18a)
– Tyler Wong has points in 5 straight games (5g-4a); in 9 of 10 games (8g-5a); in 15 of last 18 games (12g-12a); in 17 of last 21 (13g-13a)….. He has also has 5 goals in his last 5 games
– Jamal Watson has points in 10 of 12 games (5g-10a)
– Mike Winther has points in 2 of 3 games (3a)
League Leaders:
Stuart Skinner – ranked 13th in the WHL in save percentage (.903), T-4th in SO wins (2), 19th in minutes (1,600) and 11th in saves (956)
Tyler Wong – ranked 3rd in First Goals (6)
Andrew Nielsen – ranked 10th in Penalty Minutes (89)
NEWS & NOTES:
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 17-year-old Estephan has racked up 29 points (11g-18a) in his last 21 games. A pace that if continued for an entire season would see him rack up 110 points. Estephan has already set career highs in assists (21) and points (33). He is currently tied for a career high with 12 goals.
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 (21), assists (21) and points (42). 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 12 times. He played in his 150th game Jan.17th in Moose Jaw.
Goaltending Solidified: Since being acquired from the Victoria Royals days before the trade deadline for a 7th round draft choice, Jayden Sittler has posted a record of 3-4-0-0, 3.87 goals against average, and a .915 save percentage. Sittler and his family, who are from Red Deer, used to billet for Rebel and now Minnesota Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper. He is also the second cousin of NHL Hall of Famer Darryl Sittler.
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 (7th among draft eligible WHL defenseman), while 17-year-old Kade Jensen came in at #164.
Deadline Deals: The Lethbridge Hurricanes made 12 roster moves leading up to the trade deadline that saw 8 players and 3 drafts picks leave and 6 players and 3 drafts picks come back:
In Via Trade: Johnny Wesley (F)(97), Brady Reagan (D)(97), Scott Allan (D)(96), Jayden Sittler (G)(96), Mike Winther (F)(94), 12th round 2015, 5th round 2016 and cond. 7th round 2017.
In Via Waiver Claim: Florian Baltram (F)(97) – from Seattle.
Out Via Trade: Bryton Sayers (D)(96), Miles Warkentine (F)(96), Lenny Hackman (D)(95), Taylor Cooper (F)(95), Zane Jones (F)(94), 7th round 2015, 5th round 2016, and 8th round 2017.
Out Via Reassignment: Dexter Bricker (F)(95) – Melfort, SJHL; Brett Kitt (F)(96) – Flin Flon, SJHL; Zac Robidoux (G)(96) – Portage, MJHL.
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) have all made their provincial U16 teams to compete at the Canada Winter Games scheduled for February 19th to March 1st in Prince George.
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 248 games played, the franchise record of games played with the Hurricanes is 336 held by Shane Peacock (1989-94)
Roster Age Breakdown: 3 – 20 year olds, 1 – 19 year old, 8 – 18 year olds, 8 – 17 year olds and 2 – 16 year olds. Rookies include (Andrew Nielsen, Jaeger White, Johnny Wesley, Pavel Skumatov, Brayden Burke, Brandon Kennedy, Florian Baltram, Jayden Sittler, and Stuart Skinner)
NEXT GAME: The Hurricanes visit the Medicine Hat Tigers, Friday, February 7th at 7pm.
