GAME DAY: Hurricanes Look For 3rd Straight Win

Lethbridge, AB – After kicking off a three-in-three weekend Friday night at home with a 4-3 triumph over their Southern Alberta rival Medicine Hat Tigers, the Lethbridge Hurricanes travel to Medicine Hat for a Saturday night showdown at “The Arena”.

Tonight will be the final time ever that the ‘Canes will play at the Medicine Hat Arena. The Hurricanes will look for their third straight win after back-to-back 4-3 victories over the Tigers and Edmonton Oil Kings. The ‘Canes haven’t won in Medicine Hat since March 17th, 2012, a 6-5 shootout victory.

Tune in to ROCK 106 with the pre-game show beginning at 7:15pm, puck will drop at 7:30pm with Dustin Forbes.

Hurricanes Top Scorers:                                                     Tigers Top Scorers:
Tyler Wong: 22G, 21A – 43 points                                      Trevor Cox: 23G, 67A – 90 points
Giorgio Estephan: 13G, 21A – 34 points                            Cole Sanford: 42G, 38A – 80 points
Jamal Watson: 17G, 16A – 33 points                                  Dryden Hunt: 25G, 40A – 65 points
Kord Pankewicz: 5G, 22A – 27 points                                 Chad Butcher: 16G, 24A – 40 points

2014-2015 STATS:
Power play (overall): The PP is 30/198 (15.2%)…(away): the PP is 9/89 (10.1%)
Penalty Kill (overall): The PK is 38/205 (81.5%)…(away): the PK is 17/106 (84%)

Division Matchups:
Central:   6-14-1-1                  East:        6-8-2-0                    BC:          2-8-0-2                    US:          0-2-0-0   

Stats Leaders:
Goals (22) – Tyler Wong                                      Assists (22) – Kord Pankewicz            
Points (43) – Tyler Wong
PIM’s (89) – Andrew Nielsen                                Plus/Minus (+3) – Brayden Burke
Wins (9) – Stuart Skinner                                     Shutouts (1) – Stuart Skinner/Jayden Sittler
Save % (.918) – Jayden Sittler                             Goals Against Average (3.12) – Jayden Sittler

Streaks:
– Tyler Wong has points in 6 straight games (6g-4a); in 10 of 11 games (9g-5a); in 16 of last 19 games (13g-12a); in 18 of last 22 (14g-13a)….. He has also has 6 goals in his last 6 games
– Kord Pankewicz has points in 3 straight games (3a); in 7 of 8 games (1g-6a); in 13 of his last 18 games (2g-14a); has 21 points (3g-18a) his last 22 games.
– Brayden Burke has points in 3 straight games (2g-4a); in 7 of 8 games (3g-11a); in 12 of 14 games (5g-16a)
– Giorgio Estephan has points in 5 of 7 games (1g-5a); in 10 of 13 games (9g-11a); in 14 of 18 games (12g-16a); in 16 of last 22 (12g-18a)
– Jamal Watson has points in 11 of 14 games (5g-11a)

League Leaders:
Stuart Skinner – ranked 13^th in the WHL in save percentage (.903), T-4^th in SO wins (2), 20^th in minutes (1,600) and 12^th in saves (956)
Tyler Wong – ranked 3^rd in First Goals (6)
Andrew Nielsen – ranked 12^th in Penalty Minutes (89)

NEWS & NOTES:

Oh Captain, My Captain: Tonight is the 250^th career game for Hurricanes Captain Jamal Watson. Watson is currently the longest serving active Hurricane. He is in his fourth year with the ‘Canes.

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 30 points (12g-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 goals (13), assists (21) and points (34)

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 (22), assists (21) and points (43). 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 150^th game Jan.17^th in Moose Jaw.

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.

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), 12^th round 2015, 5^th round 2016 and cond. 7^th 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), 7^th round 2015, 5^th round 2016, and 8^th 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 19^th to March 1^st 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 249 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 host the Brandon Wheat Kings, Friday, February 8th at 4pm.