GAME DAY: Hurricanes visit Kootenay Ice

The Ice and Hurricanes meet 7 times this season and tonight is the first of those matchups. Lethbridge enters the game coming off an OT loss to Brandon last night while Kootenay dropped their 7^th straight Friday after a 7-3 loss to Red Deer. Lethbridge sits 10^th in the Conference (2 points back of the wildcard spot right now) while the Ice are 6 points back of the Hurricanes. Offensively, Lethbridge continues to be led by Riley Sheen who has 14 points in 16 games and for the Ice, its Jaedon Descheneau who has 12 points.

Last season, with the exception of an 8-1 loss to the Ice back on February 7^th, all games were all close, including a pair of shootouts. The Hurricanes finished last year with a 2 and 4 record against Kootenay. Riley Sheen had the hot hand against the Ice with 7 points (4G, 3A) in their 6 game series. Giorgio Estephan added 2 goals and 3 helpers.

Hurricanes Top Scorers:                                                Ice Top Scorers:

Riley Sheen: 3G, 11A – 14 points                                     Jaedon Descheneau: 7G, 5A – 12 points

Zane Jones: 6G, 5A – 11 points                                         Luke Philp: 4G, 7A – 11 points

Jamal Watson: 7G, 3A – 10 points                                   Zak Zborosky: 4G, 4A – 8 points

Tyler Wong: 6G, 4A – 10 points                                       Levi Cable: 3G, 5A – 8 points

                                               

2014-2015 STATS:

Power play (overall): The PP is 8/66 (12.1%) … (road): the PP 4/33 (12.1%)

Penalty Kill (overall): The PK is 12/68 and ranked 9th (82.4%) … (road): the PK is 5/39 (87.2%)

Division Matchups:

Central: 2-3-0-0                    East: 3-2-1-0                         BC: 0-4-0-1                            US: 0-0-0-0

Stats Leaders:

Goals (7) – Jamal Watson

Points (14), Assists (11) – Riley Sheen

PIM’s (36) – Carter Folk

 

Hot Hand:

Tyler Wong has a 4 game point streak (4G, 2A) and he has points in 8 of his last 9 games (6G, 4A).

Ryley Lindgren (4 assists) has points in 3 of his last 4 games.

 

Milestones:

-First WHL Goal: Andrew Nielsen (Oct. 25^th vs. PA)…Kade Jensen (Oct. 24^th vs. Saskatoon)…Dexter Bricker (Oct. 8^th vs. PG)…Pavel Skumatov (Sept. 19^th vs. Medicine Hat). … Stuart Skinner won his 1^st career WHL game on Oct. 1^st (50 saves). –First Hat Trick: Carter Folk (Oct. 24^th vs. Saskatoon)

-Games: 250 Club – Nick Walters (Oct. 17^th vs. Victoria) … 200 Club – Zane Jones (Oct. 18^th vs. Regina) … 150 Club – Lenny Hackman (Oct. 8^th vs. PG) … Riley Sheen is 6 games from 200

–Points: Club 100 Jamal Watson (Oct. 24^th vs. Saskatoon) and Riley Sheen (Oct. 11^th vs. Kelowna)

 

-In the Crease: 15-year old Stuart Skinner is ranked 4^th in the WHL in saves (373) and is ranked 8^th in the WHL in Save Percentage (.912)

–Jamal Watson is the longest serving Hurricane on the roster with 220 games played, the career record of games played is 336 by Shane Peacock (1989-94)

NEWS & NOTES:

U17 Hockey Challenge Update: 1998 born goalie Stuart Skinner is playing for Canada Team Black at the U17 Hockey Challenge which starts Sunday in Sarnia-Lambton, ON. Pre-tournament action kicked off Friday night with Team Black scoring a 4-3 OT win over Sweden. Skinner played 28:39 and made 8 saves on 9 shots that he faced for a .889 save percentage. The tournament gets underway Sunday with Skinner and Team Black taking on Russia (5:00pm Alberta time).

-Canes Moves: On Oct. 28^th, the Lethbridge Hurricanes announced that 18-year old left winger Steven Alldridge has decided to retire. Acquired ahead of last year’s trade deadline as part of the Corbin Boes trade, Alldridge played 15 games with the Canes before being sidelined with a shoulder injury. He spent the summer rehabbing his injury which continued into this season. The Hurricanes also reassigned right winger Michal Holub to the West Kelowna Warriors in the BCHL. Holub was acquired prior to the 2013 trade deadline which saw Russ Maxwell go to the Seattle Thunderbirds. Holub played 20 games with the Hurricanes registering 1 goal.

NHL’s Watchful Eye: 2^nd year Centre, Giorgio Estephan has caught the eye of the NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau. On the preliminary Draft Watch List for the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, the 6’0, 184 pound native of Edmonton was listed as a WHL “C” skater indicating a 4^th to 6^th round candidate. Estephan was drafted in the 1^st round (4^th overall) by Lethbridge in the 2012 WHL Bantam Draft and last year finished with 24 points (12G, 12A) in 64 games.

NHL Camps: Nick Walters signed an Amateur Tryout Agreement with the Columbus Blue Jackets and attended their Prospects Camp in September where he competed at the NHL Prospect Tournament in Traverse City, Michigan.

By the Numbers: The Canes have 25 on their roster: 2 Goalies, 8 Defencemen and 15 Forwards.

Age Breakdown: 3 – 20 year olds, 5 – 19 year olds, 10 – 18 year olds, 5 – 17 year olds and 2 – 16 year olds. Rookies include (Nikita Milekhin, Pavel Skumatov, Jaeger White, Brandon Kennedy, Andrew Nielsen, Zac Robidoux and Stuart Skinner)

 

Home away from Home: Fans don’t forget to visit Browns Socialhouse for all your Hurricanes action. Never miss a game when the team is on the road. Go to Browns at #30 – 334 University Drive West and enjoy the game!

NEXT GAME: The Hurricanes return home to face the Swift Current Broncos on Friday, November 7^th. Game time is 7:00pm with the pregame show on Rock 106 starting at 6:45.