GAME DAY: Hurricanes welcome Cougars tonight at 7:00pm

Tonight is the final of two meetings between the Hurricanes and Cougars. The ‘Canes dropped the first meeting in Prince George on October 8^th by a 6-2 score. Kord Pankewicz scored his first goal as a Hurricane in that game, while Carter Folk is the only player still on the roster to have collected a point in that game. Jari Erricson led all scorers in the contest with 2g-2a, while Jansen Harkins and Chase Witala each had three points. PG went 1/7 on the power play while the ‘Canes went 0/5. Cougars outshot the Hurricanes 42-27.

Hurricanes Top Scorers:                                                 Cougars Top Scorers:

Tyler Wong: 18G, 17A – 35 points                                   Jansen Harkins: 14G, 39A – 53 points

Jamal Watson: 16G, 15A – 31 points                              Chase Witala: 25G, 21A – 46 points

Giorgio Estephan: 8G, 16A – 24 points                           Josh Connolly: 7G, 32A – 39 points

Kord Pankewicz: 4G, 17A – 21 points                             Brad Morrison: 18G, 18A – 36 points

 

2014-2015 STATS:

Power play (overall): The PP is 27/175 (15.4%)…(home): the PP is 18/93 (19.4%)

Penalty Kill (overall): The PK is 31/175 (82.3%)…(home): the PK is 16/76 (78.9%)

Division Matchups:

Central:  3-13-1-1                East:       6-7-2-0                   BC:         1-6-0-2                   US:         0-2-0-0  

 

Stats Leaders:

Goals (18) – Tyler Wong                                    Assists (17) – Tyler Wong                  Points (35) – Tyler Wong

PIM’s (81) – Andrew Nielsen                            Plus/Minus (-1) – Brady Reagan & Brayden Burke

Wins (8) – Stuart Skinner                                   Shutouts (1) – Stuart Skinner/Jayden Sittler

Save % (.915) – Jayden Sittler                         Goals Against Average (2.89) – Jayden Sittler

Streaks:
Brayden Burke has points in 6 of 7 games (2g-6a)

Giorgio Estephan has points in 5 of 6 games (4g-6a); in 9 of 11 games (7g-11a); in 11 of last 15 (7g-13a)

Tyler Wong has points in 5 of 6 games (5g-1a); in 11 of last 14 games (9g-8a); in 13 of last 17 (10g-9a)

Jamal Watson has points in 8 of 10 games (4g-9a)

Kord Pankewicz has points in 7 of his last 11 games (1g-9a); has 15 points (2g-13a) his last 15 games.

League Leaders:

Stuart Skinner – ranked 11^th in the WHL in save percentage (.906), T-3^rd in SO wins (2), 18^th in minutes played (1460) and 12^th in saves (864)

 

NEWS & NOTES:

Goaltending Solidified: Since being acquired from the Victoria Royals days before the trade deadline for a 7^th round draft choice, Jayden Sittler has solidified the Hurricanes goaltending tandem along with Stuart Skinner. Sittler has started four of five since his arrival, and made a brief appearance in the lone start Skinner made. In his four starts and five appearances with the Hurricanes, Sittler has posted a record of 1-3-0-0, 3.90 goals against average, and a .908 save percentage. Sittler is also the second cousin of NHL Hall of Famer Darryl Sittler.

Superb Special Teams: The Hurricanes PK has been lights out since the turn of the calendar. So far in 2015 the ‘Canes have killed off 31 of the last 33 power plays against (93.9%) in their last 7 games. They’ve also killed off 33 of the last 35 penalties dating back to December 30^th vs. Calgary (94.3%). The Hurricanes PP is 6/31 (19.4%) in the same span.

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 (18), assists (17) and points (35). The Cochrane, AB, product surpassed his previous career high of points (31) set last year in 16 less games. Wong is tied for a league-high 6 first goals. 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 245 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, Tuesday, January 27th at 7pm.