GAME DAY: Hurricanes Welcome Hitmen on Fan Appreciation Night
Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes return to the ENMAX Centre tonight at 7:00pm as they welcome the Calgary Hitmen in the second of a home-and-home set on ENMAX Fan Appreciation Night.
The Hurricanes (33-24-3-3) suffered a lopsided 7-1 loss to the Hitmen in the first of the home-and-home on Wednesday. Brayden Edwards scored the lone goal for the Hurricanes while Bryan Thomson made 30-saves in his ninth straight start before being relieved for Koen Cleaver who made his first WHL appearance. Lethbridge enters tonight 3-3-0-0 in their last six games and are 19-9-1-2 at home this season.
The Hitmen (27-27-5-3) enter after earning the 7-1 win over the Hurricanes on Wednesday. Matteo Danis scored four times while Ethan Moore, Oliver Tulk and Riley Fiddler-Schultz added the others; Brayden Peters made 37-saves in the victory. Calgary enters 3-1-0-1 in their last five games while having posted a 15-13-2-0 record away from home this season.
Tonight will be the sixth of seven meetings on the season between the Hurricanes and Hitmen; Lethbridge has posted a 3-2-0-0 record in the first five matchups this year.
Tickets can be purchased by visiting the ENMAX Centre Ticket Centre, the Yates Memorial Theatre Ticket Centre, by calling 403-329-SEAT (7328) or online at www.lethbridgehurricanes.com.
DOWNLOAD GAME NOTES/STATS HERE: 2023-03-17 – LET vs. CGY
VS. HITMEN: Tonight will be the sixth of seven meetings on the season between the Hurricanes and Hitmen. Lethbridge has posted a 3-2-0-0 record against Calgary so far this year. Last season, the Hurricanes posted an impressive 7-1-0-0 record. Lethbridge has posted an all-time record of 83-92-0-5 with six ties against the Hitmen while going 45-43-3-3 with four ties in at the ENMAX Centre.
2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
December 17th/2022 – at LET (7-2 CGY)
January 15th/2023 – at CGY (4-1 LET)
February 15th/2023 – at LET (3-0 LET)
February 25th/2023 – at CGY (4-3 LET)
March 15th/2023 – at CGY (7-1 CGY)
March 17th/2023 – at LET
March 22nd/2023 – at LET
2021-2022 REGULAR SEASON SERIES:
October 1st/2021 – at Lethbridge (9-2 LET)
October 3rd/2021 – at Calgary (4-1 LET)
December 4th/2021 – at Calgary (5-4 OT LET)
December 8th/2021 – at Lethbridge (3-2 SO LET)
January 28th/2022 – at Lethbridge (3-2 OT LET)
February 25th/2022 – at Lethbridge (8-1 CGY)
April 9th/2022 – at Lethbridge (5-1 LET)
April 17th/2022 – at Calgary (3-2 OT LET)
2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS:
Goals (21) – Logan Wormald
Assists (33) – Cole Shepard
Points (52) – Cole Shepard
PIMS (80) – Joe Arntsen
Plus/Minus (+13) – Chase Pauls
Wins (19) – Harrison Meneghin
Shutouts (3) – Bryan Thomson
Save % (.921) – Bryan Thomson
Goals Against Average (2.55) – Bryan Thomson
WHO’S HOT:
– Tyson Zimmer has points in 2 straight games (1g-2a); 3 of 5 games (2g-2a); 7 of 14 games (6g-4a)
– Blake Swetlikoff has points in 2 straight games (2a); 4 of 8 games (3g-4a); 19 of 31 games (12g-18a)
– Joe Arntsen has points in 2 of 3 games (1g-1a); 3 of 5 games (1g-2a); 14 of 22 games (4g-12a)
– Jett Jones has points in 2 of 3 games (1g-1a); 3 of 6 games (1g-2a); 30 of 51 games (16g-26a)
– Chase Pauls has points in 2 of 3 games (1g-1a)
– Tristan Zandee has points in 2 of 4 games (2a); 4 of 8 games (1g-4a); 6 of 11 games (2g-5a)
– Tyson Laventure has points in 3 of 6 games (1g-2a); 4 of 8 games (2g-2a); 21 of 35 games (17g-13a)
– Cole Shepard has points in 3 of 6 games (4a); 4 of 8 games (5a); 13 of 22 games (6g-12a)
– Nolan Bentham has points in 3 of 6 games (4a); 4 of 8 games (5a); 8 of 19 games (1g-9a)
– Brayden Edwards has points in 3 of 6 games (3g-1a); 9 of 15 games (5g-5a)
– Logan McCutcheon has points in 2 of 5 games (1g-3a); 5 of 12 games (1g-6a); 7 of 16 games (2g-7a)
REGULAR SEASON MILESTONE WATCH:
– Chase Pauls is 5 points away from 50 career points
– Nolan Bentham is 8+ points away from 50 career points
– Joe Arntsen is 3 games away from 200 career games
– Joe Arntsen is 22 points away from 100 career points
– Logan Wormald is 20 points away from 100 career points
– Tyson Zimmer is 9 games away from 150 career games
– Blake Swetlikoff is 16 points away from 100 career points
– Tyson Laventure is 6 points away from 100 career points
– Tyson Laventure is 10 games away from 200 career games
NEWS & NOTES:
Thru 63: The Hurricanes enter tonight with a record of 33-24-3-3 (72 points) on the season after 63 games. The ‘Canes are 19-9-1-2 at home while posting a record of 14-15-2-1 on the road. In 2021-2022, Lethbridge had gone 29-30-2-2 after 63 contests. Lethbridge went 5-5-0-1 in February and are 2-3-0-0 in March.
Clinched: The Hurricanes have officially clinched a berth in the 2023 WHL Playoffs. It marks the seventh straight season that the ‘Canes have qualified for the WHL post-season, marking a new franchise record for consecutive playoff appearances. Lethbridge currently sits fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings.
Central Heavy: Lethbridge has five games remaining in the 2022-2023 regular season, all of which will be played against Central Division opponents. The Hurricanes will face the Calgary Hitmen and Red Deer Rebels each twice while the Edmonton Oil Kings once. The ‘Canes are 17-9-1-2 against the division.
30+ Wins: Lethbridge earned their 30th victory of the season on Friday, February 17th against the Brandon Wheat Kings marking the seventh consecutive season (not including the shortened 2021 season) that the ‘Canes have record 30-or-more victories in a year. The seven straight years in the longest stretch in Hurricanes history with 30+ wins – previous long was five years from 1989-90 to 1993-94.
20-Goal Guys: Logan Wormald, Tyson Laventure and Jett Jones have all reached the 20-goal mark this season; Wormald enters with a team-high 21 goals on the season. Cole Shepard has 19 goals while Tyson Zimmer sits with 17 on the year. Last season, the ‘Canes only had three 20+ goal getters, led by Justin Hall who recorded 34-goals.
Strong PK: Entering tonight, the Hurricanes have allowed just 20 power play goals against in their last 31 games having killed 95-of-115 penalties taken in that span for a kill rate of 82.6%. The ‘Canes have not allowed a power play goal against in 17 of their last 31 outings. Lethbridge sits ninth in the WHL in penalty kill percentage this season while holding the third-best home PK in the league.
Third All-Time: Overage netminder Bryan Thomson sits tied for third all-time in victories in Hurricanes history with 56 career wins; Thomson is currently tied with Ryan Hoople for third all-time with 56 victories and just two wins shy of Logan Koopmans who sits with 58 wins – Stuart Skinner is the all-time leader with 88 victories. Thomson is also fifth all-time in games played with 112 appearances.
Faceoff King: Jett Jones enters tonight as the WHL leader in faceoffs taken this season with 1,503 draws taken, averaging 23.9 draws per game. Jones has won 20+ faceoffs in a game four times this season, becoming the first Hurricanes centre-man to accomplish that feat on four occasions since the WHL began tracking faceoffs in 2017, surpassing Jake Leschyshyn and Giorgio Estephan – who both did it twice.
