Hurricanes This Week: December 29th

Mark Your Calendar! On Thursday, February 12^th, 2015, the Lethbridge Hurricanes are excited to announce the return of the Celebrity Dinner & Auction. Our special guest for the 9^th annual event is 4-time Stanley Cup Champion Paul Coffey. Tickets for the event can be purchased from the Hurricanes Office or by calling (403) 328-1986. Individual tickets are $125 while a table (10) is $1,000.

This Week’s Schedule:

Tuesday, December 30^th, 7:00pm @ Calgary Hitmen – The Calgary Hitmen and Hurricanes haven’t played each other since the second week of the 2014-15 season. On September 28^th, Calgary hammered the Canes 9-2 at the Saddledome and three days later, Stuart Skinner made 50 saves (and got his 1^st career WHL win) as the Canes won 4-3 in a shootout. Head to head this season, Terrell Draude has 5 points (1G, 4A) for Calgary while Zane Jones (3G) and Jamal Watson (1G, 2A) each have 3 points.

Friday, January 2^nd, 7:00pm @ Edmonton Oil Kings – It’s the 3^rd of 6 meetings between the Hurricanes and defending Memorial Cup Champion Oil Kings. In their first meeting, it was scoreless through 40 minutes before the teams traded goals in the 3^rd. OT would solve nothing and while Stuart Skinner stopped all 3 shooters he faced in the shootout, Jamal Watson would get the game winner for a 2-1 Canes win. On November 8^th, it was another close game until the 3^rd. Scoreless through 40 minutes for the second time, the first goal came at the 11 minute mark by Edmonton and they’d go on to add 3 more in a span of 9 minutes to shutout the Canes 4-0. Lethbridge was also awarded two penalty shots in the game and was stopped both times.

Saturday, January 3^rd, 7:00pm vs. Red Deer Rebels – These division rivals will also play each other 6 times, but up to now have only faced each other twice with the Rebels winning both game 4-1 and 4-2. Zane Jones has a pair of goals against the Rebels this season while Tyler Wong has a pair of assists.

The week that was:

Saturday / Sunday, December 28^th vs. Medicine Hat Tigers – The Hurricanes won their third straight game with a 6-5 win over the Tigers in the first game after the Christmas break. Zane Jones led all scorers in the game with two goals, and one assist while Jamal Watson had a pair of goals in the win. The Hurricanes went 2/4 on the PP, the Tigers went 1/3. Stuart Skinner made 42 saves in the win.

The next night, the Tigers returned the favor in a big way as the Tigers halted the Canes win streak with an 8-4 loss Sunday. Zane Jones opened the scoring with his team leading 18^th goal, but the Tigers responded and it was tied 1-1 after the opening period. Lethbridge ran into penalty trouble in the 2^nd and the Tigers scored 4 times after outshooting the Canes 20-3 for a 5-2 lead. Five (5) goals were scored in the 3^rd (including 2 from Lethbridge), but tempers flared and a brawl ensued, including the main event between goalies Zac Robidoux and Nick Schneider.  

Practice Schedule:

Monday, December 29^th: 1:30 – 4:00pm

Tuesday, December 30^th: Game Day at Calgary Hitmen (listen in on ROCK 106)

Wednesday, December 31^st: 1:30 – 4:00pm

Thursday, January 1^st: TBD (travel day)

Friday, January 2^nd: Game Day at Edmonton Oil Kings (listen in on ROCK 106)

Saturday, January 3^rd: Game Day vs. Red Deer Rebels, 7:00pm

Stats Leaders:

Goals (17), Points (30) – Zane Jones      Assists (16) – Tyler Wong     PIM’s (56) – Andrew Nielsen

Streaks:
Zane Jones has points in 5 straight games (5g-5a); has points in 7 of last 8 (7g-5a)
Taylor Cooper has points in 4 straight games (1g-6a); has points in 9 of last 10 (5g-8a)
Jaeger White has points in 4 straight games (2g-3a); has points in 6 of last 8 (2g-5a)

Jamal Watson has points in 4 straight games (4g-4a)

Giorgio Estephan has points in 4 straight games (3g-5a)

Tyler Wong has points in 7 of last 10 (4g-8a)

Holiday Hours:

REMINDER: theoffice will be CLOSED from December 20^th through January 4^th, 2015. During this time fans can still purchase tickets online at www.enmaxcentre.ca or by calling the ENMAX Ticket Centre at (403) 329-7328. On January 3^rd, the ENMAX Ticket Office is open from 10:00am to game time.

The Hurricanes will re-open with regular business hours between 9:00am to 4:30pm on Monday, January 5^th, 2015.

News & Notes:

T-9^th All Time: Hurricanes Head Coach and GM Peter Anholt is tied for 9^th all-time in WHL wins. Anholt currently has 453 victories is tied with Bob Lowes. He is one win away from holding sole possession of 9^th.
 

Leadership Changes: On December 9th, the Hurricanes relieved Head Coach Drake Berehowsky of his coaching duties. Berehowsky was the 12^th coach in franchise history and in 101 games posted a record of 18-74-5-4. The next day, it was announced General Manager, Brad Robson was no longer with the organization, but Assistant GM Peter Anholt would take the reins as both Head Coach & GM.

Roster Moves: Twelve (12) days after the Hurricanes announced they had released D-man Griffin Foulk, on Dec.27^th the team announced they traded him to Swift Current for a conditional 8^th round Bantam Pick in 2016. Foulk was acquired from the Seattle Thunderbirds for Adam Henry during the 2013/14 season.

On Dec. 17^th the Hurricanes announced they released rookie forward Nikita Milekhin. The Krasnogorsk, Russia native was selected 3^rd overall in the 2014 CHL Import Draft.

Central Scouting November Players to Watch List: 2^nd year Centre, Giorgio Estephan and Defencemen Kade Jensen and Andrew Nielsen have all caught the eye of the NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau. The November Watch List (released Nov. 20^th) lists all 3 players as WHL “C” skaters indicating a 4^th to 6^th round candidate in the upcoming NHL Draft.

Prospect Watch: Jordy Bellerive, Nick Watson (Team BC) and Zane Franklin (Team Alberta) and Brett Davis (Team Manitoba) have all made their provincial U16 teams to compete at the Canada Winter Games in the new year.

Jesse Sheen, Jake Ashton, and Ayden Roche-Setoguchi (Calgary Buffaloes); Connor Rokosh (SSAC Athletics) and Barrett Sheen (UFA Bisons) are all participating in the Mac’s tournament in Calgary. The tournament runs from Boxing Day until January 1^st. The Buffaloes, Bisons and SSAC were all undefeated through 3 days of competition.

Jamal Watson is the longest serving Hurricane on the roster with 239 games played, the career record of games played is 336 by Shane Peacock (1989-94)