CanesCast - Lethbridge Hurricanes Fan Site

Face Off Against Cancer

jdschroeder — Sat, 03 Aug 2013 03:35:02 +0000

On September 6th and 7th, the Enmax Centre will play host to a 24 hour hockey game to raise funds for the Canadian Cancer Society. CanesCast and the Lethbridge Hurricanes will both be involved in this game as I (Josh) will be playing in the game, while Hurricane players and coaches will take part as coaches (Drake, if you’re reading this, go easy on me!).

You can support the cause by making a donation to the Cancer Society.

Donate online now

You can then come on down to the Enmax Centre between 7:00pm on Friday, September 6th and 7:00pm on Saturday, September 7th to cheer on the players who are taking part. You can learn more about the event on the Face Off Lethbridge Facebook page.

Thank you for your support.

Hurricane alumni set to compete for the University Cup

jdschroeder — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 15:14:20 +0000

While the Lethbridge Hurricanes are playing out the regular season stretch this weekend, ~~six~~ seven former Hurricanes will end their hockey season in Saskatoon competing for the top prize in Canadian university hockey: the University Cup.

Closest to home, Jesse Craige (2004-08) and Brennan Yadlowski (2007-10) will be suiting up for the University of Alberta Golden Bears. Canada West's perennial powerhouse, the Bears enter the tournament as the nation’s top ranked team after posting a 23-4-1 record in conference play. They’ll look to cap off their centennial season with a fourteenth national title. Craige provided a healthy contribution of one goal and a team-leading 23 assists in 27 games this season to go along with a whopping +36; all enough to earn him Canada West top defenceman and first team all-star honours. Yadlowski played in five conference games as a freshman.

Also representing Canada West are Cody Smuk (2008-09) and the host University of Saskatchewan Huskies. The Huskies were second best in the conference this season with a 19-8-1 record, falling to the Golden Bears in the Canada West finals. Like the Bears, Saskatchewan are well stocked with former WHL talent, including a freshman class that includes the likes of Jimmy Bubnick and Brandon Herrod. Smuk chipped in with four goals and four assists this season.

Edit: As Esther has pointed out to me in the comments, I’ve neglected to include Saskatchewan’s Michael Kaye (2002-06). The fifth year forward tallied eight points in fifteen games for the Huskies in conference play this season and previously made a trip to the University Cup tournament with USask in 2008. My apologies for the omission.

Justin Leclerc (2005-07) will be on back-up duty for Waterloo who upset the OUA’s west division after posting a 12-11-5 conference record. Since then, the Warriors have become the CIS Cinderella story by going 6-1 in the playoffs and knocking off Lakehead, Western, and Windsor.

Perhaps the most interesting team for Hurricane fans to follow will be the team from the east coast. The University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds feature two former Hurricane captains: Ben Wright and Cam Braes. UNB are a national powerhouse in their own right, having most recently won the University Cup in 2011. They virtually matched U of A’s conference record this season by posting 23 wins and 5 losses, taking the #2 overall ranking. Braes has had a strong freshman campaign, notching eight goals and 14 assists in 26 games to earn a spot on the conference all-rookie team. He has upped his game in the playoffs, leading the Reds in playoff scoring with three goals and six assists in seven games. Wright tallied ten points in 24 games to go along with a +22 in conference play this season.

Don’t be surprised if you see four former Hurricanes in the finals; an Alberta vs. UNB showdown seems like the most likely match-up for Sunday’s championship finale. Best of luck to all the Hurricane alumni who will be competing.

You can follow the University Cup action online at www.cis-sic.tv. Saturday’s games can also be seen on Sportsnet, while Sunday’s title game will be broadcast on Sportsnet ONE.

Day	Time	Away	Home	TV
March 14	12:00	Waterloo	Alberta	www.cis-sic.tv
March 14	6:20	Saskatchewan	UNB	www.cis-sic.tv
March 15	12:00	Loser of Waterloo/Alberta	Saint Mary’s	www.cis-sic.tv
March 15	6:00	Loser of Saskatchewan/UNB	UQTR	www.cis-sic.tv
March 16	12:30	Saint Mary’s	Winner of Waterloo/Alberta	www.cis-sic.tv and Sportsnet
March 16	7:00	UQTR	Winner of Saskatchewan/UNB	www.cis-sic.tv and Sportsnet
March 17	4:30	Championship Game		www.cis-sic.tv and Sportsnet ONE

Canes find family away from home

jdschroeder — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 06:01:28 +0000

It’s just a part of being a junior hockey player. A handful of players are lucky enough to play close to home, and enjoy the support of family and friends at home and the rink. Many more move away at a young age to chase a dream. With so much of the year spent away from home, opportunities to spend time with family can be few and far between. Lethbridge Hurricane players enjoyed one such opportunity this past weekend, welcoming parents and siblings to celebrate Family Day together.

If you ask ten hockey players who has had the biggest impact on their career, nine of them will probably tell you it has been a parent. This comes as no surprise, given the hours of driving, and sitting in cold arenas that hockey parents endure, not to mention the associated financial burden. Hockey is an expensive game, both in terms of time and money, and if a player has gotten as far as the WHL, he has likely enjoyed the support of very dedicated hockey parents. Leaving that familial support behind can be difficult for both the player and his parents.

Such is the case for the Sofillas family, Komnino and Wendi, and their son Michael. “You’re at every practice, every game,” says Wendi, “It’s part of your every day life. When you live far apart, you realize it’s not part of your life anymore, but it’s still his.”

Michael Sofillas is one of three Manitobans currently playing for the Hurricanes

Take a look at the Hurricanes’ roster and you'll see hometowns scattered across the western provinces (not to mention Osby, Sweden). With the exception of Magrath’s Russ Maxwell, Hurricane players are all living at least several hours away from home. For Sofillas, there are fourteen hours separating him from Morden, Manitoba. “You move away and it’s a struggle,” he says. “It’s one of those things, you look forward to it, you know you want to be playing junior hockey in the best junior hockey league in the world, but it’s still tough to leave your family and friends behind.”

Admittedly, staying in touch is easier now than ever before, thanks to the internet. “With Facebook and FaceTime and all the technologies, it's different than the first year when we didn't have any of that,” says Wendi. Niclas Blomqvist, like many parents, watches his sons Albin and Axel by following along on the WHL’s online video service. “Normally we follow them on TV on the internet, so we sit up all night [to watch the game at 3:00 am].” It’s still no substitute for being there, though. “It’s a big difference seeing them live. It’s fantastic.”

Niclas Blomqvist enjoyed the rare opportunity to see son Axel play live last weekend

The distance can seem even farther when injuries are keeping a player out of the line-up, something that the Sofillas family has endured. Reflecting on the time he’s missed to injury Sofillas says, “It’s tough to go through stuff like that without the support of your immediate family.” Was his mom worried? After a telling pause, “I'm a nurse, so a little bit … It was very difficult at first, because you worry about the future, too, not just the moment.” Blomqvist has gone through the same thing. “Moving over [from Sweden] to Canada, and Calgary, and Lethbridge, it’s far. Especially when Albin got injured, you feel it’s far.”

Behind the scenes, the players are taken in by billets. More than just providing a place to live, billets become like adopted families for the players. “[Michael] lives with a wonderful family,” says Wendi, “They treat him like a son, as all the billet families do.”

“They become our second family,” confirms Sofillas, “They definitely make life easy for us when we come here … Hats off to all the billets, because they really do make it easy for you to move away.”

Blomqvist echoes the refrain, calling his sons’ billets fantastic. “They have taken so good care of the boys, and I think they fit in good with the family.”

Wendi and Komnino understand the player-billet dynamic well. “We’ve been billets ourselves for four years,” explains Komnino. “He’s like your own kid.”

The sense of family away from home isn’t limited to the billet household, either. Sofillas finds camaraderie with his teammates. “You’ve got a lot of teammates that support you. We support each other in any way. Personal lives, hockey lives, we’re there for each other.”

Michael Sofillas with teammate and billet brother Lenny Hackman

For one weekend late in the season, though, the players get to enjoy some time catching up with family. “We’re all pretty tense,” says Sofillas. “We’re in a playoff push. It’s good to have them come out and watch us, just relax and spend some time to talk and share some stories of how the year’s going and what they’ve been doing.” For the parents like Wendi Sofillas, it’s a proud moment to see their sons live. “When you come and see them in their rink–this is their home, right?–yeah, there is a pride.”

The players will go back to finding support in their teammates and billet families for the remainder of the season. “It’s tough to be without your family, but you really develop a close second family here,” says Sofillas. But on Family Day? “It’s always nice to see your mom and dad.”

Hurricanes acquire defenceman Simpson

jdschroeder — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 05:12:30 +0000

Pictured: Not Mike Simpson

Rich Preston made his second deal of trade deadline season on Wednesday, adding defenceman Mike Simpson from the Kootenay Ice in exchange for a 5th round pick in the 2013 bantam draft.

Simpson will add some size to the Hurricanes' young defensive corps whose depth has been regularly depleted by injuries this season. The 18 year old native of Semiahmoo, BC measures 6'4", 207 lbs and is playing his second season in the WHL. In 96 career games he has tallied 1 goal and 4 assists along with a -12 and 103 penalty minutes.

The Hurricanes have enjoyed the two-way abilities of young stars Macoy Erkamps and Ryan Pilon this year, and Lenny Hackman has emerged as a dependable own-zone defender, while veteran Dan Johnston has been the stalwart leader of the group. However, a string of injuries late in the first half resulted in Michael Sofillas having to slot in as a defenceman. Given the playoff aspirations of this club, adding depth may be important down the stretch, and the moderate cost of a 5th round pick in a year where the Hurricanes are well stocked with draft picks makes this a smart, if rather unremarkable deal.

Simpson is expected to join the Hurricanes tomorrow.

Merkley dealt to Swift Current

jdschroeder — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 10:16:08 +0000

Trade deadline action is starting to heat up in the WHL, and on Rich Preston got in on the action Monday, trading 17 year old centre Jay Merkley to the Swift Current Broncos in exchange for 19 year old left winger Josh Derko and a 3rd round bantam draft pick.

Superficially it looks as if Swift Current gets the better of this deal, acquiring the younger player with greater offensive upside. As a sophomore this season, Merkley has collected 14 goals and 8 assists in 44 games. Meanwhile, Derko has accounted for 3 goals and 8 assists through 31 games, while adding 68 penalty minutes and a -4 +/-.

Looking for the good in this deal, though, it can be pointed out that, while Merkley has good finishing ability and a good shot when in scoring position, he has shown himself to be a streaky scorer. After seeming to score in bunches early in the season, he has gone 9 games without scoring a goal. By adding Derko, the forward lines get a little bigger, tougher, and more experienced. The presence of a big veteran player could free up some more space and opportunity for other promising young players like Reid Duke.

This trade is a particularly bitter one to swallow for fans, mostly because of the expectations placed on Merkley as a third overall draft pick. It became apparent that he was not living up to that billing though, and unfortunately, the return reflects that. Derko does address a need for size and veteran leadership in the young and fast Hurricanes' line-up, so despite the bad optics of the deal, this is one that could make the Hurricanes a better team in the short term.

The Well was Empty

moemartin — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 05:39:21 +0000

Strong Effort

Thursday nights game against the OilKings had the home town boys put in a strong effort, but not receive any rewards. Shut out 4 - 0, the game was lost more to the play of Brossoit, then to any sort of poor play. It always seemed like the boys were a fraction of a second behind where they needed to be, inspire of showing the effort we were hoping to see from them.

Disallowed

An early heart breaker for the Canes came on the play of Jamal Watson who banged away at the puck in front and put it past the Oil Kings goalie. The play was waved off immediately on the quick whistle from the ref who had called the puck dead an instant before it went in. No review on this one as the call on the ice stood.

Ups and Downs

The boys are having a bit of an up and down run at the moment. Win one lose one. Let's hope they can turn that around and get back to the winning ways we saw in November and December.

Hurricanes inspire the team with the signs of success

huxmeister — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 22:10:02 +0000

Back on the 13th of the month we were lucky enough to attend the unveiling of new signage in and around the locker room of your Lethbridge Hurricanes to honour the rich history of the hockey club, and reflect on the great things that our Alumni have achieved.

It is great to see Caniacs of the past being honoured by the club in this way, but also that it serves to inspire our current roster of talented players to work hard and be proud to wear the Jersey of our beloved hockey club, appreciating that they, as have former players, can achieve great things playing junior hockey in Lethbridge.

View our full set of photos from the event on Flickr

The Hurricanes released the following article after the unveiling ceremony:

Lethbridge, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes proudly unveiled new signage inside and outside their dressing room Thursday that pays tribute to Hurricanes Captains, WHL/CHL award winners, NHL drafted Hurricanes and players who have taken part in the World Juniors, Olympics and Stanley Cup Champions.

The idea came about during last season when the Hurricanes had a game in Moose Jaw and the Coaching staff was given a tour of their new dressing room. Dick Gibson, Chairman Alumni/Hall of Fame Committee also toured Moose Jaw’s facility and thought this would be a great way to honor the Hurricanes and their accomplishments as well as maintain a historical connection to the players who have played for the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

Gibson stated that “it is important that the current players and future players of this franchise are made aware of the history of accomplishments of those who have preceded them. Hopefully this will encourage them to reach for their goals as a player and team member of the Lethbridge Hurricanes.”

A panel honoring the 1997 WHL Champions will be installed at a later date. The panels will be updated each year as more names are added.

Proceeds from the 2012 Lethbridge Hurricanes/Bronco Alumni golf tournament were earmarked for this project.

My favourite element of the signage is a quote above the list of former Lethbridge players who have played in the world juniors, winter games and won the stanley cup comes from no other than 'the Fonz', John Tortorella - "Dare to do what you dare to dream."

Rise of the Planet of the Teddy Bears

moemartin — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 02:03:37 +0000

Big/Brilliant Teddy Bear Contribution

Tonight's teddy bear tally was 4025. Those toys are headed off to tons of needy kids throughout the lethbridge area, and we at CanesCast cannot express how proud we are in the contribution given by this city and team.

No Lapse

The last couple nights have been wild in the Enmax.

Coming off several leads the night before, where the Canes lost to the Tiger's in the shootout. Tonight's game was much more consistent. The Canes kept their foot on the gas for the entire game tonight. Keeping the opposing shots down and the goals flowing they had no trouble holding on to a 6 - 1 lead.

Multiple Contributions

Goals came from multiple sources tonight, representing several lines. Maxwell, Hood, Ramsay(2), Merkley and Yakubowski accounted for The goals. Multiple assists from several players as well. Mckechnie had 3 to lead the charge. A great all around effort tonight should bode well for the a turnaround after a rough few weeks on the road and a tough Friday night loss.

Close to the action

jdschroeder — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 06:13:40 +0000

As you probably know, we take plenty of photos at most of the Hurricanes' home games, and often we'll spend some time shooting from our favourite spot: between the benches. Tonight, Remi Laurencelle just about ended up sharing the box with me.

Ice level is always an adventure!

Tigers claw back from Yak Attack

jdschroeder — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 21:54:34 +0000

The night should have been about Jaimen Yakubowski. The recently honoured WHL player of the week is putting in a strong case for consecutive wins, but despite Yakubowski’s five goal effort, the Hurricanes could not hang on for a victory over their rivals from Medicine Hat.

A night after soundly beating the Edmonton Oil Kings 6-2, things seemed to all be going right for the Hurricanes against the Tigers. Russ Maxwell got things started with a powerplay goal less than seven minutes into the game, followed up by a pair of Yakubowski tallies to give the ‘Canes a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes.

The second period is where things started to get messy, though. The teams traded goals in the opening half of the period before the Tigers took advantage of a Tyler Wong double-minor penalty scoring once on the powerplay and again just after the penalty had expired. The momentum was suddenly completely favouring the Tigers. That is, until Yakubowski got back to work, striking twice more in the final five minutes of the period, including a buzzer beater with 0.3 seconds remaining. Once again it seemed like the Hurricanes had control of the game, up 6-4 through two periods.

Yakubowski added a fifth goal in the third period, but thanks to a pair of late goals from the Tigers, the game was destined for overtime and then a shootout. Maxwell and Yakubowski failed to beat Cam Lanigan in the shootout, while Hunter Shinkaruk and Curtis Valk scored for the Tigers, giving the visitors a wild 8-7 come-from-behind victory.

“It was a tough one for us, lots of ups and downs,” said Yakubowski after the game. “We turned it into a slugfest which we don’t have to do.” The offensive output clearly wasn’t a problem tonight, so the focus is on the team’s collective defence. Yakubowski said, “We’ve got to play better defence and learn how to shut teams’ top lines down.” He acknowledged his accomplishment, but didn’t shy away from shouldering some of the blame for the loss, too. “It felt good to chip in tonight, but at the same time, I was out there for a couple of goals that I should have done a couple of things differently.”

Dan Johnston said it was “a bunch of little things” that caused the Hurricanes to lose control of this one. “A couple of breakdowns in the neutral zone, odd man rushes, lack of having a third guy high. Just a couple mental mistakes put us in a position we didn't want to be in.” As for what needs to change for Saturday night’s game, there was no hesitation from Johnston. “We have to do a better job of reading the rush, and just make sure we're keeping the puck out of the middle and using the glass if we have to.”

The team held an extended meeting behind closed doors after the game. When asked about what was discussed, Yakubowski emphasized accountability among the players. “We’ve all got to be accountable for each other. We all know we’re treated well here playing in Lethbridge and sometimes some of us take that for granted a little too much.” Johnston summarized things concisely, saying, “Pretty plain and simple, we have to be better. Especially in front of Rimms.”

While the defensive play in front of Rimmer was certainly an issue, the possibility that the Hurricanes’ top goalie is feeling the effects of being the busiest goalie in the WHL is now coming to mind. With 1946 minutes played so far this season, Rimmer is nearly 200 minutes clear of fellow workhorse Eetu Laurikainen of Swift Current and Luke Siemens of Prince Albert. Rimmer has also faced 18% more shots than Laurikainen, and is the only WHL goalie with more than 900 saves (1012 saves, in fact, on 1103 shots). While the coaching staff clearly have abundant faith in their veteran goalie, he has started looking overworked in the past few outings.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise if we see Chris Tai make a couple of starts before the Christmas break to let Rimmer get rested up prior to the second half of the season. Perhaps that next start for Tai will come tonight as the Hurricanes entertain the Kootenay Ice on teddy bear night. At the other end of the rink, my money is on Jaimen Yakubowski to bring the bears down. Feed the Yak and he will score.

(What will it take to get this chant started in the Enmax?)