Lethbridge might
have more bright days ahead
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| The Hurricanes celebrate scoring a goal in Medicine Hat. |
In some ways, it felt like the Lethbridge Hurricanes playoff
exit was too soon.
Having missed the WHL post-season for the six previous
years, a first round playoff series loss in five games to the Regina Pats would
have seemed like a huge step forward for the Hurricanes at the start of the
2015-16 campaign. It still was considering a couple of years ago at this time
it seemed like there was a death watch surrounding this team after it posted a
12-55-2-3 record in 2013-14.
Things were so bad at times during the playoff drought that
the Hurricanes were having trouble securing a radio broadcast deal at one point,
which is highly unusual for a WHL franchise. There were also times the
Hurricanes existence in Lethbridge was also called into question.
Before the 2014-15 campaign started, a light appeared at the
end of the tunnel, when the Hurricanes hired Peter Anholt as the club’s
assistant general manager. Those that were familiar with the league over an
extended period of time knew that would be an inspired move. If the Hurricanes
went the next step and gave Anholt the keys to drive the car, the move would be
even more inspired, because Anholt was a smart hockey man with the ability to
build confidence in those that had been trampled on.
About half way through the 2014-15 season, the Hurricanes
board of directors did just that naming the veteran bench boss as the team’s
head coach and general manager. The Hurricanes still finished second last in
the league with a 20-44-5-3 mark, but they were no longer pushovers to play
against under Anholt’s guidance.
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| Peter Anholt, left, played a big role helping revive the Hurricanes. |
Anholt used his time behind the bench to gain a better grasp
of what he was dealing with. During the 2015 off-season, he set to work to help
the Hurricanes take another step upwards. Deciding concentrate on the role of general
manager, Anholt made a brilliant decision to hire Brent Kisio as head coach.
Kisio, who was 32-years-old when he joined the Hurricanes,
had spent eight seasons with the Calgary Hitmen mainly as an assistant coach
and finished his tenure in Calgary as an associate coach and assistant general
manager. Kisio was more than ready to run his own team as a head coach.
Under Anholt, the Hurricanes proceeded to put together a
roster that no one expected would create a dream season. The ‘Canes shot out of
the gate and finished first in the WHL’s Central Division for the first time in
19 seasons with a 46-24-1-1 record. They also had spurts where they sat first
in the entire WHL.
With Kisio calling the shots behind the bench, the
Hurricanes played with sound structure and were exciting offensively. The 304
total goals they scored in the regular season were second most in the league.
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| Cory Millette had 34 goals this season for the Hurricanes. |
Red Deer product and 19-year-old defenceman Andrew Nielsen
quarterbacked the power play and piled up 18 goals and 52 assists from the back
end. Russian left-winger Egor Babenko had 29 goals and 40 assists as an
18-year-old rookie in the league.
Overall, the Hurricanes had seven players score 20-or-more
goals. Cory Millette, Ryley Lindgren and Justin Gutierrez rounded out the 20 goal men with 34, 27 and 22 tallies respectively.
In goal, Jayden Sittler, who was in his 19-year-old season,
and 17-year-old Stuart Skinner split time and played well. Sittler posted a
19-14-1 record, a 2.94 goals against average, a .905 save percentage and one
shutout. Skinner was better recording a 27-10-1 record, a 2.73 goals against
average, a .920 save percentage and three shutouts.
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| Brent Kisio worked magic being the Hurricanes bench as head coach. |
After six consecutive seasons of mostly misery, it seemed
like everything was lining up to go right in Lethbridge. Anholt was named the executive of the year and Kisio took home honours the coach of the year for the WHL's Eastern Conference. One had to wonder how
far could this Hurricanes run go. Could they win a WHL title and possibly the
franchise’s first Memorial Cup championship?
In their opening playoff game at home on March 25, the
Hurricanes doubled up the Pats 6-3. From that point, the Pats proceeded to ruin
Lethbridge’s party by winning the next four games to take the series. The
Hurricanes saw their campaign come to an end on April 1 after a 7-2 loss at
home to Regina.
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| Brayden Burke and the Hurricanes have a bright future. |
The playoff elimination doesn’t change the fact that
Lethbridge’s pride has been restored in the Hurricanes. It was common to see
fan buses following the team out on the road.
With the leadership the Hurricanes have in the front office
and behind the bench, Hurricanes fans might want to start planning future road
trips to follow the team besides renewing or purchasing new season tickets. It
is highly likely that the Hurricanes will learn from the playoff loss and write
an inspiring sequel to build on the accomplishments of the 2015-16 campaign.
The ride on the Hurricanes train looks like it is just
beginning.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
