Hurricanes prove they are for real in battle with Broncos

Hurricanes LW Taylor Ross speeds by Broncos C Giorgio Estephan.

    The Lethbridge Hurricanes didn’t remain in the purgatory of reloading for long.

    After two games in the WHL Eastern Conference championship series, the underdog Hurricanes have given the favoured Swift Current Broncos all they can handle. The Broncos lead the best-of-seven series 2-0 on the strength of two wins in Swift Current. They took Game 1 on Friday 3-2 and Game 2 on Saturday 4-3 in overtime.

    Those two games could have easily gone the other way. Actually, had an early overtime shot by sophomore defenceman Calen Addison been an inch to the left on Saturday night at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex, the Hurricanes would be heading home to play Game 3 at the Enmax Centre on Tuesday at 7 p.m. local time with the series even at 1-1.

    With how the first two games have played out, it could be argued that would have been a just result. The Hurricanes host Game 4 at 7 p.m. local time on Wednesday at the Enmax Centre.

    The Broncos finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 48-17-5-2 record. They made it to the conference final eliminating the Memorial Cup hosting Regina Pats, who finished seventh overall in the regular season with a 40-25-6-1 mark, in a tough seven game series in the first round and taking out the Moose Jaw Warriors, who topped the WHL regular season standings with a 52-15-2-3 record, in a difficult seven game series in the second round.

Hurricanes RW Dylan Cozens poke checks Broncos RW Tyler Steenbergen.

    The Hurricanes finished 16^th overall in the regular season standings with a 33-33-6 mark, and with the WHL utilizing a hybrid format of playing through the division in playoffs, they had an easier bracket to navigate through.

    Lethbridge took out the Red Deer Rebels, who finished 17^th overall in the regular season with a 27-32-10-3 mark, in five games in the first round, and disposed of a tougher Brandon Wheat Kings side, who finished eighth overall in the regular season with a 40-27-3-2 record, in five games in the second round.

    These teams are familiar with each other thanks to the fact Hurricanes general manager Peter Anholt and Broncos head coach and director of player personnel Manny Viveiros, who are both good friends, made a blockbuster deal on Jan. 9 - one day before the WHL’s trade deadline.

    In that trade, the Hurricanes sent overage captain and star centre Giorgio Estephan, star 19-year-old netminder Stuart Skinner and winger Tanner Nagel, who turned 20 in late January, to the Broncos.

Jordy Bellerive has developed into a star for the Hurricanes.

    In exchange, the Broncos sent overage star netminder Logan Flodell, rookie centre Logan Barlage, who turned 17 in early January, sophomore centre Owen Blocker, who turned 18 in late March, sophomore defenceman Matthew Stanley, who turned 20 in early February, a first round selection and a third round selection in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft and a future conditional second round pick in the 2021 WHL Bantam Draft to the Hurricanes.

    Following the Broncos overtime win on Saturday, Viveiros stated his side expected the Hurricanes to be far from a pushover.

    “We’re not surprised with how good Lethbridge is,” said Viveiros. “We knew they are a good hockey team.

    “They have good goaltending, and they are well coached. They are going to give us everything they have to give. If we don’t play well, they can beat us. We have to play as well as we can.”

    When the Hurricanes and Broncos made their trade on Jan. 9, it appeared the Hurricanes had decided to look to the future acquiring younger players and draft picks, while the Broncos were strengthening their roster for a long playoff run this season. As it has turned out, both teams have made a long post-season foray.

    In 2016-17, the Hurricanes had an older roster and posted a 44-21-4-3 record to finish seventh overall in the WHL. They advanced to the Eastern Conference championship series falling in six games to the Regina Pats, who topped the league regular season standings in that campaign with a 52-12-7-1 mark.

Logan Flodell has been stellar in goal for the Hurricanes.

    That Hurricanes team was powered by the exploits of star captain Tyler Wong and star offensive defenceman Brennan Menell, who now plays for Iowa Wild of the AHL. The Iowa Wild are the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild.

    At the moment, the Hurricanes only have six hold overs from their team at this time last year in centres Jordy Bellerive and Jadon Joseph, right-winger Dylan Cozens, and defencemen Addison, Ty Prefontaine and Igor Merezhko.

    In advancing to the conference final this season, the Hurricanes have built an obvious togetherness. They are playing for each other and are intent on doing everything they can to ensure the 2017-18 campaign continues into the WHL Championship series.

    On Friday night, the Hurricanes outshot the Broncos 41-30 in Game 1, and a stellar 39 save performance from Skinner allowed the Broncos to pull out victory. On Saturday night, the Hurricanes outshot the Broncos 39-33 and led 3-2 after the second period. The Broncos scored to force overtime, and Addison rang a shot off the post of the Swift Current goal early in the extra session to almost deliver victory to the Hurricanes.

    Estephan recorded a hat trick that night including the overtime winner to give the Broncos the win.

The Hurricanes plan to celebrate a few more goals in the post-season.

    As far as playing style goes, the Hurricanes appear to be a younger version of the Broncos. Both squads like to get up and down the ice, play with skill and make some big hits.

    The similarities have made the series entertaining to watch.

    The rapid improvement of the Hurricanes, while surprising, doesn’t come as a total shock. Anholt has one of the smartest hockey minds you will find anywhere, and third-year head coach Brent Kisio is one of the circuit’s elite bench bosses.

    If the Hurricanes can win Game 3, this series could still be a long way from being over. Even if the series ends up being a short one, the Hurricanes are poised to go down fighting.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Estephan vaults into Broncos’ penthouse with OT winner

Star centre hopes to avoid one specific doghouse in Lethbridge

The Broncos celebrate Giorgio Estephan’s overtime winner.

    SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. – Giorgio Estephan has his figures crossed that he avoids his girlfriend’s doghouse when he returns to Lethbridge.

    On Saturday night before a sellout crowd of 2,890 spectators at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex, Estephan capped a hat trick performance scoring the winning goal for the Swift Current Broncos at the 9:41 mark of overtime in Game 2 of the WHL Eastern Conference championship series.

    The overage star centre tapped home a midrange shot in the extra session from defenceman Sahvan Khaira to give the Broncos a 4-3 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

    With the win, the Broncos took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 3 is set for Tuesday at 7 p.m. local time at the Enmax Centre in Lethbridge.

Giorgio Estephan had a hat trick for the Broncos on Saturday.

    Estephan spent the first four-and-a-half seasons of his WHL career with the Hurricanes, and he came to the Broncos as part of a blockbuster trade on Jan. 9. His girlfriend is from Lethbridge, and the personable Estephan hopes he doesn’t get into trouble for his performance.

    “I hope she is happy,” said Estephan with a chuckle. “She is from Lethbridge, but I mean, she cheers for both teams.

    “She knows a lot of guys on the team too, so she is a good sport for sure.”

    The Edmonton, Alta., product’s overtime marker concluded a classic back-and-forth playoff encounter. The Broncos took a 2-0 lead by the end of the first period, but the Hurricanes rallied to go ahead 3-2 by the end of the second frame.

    Broncos star Finnish import left-winger Aleksi Heponiemi wired home a shot from the slot on the power play to force a 3-3 tie at the 9:23 mark of the third period.

    Early in overtime, Hurricanes defenceman Calen Addison wired a shot off the post the Swift Current goal.

    That set the stage for Estephan to net his winner.

An ice crew member cleans up Giorgio Estephan’s hat trick hats.

    “It was a hard fought game,” said Estephan. “There was definitely times throughout the game where everybody gets frustrated.

    “I think we stuck with our game plan. We stuck with things that were making us good. You could see at times how good we were rolling.

    “It felt pretty good at the end for sure.”

    The Broncos jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the first period, when Estephan netted his first two goals of the night 55 second apart from each other. He scored the first tally on the power play receiving a pass from Broncos captain Glenn Gawdin across the face of the Lethbridge goal firing the puck into an empty cage.

    On the second goal, Estephan worked a perfect give-and-go with linemate Max Patterson on a rush into the Lethbridge zone to net the second tally.

    The Hurricane stormed back in the second. The visitors picked up their first goal off a positive bounce play, when Hurricanes captain Jordy Bellerive deflected home a shot off Broncos right-winger Tanner Nagel into the Swift Current net.

The Broncos fans cheer one of their team’s goals on Saturday.

    With 4:09 remaining in the second, standout sophomore right-winger Dylan Cozens was chopped down on a break towards the Swift Current net by Broncos star defenceman Colby Sissons and was awarded a penalty shot. On the penalty shot, Cozens roofed a shot to the top left corner of the Swift Current goal to force a 2-2 tie.

    The Hurricanes pulled ahead 3-2 with 1:17 to play in the second, when 18-year-old centre Jadon Joseph popped home a loose puck during a net scramble.

    That set the stage for Heponiemi to tie things up for the Broncos in the third and for Estephan to win it in overtime.

Dylan Cozens scored on a penalty shot for the Hurricanes.

    “We were playing a good game,” said Hurricanes head coach Brent Kisio. “Obviously, (we had) a slow start, but I thought the second and third period we played really well.

    “OT, we have a lot of chances. It is obviously tough, but there was some questionable calls out there especially at the end. They (the officials) just decided to put the whistles away.”

    Stuart Skinner turned away 36 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Broncos. Logan Flodell stopped 29 shots to take the setback in goal for the Hurricanes.

    Broncos head coach and director of player personnel Manny Viveiros was pleased to see Estephan come through with a big outing.

    “He stepped up, and that is why we brought him in with our club like that,” said Viveiros. “He does a lot of stuff for us. He is a great kid in the room and off the ice.

    “On faceoffs, he makes a big difference. He is a real smart player. He knows where to be in certain times, and I am very happy for him.”

Aleksi Heponiemi (#20) celebrates scoring his third period goal.

    The first two games of the series have hurt the Broncos in the injury department. In their 3-2 victory in Game 1 on Friday, Broncos Russian import defenceman Artyom Minulin left with an injury and didn’t dress for Game 2.

    In the first period of Game 2, Gawdin skated gingerly to the bench after being on the receiving end of a hard hit into the boards from a Hurricanes player and didn’t return to the game. Viveiros didn’t rule out either returning for Game 3.

    The bench boss was pleased his club could find a way to be resilient once again.

    “We were fortunate again to get a win tonight, but that is playoff hockey so I’m certainly not going to apologize for that by any means here,” said Viveiros, who Broncos finished second overall in the WHL in the regular season with a 48-17-5-2 record. “I thought we played well in spurts again this evening.

    “At times, myself, I made some mistakes, and they capitalized on it right away. Our guys worked hard. We’re up with a 2-0 lead, and they come back and get three quick goals on us.

Calen Addison almost scored the OT winner for the Hurricanes.

    “I thought our kids responded after the second period. We got back to playing the way we felt we need to play if we are going to have a chance to win this series here. You get into overtime and anybody can win, and we’re just fortunate enough to get that one extra chance.”

    So far in the post-season, the Hurricanes have won all six contests they have hosted at the Enmax Centre. Kisio likes his team’s chances of getting a win in Game 3.

    “Our group doesn’t lack confidence,” said Kisio, who Hurricanes finished 16^th overall in the WHL with a 33-33-6 mark. “We will be fine.

    “We’re going to get back into this series. We’ll go home, and we will get it done.”

The Broncos scramble to get the puck out of the defensive zone.

    Having played at the Enmax Centre for the Hurricanes, Estephan admitted his Broncos are going to be in for a challenge when they take the ice in Lethbridge for Game 3 on Tuesday and Game 4 on Wednesday.

    “I’ve been there and seen what the crowd is capable of,” said Estephan. “They are going to come out buzzing.

    “We have to be able to handle their pressure especially early on in the game and push back as best we can. We all know they are going to come at us. Why wouldn’t they?

The Broncos celebrate their Game 2 victory over the Hurricanes.

  “They’ve been coming at us all series so far. We just have to be prepared to manager their attack.”

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Blades’ Dach will be Hebig’s wingman any time

Kirby Dach (#77) and Cameron Hebig (#9) skate to the bench after a goal.

    Kirby Dach will never say no to the chance to be Cameron Hebig’s wingman.

    On Tuesday, the 16-year-old Dach, who has played extensively at centre for the Saskatoon Blades, was moved to play right wing on a line centred by star overager Cameron Hebig with Brad Goethals filling in at left wing. That moved paid off in spades as that trio combined for four goals and five assists to power the Blades past the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-3 in a WHL regular season clash before 2,628 spectators at the SaskTel Centre.

    “It helps my game a lot,” said Dach, who had a goal and three assists in the win. “It helps me open up the ice, because they know if they give me the puck I am going to give them the puck right back.

Kirby Dach settles the puck down in the offensive zone.

    “That is something that I think I needed for a confidence boost was to play with those guys to start producing points.”

    Hebig had two goals and two assists on Tuesday, while Goethals had a single.

    Dach had some obvious chemistry with Hebig, and that was best shown on the club’s final goal of the night. With the Blades holding a 4-3 lead, Hebig gave the puck to Dach, and Dach dished to back to Hebig, who potted a huge goal to seal the final outcome with 4:35 to play in the third period.

    Blades head coach Dean Brockman put Hebig and Dach on a line together for the third period of Sunday’s 3-2 home ice victory over the Prince Albert Raiders to seal out that game. The bench boss kept those two together on Tuesday hoping the Blades would get an offensive spark, which they did receive.

Cameron Hebig speeds into the offensive zone for the Blades.

    “They know where to put the puck,” said Brockman. “Obviously, they are talented and very skilled. It makes it a very lethal combination.”

    The Blades jumped out to a quick start building a 3-0 lead by the 9:29 mark of the first period. Goethals scored Saskatoon’s first goal popping home a rebound from a wraparound attempt by Hebig.

    Hebig accounted for the Blades second goal and his first of the night, when he converted a setup pass in the slot from Dach during a power-play chance. The surge concluded when 18-year-old right-winger Josh Paterson netted his 10^th goal of the season.

    “I think we had some jump,” said Brockman, whose team is playing their third game over a nine day period. “Obviously, we had our legs.

Hurricanes goalie Stuart Skinner watches Kirby Dach score for the Blades.

    “We stressed a quick start, because we knew we were going to fade. Just with all the games that we’ve had, we needed to jump all over them.”

    Standout 16-year-old rookie centre Dylan Cozens got the Hurricanes on the board scoring at the 2:52 mark of the second period to cut Saskatoon’s lead to 3-1.

    At the 9:35 mark of the second, the Blades jumped in front 4-1 on a spectacular power-play goal from Dach. Dach got in alone in close against Hurricanes star netminder Stuart Skinner, put a toe drag move on the puck stopper and tucked the puck into an empty cage.

    The tally was Dach’s fourth goal of the campaign, and Brockman said the Blades coaches have been encouraging the young rookie to not always look for the pass in the offensive zone.

Dylan Cozens had a goal for the Hurricanes.

    “We’ve been trying to get him to shoot a little more all the time,” said Brockman. “He has to put himself in good spots as well.

    “He is starting to figure that out. He is starting to figure out where teams are going to be consistently. He is finding the holes and good for him.”

    The Hurricanes didn’t go away. Before the second period ended, Hurricanes 17-year-old sophomore defenceman Calen Addison wired home a midrange shot to cut the Blades lead to 4-2.

    At the 3:57 mark of the third, Hurricanes left-winger Jake Elmer knocked home a loose puck in the crease of the Saskatoon goal to further cut the host side’s edge to 4-3. That was as close as the visitors got to evening things up.
    Shortly after Hebig put the hosts up 5-3, Blades Russian import defenceman Mark Rubinchik and Hurricanes left-winger Jordy Bellerive engaged in a short but spirited fight. 

    Nolan Maier, Saskatoon’s hot 16-year-old goalie, turned away 28 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Blades (13-16-2-1). Skinner turned away 36 shots to take the setback in goal for the Hurricanes (14-14-2).

    Blades import defenceman Libor Hajek, who departs Wednesday morning to join the training camp for the Czech Republic’s world junior team, has been impressed by Dach and Maier.

    “Kirby (Dach) scored a nice goal and had a nice pass,” said Hajek, who had an assist and was a plus-two in the plus-minus department in Tuesday’s win. “He helped us lot. Nolan (Maier) in the net was amazing again.

Cameron Hebig (#9) of the Blades is denied a personal third goal of the night.

    “That is future for Blades for sure. They are amazing players. It is nice to watch them.”

    Dach said his game is helped by the fact he has a veteran like Hebig to emulate.

    “He (Hebig) is a great player and a tremendous person off the ice,” said Dach. “He has helped me so much this year just grow and learn about the league and how to hold myself on the ice and how to act off the ice as well in front of the media.

    “He is a great mentor for me to learn from.”

    The Blades return to action on Friday, when they travel to Regina to face the Memorial Cup hosting Pats at 7 p.m. at the Brandt Centre.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.