TRADE TREE: The Unfinished Story of Corbin Boes

Goalies are a weird bunch. But as it turns out, when it comes to the Lethbridge Hurricanes, moves they make involving goaltenders seem to have a weird trajectory.

It might be an unintended finale to my last post from last season about the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft, but I've uncovered a bit of a new wrinkle to it.

READ MORE: Revisiting the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft

As you'll recall, the Hurricanes made a few moves surrounding that draft that altered the club with ramifications still being felt today.  In particular, goaltending was the centrepiece, with connections to Liam Liston, Brandon Anderson and Ty Rimmer.  There was also the massive deal before the draft that saw the Hurricanes pick up Corbin Boes from Brandon along with the 17th overall selection for the 6th overall pick. 

The Wheat Kings turned around and used that pick on defenseman Kale Clague, while the Hurricanes would grab Stuart Skinner with their new pick.  So yeah, in retrospect, a blockbuster deal that would change the face of both organizations.

But the saga wasn't really over for the forgotten man in all of that.  The Hurricanes needed the goaltending help right away, so they went after Boes.

"Boes is an experienced goalie, he's a big strong kid and had two strong years with Brandon before being limited by injury last season, but he's bounced back and he'll be ready to go," then-GM Brad Robson said after the trade. 

Boes would go on to play 35 games for the Hurricanes in 2013-2014, but just before the trade deadline, the Hurricanes would pull the trigger on another deal, sending Boes to Portland for Steven Alldridge, the rights to Shane McColgan and a 2nd round pick in the 2014 draft.  

Portland needed some veteran influence to help Brendan Burke, and they were rewarded with a lengthy playoff run, ending in seven-game marathon WHL championship loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings.

As for the Hurricanes, the fruit of that trade hasn't really been fully realized yet. 

You see, Alldridge only played 15 games with the Hurricanes before retiring from hockey, while McColgan didn't report to Lethbridge at all.  

But all wasn't lost on this trade, as that 2nd rounder turned into Zane Franklin, who was taken 43rd overall.  He had a solid year as a 17-year-old last season, picking up five goals, nine assists and 103 penalty minutes in 64 games.  Chances are, he'll be leaned on to be a bigger piece to the puzzle this season.

By The Numbers: Age vs. Maturity

Do birthdays matter when it comes to playing hockey?

It became a bit of a question in my mind when I went down a rabbit hole following a discussion with Jordan about possible topics for the blog and where to take Canes This Week next.  It all started when I took it upon myself to start cataloguing the birthdays of all Lethbridge Hurricanes players since the very first season.

As I wound my way through each roster using both the WHL website as well as HockeyDB, it started becoming clear that some months were way more popular than others.  As it turns out, this was a topic covered by the folks at DUB Network a while back.  So I thought I'd hyper-localize it to the Hurricanes.

Not surprisingly, the numbers jive here too.  The most popular month for players being born was January.  83 of the 530 birthdays I managed to catalogue happen in the first month of the season.

Now this all makes sense, because when it comes to your hockey age, you should (in theory) be a little bigger, a little stronger and a little smarter if you're born in January rather than born in the latter months.  Those growth spurts and the ability to build muscle are very real things.

So here's a breakdown of what I found (keeping in mind my math might be a bit off and I might have missed a player or two while going through the databases), with number of players born in each month and the percentage of the total number of players (530):

January - 83 - 15.66%
February - 55 - 10.38%
March - 59 - 11.13%
April - 71 - 13.39%
May - 55 - 10.38%
June - 31 - 5.84%
July - 40 - 7.54%
August - 45 - 8.49%
September - 30 - 5.66%
October - 24 - 4.52%
November - 19 - 3.58%
December - 18 - 3.40%

There are individual weeks in January and April in particular that have more birthdays in them than the entire month of December.

Here's a couple of more numbers to wrap your head around:

- 66.79% of all players were born in the first six months of the year
- 50.57% of all players were born in the first four months of the year

Even when you break things down according to the Hurricanes training camp roster listed on the website as of September 14th, the trend continues.  The big month is May with five, but we have four each in January and February and three each in March and April.  After that, it's a pretty sharp drop off with two in September and November, one each in July, August, October and December, and none in July.

Does your birthday actually mean you'll be successful though?  Not necessarily.  Just look at the top five point-getters in franchise history.

Jason Ruff - January 27
Shane Peacock - July 7
Nathan Barrett - August 3
Kevin St. Jacques - February 25
Bryan Bosch - August 10

And just in case you're curious: the most prolific birth date in Lethbridge Hurricanes history is April 7th.  According to my files, Clark Polglase (1969), Sean Beswick (1971), Blaine Fomradas (1972), Ivan Vologvaninov (1974), Dave Taylor (1978), Keldon Sanderson (1988), Paul Macdonald (1988) and Dustin Donaghy (1989) were born on that date, making a total of eight.

Makes one wonder if general managers and scouts go into meetings with players to ask when their birthdays are...

#CanesOTD - 30 Years Since Pre-Season Game #1

"If you're talking Memorial Cup or league championship, that's not our goal.  We want to prove we're here (in Lethbridge) to stay and to work hard."

Those were the words from Lethbridge Hurricanes head coach Glen Hawker, ahead of the team's first regular season game in team history.

The history of the club is a mystery to no one.  After hosting the Broncos from 1974 to 1986, the club was moved to Swift Current.  The WHL took a one-year hiatus from the 'Bridge, before moving the Calgary Wranglers ahead of the 1987-1988 season.

This week marks the 30-year anniversary of the team's first pre-season game.

Listen to the first episode of the season, including the audio version of this blog, below.



TRAINING CAMP

The Hurricanes saw 126 players show up for their initial weekend rookie camp in late-August.  Hawker told the Lethbridge Herald in the Aug. 31, 1987 edition that he was expecting somewhere between 70 and 100 to show up.

"We had to scramble a little bit, but we had accommodations," Hawker said.  "The people out here made plans just in case."

"I was very happy with our young players, they were excellent," Hawker continued, not getting specific.  "Those are kids who aren't really eligible to play this year.  We're looking towards the future with them."  

Two weeks later, the Hurricanes had enough of battling each other and were ready for game action.

"Some players are getting the itch to get into a game situation," Hawker said on Sept. 12.  "Some of the younger ones want to get playing while some of the veterans can't wait for the regular season to start."

The plan was to play many of the young players in Medicine Hat against the Tigers, while letting the veterans have the day off.

THE GAME

The trouble was, Hawker didn't get to see and evaluate many of his rookies.

"About 20 players from both teams departed early in the wide-open, fight-filled exhibition contest," Dave Sulz of the Lethbridge Herald reported.  "Each team finished the game with just eight available skaters as a result of game misconducts."

"The game ended in fitting fashion - with a fight following the final horn."

And on Sept. 13, 1987, the final horn blew on the first pre-season game and victory for the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

The final score: Hurricanes 11, Tigers 7.

That's not a typo.  Kelly Ens and Kevin Heise had three-goal games for the Hurricanes, while Bryan Bosch added a pair.  Terry Baustad, Steve Young and Mark Bassen added singles.  The Tigers got goals from  Mark Woolf, Rod Williams, Jason Miller, Kalvin Knibbs, Wayne Hynes and Vince Boe.  It was the start of a 4-0 preseason for the Canes.  But it wouldn't last. 

The difference between the two teams would show during the regular season though, as the Tigers would benefit from the return of several players from NHL camps like Mark Pederson, Rob Dimaio, Dean Chynoweth, Wayne McBean and Mark Fitzpatrick and win their second-straight WHL championship and second-straight Memorial Cup.

The Hurricanes went on to finish their inaugural season in Lethbridge at 28-40-4, just out of the East Division playoff picture.  Bosch led the team in points (55) while Ens paced the team in goals (27).  They were a young team on the rise.  Two years later, the Hurricanes were heading to their first WHL championship.

Humble beginnings need to start somewhere.

3 Burning Questions Heading into 2017-2018

Welcome to the new blog site everyone!

I know we've been pumping out the reposts of last year's favoutes, but I thought it would be good for you to get something fresh to read ahead of the season.  It's still hard to believe summer's almost over and we're getting primed up for some WHL hockey again.  But here we are...

This time of year, everyone likes to be prognosticators and make bold predictions about how their team will fare.  It's always hard to tell how things will shape up though, given it's not until mid-October that you start to see rosters take shape, with players getting over the summer break, plus some coming back from pro camps.  That always leads to some burning questions.  For the Lethbridge Hurricanes, I have three that will need to be answered over the coming weeks:

#1. Who fills the leadership role left behind by Tyler Wong?

This is more than just who will fill the captaincy role now that Wong has graduated.  He was loved in Lethbridge for the things he brought to the table away from the rink, like community appearances and fundraisers.  The captain needs to be a leader, someone who can guide the troops and say the right things in all of the different situations, both on-ice and off, that can galvanize the squad.  So who becomes THE guy this year?

Sometimes, teams will go to a veteran 20-year-old in hopes of having them take on some extra responsibility.  But that can sometimes backfire if that player just doesn't have leadership qualities.  Sometimes, teams will go with a younger player who already has those qualities but that too can backfire if the older players don't buy in.  GM Peter Anholt did tell Canes This Week last season that Jordy Bellerive "will be captain one day".  Will that day happen this season?  Or will they go with an older player like Giorgio Estephan in hopes of elevating his play.  A big decision looms on that front.

A couple of @WHLHurricanes players taking part in #mnwild camp: @Gestephan_9 & @brennanmenell. #CaneTrain #yql #WHL https://t.co/jL6sU6C7CQ

— Canes This Week (@CanesThisWeek) September 6, 2017

#2. Where will the offense come from?

When you take Wong, Zak Zborosky and Matt Alfaro out of the lineup, you take away three of the team's top five scorers (I do understand Zborosky and Alfaro were added late, so I'm counting full season stats here).  That leaves Estephan and Menell, who will likely be big parts of the powerplay (which was ranked 6th in the WHL last season).  You have to believe that Calen Addison will add to his totals, as will Bellerive.  But can youngsters like Jadon Joseph, Zane Franklin and Dylan Cozens make up for some of the offense that will be lost this season?

Speaking of the powerplay, it was operating at around a 24-percent clip during both the regular season and the playoffs.  That'll need to continue if the Hurricanes want a shot at getting back to the final four.  Wong was a major part of that (36 PP points in the regular season).  That production needs to come from somewhere.  Could Ryan Bowen or Alec Baer get more of that opportunity?  That'll be up to Brent Kisio and the coaching staff to decide.

Of course, can't forget about @tylerwong_5 going to @GoldenKnights rookie camp. #WHL #yql https://t.co/P2mDZ7FuTF

— Canes This Week (@CanesThisWeek) September 6, 2017

#3. What did the Hurricanes learn from the Eastern Conference's best?

Sometimes, it takes getting beat by the best to see where you have to be to get to the next level.  The Hurricanes had to go the distance against both Red Deer and Medicine Hat before losing to the Regina Pats in six.  They were the underdogs in that series and while it might have been a bitter pill to swallow, but it also could have proved to be a learning moment for a team that has only been in the playoffs for two consecutive seasons.

With some of their key centrepieces like Bellerive, Calen Addison and Stuart Skinner getting a tad older, the next couple of years might be a window where the Hurricanes could and probably should challenge for a conference or even WHL championship.  This is how teams build for that, is small steps taken over a three- or four-year period.  This year will be a big one in terms of watching the development and it might start with what they noticed in that series with the Pats.

Many other questions will likely pop up in the days ahead as the team gets its final roster put together.  I'm sure you'll hear plenty of them coming up on the first episode of Canes This Week, coming up on Wednesday, September 13th.