30 YEARS AGO: Season Opening Loss for Best 'Canes Team Ever

Head coach Bob Loucks wasn't mincing his words as his team opened up the 1989-1990 season on the road in Brandon.

"We just played terrible, no one showed up to play," he told the Lethbridge Herald after a 3-1 loss to the Wheat Kings on September 29, 1989. "It seems like the players have been reading their press clippings on how good they're supposed to be."

The 'Canes actually started the game well, with Bryan Bosch scoring on the powerplay midway through the first period. But then they sat back and watched as the Wheaties scored twice in the second and added the dagger in the third period.

The true storyline of the game was in net, where a couple of future NHLers did battle. Jamie McLennan stopped 42 of 45 shots for the Hurricanes while Trevor Kidd turned away 33 of 34 shots sent his way.

The loss was the first of just 17 the team would suffer during what turned out to be the Hurricanes' best regular season in team history.

About a week later, they made their debut on Sportsplex ice and returned to the team they were expected to be. Dusty Imoo turned aside all 26 shots he faced as they drubbed their rival Medicine Hat Tigers 7-0. Kelly Ens scored twice to lead the offensive charge.

The Hurricanes would go on to post an East Division best 51-17-4 record, nearly 30 points better than the second place Prince Albert Raiders.

That team would also go on to set several WHL scoring records. It featured six players with 100 or more points (Corey Lyons, Wes Walz, Bosch, Mark Greig, Kelly Ens and Jason Ruff), with all six along with Brad Rubachuk scoring 37 goals or more. Lyons and Ens actually had more than 60 goals each while Walz, Greig and Ruff had more than 50.

But believe it or not, they weren't the best team in the Western Hockey League that season. The Kamloops Blazers posted a record of 56-16 to take that title.

That team was led by Len Barrie, who put together a year for the record books, with 85 goals and 100 assists to lead the WHL. Phil Huber, Mike Needham and Brian Shantz also scored more than 100 points while the defense was anchored by Darryl Sydor and Scott Niedermayer.

Fittingly, those two teams would meet in the league final in the spring of 1990. And as we all know, the Hurricanes fell in five games.

Joe's "Interesting" Team 2019-2020

I’m not good at gambling on sports. Just ask Jordan what my record is in fantasy sports. I have a knack for being able to draft what looks like a really good team on paper, and then watch as that team flounders in mediocrity.

Whether it’s specific games or being the seasonal prognosticator, I’ve been historically wrong so often it overshadows the few small victories I’ve had. As a result, I’ve given up on the game of guessing.

That said, I do enjoy taking a shot at specific story lines. My go-to word is “interesting.” We’re getting closer and closer to the start of the WHL regular season so I thought it’d be interesting to look at players from each of the Central Division’s six teams who I think could be difference makers. Six teams in the division, six players on the ice at any given time. Only makes sense that we make this a team. We’ll call it “Joe’s Interesting Team 2019-2020.”

Goaltender – Jack McNaughton – Calgary Hitmen

The Hitmen really struggled out of the gates last season, going 0-6 to start things off and it didn’t look good. Then in a game against Lethbridge, Jack McNaughton stopped 34 of 39 including some highlight reel saves to preserve a 6-5 win. Not pretty, and it’s not like Calgary went on a massive winning streak after that. But it opened a door for the soon-to-be 18-year-old to take over the starter’s role and helped guide his squad to the second round of the playoffs. This team’s expected to be good this year, and it’ll be important for McNaughton to show there is no sophomore jinx.

Defense – Dawson Barteaux – Red Deer Rebels

By the looks of things, the Rebels are heading into a rebuild kind of year, so any kind of stability is going to be welcomed. Barteaux has been the epitome of that, staying consistent on his offensive numbers over the last couple of seasons. The captain almost doubled his shot output though, showing he’s growing in that department and will need to continue that trend as the Dallas Stars’ prospect will also be surrounded by a relatively young group on the blueline as well.

Defense – Dru Krebs – Medicine Hat Tigers

This might be a long-shot, given Krebs is only 16. But he has the bloodlines in the Central Division, given his brothers are Peyton and Dakota, of the Ice and Hitmen, respectively. And he hasn’t disappointed in the preseason either, gathering three assists in three games. The Tigers also don’t have a wealth of veterans on the backend, so Krebs will be one of the many youngsters trying to catch the attention of coach and GM Willie Desjardins, who has always fostered a strong blueline presence.  

Forward – Ben King – Swift Current Broncos

It’s going to be weird for a while to consider the Broncos a part of this division after Kootenay’s move to Winnipeg. That being said, we’ll get the chance to see a little more of the 6’2”, 190 pound 17-year-old this season. He had a really impressive rookie campaign, notching 26 points in 48 games. Just five of those points were goals though, and on 107 shots, the Broncos will be hoping he tickles the twine just a few more times. He did face some injury woes last year as well, so he’ll be looking to put together a full season to get the attention of NHL scouts as well.

Forward – Jake Neighbours – Edmonton Oil Kings

File this one under “no-brainer.” Neighbours is highly-touted as a potential late-first round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft and with good reason. He had 24 points in 47 games in the provincial capital last season, but he turned it up during the playoffs, posting 12 points in 16 games. The former first round bantam pick has come in as advertised, playing with smarts and physicality in the right moments. And with no Trey Fix-Wolansky this season, it’s pretty clear a top line spot for Neighbours is there for the taking. Can he continue his upward trajectory? We’ll see.

Forward – Zack Stringer – Lethbridge Hurricanes

Who doesn’t love a story about a hometown kid making it with the team he grew up watching? I know he’s only 16, but he didn’t look out of place at all. In his eight regular season games, he picked up a goal and three helpers, then became more of a force in that seven-game opening round series against Calgary. Unlike most 15-year-olds in that situation, Stringer wasn’t stapled to the bench and had some big playing time in six games, picking up a goal and two assists while hitting everything in sight. Even Hitmen fans admitted he was fun to watch, and I can only assume Hurricanes fans will be excited to see what he brings to the table over a full season.

Again, I’m not Nostradamus. All I know is that the intrigue heading into opening night will certainly be interesting, and I have no doubt fans are going to be entertained.

TRADE TREE: From Teagan Sacher to Dino Kambeitz (and Alex Cotton)

Welcome back to the blog, everyone!

Hope everyone is getting excited for another WHL season! Plenty to get ready for and with training camps still underway, I didn't want to do any preview-like blogs just in case an unexpected trade or cut happened. That and I'm awful at actually guessing how good a team is going to be from year to year.

When we posted that the blog would be returning on Facebook, we asked for thoughts on possible subjects to talk about. Marissha came through with "the Lethbridge-Victoria trade."

I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm assuming she was talking about last month's deal that saw the Hurricanes send defenseman Nolan Jones to the Royals for forward Dino Kambeitz and a fourth-rounder in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft.

Believe it or not, after a little digging, I discovered Kambeitz has a couple of roundabout connections to Lethbridge prior to him being traded here.

We'll start this trade tree off with Jones. The Hurricanes picked him in the second round, 41^st overall in the 2016 bantam draft. That was actually their pick so that’s kind of where the trade tree ends there.

It's a different story when it comes to Kambeitz. He was selected in the fifth round, 90^th overall by the Royals. It’s actually the second pick of the round and that year, guess who had that pick? 

The Lethbridge Hurricanes.

So how did it get into the hands of the Royals? A little bit of a story here.

Back in November 2013, the Hurricanes needed a goalie. So they sent their fifth round pick in the 2015 draft to Regina for Teagan Sacher. He ended up playing in 22 games for the Canes that season before heading to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Selkirk Steelers.

The fifth-rounder was moved once more in January 2014, when the Pats sent it along with a fifth-rounder in 2016 toVictoria for Isaac Schacher. The journeyman defenseman most recently played with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.

If you think it all ends there? It sure doesn’t. That 5^th round pick in 2016 was actually dealt by the Royals to Lethbridge a year later. The Hurricanes acquired it for Bryton Sayers. What did they do with that pick? They took defenseman Alex Cotton.

So just to recap: a trade six years ago for a goaltender is still having some ramifications for the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

Need a picture? Here's the best I could do.