Kisio Sets Team Mark For Wins & Some Other Numbers

It has been a very good stretch of games for the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

Winners of their last four games and ten of their last twelve, it’s pretty clear they are quite happy to have forward Dylan Cozens and defenseman Calen Addison back in the fold.

This is a very confident team, as I witnessed firsthand yesterday in their 6-4 win over the Calgary Hitmen. Despite seeing a 4-1 lead crumble, they didn’t seem to lose their cool and came back with a couple of more goals to finish off a wild third period.

And if the chirping back-and-forth between the two teams post-game is any indication, their next meeting on March 1^st at the Scotiabank Saddledome will be a fun one. Maybe we’ll get another playoff series out of them.

A quick look at the leaderboards in the WHL, the Hurricanes sport the 6^th best powerplay and 13^th best penalty kill. Interestingly, the ‘Canes lead the league in shorthanded goals for with 12. Cozens and Oliver Okuliar have three apiece to lead the charge there.

They have the 4^th most potent offense in the league with 210 goals and have done a good job at keeping the puck out of their net, allowing the 9^th fewest goals with 148.

A lot of credit needs to go to coach Brent Kisio and his staff for finding some solid line combinations and defensive pairings that are producing.

Now, speaking of Kisio, he quietly hit a milestone over the weekend. With their 3-1 win over Prince Albert on Saturday at the Enmax Centre, Kisio picked up his 189^th career coaching victory.

That moves him into first place in team history ahead of Bryan Maxwell. A quick search of the team’s all-time coaching records definitely takes you down memory lane.

The top five in the wins department is rounded out by Bob Loucks, Mike Dyck and Rich Preston. You also have names like Rob Daum, Lindsay Hoffard and Mikko Makela. One-year bench bosses like Luc Theoret, Blaine Gailbraith and Rocky Saganiuk. And who could forget Drake Berehowsky, who had 18 wins to his credit in 101 games.

How many more will Kisio add to his name when all is said and done? With 16 games left in the regular season, you have to wonder if this team gets him to 200 in the not-too-distant future, especially the way they’re playing right now.