To say the Lethbridge Hurricanes are part of a WHL marquee matchup, which they are tonight against the Victoria Royals, would have seemed incongruous the past six years.
How does one even begin to fathom the remarkable turnaround orchestrated by the Hurricanes under GM Peter Anholt and head coach Brent Kisio?
This is a franchise, having missed the playoffs the past six seasons on the ice, that was hemorrhaging money off it. Just two years ago, the 鈥機anes endured a dismal 12-win 2013-14 season in which the club reported losses of $1.25 million over the previous two seasons, had top players demanding trades, and had their first-round import draft selection hung up by an IIHF issue stretching from Lethbridge to Belarus and Germany.
The 鈥機anes had hit bottom. It couldn鈥檛 get any worse.
But now here are the suddenly-resurgent Hurricanes, coming into Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre tonight, as the top team in the WHL at 36-12. They have won 10 consecutive games and 16 of their last 17. They have yet to lose in 2016 and have already suprassed the team鈥檚 win totals from each of the past seven seasons.
Victoria is second in points and third in winning percentage in the Western Conference at 29-15-5, making tonight鈥檚 a game that will be noted across the league.
Six of the Hurricanes forwards, including league-leading scorer Brayden Burke with 74 points, are in the top-20 of WHL scoring. That includes 2015 sixth-round Buffalo Sabres draft-pick Giorgio Estephan, the WHL player of the week, who is on a current league-best 14-game scoring streak with 14 goals and 26 points in that stretch.
The Hurricanes鈥� top-ranked power play is scoring at a better than 30-per cent clip.
The Lethbridge goaltending tandem is as stingy as the forward corps is balanced and explosive. Stuart Skinner, 17, has recorded back-to-back shutouts and is riding a 152:24 streak of not having allowed a goal. And he only shares the 鈥機anes crease with a 2.61 goals-against average in 26 games. This is a team that likes to spread things around. Twenty-year-old goalie Jayden Sittler, who played with the Royals last season, has appeared in 28 鈥機anes games with a 2.71 GAA.
鈥淸Anholt and Kisio] have done a good job,鈥� said Royals head coach Dave Lowry, in what may be the understatement of the WHL season.
There is also the rookie scoring battle between Egor Babenko of the Hurricanes and Matthew Phillips of the Royals. These two guys are hardly wet behind the ears. The only moisture involved is the sweat expended by the opposition trying to keep up with these two. Babenko leads all WHL rookies with 57 points, with Phillips second at 52. But the five-foot-six Phillips has the most WHL freshman goals with 26 to the five-foot-nine Russian鈥檚 25.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a cool matchup,鈥� said Phillips.
鈥淸Babenko] has good offensive instincts. I keep up with the stats stuff between games, but I don鈥檛 think about it during games.鈥�
Babenko, however, is a year older. He turns 19 on Feb. 5, and Phillips 18 on April 6.
