Hurricanes seeking crucial points on home ice

By Lethbridge Herald on February 25, 2026.

Nathan Reiter

Lethbridge Herald

It’s officially crunch time for the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

With just 11 games left on their regular season schedule, Lethbridge (16-38-2-1) sits 11 points back of the Red Deer Rebels for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Hurricanes play host to a pair of teams also trying to make a push for that final playoff spot this week. Lethbridge will host the Moose Jaw Warriors (19-31-5-1) on Wednesday night and the Swift Current Broncos (13-37-3-3) on Friday. The Hurricanes will also hit the road to face the Edmonton Oil Kings on Saturday.

Hurricane head coach Matt Anholt says Lethbridge will need to string some wins together this week to have any shot at making the playoffs.

“(They’re) really critical. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to recognize how important these points are for these three teams, us and those two. I think it all just depends on how we want to show up and play. For example, Moose Jaw, we played them pretty hard this year. Our last game against them was a long time ago. Our roster was a lot different the last time we played them, so I think it’ll be a fun game for our group. I think we’ve been playing pretty well as of late. I know regardless of how the results have went, I’d say we played really well in Red Deer and Edmonton, even though they were losses and then this last game against Med Hat as well. We’re in games right now against top teams.”

Wednesday’s matchup will mark the third of four meetings between the Warriors and Hurricanes this season. The home team has won both matchups this year with the Warriors picking up a 4-2 win in Moose Jaw back on Oct. 24. Lethbridge knocked off Moose Jaw 6-3 back on Nov. 28 at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.

Hurricane assistant captain Owen Berge is especially familiar with the Moose Jaw Warriors. The 19-year-old was originally a third round pick of the Warriors in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft, 57th overall. He was a part of the 2024 WHL championship team for Moose Jaw, helping bring home the first Ed Chynoweth Cup in franchise history. Lethbridge acquired Berge’s services via trade earlier this season.

“It’s definitely exciting for me.” Berge said about facing his former team. “A lot of familiar faces, a lot of friends on that team. It’ll be a fun game and some good competition as well.”

The Hurricanes will look to build on a strong game last Saturday, where they fell 4-3 in overtime to the Medicine Hat Tigers at Co-op Place. Lethbridge trailed 3-0 after the opening twenty minutes and rallied to tie the game late in the third period before Tiger captain Bryce Pickford would score the overtime winner with just 17.7 seconds to go in the extra frame.

Moose Jaw comes into Lethbridge reeling as of late. The Warriors have dropped their last nine contests.

Anholt says Lethbridge played a stronger game Saturday then they did on Friday which they will look to build off.

“Just focus on what makes us right. It’s about being clean and being competitive. I think this last week getting against Medicine Hat really was a tale of two tapes of our compete from Friday to Saturday. It was significantly better on Saturday and we got a better result for that reason. Every night for us, the recipe is the same. We got to compete but we got to be clean. We want to play with the puck, I think Moose Jaw has struggled a little bit lately but they’re still above us in the standings for a reason. It’s on our home ice (and) we got to set the tone.

The Hurricanes have dropped two of their three meetings with the Swift Current Broncos so far this season. The lone win for Lethbridge against the Broncos was an overtime win back on Jan. 2 when Luke Cozens scored the overtime winner. 

Berge says Lethbridge will need to be at their best for both games.

“These games are massive. Obviously, Moose Jaw is ahead of us in the standings, so that’s a big two points if we can get those. Swift is right behind us as well. These are two big games for us, and we got to show up for both of them.”

Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.