Hurricanes earn weekend sweep

By Dale Woodard on April 14, 2021.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDsports@lethbridgeherald.com

Simply put, Trevor Thurston was not well-liked.

And the defenceman for the Lethbridge Hurricanes wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Hurricanes won the game — and the weekend — courtesy an 8-5 win over the Red Deer Rebels in Western Hockey League play Monday night at the Enmax Centre that followed a 5-2 win Saturday night and a 6-3 decision Friday for a 3-0 weekend.

As for popularity contests? Thurston should probably be kept out of those after spending a large part of the weekend getting under his opponent’s skin.

On Monday, he was a pest that scored as well as Thurston tallied twice to increase his season totals to three goals and four points in 10 games.

Of course, that also includes 27 penalty minutes, 15 of those which were picked up last weekend between the two teams who had ample chances to get a good dislike for one another.

Good thing Thurston loves the hate.

“The hatred is really fun, I enjoy it,” said the six-foot-two, 205-pound defenceman from Delta, B.C. who will turn 19 next month. “I like being in the middle of everything. So getting guys’ faces and always being in the scrum is really nice. It’s fun for me.”

On Monday, Thurston chipped in on the score sheet as well, putting the Hurricanes up 4-3 in the second period and then netting the insurance marker late in the third right after Red Deer’s Ben King made it a one-goal game with 4:14 to go.

“It felt good to come back after not playing four in a row and then doing that,” said Thurston.

“But it’s not just me, it’s the whole team. That whole game was a team game overall and it helped that I was there, too.”

The win pulls the Canes to .500 at 6-6-2-0.

“It’s hard to beat a team three times,” said Hurricanes head coach Brent Kisio. “I thought we did a good job and came out and competed. It doesn’t have to be perfect hockey all of the time. I think we’ve taken a lot of steps. Our skill is looking better and we’re working harder. We’re doing a much better job playing a team game. (Monday’s) game wasn’t perfect, but we got the win and any time you can beat anybody three times in a row it’s a good thing.”

Leading the way in Monday’s goal-fest was leading scoring Justin Hall, who had two goals and three assists skating on a line with Logan Barlage and Liam Kindree, giving him 11 goals and 21 points in 14 games.

“On the ice he’s working hard and obviously he has 11 goals, which is outstanding in 14 games,” said Kisio of Hall.

“He’s earned everything he’s gotten from Day 1. He has been a player who has come in and worked hard and worked his way up the lineup. He’s done a great job developing his skills along the way and his hard work is paying off. It doesn’t always come easy, but he works for what he gets and he leads us.”

Kindree had three assists in Monday’s win and Barlage added two helpers.

“We have a lot of good lines and they were one this weekend that was also very good,” said Kisio. “I think Kindree was a nice complement to add to that line with Barlage and Hall. The three really found some chemistry, impacted the game in a positive way and that’s what we needed.”

Thurston enjoyed seeing the spread out scoring.

“It’s a great vibe,” he said. “Everyone wants everyone to do their best. When one guys scores we’re all happy. When Sal (Salvatore Collora ) scored his first goal we were all pumped when he did it and when Hall got this fifth point, we were pumped, too. It goes down the bench.”

The Hurricanes power play went 2-for-3 Monday night and 7-for-14 over the weekend.

On Monday, they also gave the Rebels eight power plays that the visitors scored twice on.

“Our power play was outstanding,” said Kisio.

“I think it really stepped up in a lot of different ways with some big goals in big moments and that’s what you need. We know our discipline has to be better. It was a mixture of some softer calls and we have to work harder in spots. But a lot of them were deserved penalties and we know, especially in that O-zone, that you can’t take a penalty.”

On Tuesday, the Hurricanes got their updated schedule and their next opponent is the Central Division-leading Edmonton Oil Kings (12-1-0-0), starting Thursday night at 7 p.m,. at the Enmax Centre.

Kisio said those offensive zone penalties will have to come down against the high-powered Oil Kings.

“They’ll make us pay if we take that many.”

There was another stat of note from Monday’s game with Kisio earning his 200th career coaching win.

Kisio was hired as the Hurricanes head coach in 2015.

“From where we started with the culture and Peter (Anholt, Hurricanes general manager) bringing in what he started with the culture, it’s been a lot of fun,” said Kisio. “It’s been a different year without the atmosphere, our building is usually rocking and it’s a big part of why we’ve had success. There has been a lot of hard work done by assistant coaches and Peter and our staff and it’s been nice to see it pay off with a winning culture. We’re just going to try and keep it going.”

There was some disappointing news on the Canadian Hockey League front on Tuesday with the announcement of the cancellation of this year’s Memorial Cup for the second straight year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ontario Hockey League was scheduled to host the 2021 Memorial Cup in either Oshawa or Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

The 2020 Memorial Cup, scheduled to be held in Kelowna, was cancelled last year.

“It’s tough,” said Kisio.

“You want your players to be able to play for the biggest trophies and play for the most you can as a team. It’s always hard when your older guys don’t get that opportunity to possibly experience those moments. But it’s a challenging time right now, there are a lot of other things going on. We’re just lucky to be able to play hockey and try and make the most of it.”

After hosting the Oil Kings on Thursday, the teams head to Edmonton Saturday for a 7 p.m. game time and complete the weekend back at the Enmax Centre on Sunday at 7 p.m.

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