Hurricanes return home to host Warriors tonight
By Dale Woodard on February 15, 2022.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes missed out on a few chances to grab some points in the back half of their Western Hockey League Saskatchewan road swing in a 3-2 loss to the Prince Albert Raiders Saturday and a 4-1 decision to the Saskatoon Blades the night before.
However, during that road trek they did manage to gain one thing.
Specifically, starting goaltender Bryan Thomson, who sat out eight games with a lower body injury while backup Jared Picklyk tended to the crease.
In the spirit of good timing and a good story line, Thomson made his return in his hometown Wednesday night, backstopping the Canes to a 2-1 win over the Moose Jaw Warriors, ensuring his team didn’t return home empty-handed as they get set for the rematch against the Warriors tonight at 7 p.m. at the Enmax Centre.
“The team played really solid defensively in front of me,” said Thomson, who was in goal for the Canes in Saskatoon and Prince Albert and now has a record of 11-15-2-1 with a 3.24 goals against average and a .896 save percentage. “I have them to thank as well. I think I got pretty lucky at times, too, where the puck was just hitting me and I was just getting in the way.
“Obviously, working to get back was the main thing, but also taking care of my body at the same time to get back. For it to be in my hometown and to get a win out there felt pretty good.”
Luck or not, it was enough to grab the Canes the win as the battle for the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference continues as the 18-21-2-1 squad remains tied with the Swift Current Broncos.
Now, the Hurricanes starting goaltender rejoins his team in the dogfight.
“Picks was so good in the absence and kept us in that playoff run and that was a great experience for him, but Thommy is our guy,” said Hurricanes head coach Brent Kisio. “We feel really comfortable with both and Picks is going to play games for us, but Thommy just has that calming influence on our team. He’s been around a lot and played a lot of games for us and we feel like he’s really evolved into a good goaltender.”
On Saturday night in Prince Albert, the Hurricanes outshot the Raiders 46-22, but only Jett Jones and Joe Arntsen were able to find a way past Prince Albert goaltender Tikhon Chaika.
“The Prince Albert game we pretty much dominated, we just couldn’t get enough goals to win that game and a couple of mistakes ended up in our net,” said Kisio. “We were proud of our effort and proud of the way we played. We played a heck of a hockey game.”
The Hurricanes will try to make it two in a row against the 27-17-3-1 Warriors, who boast Lethbridge product and former Hurricane Carl Tetachuk in goal.
Tetachuk, who turned 21 last month, has played the majority of the Warriors’ games this season, posting a 21-10-3-1 record, a .291 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage.
“We just got out on the ice and had a good skate and got our legs back,” said Kisio after practice Monday morning at the Enmax Centre. “It was a long trip home, but there’s a lot of hockey to be played and we have a really good opponent again in Moose Jaw (tonight). After our win there I’m sure they’ll be fired up and ready to play us.”
The Hurricanes have four games in hand on the Broncos in the race for eighth in the East.
“It just makes the games more important against every team, especially the teams who are around us in the standings,” said Thomson. “But we have to make sure we’re winning the games we need to win.”
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