Hurricanes saw on and off ice successes in 2022

By Lethbridge Herald on December 28, 2022.

Herald FILE photo Hurricanes G.M. Peter Anholt

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge Hurricanes had a busy 2022 on and off the ice.

“We kind of did a quiet rebuild and still made the playoffs,” said Peter Anholt, Hurricanes general manager.

“So I was happy with how our team played down the stretch. We played really well down the stretch and made the playoffs. So that was really encouraging to see and we had some really good performances by a lot of young guys.”

The Hurricanes went into the playoffs as the seventh seed and drew the second place Edmonton Oil Kings in the first round, where they were swept in four straight games.

“But, you know, (we)  got some good experience there,” said Anholt.

“I think it was really important.”

A trade  Anholt thought bolstered the team in 2022 was the acquisition of Brayden Edwards from the Winnipeg Ice.

“Because he gives us that centre iceman,” said Anholt.

“That was an important deal for us and he finished off the year pretty good for us. So that was really good.”

The Canes were able to fill an overage spot to begin this season with the addition of Cole Shepard from the Vancouver Giants.

“I think the addition of Shepard has been a really important add for us, just from a standpoint of giving us that dangerous player upfront and on any given night he’s our best player,” said Anholt.

“So you know he can really skate and so he’s been a really good addition for us.”

However, Anholt had noticed the leadership attributes of Jett Jones.

“A guy like Jett Jones has been unbelievable for us,” said Anholt.

“Like he leads by example, he’s hard to play against. So it’s hard to not talk about Jett Jones, even though we didn’t trade for him, we’ve developed him into a player here. Like what he brings to our team is invaluable and he drags guys along with him. I think he’s made (Tyson) Zimmer better,  I think he’s made (Tyson) Laventure better. So those are really important guys.”

The WHL Bantam Draft was held in May and Hurricanes feel they snatched a highly touted defenceman Will Sharpe at 11th overall.

“I think Will Sharpe is going to be a real important player for us over the next number of years,” said Anholt.

“The way he plays, the way he skates.”

The Canes also selected forward Cash Andresen at No.33, who Anholt feels will be a good player for them.

Lethbridge also selected the  No.48 pick in goalie Koen Cleaver, who Anholt thinks is really good,  as well as defenceman Carsen Adair.

The year 2022 marked the last season for forward and leading scorer Justin Hall in a Hurricanes uniform.

“Hallsy is one of those guys, he developed into a really good player for us,” said Anholt.

“He came to us as a 17-year-old. You know we developed him into a player, like he was a marginal player at the start. But he worked at his game and just kept on working at his game to a point that he was a real strong player for us.”

 The Hurricanes sent Miguel Marques, Tristen Doyle and assistant coach Ryan Aasman to the U17 World Hockey Challenge in November  and head coach Brent Kisio got the nod to be assistant coach at the 2023 World Junior.

“Well, I think it’s really important,” said Anholt.

“It just says a lot about what our organization has done over the last number of years.  I think the respect factor around the league, and around hockey in general and with Hockey Canada, I think is very important. But I think the experience that those individuals get from those events is invaluable.”