Hurricanes set for playoff battle with Warriors

By Lethbridge Herald on March 30, 2023.

Herald photo by JUSTIN SEWARD Lethbridge Hurricanes goaltender Harrison Meneghin attempts to make a save on Cole Shepard, as Blake Swetlikoff prepares for the next play during Wednesday’s practice at the Enmax Centre.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

For the first time since 1997, the Lethbridge Hurricanes will face the Moose Jaw Warriors in the WHL playoffs beginning tonight in Saskatchewan.

The Hurricanes finished fifth and the Warriors finished ahead of Lethbridge as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference to set up this first round series 

“Well we’re excited,” said Hurricanes head coach Brent Kisio.

“You know we’re very excited. We know it’s a challenge in front of us. Moose Jaw’s a great hockey club, well coached, they play a heck of a hockey game …  We’re a good hockey club that has battled all along through the season and just an exciting time. Anytime you get to  playoffs, it’s a new challenge, it’s a new season and one that you have to be real excited for.”

The Hurricanes have studied the Warriors players and their tendencies.

“For the most part, I’m pretty sure both teams know each pretty well,” said Kisio.

“But you just kind of  dive in  a little bit more, look at more details and a couple adjustments  you can make and  you might not make them early in the series. But the things,  if they’re not going right, you might have to make (adjustments) in Game 2 or 3.”

Kisio feels good about the team’s preparation heading into the postseason.

“We’ve been through playoffs a lot here,” said Kisio.

“You know our kind of pre-playoff routine is pretty standard now. We got it down pretty pat. You study your opponent, you make a couple of adjustments that you have to, but at the same time you try to make sure your game is in the right spot and that   you don’t change too much or overthink it. A player’s got to go out and play, they’ve got to play hard,  and it still comes down to compete and willingness to battle and you know who wants it more.”

The keys for a playoff series win, according to Kisio, will be to stay out of the penalty box in order to keep the Warriors strong powerplay off the ice as much as possible.

“We’re going to have to be a discipline team that if we take a penalty, it’s going  to be a hard penalty, it can’t be a little stick check or something like that because their powerplay with hurt you,” said Kisio.

Jett Jones said they (the Warriors) play a certain way.

“So we have to make some changes and play a certain way for us and that’s going to lead to success for us,” said Jones.

“So that’s what we’re going to do this week.”

Jones said they’re a  good skilled team.

“But we do our best against skilled teams with the way we play,” said Jones.

“You know we’re a physical team, we’re good on the forecheck. So for us, we’re happy with this match up. So it’s just  going to be big to get  Game 1 and 2 in Moose Jaw and play good.”

Goalie Bryan Thomson’s scouting report on the Warriors is they have a lot of skill.

“They’ve got a lot of skill,” he said.

“So we need to know who we’re on the ice against and then obviously just we know what we need to do and play our game to get the job done.”

It’s second time these teams have met in the playoffs with the other being in 1991.

The Warriors won three of the four meetings this year.

Game 1 is tonight at 7 p.m. in Moose Jaw.