Hurricanes learn a lot after another early playoff exit

By Lethbridge Herald on April 5, 2024.

Herald Photo by Justin Seward Herald FILE photo Lethbridge HurricanesÕ Noah Chadwick goes flying trying to cut off Portland Winterhawks Luca CagnoniÕs path to the net during Western Hockey League action at the Enmax Centre last November. Chadwick thinks the team needs to be more competitive to help with playoff preparation next season.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge Hurricanes learned a lot as a team after another season with an early playoff exit.

This was the third consecutive season the Canes were swept in the first round of the playoffs 

“We’re disappointed to be done obviously,” said Bill Peters, Hurricanes head coach.

“So probably left a little bit out there on our opinion and it’s disappointing.”

Peters saw many players pop offensively as the year went on.

“If you look at the numbers year over year, some  guys made some good progression in that regard,” said Peters.

“I thought there was some definite growth. I think it’ll be a little easier for us next year with the same staff coming back and some things put in place for building blocks.  It should be a little smoother and we’re familiar with our guys. I know what guys are and what they’re capable of and there’s a lot of guys in that room who are capable of more.”

G.M. Peter Anholt thought it was disappointing to see how the season finished.

“I think these two days here since losing out has been hard to swallow in a lot of ways,” Anholt.

“But that being said ,I think throughout the year … we had some really good individual performances. I think our team grew as a group for the most part.”

Anholt was asked about the how the team might address changing the direction of the team this offseason.

“I think we’ve tried to backfill a lot with our group,” said Anholt.

“But with this group, I think we built around some age groups … and now they’re coming back and now they’ve experienced playoffs at a young age. I think we should be better next year. We return a lot of guys in all our positions. I think we probably got a little bit smaller as a team than I probably would like overall. So I think we’d like to address that a little bit and be a little bit heavier team to play against like we have been and historically been.”

Defencemen Noah Chadwick wants to see the team be more competitive next year.

“I just think maybe we weren’t really ready for the playoff hockey,” said Chadwick.

“So I just think that’s really what it comes down to, just being a little bit more competitive and understanding what it takes to win and I think we need to be prepared for that next year.”

Chadwick said a guy’s got to take it personally and just kind of remember this feeling for sure, when asked about the sense of purpose going into next year and factoring in that they have been swept in three straight seasons.

“I’m getting sick of it and I think everyone is in the organization,” said Chadwick.

“So I think this summer’s huge. I think it’s a big part of our preparation for next season, and yeah I think just try to set us up for success during the regular season and then for sure to win some playoff games.”

Goalie Harrison Meneghin said it obviously stings the way that it ended.

“You work so hard during the season to kind of put yourself in a good position for playoffs,” said Meneghin.

“We got in but at the end of the day getting swept is not a great result and yeah it hurts. But  I mean you can’t really do anything about it now, you can just  kind of worry about next season and what the future brings there.”

“I think we kind of got an idea of what we need to work on and what we need to improve on to get a playoff win and have success in the playoffs ,” said Brayden Edwards.

“Obviously we haven’t had it in the past. But that’s something we’re really striving for here.”