Canes seeing progress to start season

By Lethbridge Herald on October 9, 2025.

Herald File Photo by Justin Seward Lethbridge Hurricanes Shane Smith battles for a loose puck with Dustin Willhšft of the Saskatoon Blades during WHL action at VisitLethbridge.com Arena last month.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge Hurricanes are off to a 2-5 start to the 2025-2026 Western Hockey League  campaign and the club is seeing improvements  despite their record in the early going.

 Canes assistant coach Ryan Aasman thinks that the team has been right there in most of their games.

“I would say six of the seven, we were in hockey games, which is really encouraging for our younger group,” said Aasman.

 “That means we were competitive for the most part. Obviously, there’s a lot of our game that we needed to get better (at), but I think that’s come along since the last couple ( of games) and now we just need to keep moving forward with our details.”

A highlight for a detailed-orientated game was in Tuesday’s win against Red Deer.

“There was a togetherness,” said Aasman.

“I thought our leaders did a great job getting us ready for the Red Deer game and then the way that  we played connected . We moved pucks better. Forwards and defencemen put pucks in better spots and helped each other out more and we added some puck pressure elements to it too.”

The difference between coming out with wins and losing games has been details and the level of competitiveness the players are showing.

“We’ve got a group now that understands through hard lessons that everything matters, every  practice matters, ever gym session matters,”  said Aasman.

Aasman has been encouraged by some of the 16-year-olds to start the season.

Goaltender Leif Oaten has been one of them.

 “He’s a super calm presence (in) the way he looks in the net – he looks like an 18-year-old,”said Aasman.

Rookie Enzo DiDomenicantonio has looked like a playmaker.

 “He always puts the pucks in better spots and he (is) just  learning how to be an every (day player),” said Aasman.

The coaching staff has been happy with Tyden Lafournaise.

“He’s decided to be  really competitive, and he’s a super good teammate and he’s learning how to play harder,” said Aasman.

Veteran forward Shane Smith thinks the team still has a lot of learning to do after the start to the season.

“I think we’re getting better with every game and it’s going take time with a lot of new guys coming in (to) the league,” said Smith.

Smith said the pace of play, when asked about what the younger guys are learning about early on.

“It’s a hard league to play in but they bring a lot of energy to the rink every day and they work hard,” said Smith.

Smith spoke about how they Canes will find more wins moving forward.

“If we do our tasks here at the rink everyday and are addicted to learning, we’re going to be alright,” said Smith.

Rookie forward Kade Duell has seen the team improve at limiting defensive breakdowns.

“We’ve been working on it in practice …  every day and I think (in) every game we’ve gotten better at limiting those mistakes,” said Duell.