Hurricanes shut out by Red Deer

By Lethbridge Herald on October 11, 2025.

Nathan Reiter
Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge Hurricanes are still seeking their first win on home ice following a 5-0 loss to the Red Deer Rebels at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena on Saturday night.

In a postgame interview, Hurricane head coach Matt Anholt says there were some positives to take away from the game despite the result on the scoreboard.

“I thought our goaltending was decent. We didn’t play that good in front of him. I thought he gave us every chance. I like that our 20-year-old responded when our 16-year-old got ran at the end of the game. That’s kind of where the list ends.”

Samuel Drancak would open the scoring for the Rebels at the 9:59 mark of the opening frame. After a dump in from Rebel captain Talon Brigley, Drancak would collect the puck off the end boards near the mouth of the crease and beat Hurricane netminder Leif Oaten through the five-hole.

The visiting Rebels controlled the short clock 11-4 after the first period.

A turnover near their own blue line would burn the Hurricanes near the midway mark of the second period. Landon MacSwain would record his first career WHL goal at the 10:40 mark, beating Oaten with a shot that went off the back bar of the net. Beckett Hamilton provided the lone assist on the play.

Talon Brigley would pick up his third goal of the season at the 7:43 mark to extend the Rebels lead to three. On an odd man rush, the Rebel captain would fire a shot high glove side past Oaten. Jaxon Fuder had the assist.

Just over three minutes later, Arjun Bawa would strike for his first goal of the campaign. Noah Milford and Keith McInnis assisted on the play.

Late in the game, Rebels defenceman Derek Thurston would leave his feet in an attempt to lay an open ice hit on Hurricane rookie forward Enzo DiDomenicantonio. Prior to the collision, DiDomenicantonio lost his footing and avoided all contact on the play.

Shortly afterwards, Hurricane assistant captain Shane Smith received a double minor for roughing after standing up for his rookie teammate.

Anholt says it was a strong showing of leadership by Smith to stick up for a teammate.

“It’s massive. We don’t have a lot of guys that will do that stuff, to be honest. Smith didn’t really appreciate that when the game was over. I was pumped for it because our 16-year-old should probably see that’s how business is handled. It’s a little bit of a message, a lot of guys don’t really know how to act in situations like that, nor do they have the courage to do so. I think it was awesome for Shane to take of that business there.”

The Rebels would add a power play late off the stick of Noah Milford.

Minnesota Wild prospect Chase Wutzke earned his first shutout of the season making 19 stops for the Rebels. Hurricanes rookie netminder Leif Oaten made 31 saves for Lethbridge in his first career home start. See Tuesday’s Herald for more on Oaten.

The Hurricanes return to action on Monday as they travel to Edmonton to take on the Oil Kings at Rogers Place. Puck drops at 12 p.m.