Big decisions ahead for Canes
Decisions, decisions. As their main camp wound down, the first round of auditions took place in game form as the Lethbridge Hurricanes staged their annual Red and White Game Monday night at the Enmax Centre.
From goaltender on out, Hurricanes general manager Peter Anholt felt numerous players have made solid cases for themselves as the team prepared to make cuts following Monday night’s game.
“I think, from what we’ve seen, is there’s some really good competitions at a lot of positions,” said Anholt. “I think at goaltending we’ve seen some really good performances from all four of our goaltenders. So we’re really excited about that.”
Last year’s backup goaltender Reece Klassen and Carl Tetachuk — who played with the Lethbridge midget AAA Hurricanes last season — manned Team Red’s goal.
Akira Schmid, a 2000-born goaltender the Hurricanes selected in this year’s Canadian Hockey League Import Draft who was also selected by New Jersey Devils at this year’s NHL draft, and 2017 second round pick Bryan Thomson were in goal for Team White.
The battles continue at the other positions as well.
“I think on our back end our veterans have done a good job leading our group, but we’ve got older guys that are pushing for jobs and we’ve got some younger guys that are pushing. So that’s really positive,” said Anholt. “Up front it looks like there’s lots of depth. I really like what I see with how everybody has approached the camp. Everybody has been business-like and overall we’ve been really pleased.”
Joining the new faces in the forward ranks is forward Jackson Shepard, who the Canes acquired from the Kamloops Blazers July 31 in exchange for Zane Franklin and a fourth-round pick in the 2020 Western Hockey League Bantam draft.
The 18-year-old forward from North Vancouver was looking forward to bringing his game to southern Alberta.
“Once I got the call from Peter I was excited,” said Shepard, who scored nine goals and 22 points in 72 games with the Blazers last season. “I saw this as a new opportunity and the guys have made it really easy to bond with them. They include me in all the team events and things like that, so it’s been a really easy transition. I hope to just keep improving and working really hard here.”
Shepard looked forward to lending to an already speedy Hurricanes team.
“They’re a quick team, for sure, and I want to push the pace with them as well, have that three-lane drive and work hard in the corners and be a 200-foot player for this team and play in all situations.”
In Monday night’s game, Team White opened up a 2-0 lead after two periods before Team Red rallied with two third period goals and then sealed the deal in the threeon-three overtime as defenceman Calen Addison struck for the breakaway winner with 1.9 seconds left in the five minute extra session.
Kyron Crosby and Danila Palivko scored for Team White in the second period.
Second-year forward Dylan Cozens keyed the comeback for Team Red 4:58 into the third before defenceman Alex Cotton knotted the score at 22 midway through the third.
The Hurricanes open their exhibition season Friday when they host the Medicine Hat Tigers at 7 p.m. at the Enmax Centre.
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased in advance at any Gas King location, at the Hurricanes office or at the Lethbridge Minor Hockey office.
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