The Lethbridge Hurricanes and Vancouver Giants will face each other three times this season, with two games at the ENMAX Centre and the final game on the road. The Hurricanes come into the game on a hot streak winning 4 of their last 5 games and they currently sit 5th in the East Conference with a record of 8-7-1-0. The Vancouver Giants are struggling out of the gates with a 3-10-0-0 record which is 10^th in the West Conference. There’s also the backstory to this matchup as tonight is the first meeting since the Hurricanes traded goalie Liam Liston to the Giants in the off-season. It’s also the first meeting with Kale Kessy who was suspended 12 games for his hit on rookie Defenceman Ryan Pilon. Kessy was with the Medicine Hat Tigers at the time but was since dealt to Vancouver. Pilon missed 9 games due to the hit and finally returned to the Hurricanes lineup on October 20^th.

The Hurricanes swept the Giants in the 2011-2012 season with wins of 4-2 (December 10^th) and 6-3 (January 17^th) Against Vancouver, the Canes are led by Jaimen Yakubowski who has 3 points (3G), while Jay Merkley and Russ Maxwell have 2 points each.

2011 - 2012 Season Matchup:

December 10^th: Lethbridge (4) Vancouver (2)

January 17^th: Lethbridge (6) Vancouver (3)

Powerplay: Lethbridge – 3/8 Vancouver – 2/8

Shots: Lethbridge – 58 Vancouver - 71

2012 – 2013 Stats Leaders:

Points (16), Goals (10), Powerplay Goals (5) – Russell Maxwell

Assists (9) – Axel Blomqvist, Graham Hood

Rookie Points Leader (9) – Axel Blomqvist

PIM’s (45) – Jaimen Yakubowski           

Plus/Minus (+8) – Daniel Johnston

Overall Powerplay: 14/77 (18.2%)                                         Home Powerplay: 10/52 (19.2%)

Overall Penalty Kill: 18/72 (75%)                                           Home Penalty Kill: 10/45 (77.8%)

Division Comparison:

vs. Central Division:               4-2-0-0

vs. East Division:                  3-3-0-0

vs. BC Division:                      1-0-1-0

vs. US Division:                      0-2-0-0

Hot Hand:

Jay Merkley (5G, 4A) is on an 8 game point streak (ranked 6^th in the WHL)

Brady Ramsay (2G, 8A) is on a 7 game point streak.(ranked 15^th in the WHL)

Sam McKechnie (4G, 1A) is on a 5 game point streak

Graham Hood (1G, 4A) is on a 4 game point streak

Ty Rimmer has made 16 straight starts for the Hurricanes

Top Scorers – Lethbridge:                                      Top Scorers – Vancouver:

Russ Maxwell: 10G, 6A – 16 points                         Jackson Houck: 3G, 14A – 17 points

Brady Ramsay: 3G, 8A – 11 points                          Marek Tvrdon: 5G, 10A – 15 points

Sam McKechnie: 9G, 1A – 10 points                        Trevor Cheek: 3G, 6A – 9 points

Graham Hood: 1G, 9A – 10 points                            Nathan Burns: 5G, 3A – 8 points

Milestone Watch:

Ty Rimmer is the first goalie in the CHL to reach the 500 save plateau (on October 26^th). Rimmer surpassed 3,000 saves (reg. season) for his career. His 29 saves vs. Regina on October 26^th gave him 3,003

Axel Blomqvist is 7^th in WHL Rookie scoring (9A)

Spencer Galbraith – surpassed the 200 career PIM’s mark on October 27^th vs. Swift Current

Russ Maxwell – played in his 150^th career game on October 17^th vs. Brandon

Lenny Hackman – recorded his first career WHL point with 1 assist vs. Moose Jaw on October 20^th, 2012

Brady Ramsay – recorded his 50^th career point vs. Kamloops on October 19^th, 2012

Ryan Pilon – scored his first career WHL goal vs. Regina on October 26^th, 2012

Remi Laurencelle – scored his first career WHL goal vs. Spokane on October 6^th, 2012

Joel Topping – recorded his first career WHL point with his 1 assist vs. Tri City on October 5^th, 2012

Axel Blomqvist – recorded his first career WHL point with 1 assist vs. Spokane on October 6^th, 2012

Graham Hood – hit the 100 career point milestone with 1 assist vs. Kootenay on September 29th

Ty Rimmer – has played 100 career regular season WHL games (Oct 6^th) He recorded his 10^th career shutout on Oct. 23^rd vs. Swift Current.

COMMUNITY CORNER:

The Cadets are on hand for each home game selling poppies. Support your local veterans and buy a poppy!

On Sunday, November 2^nd, the Lethbridge Hurricanes are proud to team up with ATB for the ATB Financial Hurricanes Hockey Clinic. This is the 2^nd year of the event with ATB and the Canes and it’s an instructional hockey clinic for boys and girls in the Novice and Atom age category. The event provides young players with the on-ice opportunity to meet some of the Lethbridge Hurricanes players while developing their hockey skills. This year’s event is SOLD OUT once again and sessions run at 2:30pm and 3:15pm.

EXCLUSIVE for Season Ticket Holders:

This season we’re introducing the Perfect Attendance! We want to reward our Season Ticket Holders for their perfect attendance. If their season ticket is scanned for every home game during the Hurricanes 2012-2013 regular season, they will be entered in a draw to win a free season ticket in 2013-2014.

Next up: The Hurricanes 6 game home stand continues Friday, November 2nd when they host their rivals from Medicine Hat. Game time is 7:00pm and you can tune into the pregame show on 94.1 CJOC with Pat Siedlecki and Fred Jack. Remember, at home or on the road you can follow your Lethbridge Hurricanes with news and team headlines on Twitter @WHLHurricanes, play by play analysis @CanesCast or by checking out our website.  Fans can also follow us on our Official Facebook Fan Page at facebook.com/WHLHurricanes or check out the game live on WHL Web TV - log on to whl.ca for details and pricing. Fans can also drop by Pop's Pub South to watch the WHL Webcast live as they present all 36 Hurricanes road games this season.

(Photo Credit: CJ Relke)