By Patrick Burles - @Patrick Burles on Twitter

Hurricanes Open 2016-17 Season with Win Over Tigers

Sep 24, 2016 | 12:13 AM

LETHBRIDGE – Coming off a 2015-16 season in which the Lethbridge Hurricanes finished fourth overall in the WHL with 46 wins, the team came out of the gate as if looking to prove that last season wasn’t a fluke.

The Hurricanes won their home opener 4-2 over Medicine Hat Friday night (Sept. 23) in front of a crowd of 5,009 at the Enmax Centre.

Making it more impressive was the fact that they did it with a number of veteran players away at NHL training camps, including captain Tyler Wong.

After a pre-game ceremony in which the team raised its Central Division Championship banner to the rafters, Calen Addison opened the scoring on the power-play at 5:52 of the first period, with Ryley Lindgren adding another power-play marker for the Canes near the end of the first period.

Medicine Hat would add a pair of their own goals with the man advantage over the next two periods – outshooting the Hurricanes 43-20 – but Lethbridge netminder Stuart Skinner stood strong.

What's Happening in Lethbridge this week: April 15, 2024

Apr 15, 2024

Week-in-review: Street sweeping, policing in Coaldale and #SlowYourRoll

Apr 13, 2024

What's Happening in Lethbridge this weekend: April 12, 2024

Apr 12, 2024

“I felt calm, I mean obviously it’s a better time when the guys in front of you are doing their job too, so I mean I think everyone did their job tonight and the most important thing is that we got the win,” Skinner stated after being named third star of the game.

“We gotta come out hard tomorrow,” he added, referring to their quick turnaround Saturday night (Sept. 24) in Medicine Hat.

“We knew that Stuart was going to probably be pretty good,” commented Hurricanes Head Coach, Brent Kisio. “I thought Stuart did a great job, he played real well, he kept us in their when we were struggling, we were missing some guys and Stuart had to be one of the best guys and he was tonight.”

When asked about the lopsided shot differential, Kisio was quick to say that it wasn’t a concern for him at all.

“I was real proud of how some of our young kids played,” said Kisio. “Franklin played a heck of a game, came in and had some big blocked shots, Bellerive was real good, Davis played well, Addison got his first goal, so it’s a lot of young guys, it’s different spots, I don’t care about the shots as long as we win.”

The Hurricanes play their next home game September 30 when they welcome the Kootenay Ice.