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Hurricanes Lose to Regina Pats in First Round of the Playoffs

Apr 1, 2016 | 10:08 PM

LETHBRIDGE:   It was a season of WHL hockey at the Enmax that has not been seen in many years. A team of young men playing Canada’s sport with discipline and skill that rewarded the die-hard fans who had stuck with the team year after year and drew in enthusiastic new fans.

Unfortunately, a further playoff run was cut short by the Regina Pats.  The Hurricanes came out strong and won the first game on home ice but, posted losses in each of the successive four games, with the Pats wrapping up the Canes season in game five at the Enmax by a score of 7-2..

The Canes had a dismal first period in the fifth game Friday night in spite of great fan support. The Pats were first on the score sheet in less than a minute and a half.  The Regina team hit between the pipes at the 3 minute mark, added a short-handed goal at the period’s mid-way point and finished off he period with a fourth goal five minutes later.

The second period saw the only goal come from the Canes, as Tyler Wong took advantage of a power-play, assisted by Brayden Burke and Giorgio Estephan.

The Canes opened the third period with their second goal, this one courtesy of Giorgio Estephan assisted by Andrew Nielsen and Brayden Burke.  From there, the wheels came of the bus, as Regina answered with another goal at the 7:11 mark, a power play goal at 8:05 and an empty netter with six minutes left in the game.

A total of 4902 fans were on hand as the Pats out-shot the Canes 35-25, to take the best of seven series four games to one.

Stuart Skinner took the loss for the Canes who racked up 28-minutes in penalties for eight infractions.

The Hurricanes may not have been able to move further in the playoffs but, will undoubtedly move forward into next season with a much stronger fan base.