Lethbridge Hurricanes

The Lethbridge Hurricanes are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Lethbridge, Alberta. The Hurricanes play in the Central Division of the Western Hockey League's Eastern Conference, and play their home games at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena. The team replaced Lethbridge's first major junior team, the Broncos, who played in the city from 1974 to 1986. When that team relocated to Swift Current, Saskatchewan, the city acquired the Calgary Wranglers franchise and the Hurricanes began play in 1987.

History

The Lethbridge Broncos played at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena from 1974 until 1986. Originally the Swift Current Broncos, the team returned to Swift Current in 1986 when local investors gathered enough resources to make the team a community-owned club. However, neither the league nor the city wanted Lethbridge to be left without a team, and just one year later, the Calgary Wranglers were relocated to Lethbridge to become the Hurricanes, which was a community-owned team. While the Broncos had adopted their name from the Swift Current club, the new team was named through a fan contest, with Hurricanes emerging the winner, a reference to the locally significant Chinook winds.

The team enjoyed early success in Lethbridge, winning back-to-back division titles in their third and fourth seasons and advancing to the championship series both years. The team's best season came in 1996–97, when the Hurricanes captured their first, and to date only, regular season and playoff titles. The Hurricanes advanced to the 1997 Memorial Cup tournament, where they rallied in the round robin to defeat the Hull Olympiques 7–6 in overtime after trailing 6–1 after two periods. The final was a rematch between Lethbridge and Hull, with Hull hanging on for a 5–1 victory, leaving the Hurricanes as runners-up. After that season, the Hurricanes would go ten straight seasons without a playoff series win. Then, in the 2007–08 season, the Hurricanes returned to the playoff final, which they lost to the eventual Memorial Cup champion Spokane Chiefs.

Despite optimism going into the season under new coach Drake Berehowsky, who replaced Rich Preston, the 2013–14 season would be a record-setting one, but in the wrong categories. In the middle of what would become a six-year playoff drought, the team struggled on the ice and dealt with turmoil amongst the players and coaching staff. Veteran forwards Sam McKechnie and Jaimen Yakuboski were sent home until they were traded to the Seattle Thunderbirds in October. A week later, defenceman Ryan Pilon requested a trade and left the team. In addition to two more players requesting trades, assistant coach Brad Lukowich walked out on the team following a 3–2 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders. Lukowich was terminated "with cause" days later. The team hit new lows by scoring a franchise-low 171 goals, allowing 358 goals, and losing two games by a combined score of 22–0, including a 10–0 loss to the Vancouver Giants on January 24, 2014, followed by a 12–0 loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings on February 17. The team finished the season on a 15-game losing streak, finishing the year with 12 wins and 29 points, setting records for fewest wins and fewest points in the 46-year history of the franchise.

It was revealed that the community-owned franchise was also facing financial problems, losing more than $1.25 million in a two-year period and taking out a line of credit in order to stay afloat. The financial situation led to rumours of the team being sold to True North Sports and Entertainment and relocated to Winnipeg, while former Hurricanes forward and Lethbridge native Kris Versteeg stated his desire to purchase the team and keep it in the city. Ultimately, the shareholders voted to raise $2 million by issuing preferred shares, keeping the team community-owned.

The team returned to stability and made back-to-back runs to the conference final in 2017 and 2018. In 2018, they matched up against Swift Current after the teams swung a blockbuster trade together at the season's trade deadline, including swapping goaltenders. The Broncos won the series in six games, and went on to win the league title.

In 2023, the Hurricanes courted controversy by hiring former NHL head coach Bill Peters as the team's new coach. Peters had resigned as coach of the Calgary Flames in 2019 after allegations of racism and physical abuse surfaced against him. WHL commissioner Ron Robison endorsed the hiring, stating that Peters would be undertaking anti-racism education.

Logos and jerseys

The Hurricanes have gone through a number of design changes over the years, while maintaining a variation of red, blue, and white colours. For several seasons, they donned a Tasmanian Devil-inspired twister logo. From 2004, they began gradually simplifying the logo, until 2013, when they ran afoul of the National Hockey League Washington Capitals, who took issue with a Hurricanes logo and jerseys that were near copies of those used by the Capitals. The Hurricanes were forced to change their look, and adopted their alternate logo full-time. Around the same time, a third-jersey design was introduced featuring a Hawker Hurricane World War II airplane.

Season-by-season record

''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against''

Championship History

* Ed Chynoweth Cup: 1996–97
* Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy: 1996–97
* Playoff Division/Conference titles (4): 1989–90, 1990–91, 1996–97, 2007–08
* Regular season Division titles (4): 1989–90, 1990–91, 1996–97, 2015–16

WHL Championship

* 1989–90: Loss, 1–4 vs Kamloops Blazers
* 1990–91: Loss, 0–4 vs Spokane Chiefs
* 1996–97: Win, 4–0 vs Seattle Thunderbirds
* 2007–08: Loss, 0–4 vs Spokane Chiefs

Memorial Cup finals

* 1997: Loss, 1–5 vs Hull Olympiques

NHL alumni

Team records

See also

* List of ice hockey teams in Alberta

References

External links

Lethbridge Hurricanes site

{{Alberta Sports

Ice hockey teams in Alberta
Sport in Lethbridge
Ice hockey clubs established in 1987
Western Hockey League teams
1987 establishments in Alberta