Hurricanes drop a close one to Cyclones in OT

from http://www.guelphhurricanes.com

CANES LOSE IN OVERTIME

The atmosphere inside the Ice Palace was hot for a couple of hours as the Hurricanes and Cyclones put on one of the most entertaining, exciting games of the season. The Cyclones prevailed in overtime 4-3 but were pushed to the limit by the hard working Canes.

Chris McDougall covers the puck

Listowel struck first with former Cane Dan Mohle chipping a loose puck into the net for a 1-0 first period lead. The Cyclones struck again before the Canes went to work. Tyson Theaker(17) scored from Mike McFarlane and Nic MacEachern making the score 2-1 entering the 3rd period.

The Canes came out flying in the 3rd and put pressure on Guelph native Jim Prigione. Prigone made a number of excellent saves before Luca Penzo(5) beat him with a power play goal to tie the game. Martin Kudla and Mike Iaccoca assisted on the goal. Canes kept up the pressure until McFarlane(10) with assists from Theaker and Wade Pfeffer put the Canes up 3-2.

Now it was McDougall’s turn to shine in the Canes net and he did. He made a number of excellent saves to keep the Canes in the lead. But with the Canes in control and less than 2 minutes left lighting struck. Former Hurricane Ken Rolph stole the puck in the offensive zone, walked in on McDougall and scored sending the game into overtime.

An ill-advised retailiation penalty with less than a minute left in regulation gave the Cyclones the man advantage heading into overtime. Fergus resident Eric Dekkers scored right off the face-off with a blast that caught McDougall off guard to send the Listowel fans home happy.

The one point puts the Canes in a dead heat with the Kitchener Dutchmen setting up their upcomng game on Tuesday in Kitchener.

The Canes have 4 games left in the regular season with the lone home game being next Thursday Feb 25th at the the Sleeman Centre vs. the Cambridge WinterHawks. Game time is 7:45 p.m.

Hurricanes beat Sugar Kings in OT

from http://www.guelphhurricanes.com

CANES WIN A NAILBITER 4-3

Excitement was the order of the night as the Guelph Hurricanes and the Elmira Sugar Kings treated a good Hockey Day crowd to a thrill packed game. The Ice Palace was frigid as usual but the action inside was red hot.

Pegrum Glove the Puck to help Grab the Win

It looked like another typical Canes/Sugar Kings duel featuring excellent goaltending by Drew Pegrum and his counterpart former Cane Brendon Gorecki.

Speedy Martin Kudla(13) broke the ice when he broke in on Gorecki and made a nifty move to put the Canes on top 1-0. Brad Kraus tied it up with a laser beam only to have Nic MacEachern(7) do his Sydney Crosby impression to regain the lead 2-1. It stayed that way until captain Mike McFarlane(7) scored a powerplay goal with help from Luca Penzo and Mike Iacocca.

With another 3-1, 3rd period lead it looked like the Canes were headed for another disappointing loss when Elmira scored twice late in the 3rd on goals by Parent and LeBlanc to send the game to overtime.

Mid way through the overtime period defensive wizard Jake Weidner stole the puck at the Canes blueline and sped down the wing. Weidner threaded a perfect pass to Zach Dion(6) in front of the Kings net who finished the play off with a perfect shot to win the game 4-3.

Check out the Hurricanes facebook page http://www.facebook.com/guelphhurricanes and look at over 150 pictures that Richard Elmes took at the game last night.

Next Canes action is Saturday, February 6 at the Victoria Road Arena when they face the Waterloo Siskins. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

Dutchmen steal one from Hurricanes

In late February when the GOJHL (Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League) regular season comes to a close and the Guelph Hurricanes see who they are facing in the playoffs, they may be thinking of this game tonight at Victoria Road Arena, this 4-3 shootout loss to the Kitchener Dutchmen as… the one that got away.

McDougall down after Dutchmen tie the game

Kitchener’s Ted Anstett opened up the scoring in the first, before Taylor Lukasik (shorthanded) and Blair Goss (powerplay) scored for Guelph and after one period, the Hurricanes led 2-1.

After a scoreless 2^nd period, Tyson Theaker extended the Hurricanes lead to 3-1 at the 15:33 mark of the 3^rd period.

With the Hurricanes leading 3-1 with 2:34 left in the 3^rd period in a tight checking affair with the Kitchener Dutchmen it looked like the gap in points between these two teams was about to widen. With the win Guelph would have moved 6 points ahead (27 pts to 21) of the 8^th place Dutchmen and would have decreased the likelihood of facing the MidWestern Division leading Brantford Golden Eagles in the first round of the playoffs.

But that wasn’t to be.

The Dutchmen called a time out and then pulled their goalie for the extra attacker. Then Tanner DeWitt scored with 2:26 left on the clock and then Ryan Clarkson and tied it up with 56 seconds left in the 3^rd.

Overtime solved nothing, so the teams went to a shootout.

Mark Scheifele’s wrist shot in the top corner over the Hurricane goaltender Chris McDougall’s glove proved to be the winner for the Dutchmen.

With the one point they gained in the shootout loss, Guelph now sit tied in 6th (tied with Elmira, however the Sugar Kings have two games in hand) with 26 pts. , Kitchener with 23 pts. remains in 8^th.

The Hurricanes take to the road for their next two games, Friday Jan. 8^th in Waterloo and Saturday Jan. 9^th in Brantford.

The next Hurricanes home game is the following Thursday Jan. 14^th, when they take on the Cambridge Winter Hawks in a 7:45 pm start at the Sleeman Centre.

Hurricanes Blow 2 Goal Lead & Lose In OT

From http://www.guelphhurricanes.com

For 50 minutes the Hurricanes showed Listowel Cyclones that they had a new and improved work ethic. However, with 10 minutes to play and the Canes leading 4-2 the Cyclones showed them what true work ethic was.

Hurricanes goalie Chris McDougall makes the save

In the last 10 minutes of the game the Cyclones did what they do best, they outworked the Canes.

In the process they scored 2 goals to send the game into overtime. Momentum carried them into OT and slighty over a minute in they scored the winner to spoil an otherwise awesome game for Guelph.

On the positive side the Hurricanes earned a point to tie them with Elmira in the league standings.

The 1st period belonged to Guelph as they out hustled Listowel and fought harder for the loose pucks. The strong goaltending of Guelph native Jim Prigone kept the Cyclones close. He also made an amazing glove save late in the third to send the game into OT.

Scoring for Guelph was Mike McFarland with 2. Dan Mohle with his 16th and Ken Rolph with his 8th scored for the Canes. Zach Dion, Mike Iaccoca, Martin Kudla and Rolph all recorded assists.

The Canes next home game is in 2 weeks (Nov. 7th) when they host the Waterloo Siskins. Game time at the Sleeman Center is 7:30 p.m.