The Lethbridge Hurricanes have had two weeks now to look at the pieces they picked up at the trade deadline, and they seem to be delivering.
The Hurricanes added three players; Alec Baer, Matt Alfaro, and Zac Zborosky.
Baer has been playing with the Vancouver Giants since he broke into the WHL in 2012, and he had been having a fairly lacklustre season before coming to Lethbridge.
He had played 39 games at right wing with the Giants this season, and he only had 18 points through those games, with only three goals.
Now with Lethbridge, he has managed to turn his season around. In only eight games, he’s managed to score six goals and add two assists on to that total.
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He’s got a point in all but one game he’s played with Lethbridge, which came against the Prince George Cougars.
He says that he’s felt quite welcome to the team and it’s been an easy adjustment.
“It’s been pretty easy, there’s a lot of good guys, pretty good organization good staff obviously that have made it pretty easy to adjust to.”
Baer has been on a line and sharing a room with fellow newcomer and right winger Zak Zborosky, another twenty-year-old from the Kootenay Ice.
Zborosky has been having a strong season even before coming to Lethbridge.
In 41 games with the Ice, he has averaged over a point a game, scoring 44 points in that time.
He’s continued his strong play since coming to the Hurricanes, scoring 8 points in 6 games, with 5 of those points coming off assists.
Being a veteran when he arrived, Zborosky believes there’s a lot he can bring to the team.
“I think [I bring] a little bit of skill and some goal scoring, and a little leadership in the room being in my fourth year, and back when I went to the playoffs so a little playoff experience too.”
Zborosky didn’t make the trip from Kootenay alone though. He brought another twenty-year-old Matt Alfaro, a centre man.
The two have been playing together since they both broke into the NHL in 2013, and that’s something that head coach Brent Kisio is excited about.
“There’s some added chemistry there, I don’t know if we’ll play them together or not whether it’s on a line or powerplay, but it’s good knowing that they already know one guy at least and cause it helps them gel into the mix.”
Unfortunately, Alfaro was nursing a leg injury he suffered in a game on January 7 before he joined the team, and has only been able to play one game with the Hurricanes.
In that overtime win against the Calgary Hitmen, he got an assist on Wong’s game saving goal with eighteen seconds left in the third period to send the game to overtime.
That overtime win gives the Canes a respectable 6-2-2 record in their last ten games.
The Canes next action comes Jan. 27 against the league worst Raiders in Prince Albert.
