PR - Hurricanes

HURRICANES CAPTURE PRESIDENT'S TROPHY WITH A 6-1 WIN OVER THE RENEGADES

The fans of the Calgary Hurricanes gave a standing ovation for their team after a 6 - 1 thumping of the 8th seed Western Conference team. Markus Naslund was the typical Markus Naslund as he scored 2 goals. Goaltender Brian Boucher continued his miracle season by stunning the opposition.

Brian Boucher, one of the strongest candidates for the Vezina Trophy has one of the best GAA's while also being goaltender with the most wins in the entire TFHL at 55 wins. The next closest goaltender sits at only 43 wins, which is J.S. Giguere of the Michigan Pain.

"There is no doubt that Brian is one of the key reasons this club did so well down the stretch. Since the first day you came to our team we have been unbelievable. It makes a big difference when you have this much confidence in your goalie." said Assistant Captain Shawn Bates.

On the backend, Chris Pronger and Bryan Mccabe solidied themselves as a top duo in the TFHL. The defense core for the Hurricanes is quite deep with other notables including Brian Campbell, Pavel Kubina and Richard Matvichuk.

Up front, the Hurricanes, who in the past have been noted as a one-line team now have two forceful lines. The top line combination of Shawn Bates, Alexandre Svitov and Markus Naslund have excelerated like before but now the addition of Brendan Morrison, Jason King and Martin Cibak on the 2nd line has been incredible. The Hurricanes top scorers are all young including Svitov at 20 years old, King at 23 years old and Cibak at 25 years of age. The veterans of Morrison (30), Naslund (32) and Bates (30) have proven to be a group of strong leaders for the youngsters.

On the farm, it appeared the farm team went from being a contender for the TFFHL Cup and then slid down the standings right when the parent club began to excel. Although bright notables include goaltender Peter Budaj, who continues to develop, as well as forwards Alexandre Sundstrom and Martin Karsums. On defense both Ryan Parent and Frank Redliker
continued to improve. It's expected Parent will be able to develop into a top-four defenseman in a couple of seasons.

With the seeds pretty much defined for the playoffs, the Hurricanes will find out later today whether or not they will be playing the Rednexs or Marauders in the first round of the TFHL playoffs. Keep an eye out for the Hurricanes post-season report prior to the playoffs.

Calgary Sun 2005