Oh what a difference a few years makes!
The Lethbridge Hurricanes have been named the Western Hockey League’s Business of the Year. The WHL making that announcement Wednesday.
The local community-owned junior hockey team has come a long way from a club which was on the verge of being sold a few years ago and bleeding money to a well-oiled machine both on and off the ice.
General Manager of Business Operations Terry Huisman says the organization is honoured to be selected. “There has been a lot of hard work by our team over the last few seasons to get to where we are, and we are super proud of the work we’ve been able to accomplish off the ice.”
In 2019-2020, the Hurricanes had a total of 123,069 fans enter the ENMAX Centre for an average attendance of 3,970 per game. That was on pace to be the second-best attended season in franchise history.
The average of 3,970 also matched the ‘Canes average attendance from 2018-2019.
“Our fan base has been great,” said Huisman. “They seem to be getting younger and more excited and engaged at every game and we finished pretty good [for attendance] which is really exciting and you can tell the pride our fans have in the community.”
The Hurricanes were nominated as the Eastern Conference Business of the Year for the second consecutive season.
They finished runner-up to the Everett Silvertips last year.
(Files from Lethbridge Hurricanes media release)