Over the past five years, Lethbridge Hurricanes players, general managers and coaches have all fallen by the wayside. It’s been a time of frequent change, but there’s always been one constant.
“Lethbridge is like a second home to me,” Captain Tyler Wong said. “It’s going to be weird next August not coming back here for training camp.”
On Friday night, Wong will become just the fifth player in franchise history to play 300 games with the Hurricanes.
“It makes me feel a bit emotional to be able to think back on all the games I’ve played here,” Wong said. “It’s a huge opportunity for me. It’s been a lot of fun and I’ve really enjoyed it.”
Wong has been through it all with the Hurricanes, including the dark days of yester-year, when the team was a bottom feeder. He was there in the mass exodus of the 2013/2014 season, when six players either demanded trades or quit the team. But, even when he was a less-established player, Wong was never afraid to speak out.
“I think we’ve weeded out the guys, the cancers on the team that were bringing us down with negativity and selfishness,” Wong said in a Sept. 30, 2014 interview with Global News. “That’s what we needed. Guys that want to be here and fight for each other.”
On the ice his play speaks for itself. He’s a goal-scoring machine and the Hurricanes’ best player.
His presence is also felt off the ice, where Wong has been the face of the Hurricanes in the community. Whether it’s helping out at a minor hockey practice, visiting sick children at the hospital, or posing for one of his many “Wongderful selfies” before a game, he’s been a community leader.
“I just view it not as a duty, but a huge honour,” Wong said. “To be able to have kids look up to you like that is a huge honour for me. Having this opportunity to play for this team – I view it as a huge blessing.”
He’s not all class though. While his teammate Giorgio Estephan was doing an interview, Wong got him with the age-old shaving-cream-to-the-face joke. Estephan was displeased after that, but prior, he had some nice things to say about his longtime teammate.
“He’s everything to this team,” Estephan said. “He wins fan favorite (vote) every year. You can see on the ice that he puts his heart and soul into every game. He’s competitive like nothing I’ve ever seen. He hates to lose.”
Hurricanes Head Coach Brent Kisio knows what he has in his captain.
“He’s a good, good person,” Kisio said. “He works so hard, and he is the face of our club right now. Hopefully we have more guys coming up like him.”
In his 300 games with the Hurricanes, there’s been a lot of losing, and now, a lot of winning. It’s a journey that Wong will never forget.
“It’s been an amazing ride,” Wong said. “It’s been a lot of fun, and I wouldn’t change a thing.”
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