Shortly before the WHL trade deadline, the Lethbridge Hurricanes made what some considered the best move of the season.
Looking to bolster their roster amid a tight playoff race in the Central Division General Manager Peter Anholt pulled off a trade with the Red Deer Rebels. That move brought Brett Davis back to the hockey club. Lethbridge sent a fourth-round draft pick the other way.
So, why was this move the best move for the club?
In one word, fit. Davis seemed to fit what the Hurricanes were looking for, another offensive threat.
The move paid off immediately for the Hurricanes. In the 20 games the Oakbank, MB native played with the team, he racked up 25 points including 16 goals. Davis also helped the special teams improve, with five of his goals coming via the man advantage and adding a couple more while shorthanded. He became Mr. Everything for the windy city.
You can tell by the way his teammates talk, act and play for the overage forward.
You can see it in the coach’s faces as they light up when talking about the former fourth-rounder, that there is something special about the player and human in Brett Davis.
A Friday night in February is a perfect example of just that.
On February 28th after coming off a big comeback win where he scored two goals and added another in the shootout he was all smiles, obviously happy with the effort and that the team gave to win, “Just an unbelievable effort from the guys, made some mistakes but found a way to finish the job in a shootout.” He went on and expanded on his shootout goal, “Just had a move in mind and the goalie bought the fake.”
That game sentiment was echoed by co-captain Dylan Cozens who also added his thoughts on the star winger, “We are really excited about our group, getting those two goals from Davis is another clutch performance from him. Yeah, he’s been unbelievable. You know, you see stats (he had) with Red Deer and then he comes here and he just stepped it up a notch. He’s been huge for us, he’s producing every single game, he’s playing on both ends of the ice and he’s just doing it all. He’s been great.” Those words no doubt rang true throughout the locker room.
After coming off the ice following a win over Edmonton it was evident that Davis through his play helped to propel the Hurricanes. His teammate Alex Cotton could not stop high fiving him as they waited to be announced as the game’s first and second stars. “That’s what we do man,” Cotton screamed.
The Hurricanes were in a battle for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoff before the season was cut short.
That is the time of year leaders come forward and pull their teams along. Many will immediately think of Dylan Cozens and Calen Addison, Oliver Okuliar. For good reasons as Cozens and Okuliar led the team in scoring while Addison was the go-to defenseman in all situations. Many will even name a few others before Davis’ name comes up, but when you ask the players, coaches and the general manager he immediately gets named just showing how important and how liked he is in the room.
Coach Brent Kisio, was full of praise when asked about the 20-year-old, “Davis kickstarts a lot of our offense for us and he’s a clutch guy and it seems like when it’s on the line and in big games that he really rises up and when it gets tough he rises up and accept the challenge.”
There is something special in that room and thanks to Brett Davis and his leadership the team seemed to be headed for success, how far they would have gone may never be answered now that the regular-season has been canceled in wake of the pandemic. The playoff picture is unclear.
Whatever comes next for Brett Davis there is little doubt that he will be successful, it is a shame that the season was cut short. Hopefully, once things get back to “normal” the Hurricanes will be able to give him a proper send-off.
