Hitmen shooting out the lights in the WHL
The Calgary Hitmen are getting used to doing things in bunches.
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The Western Hockey League squad is currently enjoying an 11-game winning streak and are piling up records along the way.
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On Friday, they cruised to a 7-2 win over the Red Deer Rebels that ran their winning streak to double digits for the third time this season. They also set a team record with 31 home wins while goaltender Martin Jones won his team-record 40th game of the year and, for good measure, they set a new club mark by scoring three goals in a span of 55 seconds.
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The Hitmen grabbed a shootout win over the Rebels the next night in Red Deer that ran their streak to 11 straight games and clinched first place in the Eastern Conference standings, ensuring home ice advantage through at least the first three rounds of the WHL playoffs.
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“The team’s rolling right now and we’re winning a lot of games,” Jones told the Calgary Sun.
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Jones has won 24 of his past 26 games and passed the previous record set by Alexander Fomitchev, who recorded 39 wins during the 1998-99 season and backstopped the Hitmen to the WHL championship and a berth in the semi-final of the Memorial Cup that spring.
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“Fomie didn’t catch a lot of pucks,” Hitmen GM Kelly Kisio said after Jones broke the record. “He reminded me of Dominik Hasek, where your heart was in your throat a lot of the times he was in the net. But he was very athletic and was able to get in front of a lot of pucks. Jonesy’s much more technically and positionally sound.”
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“Obviously, it’s a nice feather in my cap,” Jones said. “But it’s the last thing on my mind. It’s nice that I’m in net for some of them, but we’re building for the playoffs.”
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Brandon Kozun enjoyed a productive night on Friday as well. The 18-year-old winger had a goal and three assists and became the first Hitmen player to break the 100 point mark since Jordan Krestanovich did it in 2000-01.
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Kozun trails Casey Pierro-Zabotel of the Vancouver Giants by three points in the WHL scoring race. Kozun is looking to become the first player from his team to win the Bob Clarke Trophy as the WHL’s top scorer since Pavel Brendl and Brad Moran won in back-to-back seasons nine years ago.
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“Coming into the season, I had expectations for myself,” Kozun said. “But I think if you asked, I don’t think anyone would have said that I’d do this well. It’s definitely a big honour. But when you play on a team like this – I’m not going to say it’s easy – but it’s definitely easier.”
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The Hitmen play the Regina Pats on Wednesday and then round out their home schedule against the Kelowna Rockets on Saturday. Wins in both of those games would give them a share of the WHL record of 33 home wins in a season set by the Swift Current Broncos in 1988-89 and equalled the following season by the Kamloops Blazers and Seattle Thunderbirds.
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The Hitmen also have a shot at the franchise record of 120 points set during the 1999-2000 season. They have 112 points with seven games left on the schedule.