Game Preview: CGY at RD – 11.28.23
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (10-10-2-0) travel up the Queen Elizabeth II Highway today to visit the Rebels (10-9-0-3) in Red Deer tonight. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Peavey Mart Centrium. The Hitmen trail the Rebels by just a single point for the eighth and final Eastern Conference Playoff spot. Calgary is coming off Saturday’s 7-3 home ice win over Edmonton. Carson Wetsch led the way, tying a career-high with three points (2g, 1a) while Sawyer Mayes scored his first career Western Hockey League goal. The victory came on a night where 14 different Hitmen collected at least a single point. Ethan Buenaventura made 37 saves to record his team leading seventh win of the season. Red Deer has also been idle since Saturday’s 3-2 triumph over the visiting Regina Pats. After giving up the opening goal, the Rebels then scored three unanswered off the sticks of Mats Lindgren, Matthew Gard and Carson Birnie to extend their winning streak to four games.
RED DEER: Tonight is the fourth of nine regular season meetings between the two Central Division rivals. Red Deer leads the season series 2-1 thanks to a mid-November sweep of a home-and-home set. Oliver Tulk (1g, 3a) and Carson Wetsch (4a) lead the Hitmen with four points each while Ben Kindel (1g, 2a), Sean Tschigerl (1g, 2a) and Keets Fawcett (1g, 2a) all have three points each. Kai Uchacz (3g, 2a) is the top performing Rebel with five points. Carson Latimer (3g, 1a) is next with four. The goaltending has been well above league average on both sides with Calgary’s Ethan Buenaventura sporting a .933 save percentage and Red Deer’s Rhett Stoesser a .931 mark in their head-to-head games. Calgary is 6-6-3-0 over the last five seasons at Peavey Mart Centrium. The two clubs will face each other again in just over two weeks when they battle at Scotiabank Saddledome on Wednesday, Dec. 13.
2023-24 SERIES RECAP
Oct. 28/23 in CGY: Hitmen 7 Rebels 4….The Hitmen received goals from seven different players.
Nov. 17/23 in CGY: Rebels 3 Hitmen 0…Red Deer goalie Rhett Stoesser made 40 saves in a first star performance.
Nov. 18/23 in RD: Rebels 3 Hitmen 2…The Rebels scored twice in 65 seconds to break a 1-1 third period tie.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 108 RD 112 Power Plays: CGY 1-13 (7.7%) RD 3-13 (23.1%)
STREAKS: Carson Wetsch (2g, 3a), Keets Fawcett (2g), Sean Tschigerl (1g, 1a), Oliver Tulk (1g, 1a) and Ben Kindel (2a) are all on two-game point streaks. Tschigerl has points (7g, 14a) in 12 of his last 13 games. Kindel (2g, 8a) has points in six of his last seven games, Wetsch (6g, 3a) has points in five of his last six games and Tulk (4g, 6a) has points in four of his last five games…Goaltender Alex Garrett has won his last two starts.
HERE WE GO: Tonight kicks off one of Calgary’s busiest parts of the season which will see the Hitmen play 10 games in 20 days before their 10-day holiday break. This week alone serves up three games in four nights, all on the road within the Central Division.
DID YOU KNOW? Calgary is 8-3-2-0 in their last 13 games…The Hitmen have scored four or more goals in a game 10 times this season…The Hitmen are 5-2-2-0 in one-goal games…The 54 shots registered by Calgary in Saturday’s win over Edmonton was a new season-high, eclipsing the previous mark of 50 set against Moose Jaw on Nov. 5. Carson Wetsch tied his season-high of 11 shots in a single game, also previously set Nov. 5 against Moose Jaw…Carter Yakemchuk is two shots shy of 100…David Adaszynski is 11 faceoff wins away from 200. Oliver Tulk eclipsed the 200-mark Saturday against Edmonton.
ROSTER MOVES: Last Thursday the Hitmen acquired a third-round pick in the 2026 WHL Prospects Draft in exchange for 19-year-old forward Carter MacAdams. In a separate transaction, Calgary called up prospect Brandon Gorzynski, adding the 16-year-old to the roster as an affiliate player. Gorzynski, a centre from Scottsdale, Arizona, was Calgary’s first-round pick (15th overall) in the 2022 WHL U.S. Priority Draft. He signed with the club in mid-September and notched one goal in four pre-season games. This season he has 12 points (7g, 5a) in 12 games with the U16 Elite Pittsburgh Penguins.
WHL TOP-10: Carter Yakemchuk leads the league in goals among defencemen with 10 while his 24 points are seventh among blueliners…Oliver Tulk is tied for ninth in power play goals with six…Ben Kindel is tied for third in rookie scoring with 22 points. Goaltender Ethan Buenaventura is fifth in the WHL in saves with 529 while is .914 save percentage ranks eighth best.
FAST FACTS: Calgary is one of the youngest teams in the WHL with an average age of 17.5, a roster that includes 10 rookies…David Adaszynski (56) is the only Hitmen skater with at least one shot on goal in all 22 games this season…Calgary is 8-1 when they score the game’s first goal this season…Sean Tschigerl leads the Hitmen in multi-goal games with three while Oliver Tulk and Carson Wetsch both have two.
CENTRAL DIVISION DIET: Tonight against Red Deer marks the sixth contest in a stretch that sees the Hitmen play eight games in a row against teams from their own division. So far, they are 3-2 in this stretch. The remaining games are against Lethbridge and Medicine Hat.
CHASING THE FIELD: The Hitmen are tied with Spokane and Red Deer for the fewest games played in the WHL this season at 22. On the opposite end, Prince Albert and Brandon lead the way having already played 27 games.
SCOUTS EYE: NHL Central Scouting has released its ‘Preliminary Players to Watch’ list for the 2024 NHL Draft. Hitmen defenceman Carter Yakemchuk gained recognition as an ‘A’ ranked skater, projecting as a first-round candidate while forward Carson Wetsch is a ‘B’ ranked skater forecasting as a second or third-round candidate. A total of 63 WHLers are on the list including six potential first-round picks.
TEDDY BEAR TALLY: More than 15,575 seats have been sold for the Sunday, Dec. 3 ENMAX Teddy Bear Toss against the Prince Albert Raiders. Fans can secure their seat to one of the most anticipated games of the season at HitmenHockey.com. Game time is 4:00 p.m.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Reese Hamilton (Lower Body, Day-to-Day).
WHL CAREER MILESTONES: Maxim Muranov is two points shy of 50. Ethan Buenaventura is 41 saves away from 2,000. Sean Tschigerl achieved 100 career assists Saturday against Edmonton.
HOME AND AWAY COMPARISION: The Hitmen are 3-7-1 on the road this season while Red Deer is 5-5 on home ice.
UPCOMING GAMES: The Hitmen weekday Central Division road trip resumes tomorrow, Wednesday, Nov. 29 in Lethbridge against the Hurricanes before wrapping up in Medicine Hat against the Tigers on Friday, Dec. 1. Both games are 7:00 p.m. starts.
