GAME PREVIEW: Calgary at Edmonton – 03.12.25
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (41-15-3-3) play the first of two Central Division road games this week with a stop in the provincial capital this morning for a date with the Edmonton Oil Kings (35-24-2-2). Game time is 11:00 a.m. at Rogers Place for the Oil Kings annual “Hockey Hooky” game. The Hitmen ran their point streak to nine games (8-0-0-1) on Sunday with a 4-1 home ice win over Brandon which also clinched home ice advantage in the opening round of the Western Hockey League Playoffs. Ethan Moore scored a pair of goals for Calgary, Tanner Howe (1g, 2a) notched a team leading three points and Daniel Hauser made 31 saves to record the victory. Edmonton, winners of two in a row, also last played on Sunday skating to a 3-2 shootout win over Swift Current.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Hitmen are third in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with 88 points, four points ahead of fourth place Lethbridge and two points behind front-running Medicine Hat. Calgary has one game in hand on the Hurricanes and two on the Tigers. Lethbridge is home to Prince Albert tonight while Medicine Hat is off until Friday when they visit Lethbridge. Edmonton at 74 points is tied with Prince Albert for fifth in the conference, just a single point ahead of Brandon but 10 points behind the Hurricanes for fourth.
EDMONTON: This morning marks the seventh of eight regular season meetings between the two Central Division rivals. Calgary is 5-1 against the Oil Kings, having won the last five. The winning team has scored four or more goals in all six victories. Connor Hvidston (2g, 7a) leads Calgary in the season series with nine points while Carter Yakemchuk (2g, 4a) and Oliver Tulk (2g, 4a) both have six. Gavin Hodnett (4g, 3a) is the top performer for Edmonton with seven points. Miroslav Holinka (2g, 3a) is next with five. The Hitmen are 2-1 in Edmonton this season. Their next and last regular season meeting is in just four days when the Oil Kings visit Scotiabank Saddledome on Sunday, Mar. 16 at 2:00 p.m.
2024-25 SERIES RECAP
Sept. 28/24 in EDM: Oil Kings 4 Hitmen 1…Alex Worthington made 33 saves for Edmonton in a first-star performance.
Nov. 29/24 in CGY: Hitmen 4 Oil Kings 2…Carter Yakemchuk broke a 2-2 tie for Calgary with 2:57 remaining.
Jan. 1/25 at EDM: Hitmen 4 Oil Kings 1…The Hitmen scored four unanswered goals as Carter Yakemchuk notched three points (1g, 2a).
Jan. 29/25 in CGY: Hitmen 6 Oil Kings 0…Calgary built period leads of 2-0 and 4-0.
Jan. 31/25 in EDM: Hitmen 5 Oil Kings 2…Ben Kindel scored twice while Daniel Hauser made 29 saves for Calgary.
Feb. 7/25 in CGY: Hitmen 4 Oil Kings 3 OT…Sawyer Mynio scored the winner after Edmonton scored twice in the final 1:25 to force extra time.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 222 EDM 171 Power Plays: CGY 3-29 (10.3%) EDM 3-27 (11.1%)
STREAKS: Tanner Howe (2g, 6a) and Sawyer Mynio (2g, 4a) are both riding three-game point streaks…Daniel Hauser has won his last seven starts… Kalem Parker (4a) saw his four-game point streak end Sunday against Brandon while two-game point streaks for Ben Kindel (1g, 5a), Oliver Tulk (2g, 3a) and Axel Hurtig (1g, 1a) were also halted.
HAUSER’S HISTORIC CLIMB: Daniel Hauser picked up career victory 120 on Sunday against the Wheat Kings pulling him into a three-way tie for second place on the WHL’s all-time regular season wins list with Tyson Sexsmith and Corey Hirsch. Former Saskatoon Blade Nolan Maier leads the way with 122.
FAST FACTS: For the third week in a row Calgary remains eighth in this week’s CHL-Top 10 Rankings presented by Delta Hotels by Marriott…The Hitmen are 13-9-1-3 against the Central Division…Calgary is +80 in goals for and against while Edmonton is +36…As a team Calgary is 56.4% on draws this season…Ben Kindel is one faceoff win shy of 300…Connor Hvidston eclipsed the 400 faceoff win mark on Sunday against Brandon…The Hitmen power play is 17th in the WHL at 21.1% while the penalty kill is seventh at 79.0%… Counting today the Hitmen have six games remaining on their regular season schedule against the following opponents: EDM (2), LET (1), RD (2), MH (1).
40 WIN CLUB: Friday’s win over Swift Current pushed Calgary to their 40th victory of the season. It’s the first time since the 2015-16 campaign the Hitmen have reached that lofty total and the 13th time in club history.
HAUSER MAKES HISTORY: Friday against Swift Current Daniel Hauser cemented his name in the Hitmen record books when his shutout streak ended at 245 minutes and 25 seconds. He had broken Justin Pogge’s 2006 mark of 228:47 the previous game and in the process also set a new franchise with four straight shutouts, which tied the WHL record. The previous club record of three straight shutouts was shared by Justin Pogge and Martin Jones
HOME AND AWAY COMPARISION: The Hitmen are 16-11-2-2 on the road and riding a five-game point streak (4-0-0-1) away from Scotiabank Saddledome. Edmonton has won back-to-back games at Rogers Place and are 20-10-0-1 overall at home this season.
WHL LEADERBOARD: Daniel Hauser is tied for second in the WHL with a 2.56 goals against average while his .913 save percentage is tied for second and his five shutouts top the league…The Hitmen have two of the WHL’s Top-6 scorers. Ben Kindel is sixth with 96 points while Oliver Tulk is fifth with 98.
CAREER MILESTONE WATCH: Ben Kindel needs one goal to each 50…Tanner Howe is two games away from 250… Carter Yakemchuk (179) is two points behind Michael Stone (181) for third place all-time in franchise scoring by a defenceman…David Adaszynski is four points away from 100 while Sawyer Mynio needs four assists to reach the century mark…Friday against Swift Current, Oliver Tulk moved into fifth place all-time in franchise scoring with 257 points, one ahead of Kris Beech (256). Brandon Kozun is fourth with 270. Also on Friday, Tulk took over fifth place on the clubs’ all-time goal scoring list with 111, passing Brandon Segal (110). Boris Protsenko is fourth with 121.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Oliver Tulk (Lower Body, Week-to-Week).
EVERY CHILD MATTERS JERSEY AUCTION: Fans can bid on the Every Child Matters game worn and game issued jerseys worn on Sunday against Brandon. Designed by Indigenous artists the sweaters are being auctioned online at elevateauctions.com until Monday, Mar. 17 at 8:00 p.m. MT. Net proceeds will benefit youth programming on Siksika Nation.
HITMEN MONTH-BY-MONTH: Sept. (1-1-0-0), Oct. (4-4-2-1), Nov. (7-3-1-0), Dec. (6-3-0-0), Jan. (12-1-0-1), Feb. (8-3-0-1), Mar. (3-0-0-0).
ALUMNI HARDWARE: Two former Calgary Hitmen forwards claimed Canada West Awards this week in CIS Men’s Hockey. Sean Tschigerl of the Alberta Golden Bears was named Rookie of the Year while teammate Josh Prokop was handed the UBC Hockey Alumni Trophy for Sportsmanship and Ability.
UPCOMING GAMES: Calgary is back on the road on Saturday, Mar. 15 for a 6:00 p.m. start in Lethbroidge against the Hurricanes. It’s then back home on Sunday, Mar. 16 when the Hitmen host Edmonton at 2:00 p.m. in another Sunday Funday presented by Brookfield Residential.
