GAME PREVIEW: Calgary at Lethbridge – 10.17.25
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (4-3-0-0) play the first of two weekend games tonight as they visit the Lethbridge Hurricanes (2-8-0-1) in a 7:00 p.m. start at VisitLethbridge.com Arena. Calgary is coming off Thanksgiving Monday’s 3-2 home ice loss to Portland. The Winterhawks got the game winning goal from Jake Gustafson with 5:32 remaining which snapped a 2-2 tie. Brandon Gorzynski and Kale Dale both scored for the Hitmen while goaltender Aidan Hesse made 26 saves in his first career WHL regular season start. Lethbridge last played on Wednesday, dropping a 3-2 shootout decision to the visiting Spokane Chiefs. Mathis Preston tallied the lone goal of the shootout for the game winner after Lethbridge forced overtime scoring with 42 seconds remaining in regulation.
LETHBRIDGE: Tonight marks the fourth of eight regular season meetings between the two clubs and for Calgary it’s the fourth time in eight games they will face the ‘Canes to open their 68-game schedule. The Hitmen are 2-1 against Lethbridge including a 1-0 record in the ‘Bridge while the road team is 2-1. The Hitmen are led by five players who all have three points each against the ‘Canes in Andrei Molgachev (2g, 1a), Kale Dach (1g, 2a), Hunter Aura (1g, 2a), Brandon Gorzynski (1g, 2a) and Ethan Moore (1g, 2a). Luke Cozens (2g, 2a) and Shane Smith (2g, 2a) are the top performing Hurricanes with four points each. Their next meeting is not until Saturday, Dec. 6, once again in Lethbridge.
2025-26 SERIES RECAP
Sept. 19/25 in LET: Hitmen 5 Hurricanes 3…The Hitmen raced out to a 2-0 first period lead.
Sept. 20/25 in CGY: Hurricanes 4 Hitmen 0…Koen Cleaver made 28 saves for the shutout while Luc Cozens and Shane Smith tallied two points each.
Sun. Oct. 5/25 in CGY: Hitmen 5 Hurricanes 2…Calgary scored four unanswered goals after Lethbridge built a 1-0 lead.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 89 LET 77 Power Plays: CGY 4-14 (28.6%) LET 1-12 (8.3%)
STREAKIN’: Sophomore Caine Wilke (2g, 4a) and rookie Landon Amrhein (2g, 3a) are on five-game point streaks. For both players it’s the longest such streaks of their WHL career.…Harrison Lodewyk (2g, 3a) and Brandon Gorzynski (2g, 3a) are both riding three-game point streaks… Eric Tu has won his last two starts, posting a 2.00 goals against average and .935 save percentage. His 38 saves last Friday against the Tigers was a season-high and the third highest total in a single game in his career. Tu had outings of 41 saves (Nov. 9 @ EVT) and 39 stops (Oct. 30 vs. MH) last season. Andrei Molgachev (1g, 1a) saw his two-game point streak snapped Sunday against Portland.
DID YOU KNOW? Harrison Lodewyk (1g, 8a) owns the team lead in scoring with nine points, Ethan Moore (2g, 5a) is next with seven…Today is Calgary’s seventh game this season against a team from their own division… This is the 31st season of Hitmen hockey in Calgary since the team started as an expansion franchise in 1995-96…Tonight kicks of a stretch of three of the next four Hitmen games on the road… Calgary’s last 14 goals have been scored by 11 different players in Kale Dach (2), Brandon Gorzynski (2), Caine Wilke (2), Rylan Ng, Shaun Hildebrandt, Andrei Molgachev, Hunter Aura, Ethan Moore, Ben MacBeath, Landon Amrhein and Keaton Jundt.
TRANSACTIONS: On Monday the Hitmen reduced their number of goalies from three to two by sending 19-year-old Anders Miller to the Everett Silvertips in exchange for a 2027 third-round pick and a 2029 fifth-round pick in the WHL Prospects Draft. The Hitmen crease is now made up of a pair of 17-year-old’s in Eric Tu and Aidan Hesse.
SHOOTING MENTALITY: Ethan Moore (27), Ben MacBeath (16), Luc Trevors (13) and Andrei Molgachev (10) all have at least one shot on goal in all seven games this season.
CARRYING THE LOAD: Hitmen overage forward Harrison Lodewyk is a stellar 59-78 on face-offs in his three games since joining the Hitmen, for a remarkable 75.6% efficiency.
ROSTER CONSTRUCTION: Calgary has 26 players on their roster including 16 forwards, eight defencemen and two goaltenders. There are only eight returning players from last season with 15 rookies on the club.
CANADA CALLS: Hitmen 16-year-old defenceman Calder Hamilton found out Wednesday that he has been invited to play for Canada at the 2025 U17 World Challenge. The tournament will be played on the East Coast from November 2-8 in Truro, N.S.
SPECIAL TEAMS TRACKER: The Hitmen are 4-32 on the powerplay (12%) which is 21st in the WHL with Lethbridge. The penalty kill is tied for ninth in the league at 82.6%, having killed 23 of their 28 shorthanded situations.
HITMEN IN THE PROS: Carter Yakemchuk is in the American Hockey League with the Belleville Senators. The 20-year-old scored his first professional goal last Sunday against the Bridgeport Islanders. Through two games, Yakemchuk has six shots on goal. He finished his Hitmen career last season recording 180 career points, including a franchise record 30-goal season by a defenceman in the 2023-24 campaign. That led to the Ottawa Senators selecting him seventh overall in the 2024 NHL Draft.
WHL REGULAR SEASON MILESTONES: Forward Ethan Moore is one goal shy of 50. On Monday he reached the 100-point mark.
HOME AND AWAY COMPARISON: The Hitmen are 1-1 on the road. Their two games in enemy rinks are the tied with Prince George for the second fewest while Brandon has played only one road game. Lethbridge is 0-5-0-1 on home ice.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Parker Schellenberg (Lower Body, Week-to-Week).
UPCOMING SCHEDULE: The Hitmen return home to Scotiabank Saddledome to host the Spokane Chiefs on Sunday, Oct. 19 in a 2:00 p.m. start. It will be another Sunday Funday presented by Brookfield Residential featuring the Hitmen $6 Happy Hour all game long, $3 sips and snacks plus the popular post game family skate. Tickets are available at HitmenHockey.com/Tickets. Calgary will then head to Red Deer on Saturday, Oct. 25 before a Sunday, Oct. 26 visit to Edmonton for a mini two-game road trip.
