Game Preview: Calgary at Medicine Hat – 01.18.25
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (24-12-3-1) close a home-and-home set with the Medicine Hat Tigers (26-15-2-0) tonight with a stop in the Gas City. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Co-op Place. The Tigers took the opener last night by a score of 3-0 at Scotiabank Saddledome. Kadon McCann, Oasiz Wiesblatt and Ryder Ritchie all scored for Medicine Hat on a night where they outshot the Hitmen 50-20. Daniel Hauser was excellent in the Hitmen net making 47 saves while Harrison Meneghin made 20 saves to record the shutout. The Tigers also won the special teams battle going 2-6 on the power play and killing all four Hitmen chances including a 5-on-3 for 29 seconds.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Hitmen are tied with Lethbridge for third in the Eastern Conference at 52 points, sitting just two points back of front running Medicine Hat. Calgary has three games in hand on Medicine Hat and one on the Hurricanes.
MEDICINE HAT: Tonight marks the seventh of eight regular season meetings between the two Central Division rivals. Calgary is 1-4-0-1 against the Tigers including an 0-3 record at Co-op Place. Medicine Hat has outscored the Hitmen by a combined 26-14. Ben Kindel (3g, 5a) has been the top performer for Calgary with eight points while Oliver Tulk (2g, 3a) is next with five. Gavin McKenna (6g, 5a) has powered Medicine Hat with 11 points while Oasiz Wiesblatt (2g, 8a) is next with 10. Calgary is a combined 8-8 in their last 16 visits to Medicine Hat. The two clubs will wrap up their head-to-head schedule on the last day of the regular season when the Tigers visit the ‘Dome on Sunday, March 23rd.
2024-25 SERIES RECAP
Oct. 23/24 in MH: Tigers 4 Hitmen 2…Tied 2-2, the Tigers scored two-third period goals 46 seconds apart.
Oct. 30/24 in CGY: Tigers 4 Hitmen 3 SO…The Tigers clawed back from a 3-1 second period deficit.
Nov. 30/24 in MH: Tigers 7 Hitmen 3…Gavin McKenna led the Tigers with four points (3g, 1a).
Dec. 29/24 in CGY: Hitmen 4 Tigers 3 OT…Ben Kindel (2g, 1a) led Calgary with three points including the game winning goal.
Dec. 30/24 in MH: Tigers 5 Hitmen 2…The Tigers snapped a 2-2 just 44 seconds into the third period.
Jan. 17/25 in CGY: Tigers 3 Hitmen 0…Oasiz Wiesblatt (1g, 1a) and Gavin McKenna (2a) had two points each.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 173 MH 183 Power Plays: CGY 7-29 (24.1%) MH 8-25 (32%)
STREAKS: Goaltender Anders Miller has won his last four starts while posting a 1.75 goals against average and .936 save percentage…Ben Kindel (14g, 30a) saw his career high and franchise record setting 23-game point streak end last night against the Tigers. A career high 20-game point streak for Oliver Tulk (17g, 28a) and a career high five-game point streak for Brandon Gorzynski (2g, 5a) were also halted in addition to a three-game point streak for Tanner Howe (3a), a two-game goal scoring streak for Carson Wetsch (3g) and a two-game point streak for Connor Hvidston (2a).
NHL RADAR: Three Hitmen are on NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings of the top North American skaters and goalies eligible for the 2025 NHL Draft. Among the skaters, Ben Kindel is ranked 20th with Brandon Gorzynski on the document 81st. On the goaltending list, Anders Miller is 19th. Overall, a total of 66 WHL players cracked the rankings.
HOME AND AWAY COMPARISION: The Hitmen are riding a two-game road winning streak and are 9-9-2-0 away from Scotiabank Saddledome this season. Their 20 road points are tied with Edmonton for the ninth most in the WHL. Medicine Hat is 17-5-1-0 on home ice, tied with Everett for the most home points collected this season.
FAST FACTS: The Hitmen have cracked the CHL Top-10 Rankings for the first time this season, currently sitting eighth…Calgary was outshot last night for the first time in 21 games, marking the first time that’s happened since Nov. 13 in Portland…The Hitmen are 17-5 in their last 22 games picking up 34 of a possible 42 points.
WHL LEADERBOARD: The Hitmen have two of the WHL’s Top-5 scorers as Ben Kindel sits fifth with 64 points while Oliver Tulk is fourth with 66 points.
CAREER MILESTONE WATCH: Sawyer Mynio is in line to play career game 200 in the WHL tonight in Medicine Hat…Daniel Hauser is 55 saves shy of 4,000…Oliver Tulk is 10th all-time in franchise scoring with 225 points, four points behind Cody Sylvester and Boris Protsenko who share eighth place with 229 points. Tulk two-goal game last Friday against Saskatoon moved him into a three-way tie for seventh on the clubs’ all-time goal scoring list with Ryan Getzlaf and Brady Brassart at 95 goals. He is just two goals behind Cody Sylvester for sixth place…Carter Yakemchuk is two assists shy of 100…Tanner Howe hit the 150-career assist mark last Sunday against Brandon just two days after reaching the 250-point mark.
DID YOU KNOW? Calgary is 7-8-1-1 against teams from their own division…Calgary was shutout last night for the first time this season.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Lukas Hansen (Upper Body, Day-to-Day), Carter Yakemchuk (Lower Body, Day-to-Day).
HITMEN MONTH-BY-MONTH: September (1-1-0-0), October (4-4-2-1), November (7-3-1-0), December (6-3-0-0), January (6-1-0-0).
INKED: On Jan. 10 the Hitmen announced the signing of their fourth-round pick in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft as 18-year-old forward Ethan Merner committed to a WHL Scholarship and Development Agreement. The product of Kelowna, BC, has joined the club. He was sixth on the BCHL’s Langley Rivermen in scoring this season with 18 points (12g, 6a) in 30 games.
PROSPECT WATCH: Hitmen prospect Dominik Silbernagel, a fifth-round pick 95th overall in the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft, is playing U18 Prep in the CSSHL with RINK Hockey Academy in Kelowna. In 22 games the 15-year-old forward has 12 points (5g, 7a).
UPCOMING GAMES: The Hitmen will put the wraps on this three-game weekend tomorrow, Sunday, Jan. 19 back home against the Regina Pats. Game time is 4:00 p.m. in another Sunday Funday presented by Brookfield Residential. In addition to $3 sips and snacks all game long, look for family fun entertainment on the west concourse. There are also $6 Hitmen Happy Hour food and drink deals throughout the day and a post-game family skate.