GAME PREVIEW: Calgary at Medicine Hat | 01.20.26
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (22-11-6-1) are back in Alberta tonight as they make a stop in Medicine Hat to face the Tigers (31-7-3-2). Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Co-op Place. Fans can watch the game for free on Victory+ or listen to Sportsnet 960 The Fan. The Hitmen are coming off Saturday’s 4-3 overtime loss in Penticton. Calgary erased deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 to earn a point on the road. It was Rylan Ng’s goal with 6.9 seconds remaining in the second period that forced the extra session. Keaton Jundt and Blake Vanek also scored for Calgary. The Tigers meanwhile saw their 19-game winning streak snapped on Saturday when they fell 8-5 at home to Prince Albert. The Raiders broke a 5-5 tie, scoring three unanswered goals, two into an empty net, in the final 2:34 of regulation. Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll led Medicine Hat with three assists.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Hitmen are fourth in the Eastern Conference with 51 points, two points ahead of fifth place Brandon with two games in hand on the Wheat Kings. Medicine Hat leads the Eastern Conference with 67 points, just one point ahead of Prince Albert and two points behind Everett for first overall.
MEDICINE HAT: Tonight marks the sixth of eight regular season meetings between the two Central Division rivals. Calgary is 1-2-1-1 against Medicine Hat and has been outscored by a combined 25-15. Dating back to last season, the Hitmen have just one win in their last 10 games against Medicine Hat but have picked up at least a point in five of those games with an overall record of 1-5-1-3. Harrison Lodewyk (3g, 2a) leads the Hitmen with five points while Kale Dach (4a) is next with four. Seven others have tallied three points each. Markus Ruck (3g, 6a) is the top performing Tiger with nine. Liam Ruck (2g, 4a) is next with six. Their next meeting is not until Friday, Feb. 27 when the Hitmen host the Tigers.
2025-26 SERIES RECAP
Oct. 4/25 in MH: Tigers 7 Hitmen 1…Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll (2g, 1a) and Yaroslav Bryzgalov (1g, 2a) notched three points each.
Oct. 10/25 in CGY: Hitmen 4 Tigers 2…Eric Tu made 38 saves for Calgary while the Hitmen scored four even strength goals.
Nov. 19/25 in CGY: Tigers 6 Hitmen 2…The Tigers built leads of 2-0 and 5-1 en route to the win.
Nov. 22/25 in MH: Tigers 7 Hitmen 6 Shootout…Medicine Hat overcame a 6-3 second period deficit.
Nov. 23/25 in CGY: Tigers 3 Hitmen 2 OT…Markus Ruck scored the winner 3:42 into the extra session and Carter Casey made 34 saves.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 150 MH 171 Power Plays: CGY 5-23 (21.7%) MH 4-18 (22.2%)
STREAKIN’: Kale Dach (3g, 8a) is on a five-game point streak…Blake Vanek (3g) has goals in back-to-back games…Keaton Jundt (1g, 1a) and Calder Hamilton (2a) are both riding two-game point streaks. Hunter Aura (3a) saw his two-game point streak end Saturday in Penticton.
NHL DRAFT COUNTDOWN: NHL Central Scouting has released its midterm rankings for the 2026 NHL Draft. Three Hitmen are on the list of the top 225 North American skaters. Defenceman Ben MacBeath is #20, forward Landon Amrhein is #85 and forward Andrei Molgachev is #199.
TRANSACTIONS: On Monday the Hitmen reassigned prospect Walker Filewich back to U18 Prep in the CSSHL with the Calgary International Hockey Academy. The 15-year-old has 12 points (7g, 5a) in 14 games. Filewich made his WHL debut this past weekend playing both games in B.C., becoming the 33rd player to appear in at least one Hitmen game this season. He was a second-round pick of Calgary, 35th overall, in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft.
HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING: Ahead of the WHL Trade Deadline the Hitmen added Ottawa Senators third-round prospect Blake Vanek from Wenatchee. In return Calgary sent 17-year-old prospect Carter Ernst to the Wild along with a sixth-round pick in the 2029 WHL Prospects Draft. In his first five games with the Hitmen, Vanek scored four goals plus a shootout game winner.
RUNNING HOT: Calgary has picked up points in 13 of their last 16 games, posting a record of 10-3-3-0.
ROAD DIET: Today is Game 3 in a stretch that sees the Hitmen play nine of 11 games on the road. Counting tonight, they have road stops left in MH, RD, LET, SAS, PA, BDN and REG with just two home dates in visits from REG and EDM.
DID YOU KNOW? With one assist in Penticton on Saturday night Ethan Moore has 122 career points sitting one point behind Carson Wetsch (123) for 46th spot on the club’s all-time scoring list.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTEBOOK: The Hitmen power play, which has scored at least once in nine of the last 12 games, has climbed into fourth place in the WHL at 29.4%…The Hitmen penalty kill is also fourth at 81.0%.
MOUNT LODEWYK: Hitmen centre Harrison Lodewyk has set a new single season personal best for most faceoff wins with 423. That breaks his previous high-water mark of 403 established with the Prince Albert Raiders in 2023-24. Last season, three Hitmen players won over 400 faceoffs in Oliver Tulk (555), David Adaszynski (503) and Connor Hvidston (448).
HOME AND AWAY COMPARISON: The Hitmen are 11-4-4-1 on the road, including a 6-2-3-0 run in their last 11 games away from Scotiabank Saddledome. Medicine Hat is 17-2-1-1 at home where they have outscored their opponents 121-66.
WHL REGULAR SEASON MILESTONES: Rylan Ng is in line to play his 100th career game tonight in Medicine Hat. The sophomore was selected by the Hitmen in the seventh round of the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft. Ng established a new career high in goals with his sixth on Saturday night in Penticton…Ty Meunier is one point shy of 50…Eric Tu is eight saves away from 1,000…Saturday in Penticton Julien Maze played career game 150.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Landon Amrhein (Upper Body, Day-to-Day), Ethan Moore (Upper Body, Day-to-Day)
ALUMNI WATCH: Cody Sylvester is in the ECHL with the Atlanta Gladiators and is fifth in team scoring with 21 points (9g, 12a) in 30 games. This is the 13th season of pro hockey for the former Hitmen captain who has also spent time in the AHL and overseas during his playing career. Sylvester spent five seasons with the Hitmen, from 2008-2013, appearing in 315 games. He is tied for ninth on the club’s all-time scoring list with 229 points (97g, 132a).
UPCOMING SCHEDULE: Calgary has one more road game remaining this week as they head to Red Deer on Friday, Jan. 23 to visit the Rebels in a 7:00 p.m. start. The Hitmen are then back home the following night on Saturday, Jan. 24 against the Regina Pats. Puck drop is 7:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome in the RE/MAX presents Be a Superhero for Chrildren’s Miracle Network game. Hitmen players will be rocking custom superhero themed jerseys and wear capes during warmup. Those jerseys will be sold in an online auction with proceeds to benefit the Alberta Children’s Hospital.
