GAME PREVIEW: Calgary at Moose Jaw – 02.22.25
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (36-15-3-2) put the finishing touches on a six-game East Division road trip tonight with a stop in Moose Jaw against the Warriors (11-39-4-2). Game time is 6:00 p.m. MT at the Moose Jaw Events Centre. The Hitmen are 3-2 on the trip and coming off their second consecutive 5-0 victory after a convincing win in Brandon last night. Calgary roared out of the gate, building a 3-0 lead 8:50 into the first period. Ben Kindel scored twice while Tanner Howe (1g, 2a) and Oliver Tulk (3a) added three points each. Carter Yakemchuk and Brandon Gorzynski completed the scoring with Daniel Hauser making 28 saves recording back-to-back shutouts for the second time in his WHL career. Moose Jaw also played last night and fell 4-1 in Prince Albert. Lynden Lakovic scored the lone goal for the Warriors who were outshot 40-29.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Hitmen are third in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with 77 points, four points ahead of fourth place Lethbridge but just one point behind front-running Medicine Hat. Calgary has one game in hand on the Hurricanes and two on the Tigers. Moose Jaw is 11th in the conference with 28 points.
MOOSE JAW: Tonight marks the fourth and final regular season meeting between the two clubs. Calgary is 3-0 against the Warriors averaging 6.7 goals for per game. Ben Kindel (2g, 10a) has 12 points each to lead the Hitmen while Oliver Tulk (4g, 6a) has 10. Goaltender Anders Miller is 2-0 with a .50 goals against average, stopping 42 of 43 shots for a .977 save percentage. Luke Moroz (2a), Pavel McKenzie (1g, 1a) and Ethan Semeniuk (2a) are the top performers for Moose Jaw with two points each. Calgary is 3-5 in their last eight visits to Canada’s Most Notorious City.
2024-25 SERIES RECAP
Dec. 1/24 in CGY: Hitmen 9 Warriors 0…Tanner Howe netted a hat-trick in front of 16,869 fans.
Jan. 8/25 in CGY: Hitmen 5 Warriors 1…Oliver Tulk scored his first hat-trick of the season and third of his WHL career.
Jan. 22/25 in MJ: Hitmen 6 Warriors 4…Ben Kindel powered Calgary with five points (2g, 3a).
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 149 MJ 63 Power Plays: CGY 3-6 (50%) MJ 1-4 (25%)
STREAKS: Ben Kindel (3g, 2a) is on a four-game point streak…Brandon Gorzynski (3g) is a on a career-high three game goal scoring streak…Oliver Tulk (3g, 5a) and Ethan Moore (2g, 1a) are both on three-game point streaks…Tanner Howe (1g, 3a) is riding a two-game point streak…Daniel Hauser has won his last three starts and is on a 123 minute and 23 second shutout streak having posted back-to-back shutouts…Ethan Merner (2g) saw his two-game goal scoring streak snapped last night in Brandon while a two-game point streak for Carson Wetsch (2a) was also halted.
PLAYOFF TICKET BOOKED: Wednesday’s victory in Regina officially secured a 2025 Western Hockey League playoff spot for the Hitmen. It will be the second time in three years Calgary will be among the post season competitors after dropping their opening round series to Red Deer in 2022-23.
SASKATCHEWAN FLAVOUR: The Hitmen have four players on their roster from Saskatchewan in Tanner Howe (Prince Albert), Carson Birnie (Arcola), Connor Hvidston (Tisdale) and Kalem Parker (Clavet).
90 POINT PLATEAU: Last night in Brandon, Oliver Tulk (91pts) became the first Hitmen in 12 seasons to reach the 90-point plateau. Cody Sylvester was the last player to hit that milestone finishing the 2012-13 campaign with 90 points in 68 games.
HOME AND AWAY COMPARISION: The Hitmen are 15-11-2-1 away from Scotiabank Saddledome and are riding a three-game road winning streak. Moose Jaw is 6-18-1-2 at home.
THE GREAT EIGHT: Calgary’s 3-2 overtime win against Lethbridge on Feb. 11 set a new franchise record for most overtime wins in a single season with eight. The previous best of seven was established during the 2016-17 season. The Hitmen are also on a franchise record setting seven-game overtime winning streak.
HAUSER’S HISTORIC CLIMB: Daniel Hauser picked up career victory 116 last night in Brandon pulling him into a tie with Carter Hart for sixth place on the WHL’s all-time regular season wins list. Hauser is now just one win back of Mac Carruth who holds fifth place with 117.
FAST FACTS: The Hitmen have opened the scoring in each of their last 16 games…Calgary’s 36 wins tie their most in a single season since the 2018-19 campaign when they notched 36 victories in 68 games…The Hitmen have outshot their opponent 45 times this season…The Hitmen are 15-5-1-0 against teams from the East Division…Calgary is +60 in goals for and against while Moose Jaw is -114.
WHL LEADERBOARD: The Hitmen have two of the WHL’s Top-5 scorers. Ben Kindel is fifth with 87 points while Oliver Tulk is fourth with 92 points. It’s the first time the Hitmen have had two 80-point scorers in a single season since the 2013-14 campaign when Brady Brassart and Greg Chase tied for the team lead with 85 points each…Carter Yakemchuk is in a two-way tie for third in goals by a defenceman with 16.
CAREER MILESTONE WATCH: Ben Kindel needs three points to reach 150 and three goals to hit 50…Oliver Tulk eclipsed 250 points last night in Brandon. He is sixth all-time in franchise scoring with 251 points, five points behind Kris Beech (256) for fifth place…In late January Tulk became the sixth member of the Hitmen 100 goal-club. He is two goals behind Brandon Segal (110) for fifth place on the clubs’ all-time goal scoring list…Last night in Brandon, Carter Yakemchuk (175) moved into a tie with Jake Bean (175) for fourth place all-time in franchise scoring by a defenceman…Rylan Ng played his 50th game last night in Brandon.
COUNTDOWN CLOCK: Counting today the Hitmen have 12 games remaining on their regular season schedule against the following opponents: MJ (1), SC (2), RD (3), KEL (1), BDN, EDM (2), LET (1), MH (1).
DID YOU KNOW? Calgary is second in the Eastern Conference in goals for with 219 while their 159 goals against is the lowest in the conference…Calgary has 11 players with 10 or more goals this season…The Hitmen power play is 17th in the WHL at 19.8% while the penalty kill is 11th at 77.0%…David Adaszynski passed 400 face-off wins last night in Brandon while Chase Valliant eclipsed the 100 mark.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Lukas Hansen (Upper Body, Day-to-Day), Axel Hurtig (Lower Body, Day-to-Day).
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. In the goaltending department, Anders Miller is 19th.
UPCOMING GAMES: Calgary returns to home ice on Wednesday, Feb. 26 to host Swift Current in the TELUS BE BRAVE #EndBullying Game in an 11:00 a.m. start at Scotiabank Saddledome. The Hitmen are then back on the road to visit Red Deer on Friday, Feb. 28 in a 7:00 p.m. start.
