GAME PREVIEW: Calgary at Penticton | 01.17.25
HITMEN HEADLINES: For the last time this regular season, the Calgary Hitmen (22-11-5-1) will play game in B.C., making a stop in Penticton tonight against the CHL’s #10 ranked Vees (25-9-4-3). Game time is 6:00 PST/7:00 MST. Fans can watch the game for free on Victory+ or listen to Sportsnet 960 The Fan. The Hitmen saw their four-game winning streak come to an end last night with a 5-2 loss in Kelowna. Blake Vanek scored both goals for the Hitmen who headed to the third period in a 2-2 tie. The Rockets pulled ahead on the powerplay 4:04 into the final frame then added an insurance marker and empty net goal in the final four minutes. Aidan Hesse made a career-high 35 saves for Calgary while defenceman Hunter Aura chipped in a pair of assists. Penticton also played last night stretching their winning streak to 10-games with a 4-2 road triumph over Vancouver. The Vees scored the first four goals of the game and built a 41-5 lead on the shot clock through 40 minutes.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Hitmen are fourth in the Eastern Conference with 50 points, one point ahead of fifth place Brandon but 13 points back of third place Edmonton. Calgary has three games in hand on both the Wheat Kings and Oil Kings. Penticton is second in the Western Conference at 57 points, 10 points behind front-running Everett and seven points ahead of third place Prince George.
PENTICTON: Tonight is the first ever meeting between the two clubs after the WHL announced last March that the Vees would join the league in 2025/26, becoming the first expansion team in nearly two decades. Penticton plays out of the 5,000 seat South Okanagan Events Centre which opened in 2008.
STREAKIN’: Kale Dach (3g, 8a) is on a five-game point streak…Hunter Aura (3a) has points in back-to-back games…Eric Tu has won his last four starts in goal posting a 2.20 goals against average and .922 save percentage. Julien Maze (3g, 3a) saw his four-game point streak end last night in Kelowna while a three-game assist streak for Ben MacBeath (3a) was also halted.
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.
FAMILIAR FACES: The Vees roster features a pair of former Hitmen in Matteo Danis and Chase Valliant. Danis played parts of three seasons in Calgary, appearing in 79 games before he was traded to Prince George in October of 2023. The Hitmen received a fourth-round pick in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft which they used to select goaltending prospect Donagh Esler-Twiss. Valliant meanwhile was shipped along with Easton LaPlante to the Vees last May in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2027 WHL Prospects Draft. That transaction fulfilled Calgary’s requirements for the expansion draft. Valliant played 116 career games with the Hitmen.
WHL FIRST: Last night in Kelowna saw the Western Hockey League debut of 15-year-old Hitmen prospect Walker Filewich. Filewich became 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. This season Filewich is playing U18 Prep in the CSSHL with the Calgary International Hockey Academy where the St. Albert, AB, product has 12 points (7g, 5a) in 14 games.
TRANSACTIONS: Calgary made several moves 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. The Hitmen also made a swap with Everett, acquiring 18-year-old import defenceman Jakub Seidl in return for a second-round pick in the 2026 CHL Import Draft. Other transactions saw the Hitmen reassign forward Hayden Schollar to the AJHL’s Drumheller Dragons, trade forward Koy Funk to Prince George for a third-round pick in 2028 and reassign defenceman Bobby Williams.
RUNNING HOT: Calgary has picked up points in 12 of their last 15 games, posting a record of 10-3-2-0.
ROAD DIET: Today is Game 2 in a stretch of hockey that sees the Hitmen play nine of 11 games on the road. Counting tonight, they have road stops left in PEN, MH, RD, LET, SAS, PA, BDN and REG with just two home dates in visits from REG and EDM.
DID YOU KNOW? With his two goals last Sunday against Lethbridge, Ethan Moore has 121 career points moving him into sole possession of 47th place on the club’s all-time scoring list ahead of Andrew Ladd (120). Moore is now two points back of Carson Wetsch (123) for 46th spot with Matteo Gennaro (124), Adam Tambellini (125) and Paul Postma (126) all within striking distance.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTEBOOK: The Hitmen power play, which has scored at least once in nine of the last 11 games, has climbed into fourth place in the WHL at 29.6%…The Hitmen penalty kill ranks third at 81.4%.
MOUNT LODEWYK: Last night in Kelowna Hitmen centre Harrison Lodewyk set a new single season best for most faceoff wins with 409. That breaks his previous high-water mark of 403 set 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 11-4-3-1 on the road, including a 6-2-2-0 run in their last 10 games away from Scotiabank Saddledome. Penticton is 11-6-4-1 at home where they have outscored their opponents 80-70.
WHL REGULAR SEASON MILESTONES: Julien Maze is in line to play his 150th career game tonight in Penticton after reaching the 100-point mark last Sunday against Lethbridge…Ty Meunier is one point shy of 50…Eric Tu is 36 saves away from 1,000…Rylan Ng is two games away from 100.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Kale Dach (Upper Body, Day-to-Day), Landon Amrhein (Upper Body, Day-to-Day).
OLYMPIC INVITE: Hitmen graduate Travis Sanheim has been named to Team Canada’s Men’s Hockey Roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. The 29-year-old defenceman is in his ninth NHL season with Philadelphia and has 19 points (5g, 14a) in 44 games with the Flyers. Sanheim appeared in 132 career games with the Hitmen from 2013-2016 recording 162 points (35g, 127a).
UPCOMING SCHEDULE: Calgary heads back to Alberta for a pair of road games this coming week. The first stop is in Medicine Hat on Tuesday, Jan. 20 for a 7:00 p.m. start against the Tigers followed by a Friday, Jan. 23 visit to Red Deer to face the Rebels at 7:00 p.m. 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.
