GAME PREVIEW: Calgary at Prince Albert – 10.31.25
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (8-3-1-0), riding a season high four-game winning streak, open a season long six-game road trip tonight in Prince Albert against the Raiders (9-0-2-0). Game time is 7:00 p.m. MT at Art Hauser Centre. The Hitmen are coming off Wednesday’s 4-3 home ice shootout victory over Red Deer. Andrei Molgachev scored the shootout winner, helping the Hitmen improve to 2-0 against the Rebels this season. Luc Trevors, with his first career WHL goal, Ben MacBeath and Wyatt Pisarczyk also scored for the Hitmen who built period leads of 1-0 and 2-0. Goaltender Aidan Hesse made 19 saves to record his first ever win at Scotiabank Saddledome and second of his career. Both clubs went 0-2 on the powerplay. The Raiders have been idle since last Saturday’s 5-0 victory in Swift Current. Prince Albert outshot the Broncos 41-18 with Dimitri Fortin recording his first career shutout. Alisher Sarkenov (2g, 1a) and Brayden Dube (1g, 2a) led the PA scoring attack with three points each.
PRINCE ALBERT: Tonight marks the first of four regular season meetings between the two clubs. Last season they split their four games with the home team a perfect 4-0. Oliver Tulk (4g, 3a) led the Hitmen with seven points while Carson Wetsch (2g, 4a) was next with six. Justice Christensen (2g, 2a), Tomas Mrsic (1g, 3a) and Lukas Dragicevic (1g, 3a) were the top performing Raiders with four points each. The Raiders are riding a four-game home ice winning streak against Calgary with the last Hitmen victory at Art Hauser Centre back on Jan. 4, 2023. That night goaltender Ethan Buenaventura made 42 saves in a first-star performance for Calgary while Sean Tschigerl, Maxim Muranov and Tomas Marinkovic supplied the goals. It was the Marinkovic tally that broke a 3-3 tie with 1:27 remaining.
2024-25 SERIES RECAP
Dec. 6/24 in PA: Raiders 4 Hitmen 3…Krzysztof Macias and Naill Crocker both notched a goal and an assist for PA.
Dec. 18/24 in CGY: Hitmen 8 Raiders 5…The Hitmen built leads of 2-0, 4-2 and 6-4.
Feb. 5/25 in CGY: Hitmen 3 Raiders 1…Oliver Tulk scored twice helping the Hitmen build a 3-0 lead.
Feb. 15/25 in PA: Raiders 4 Hitmen 2…The Raiders scored twice in the first 2:18 of the third period to snap a 2-2 tie.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 161 PA 110 Power Plays: CGY 2-13 (15.4%) PA 4-11 (36.4%)
STREAKIN’: Ethan Moore (1g, 5a) is on a six-game point streak…Eric Tu has won his last four starts, posting a 1.50 goals against average and .947 save percentage, stopping 107 of 113 shots… Hunter Aura (2a) saw his two-game assist streak end Wednesday against Red Deer.
CATCHING FIRE: The Hitmen have picked up 13 of a possible 16 points in their last eight games, posting a record of 6-1-1-0.
2026 NHL DRAFT: Five Hitmen have been named by NHL Central Scouting as Preliminary Players to Watch ahead of the coming draft. Landon Amrheim and Ben MacBeath are both projected second or third-round picks while Hunter Aura, Aidan Hesse and Andrei Molgachev are all projected to be sixth or seventh-round candidates.
ROSTER MOVE: On Wednesday the Hitmen recalled prospect Kale McCann from the AJHL’s Calgary Canucks and added him to the roster as an affiliate player. The 16-year-old has eight points (2g, 6a) in 12 games this season. McCann was a second-round pick of the Hitmen, 29th overall, in the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft.
SITTING OUT: Former Raider Harrison Lodewyk will miss his homecoming tonight in Prince Albert as he serves the second and final game of a two-game WHL imposed suspension under supplemental discipline. On Oct. 2, the Hitmen filled their final 20-year-old spot by adding Lodewyk from the Prince Albert Raiders in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2027 WHL Prospects Draft and a fifth-round pick in 2028. Lodewyk had played his entire WHL career with the Raiders, appearing in 233 games
DID YOU KNOW? Just two points separate six Hitmen from the team scoring lead currently held by Ethan Moore (3g, 9a) at 12 points …Today is Calgary’s first game against an East Division opponent. Last season they were 19-5-1-0 against the East. The Hitmen penalty kill is a perfect 17 for its last 17 and ranked second in the WHL this season is 87.8%.
LEADERSHIP GROUP: The Hitmen have named Calgary Flames prospect and 20-year-old defenceman Axel Hurtig captain of this year’s team. Also wearing a letter as alternate captains are Ethan Moore, Harrison Lodewyk, Brandon Gorzynski and Hunter Aura.
FAST FACTS: Ben MacBeath (24) and Andrei Molgachev (24) both have at least one shot on goal in all 12 games this season…The Hitmen went 2-1 in September and are 6-2-1-0 in October…Calgary has 25 players on their roster including 14 forwards, nine defencemen and two goaltenders. There are only eight returning players from last season with 16 rookies on the club.
CANADA CALLS: Hitmen 16-year-old defenceman Calder Hamilton is at the 2025 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. He will play for Canada White in the East Coast tournament that begins Sunday and will continue until Nov. 8 in Truro, N.S.
WHL REGULAR SEASON MILESTONES: Aidan Hess is six saves shy of 100. Forward Ethan Moore scored his 50th career goal last Sunday in Edmonton while goaltender Eric Tu eclipsed 500 saves the same day.
HOME AND AWAY COMPARISON: The Hitmen are 3-1-1-0 on the road this season, riding a two-game road winning streak and three-game (2-0-1-0) road point streak away from Scotiabank Saddledome. The Raiders are 6-0-1-0 on home ice.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Hunter Aura (Upper Body, Day-to-Day), Parker Schellenberg (Lower Body, Week-to-Week).
UPCOMING SCHEDULE: The Hitmen road trip serves up a travel day to Manitoba tomorrow before resuming in Brandon on Sunday for a 3:00 p.m. MT matinee against the Wheat Kings. The swing will also take the club to Regina on Tuesday (Nov. 4), Moose Jaw on Wednesday (Nov. 5) and Swift Current next Friday (Nov. 7) before ending in Saskatoon on Saturday, Nov. 8. The next Hitmen home game isn’t until Friday, Nov. 14 when they welcome the Blades in the back half of a home and home set. Tickets are available at HitmenHockey.com/Tickets.
