Game Preview: Calgary at Red Deer – 01.03.25
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (19-11-3-1) wrap up a three-game road trip tonight with a stop in Red Deer against the Rebels (15-17-1-2). Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Peavey Mart Centrium. The Hitmen are coming off a 4-1 New Year’s Day victory in Edmonton. Calgary scored four unanswered goals after the Oil Kings opened the scoring. Ben Kindel, Hunter Aura, Carson Wetsch and Carter Yakemchuk into an empty net, counted the Hitmen goals while Anders Miller made 25 saves to record the victory. The Rebels have been idle since Sunday when they fell 8-2 to those same Oil Kings up in Edmonton. Red Deer built a 2-1 first period lead before the Edmonton rally.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Hitmen are third in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with 42 points while Red Deer is ninth with 33 points.
RED DEER: Tonight is fourth of eight regular season meetings between the two Central Division rivals. Calgary is 0-2-1-0 against the Rebels. Oliver Tulk (6a) leads the Hitmen in the season series with six points while Carter Yakemchuk (2g, 2a) has four. Five Rebels have three points each to lead the Red Deer charge including Ollie Josephson (1g, 2a) and Talon Brigley (3a). Dating back to last season, Red Deer has won their last 11 games against Calgary with seven of those victories by a single goal. The two teams meet again on Sunday, Jan. 26 back at Scotiabank Saddledome.
2024-25 SERIES RECAP
Oct. 5/24 in RD: Rebels 5 Hitmen 2…The Rebels scored three unanswered goals after Reese Hamilton tied the game for Calgary.
Oct. 16/24 in CGY: Rebels 5 Hitmen 4 OT…The Hitmen overcame a 3-0 deficit to earn a point before Hunter Mayo scored the OT winner.
Nov. 4/24 in CGY: Rebels 3 Hitmen 2…Red Deer overcame a 2-1 third period deficit scoring the winner with 3:56 remaining.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 110 RD 98 Power Plays: CGY 4-16 (25%) RD 2-7 (28.6%)
STREAKS: Ben Kindel (12g, 21a) is on a career high 18-game point streak, the longest streak in the WHL this season…Oliver Tulk (11g, 22a) is on career high 15-game point streak…Connor Hvidston (1g, 1a) has points in back-to-back games…Goaltender Anders Miller has won his last two starts.
TRADE WINDS: Yesterday the Hitmen completed a trade with Wenatchee which sees the addition of 20-year-old goaltender Daniel Hauser to the roster. A two-time WHL All-Star, Hauser has 103 career wins along with a 2.69 goals against average and .908 save percentage in 151 appearances. The product of Chestermere, AB has also picked up 23 career playoff wins during his time with both the Wild and Winnipeg ICE. In return the Hitmen send 20-year-old Russian Import Maxim Muranov to Wenatchee along with the rights to 17-year-old forward Mason Moe, 15-year-old netminder Mark Djomo, a third-round pick in the 2026 WHL Prospects Draft and a second-round pick in 2027.
DECEMBER DATA: The Hitmen went 6-3 in the month of December. Oliver Tulk led the club with 21 points (5g, 16a) while Ben Kindel was next with 19 points (6g, 13a). Carson Wetsch (4g, 6a) and Kalem Parker (4g, 6a) were tied for third at 10 points while Connor Hvidston (6g, 3a) rounded out the top-five with nine points. Parker was also the plus/minus leader at +13.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Tonight is the 20th road game of the season for the Hitmen which will pull them into a tie with Moose Jaw and Spokane for the most road games played in the WHL this season. At the other end is Brandon as the Wheat Kings have only played 13 road games.
FAST FACTS: The Hitmen play 14 games in 31 days in January with eight of those at home and six on the road…The Hitmen haven’t been outshot since Nov. 13 in Portland, a run of 15 straight games…The Hitmen are 12-4 in their last 16 games picking up 24 of a possible 32 points…Red Deer has dropped four games in a row and is 1-7 in their last eight…The Hitmen have two of the WHL’s Top-6 scorers in Oliver Tulk and Ben Kindel. Kindel is tied for sixth with Luke Mistelbacher of Swift Current at 53 points while Tulk is fifth with 54 points…Today is the fifth game in a stretch of six games in 10 days for the Hitmen.
MAKING THE TURN: Tonight begins the unofficial second half of the season for the Hitmen as its Game 35 of their 68-game regular season schedule. Through the first 34 games Calgary has set a pace to finish with a record of 38-22-6-2, good for 84 points.
WORLD JUNIOR NOTEBOOK: Hitmen teammates Tanner Howe and Axel Hurtig were both named to the 2025 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship. Hurtig and Team Sweden are off to the Semi-Final on Saturday against Finland while Howe and Team Canada were eliminated last night with a Quarter-Final loss to Czechia. Howe had a shorthanded goal in the defeat.
HOME AND AWAY COMPARISION: The Hitmen are 8-9-2-0 on the road this season. Red Deer is 10-5-1-0 at home.
CAREER MILESTONE WATCH: Tanner Howe is one point shy of 250 and two assists short of 150…Carson Wetsch is one goal shy of 50, needs two assists to reach 50 and three points to hit the 100 mark…Carter Yakemchuk is two assist shy of 100…Oliver Tulk is 12th in franchise scoring with 213 points, two points behind Ryan Getzlaf who recorded 215. Tulk is tied for 14th on the clubs’ all-time goal scoring list with Brett Sonne at 89, two goals back of Ryan White and Kris Beech who share 12th place with 91…Anders Miller eclipsed the 500-minute mark on Wednesday in Edmonton…Kalem Parker played career game 250 last Sunday against Medicine Hat while Ben Kindel skated in his 100th career WHL contest the same day.
DID YOU KNOW? During the holiday break Hitmen forward Oliver Tulk announced this will be his final season in the WHL. The 19-year-old has committed to play next season in the NCAA with the Wisconsin Badgers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison…Calgary is 6-7-1-1 against teams from their own division… The Hitmen are riding a five-game overtime winning streak.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Lukas Hansen (Upper Body, Day-to-Day).
HITMEN MONTH-BY-MONTH: September (1-1-0-0), October (4-4-2-1), November (7-2-1-0), December (6-3-0-0), January (1-0-0-0).
UPCOMING GAMES: The Hitmen return to Scotiabank Saddledome to begin a five-game homestand on Sunday, Jan. 5 against Regina. Note the earlier 1:00 p.m. start time 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. The post-game family skate is postponed however to make way for the Calgary Wranglers game that will follow at 6:00 p.m.
