GAME PREVIEW: Calgary at Red Deer | 01.23.26
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (22-12-6-1) cap a run of four straight road games tonight as they head to Central Alberta to take on the Red Deer Rebels (16-22-2-2). Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Marchant Crane Centrium. Fans can watch the game for free on Victory+. The Hitmen have been idle since Tuesday’s 4-3 loss in Medicine Hat. Shaun Hildebrant (1g, 1a), Andrei Molgachev and Rylan Ng all scored for the Hitmen who outshot the Tigers 34-31. After Hildebrant opened the scoring for Calgary, the Tigers answered with four unanswered goals before a Hitmen rally in the final nine minutes came up short. The Rebels also last played on Tuesday, skating to a 2-1 overtime victory against visiting Regina. It was Kalder Varga who scored the game winner 3:32 into extra time on a night where Red Deer outshot the Pats 46-30.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Hitmen are tied for fourth in the Eastern Conference with Brandon at 51 points with two games in hand on the Wheat Kings. Red Deer is tied with Regina for the eighth and final playoff spot with both clubs having played 42 games. They sit three points behind seventh place Moose Jaw.
RED DEER: Tonight marks the sixth of eight regular season meetings between the two Central Division rivals. The Hitmen lead the season series 4-1 with three of their five contests decided by a single goal. Kale Dach (1g, 7a) leads the Hitmen in the season series with eight points. The top two Rebel point getters are no longer on the roster having been traded in Samuel Drancak (1g, 2a) and Jaxon Fuder (1g, 2a) with three points each. Their next head-to-head meeting is not until Sunday, Feb. 22 back in Red Deer.
2025-26 SERIES RECAP
Sept. 25/25 in RD: Hitmen 2 Rebels 1…Calgary erased a 1-0 deficit to improve to 5-0-1-0 in their last six games with the Rebels.
Oct. 29/25 in CGY: Hitmen 4 Rebels 3 SO…Andrei Molgachev scored the shootout winner.
Nov. 30/25 in CGY: Rebels 4 Hitmen 3…The Rebels jumped out to a 3-0 lead 9:23 into the first period.
Dec. 12/25 in CGY: Hitmen 4 Rebels 1…Wyatt Pisarczyk notched a career high three assists.
Dec. 13/25 in RD: Hitmen 9 Rebels 0…A total of 16 Hitmen recorded at least a point while Eric Tu posted a 26-save shutout.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 142 RD 128 Power Plays: CGY 7-18 (38.9%) RD 0-13 (0%)
STREAKIN’: Axel Hurtig (3a), Andrei Molgachev (1g, 1a), Ben MacBeath (2a), Julien Maze (2a) and Rylan Ng (2g) are all riding two game point streaks. Kale Dach (3g, 8a) saw his five-game point streak end Tuesday in Medicine Hat while two-game point streaks for Blake Vanek (3g), Keaton Jundt (1g, 1a) and Calder Hamilton (2a) were also snapped against the Tigers.
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.
HEADING WEST: Two Hitmen have been named to Team East for the WHL’s inaugural Prospects Game presented by Showpass. Both Defenceman Ben MacBeath and forward Landon Amrhein will play in the contest on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at the home of the Vancouver Giants, the Langley Events Centre. All 23 WHL Clubs are represented in the event with each roster consisting of 22 players. NHL Central Scouting worked with the WHL to determine player selection.
TRANSACTIONS: On Wednesday the Hitmen recalled 16-year-old prospect Jack Poole and added him to the roster as an affiliate player. The 16-year-old forward from North Vancouver, BC was selected by Calgary in the fourth-round of the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft. This season Poole has 24 points (15g, 9a) in 21 games with the North Shore Warriors while playing U18 Prep in the CSSHL. On Monday the Hitmen reassigned prospect Walker Filewich back to U18 Prep in the CSSHL with the Calgary International Hockey Academy where the 15-year-old has 12 points (7g, 5a) in 14 games. Filewich made his WHL debut last weekend 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 six games with the Hitmen, Vanek has scored four goals, plus a shootout game winner.
ROAD DIET: Today is Game 4 in a stretch that sees the Hitmen play nine of 11 games on the road. Counting tonight, they have road stops left in RD, LET, SAS, PA, BDN and REG with just two home dates in visits from REG and EDM. After this stretch, 12 of their remaining 19 games will be at home.
DID YOU KNOW? With one assist in Penticton last Saturday night Ethan Moore reached 122 career points, sitting one point behind Carson Wetsch (123) for 46th spot on the club’s all-time scoring list. Calgary has picked up points in 13 of their last 17 games, posting a record of 10-4-3-0.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTEBOOK: The Hitmen power play, which has scored at least once in 10 of the last 13 games, has climbed into fourth place in the WHL at 29.5%…The Hitmen penalty kill is fifth at 80.3%.
MOUNT LODEWYK: Harrison Lodewyk has set a new single season personal best for most faceoff wins with 434. It breaks his previous high-water mark of 403 established with Prince Albert in 2023-24. On Tuesday in Medicine Hat, Lodewyk was 11/16 on draws at 68.8%. Since the WHL started tracking faceoffs in 2017-18, Calgary’s single season record for wins is 886 set by Mark Kastelic in 2018-19 followed by Riley Fiddler-Schultz who won 885 draws in 2022-23.
HOME AND AWAY COMPARISON: The Hitmen are 11-5-4-1 on the road, including a 6-3-3-0 run in their last 12 games away from Scotiabank Saddledome. Red Deer is 7-13-1-0 at home where they been outscored by a combined 78-56.
WHL REGULAR SEASON MILESTONES: Ty Meunier is one point shy of 50…Tuesday in Medicine Hat, Rylan Ng played career game 100 while goaltender Eric Tu surpassed 1,000 career saves.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Landon Amrhein (Upper Body, Day-to-Day), Harrison Lodewyk (Lower Body, Day-to-Day).
UPCOMING SCHEDULE: Calgary is back on home ice for the first time in 10 days tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 24, as they welcome 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.
