GAME PREVIEW: Calgary at Vancouver | 12.30.25
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (17-10-4-1) play Game 2 of their four-game British Columbia road trip tonight with a stop in Langley against the Vancouver Giants (16-19-1-1). Game time is 7:00 p.m. PST/8:00 p.m. MST at the Langley Events Centre. The Hitmen opened the swing on Saturday night in Kamloops with a 9-5 loss to the Blazers. Harrison Lodewyk scored twice for Calgary while Caine Wilke, Kale Dach and Ty Meunier added singles. The Giants meanwhile last played on Sunday and beat the Blazers 7-3. Dallas Stars third-round pick Cameron Schmidt led the Giants with four points (3g, 1a) and Ty Halaburda recorded three assists.
WHERE THEY STAND: Calgary is sixth in the Eastern Conference at 39 points, two points back of fifth place Saskatoon with four games in hand on the Blades. Vancouver is 10th in the Western Conference with 34 points, just two points behind both Spokane and Victoria which share the eighth and final playoff spot at 36 points.
VANCOIVER: Tonight is the lone regular season meeting between the two clubs and their first in well over a calendar year. Last season they met on Oct. 6, 2024, in Calgary with the Hitmen skating to a 4-3 victory. The Hitmen built leads of 2-0 and 4-2 as Connor Hvidston led the scoring attack with a pair of goals while Brandon Gorzynski chipped in three assists. The last time Calgary made the trip to the Lower Mainland was on Jan. 3, 2024, with the Giants posting a 5-4 overtime triumph. It was a back-and-forth affair with Vancouver jumping out to a 2-0 lead before the Hitmen rallied to lead 4-3 with 2:57 remaining. However the Giants tied the game with 32 seconds left in regulation and then won it on an OT tally from Mazden Leslie. Carter Yakemchuk scored twice for the Hitmen with David Adaszynski and Maxim Muranov adding singles.
STREAKIN’: Julien Maze (5g, 5a) is on a six-game point streak…Ben MacBeath (7a) is on a four-game assist streak. Caine Wilke (4g) is on a three-game goal scoring streak…Koy Funk (1g, 2a) and Hayden Schollar (1g, 1a) both have points in back-to-back games…Aidan Hesse has won his last two starts in goal…Axel Hurtig (1g, 3a) saw his four-game point streak end Saturday in Kamloops.
LOWER MAINLAND CONNECTIONS: There are three full-time Hitmen with ties to the Vancouver region. The first is 17-year-old goaltender Eric Tu who hails from White Rock and is a graduate of the St. George’s School hockey program in Vancouver. Tu, now in his sophomore season with the Hitmen was selected by Calgary in second round, 31st overall, in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft. The second member of the Hitmen with a Fraser Valley influence is 16-year-old forward Shaun Hildebrandt who grew up in Langley and is an alumnus of the Yale Hockey Academy in Abbotsford. Two seasons ago the Hitmen rookie forward led Yale in scoring with 58 points (24g, 34a) in 27 games while playing U15 Prep as a 14-year-old. Calgary then selected Hildebrandt that spring in the second round, 43rd overall, in the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft. Also from Metro Vancouver is defenceman Kaden Meyer. The 6’3 blueliner was originally drafted by the Kamloops Blazers but acquired by the Hitmen this past June. Meyer spent last season playing with the AAA U18 Greater Vancouver Canadians of the BCEHL where he notched 50 points (11g, 29a) in 36 games.
ROSTER MOVE: On Sunday the Hitmen called up 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 22 points (15g, 7a) in 17 games with the North Shore Warriors while playing U18 Prep in the CSSHL.
TRADE WINDS: The Hitmen made a pair of trades prior to the holiday break on Dec. 15, both involving teams from the East Division. The first transaction saw Calgary acquire Regina Pats leading scorer Julien Maze. The 18-year-old was the Pats leading scorer at the time. In return the Hitmen sent a pair of third-round picks to the Pats, one in the 2027 WHL Prospects Draft and the second in 2028. Later that same day the Hitmen added a trio of assets from the Prince Albert Raiders in exchange for 18-year-old Dallas Stars prospect Brandon Gorzynski. Calgary received 17-year-old forward Ty Meunier, a 2026 second-round pick and a 2027 fourth-round selection, both in the WHL Prospects Draft.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTEBOOK: The Hitmen power play has climbed into a tie for sixth place in the WHL with Moose Jaw at 28.3%. It has scored at least once in 14 of its last 17 games, going a combined 24-57 (42.1%) during that span.…The Hitmen penalty kill shares the league lead with Wenatchee at 82.2%.
BUS BUDDIES: Tonight marks the second game in a stretch of games for the Hitmen that sees the club play eight of their next 11 games on the road. Aside from facing all six teams in the B.C. Division over two different road trips, Calgary will also make stops in Medicine Hat and Red Deer.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Kale Dach (20g, 19a) leads Calgary in scoring with 39 points which is tied for 25th overall in the WHL…Julian Maze leads the Hitmen in shots on goal with 99 while Ethan Moore is next with 97.
2026 NHL DRAFT: Five Hitmen are on NHL Central Scouting’s list as Preliminary Players to Watch ahead of the 2026 draft. Landon Amrheim and Ben MacBeath are forecast as second or third-round picks. Hunter Aura, Aidan Hesse and Andrei Molgachev are projected to be sixth or seventh-round candidates.
HOME AND AWAY COMPARISON: The Hitmen are 9-3-2-1 on the road and saw their five-game road point streak (4-0-1-0) end Saturday in Kamloops. Vancouver is 10-7-1-0 at home.
WHL REGULAR SEASON MILESTONES: Ty Meunier skated in his 100th career game on Saturday in Kamloops. Goaltender Eric Tu eclipsed the 2,000 minutes played mark on Dec. 19 vs. Brandon.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: None.
HITMEN ALUMNUS: Ben Kindel is in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The 18-year-old from Coquitlam, BC has 15 points (8g, 7a) in 34 games in his rookie season. Kindel spent two seasons with the Hitmen from 2023-25 recording 159 points (50g, 109a) in 134 games before he was selected by the Penguins 11th overall in the 2025 NHL Draft.
HITMEN VS: BDN (1-0-1-0), EDM (2-0), EVT (0-0), KAM (0-1), KEL (0-0), LET (3-1-1-0), MH (1-2-1-1), MJ (0-2), PEN (0-0), POR (0-1), PA (2-0), PG (0-0), RD (4-1), REG (0-0-1-0), SAS (1-1), SEA (0-0), SPO (1-0), SC (2-0), TC (0-0), VAN (0-0), VIC (0-0), WEN (0-1).
UPCOMING SCHEDULE: Calgary will travel to Vancouver Island tomorrow in anticipation of their 2026 New Year’s Day game in Victoria on Thursday, Jan. 1. Game time is 2:05 p.m. PST/3:05 p.m. MST. The road trip wraps up two days later in Prince George on Saturday, Jan. 3. Calgary will then return home to welcome Sawyer Mayes and the Seattle Thunderbirds on Saturday, Jan. 10 in a 6:00 p.m. start at Scotiabank Saddledome. Watch all games for free on Victory+.
