GAME PREVIEW: Calgary at Victoria | 01.01.26
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (18-10-4-1) are on Vancouver Island for Game 3 of their four-game British Columbia road trip as they ring in the New Year this afternoon against the Victoria Royals (14-12-5-3). Game time is 2:05 p.m. PST/3:05 p.m. MST at Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena. The Hitmen are 1-1 on the trip following Tuesday’s 4-1 win over the Vancouver Giants. Julien Maze led the way with two goals and an assist while Kale Dach set up a pair of goals. Landon Amrhein and Ethan Moore also scored for the Hitmen who outshot Vancouver 36-23. Eric Tu made 22 saves to pick up the win. The Royals also last played on Tuesday falling 3-1 in Penticton. Cosmo Wilson opened the scoring for Victoria before the Vees rallied with three unanswered goals.
WHERE THEY STAND: Calgary is tied for fifth in the Eastern Conference with Saskatoon at 41 points, four points back of fourth place Brandon. Victoria is tied with Spokane for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot at 36 points.
VICTORIA: Today is the lone regular season meeting between the two clubs and their first in well over a calendar year. Last season they met on Nov. 22, 2024, in Calgary with the Hitmen skating to a 5-4 overtime triumph. The Hitmen dominated the shot clock, outshooting the Royals 42-16 but needed an OT goal from Carter Yakemchuk to pick up the two points. Oliver Tulk scored twice for Calgary with Carson Wetsch and Ben Kindel adding singles. The last time Calgary made the trip to the BC capital city was exactly two years ago today, on New Year’s Day 2024 where Victoria posted a 5-4 overtime win. Calgary built a 4-2 third period advantage on a pair of markers from Chase Valliant before the Royals scored twice in the final 3:59 of regulation to force the extra session. Justin Kipkie then notched the game winner 90 seconds into the fourth period.
STREAKIN’: Julien Maze (7g, 6a) is on a seven-game point streak…Ben MacBeath (8a) is on a five-game assist streak…Kale Dach (1g, 4a) and Hayden Schollar (1g, 1a) both have points in back-to-back games…Caine Wilke (4g) saw his three-game goal scoring streak end Tuesday against the Giants while a two-game point streak for Koy Funk (1g, 2a) was also snapped…Aidan Hesse has won his last two starts in goal.
YOUTH MOVEMENT: The Hitmen have 14 rookies on their roster including 14 players who are 17 and under.
RECENT RUN: Calgary has picked up points in seven of their last nine games, posting a record of 6-2-1-0.
MAKING THE TURN: Today is Calgary’s 34 game of the season, marking the midway point of their 68-game regular season schedule.
DID YOU KNOW? Ethan Moore’s third period goal Tuesday against the Vancouver Giants in Langley was his 117th career point, moving him into a tie for 49th place on the club’s all-time scoring list with Karl Alzner, Jimmy Bubnick and Jaynen Rissling.
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 sixth place in the WHL at 28.9%. It has scored at least once in 15 of its last 18 games, going a combined 25-58 (43.1%) during that span.…The Hitmen penalty is third in the league at 81.7%.
BUS BUDDIES: Today marks the third stop 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, 21a) leads Calgary in scoring with 41 points which is tied for 23rd overall in the WHL…Julien Maze tops the Hitmen in shots on goal with 102 while Ethan Moore is next with 98.
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 10-3-2-1 on the road including a 5-1-1-0 run in their last six games away from Scotiabank Saddledome. Victoria is 7-6-2-3 at home.
WHL REGULAR SEASON MILESTONES: Julien Maze is four points shy of 100…Ty Meunier skated in his 100th career game last 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: Beck Malenstyn is in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres. The 27-year-old forward has six points (3g, 3a) in 37 games and has now played in 218 career NHL games, recording 40 points (15g, 23a). Malenstyn played 200 career games with the Hitmen from 2012-2018 amassing 99 points (48g, 51a).
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 (1-0), VIC (0-0), WEN (0-1).
UPCOMING SCHEDULE: The Hitmen have one game remaining on this BC road trip with the final stop in Prince George on Saturday, Jan. 7. Game time is 6:00 p.m. PST/7:00 p.m. MST at CN Centre. 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. The night is presented by Vallen and will see the Hitmen team up with Dungeon Wrestling to raise support and awareness for prostate cancer. Fans will be treated to three matches, one pre-game and one in each intermission. Fans can watch all games for free on Victory+.
