GAME PREVIEW: Calgary vs Lethbridge – 02.02.25
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (30-12-3-2) play the first of four straight games on home ice this afternoon as they welcome the Lethbridge Hurricanes (29-16-1-1) to Scotiabank Saddledome. Game time is 2:00 p.m. for PAW Patrol Day, part of RE/MAX Presents Nickelodeon Nights in support of the Children’s Miracle Network. The Hitmen will wear PAW Patrol themed jerseys which will be sold at elevateauctions.com/PawPatrol supporting the Alberta Children’s Hospital. Co-branded PAW Patrol and Hitmen youth t-shirts will also be available for purchase from the CGY Team Stores. The first 1,000 fans in the building when doors open at 1:00 p.m. will receive a FREE mini stick while 2,000 Hitmen & PAW Patrol themed posters will also be given away. Watch for Fire and EMS First Responder vehicles on the west tarmac and for PAW Patrol characters Chase and Marshall who will be in attendance. There will also be puppies on the concourse from the Alberta Animals Rescue Crew Society (AARCS). Keep in mind it’s 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 plus $6 Hitmen Happy Hour food and drink deals throughout the day followed by a post-game family skate.
HEADING IN: Calgary is coming off Friday’s 5-2 victory in Edmonton where Ben Kindel scored twice while Connor Hvidston (1g, 1a), Carson Wetsch and Ethan Moore added singles. Lethbridge hosted those same Oil Kings last night but fell 2-0. Rookie goaltender Ethan Simcoe made 35 saves for his second shutout of the season to back stop Edmonton.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Hitmen are third in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with 65 points, five points ahead of Lethbridge but four points back of the front-running Medicine Hat Tigers with four games in hand. Counting today, both Calgary and the Hurricanes have 21 games remaining.
LETHBRIDGE: Today is the sixth of eight regular season meetings between the two Central Division rivals. Calgary leads the season series 4-1 with a record of 2-0 in the ‘Dome. Ben Kindel (2g, 5a) has led the way with seven points while Oliver Tulk (1g, 5a) is next with six. Brayden Edwards (3g, 4a) and Logan Wormald (3g, 4a) are the top performing ‘Canes with seven points each. Both clubs have used four different goalies in the season series. Their next meeting is Tuesday, Feb. 11 once again at Scotiabank Saddledome.
2024-25 SERIES RECAP
Sept. 29/24 in CGY: Hitmen 3 Hurricanes 1…The Hitmen raced out to a 2-0 first period lead.
Oct. 19/24 in CGY: Hitmen 6 Hurricanes 1…Six different Hitmen counted goals in the victory.
Nov. 1/24 in LET: Hitmen 5 Hurricanes 3…David Adaszynski scored twice for Calgary.
Dec. 27/24 in LET: Hurricanes 4 Hitmen 1…Tristen Doyle (2g, 1a) led the ‘Canes with three points.
Jan. 25/25 in LET: Hitmen 3 Hurricanes 2…Calgary built a 3-0 first period lead on goals from Ben Kindel, Carson Wetsch and Chase Valliant.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 164 LET 118 Power Plays: CGY 3-21 (14.3%) LET 3-18 (16.7%)
STREAKS: Oliver Tulk (5g, 7a) is on a seven-game point streak and has points (22g, 35a) in 27 of his last 28 games…Carson Birnie (1g, 2a), Carter Yakemchuk (1g, 4a) and David Adaszynski (1g, 2a) all have points in three consecutive games…Carson Wetsch (2g) and Connor Hvidston (2g, 3a) are both on two-game goal scoring streaks.
GUARDIANS OF THE GOAL: Daniel Hauser has won his last five starts…Anders Miller is 5-0-0-1 in his last six starts with a 1.64 goals against average and .933 save percentage.
NHL RADAR: Three Hitmen are on NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings of the top North American skaters and goalies eligible for the 2025 NHL Draft. Among the skaters, Ben Kindel is ranked 20th with Brandon Gorzynski on the document 81st. In the goaltending department, Anders Miller is 19th. Overall, a total of 66 WHL players cracked the rankings.
HOME AND AWAY COMPARISION: The Hitmen are 18-3-1-1 at Scotiabank Saddledome. Their 38 home points are fourth most in the WHL. Lethbridge is 12-11-0-1 away from VisitLethbridge.com Arena and currently on a seven-game road winning streak.
FEBRUARY SCHEDULE: The Hitmen will play 12 games this month with seven of those games on the road and five at home.
HAUSER’S HISTORIC CLIMB: Hitmen goaltender Daniel Hauser picked up career victory 111 on Friday in Edmonton. He is now three wins behind Griffen Outhouse who sits ninth on the WHL’s all time regular season wins list with 114.
FAST FACTS: Calgary’s 30 victories is their most in a single season since the 2022-23 campaign when they finished seventh in the Eastern Conference Standings with 31 wins…The Hitmen have outshot their opponent 36 times this season…Calgary has scored five or more goals in four of their last five games…The Hitmen have moved up one spot this week in the CHL Top-10 Rankings, now sitting seventh…Since starting the season with a record of 2-4, Calgary has gone 28-8-3-2 including 12-1-0-1 in their last 14…The Hitmen are 11-8-1-2 against teams from the Central Division…Calgary is +49 in goals for and against.
WHL LEADERBOARD: The Hitmen have two of the WHL’s Top-5 scorers as Oliver Tulk is tied for fourth with Kyle Chyzowski of Portland at 78 points while Ben Kindel is in third place with 80 points.
CAREER MILESTONE WATCH: Chase Valliant is in line to play his 100th career game today against Lethbridge…Oliver Tulk is tied for sixth all-time in franchise scoring with Ryan White at 237 points, 19 points behind Kris Beech (256) for fifth place…Tulk became the sixth member of the Hitmen 100 goal-club on Wednesday against Edmonton. He is 10 goals behind Brandon Segal (110) for fifth place on the clubs’ all-time goal scoring list…Ben Kindel needs four assists for 100… Connor Hvidston hit the 200-point mark Friday in Edmonton…Carter Yakemchuk reached 100 assists last Sunday against Red Deer while Dax Williams played career game 150 that same night…Daniel Hauser eclipsed 4,000 saves on Jan. 25 in Lethbridge.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Lukas Hansen (Upper Body, Indefinately).
HITMEN MONTH-BY-MONTH: September (1-1-0-0), October (4-4-2-1), November (7-3-1-0), December (6-3-0-0), January (12-1-0-1).
SPECIAL TEAMS TRACKER: The Hitmen power play is 17th in the WHL at 20.3% while the penalty kill is tied for 10th at 76.6%.
UPCOMING GAMES: Calgary is back on ‘Dome ice on Wednesday, Feb. 5 to host the East Division leading Prince Albert Raiders at 7:00 p.m. before a Friday, Feb. 7 visit from the Edmonton Oil Kings at 7:00 p.m.