GAME PREVIEW: Calgary vs Lethbridge | 03.21.26
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (37-20-8-1) play their final regular season home game tonight and host Fan Appreciation Day presented by CARFAX Canada as they welcome the Lethbridge Hurricanes (17-46-3-1) to the Stampede City. Game time is 6:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome with the Hitmen to wear their white jerseys. Among the highlights is a pre-game presentation of the Hitmen Players Awards which will see 10 trophies handed out ranging from Player of the Year to the Booster Club Fan Favourite. Fan Appreciation Day also serves up $10,000 in prizes to be won including two ‘Jersey Off Our Back’ experiences post-game. Be sure to take advantage of the $6 food and drink Hitmen Happy Hour from when doors open at 5:00 p.m. up until the opening faceoff. Fans can also watch today’s game for FREE on Victory+. The Hitmen are coming off Wednesday’s 5-1 setback in Edmonton where Harrison Lodewyk scored the lone goal for the visitors. Lethbridge meanwhile hosted those same Oil Kings last night and dropped a 2-1 decision. Easton Daneault opened the scoring for the ‘Canes before a pair of Edmonton markers.
WHERE THEY STAND: Calgary has clinched fourth place in the Eastern Conference at 83 points while Lethbridge is 10th with 38 points, one point ahead of Swift Current. Overall, the Hitmen are eighth in the WHL Standings and the Hurricanes 22nd.
- LETHBRIDGE: Tonight marks the eighth and final regular season meeting between the two clubs both their first since the end of January. The Hitmen are 4-2-1-0 against Lethbridge including a 2-1 record on home ice. Calgary is led by Ethan Moore (4g, 3a), Kale Dach (2g, 5a) and the departed Brandon Gorzynski (3g, 4a) who all have seven points each in the season series. All three of the ‘Canes top point producers have been traded in Logan Wormald (2g, 5a), Luke Cozens (4g, 2a) and Shane Smith (3g, 3a).
2025-26 SERIES RECAP
Sept. 19/25 in LET: Hitmen 5 Hurricanes 3…The Hitmen raced out to a 2-0 first period lead.
Sept. 20/25 in CGY: Hurricanes 4 Hitmen 0…Koen Cleaver made 28 saves for the shutout while Luc Cozens and Shane Smith tallied two points each.
Oct. 5/25 in CGY: Hitmen 5 Hurricanes 2…Calgary scored four unanswered goals after Lethbridge built a 1-0 lead.
Oct. 17/25 in LET: Hurricanes 7 Hitmen 6 OT…Lethbridge overcame a 6-1 second period deficit.
Dec. 6/25 in LET: Hitmen 4 Hurricanes 1…Nine different Hitmen recorded at least a point, and Aidan Hesse made 21 saves in the win.
Jan. 11/26 in CGY: Hitmen 5 Hurricanes 1…Ethan Moore scored twice for Calgary.
Jan. 30/26 in LET: Hurricanes 4 Hitmen 1…Owen Berge scored a hat-trick for the ‘Canes.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 219 LET 196 Power Plays: CGY 7-24 (29.2%) LET 4-26 (15.4%)
STREAKIN’: Ben MacBeath (1g, 8a) is on a five-game point streak. Harrison Lodewyk (3g, 3a) has points in each of the last three games. Julien Maze (7g, 9a) saw his career high 11-game point streak end Wednesday in Edmonton while a four-game point streak for Andrei Molgachev (3g, 2a) was also halted.
HOME ICE CLINCHED: The Hitmen are playoff bound for the second consecutive season and will open the 2026 WHL Playoffs presented by Nutrien with two straight home games. Their best-of-seven series against the Brandon Wheat Kings settles into Scotiabank Saddledome for dates on Friday, Mar. 27 and Sunday, Mar. 29. Both are 7:00 p.m. starts with tickets on sale now at bit.ly/4rJ7NSA. It will be eighth ever playoff series between the Hitmen and Wheat Kings and their first since 2015.
FRANCHISE RECORD: Ben MacBeath has set a new club record for points in a single season by a rookie defenceman with 50, smashing the previous high of 39 set by Jake Bean in the 2014/15 campaign. MacBeath has established the mark in his 17-year-old season while Bean set the record at age 16. The club record for most points by a 17-year-old defenceman is 64 and is held by Bean with MacBeath now second all-time, three points ahead of Carter Yakemchuk (47).
FRANCHISE FIRST: The Hitmen have three players among the WHL’s Top-20 Rookie scorers for the first time in club history. Kale Dach is fourth (73pts) followed by Andrei Molgachev fifth (58pts) and Ben MacBeath who is tied for 10th (50pts). MacBeath is also the highest scoring rookie defenceman in the Eastern Conference this season. Dach is the highest scoring Hitmen rookie since Andrew Ladd tallied 75 points in 2003/04. The only player higher than Ladd’s performance is Pavel Brendl who recorded an eye popping 134 points as a freshman in 1998/99.
FAST FACTS: Calgary is 17-9-1-0 against the Central Division. The Hitmen have two players among the Top-20 goal scorers in the WHL this season in Julien Maze and Kale Dach. Maze is tied for ninth with 38 goals with Dach tied for 16th with 34. Calgary is 22-1-2-1 when leading after the first period. Ethan Moore’s two assists last Sunday against Edmonton moved him into sole possession of 32nd place on the club’s all-time regular season points list with 145, one point ahead of Michael Bubnick (144). Radel Fazleev holds 31st place with 147 points.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTEBOOK: The Hitmen power play, which has scored at least once in 18 of the last 22 games, is third in the WHL at 31.7%. Calgary’s penalty kill is seventh at 79.8%.
HOME & AWAY COMPARISON: Calgary is 19-10-4-0 at home, with points in 16 of the last 19 games (13-3-3-0) at the ‘Dome. Lethbridge is 6-24-3-0 on the road where they are winless in their last four visits to enemy buildings (0-3-1-0).
SHOT CLOCK: Both Wyatt Pisarczyk (98) and Axel Hurtig (98) are two shots on goal shy of 100 for the season.
WHL REGULAR SEASON CAREER MILESTONES: Hunter Aura reached 50 career assists on Wednesday in Edmonton while Ben MacBeath hit 50 career points the same day. Harrison Lodewyk reached the 100-point plateau last Sunday against Edmonton.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Rylan Ng (Upper Body, Indefinitely).
HITMEN ALUMNUS: Tanner Howe is in the AHL with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The 20-year-old forward has returned to the lineup after missing most of the season with a knee injury suffered in the second round of the 2025 WHL Playoffs against Lethbridge. In 17 games with the Pens, Howe has 10 points (5g, 5a). Howe played 37 career games with the Hitmen after joining the club in a November 2024 trade with Regina collecting 39 points (12g, 27a).
UPCOMING SCHEDULE: Calgary has one game remaining on their 68-game regular season schedule and that will be played tomorrow, Sunday, Mar. 22 in Edmonton. Game time against the Oil Kings is 4:00 p.m. at Rogers Place.
