GAME PREVIEW: Calgary vs Medicine Hat | 02.27.26
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (33-15-7-1), winners of two in a row, host Medicine Hat (40-9-5-3) tonight in the first of back-to-back games against the Tigers. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome. Be sure to take advantage of the $6 food and drink Hitmen Happy Hour from when doors open at 6:00 p.m. up until the opening faceoff while Ben MacBeath and Landon Amrhein will be at the post-game autograph table behind Section 212. Fans can also watch the game for FREE on Victory+ or listen on Sportsnet 960 The Fan with the Hitmen to wear their black jerseys. Calgary has been idle since Tuesday’s 5-4 victory over Moose Jaw in the TELUS BE BRAVE #EndBullying Game which drew over 17,000 students and teachers who spread the message of acceptance and learnt about bullying prevention. Blake Vanek scored the game-winner, snapping a 4-4 tie with 3:30 remaining. Keaton Jundt, Kale Dach, Julien Maze and Landon Amrhein also scored for the Hitmen with Amrhein and Ty Meunier both chipping in a pair of assists. Calgary outshot the Warriors 41-23 while goaltender Aidan Hesse picked up the win. Medicine Hat also last played Tuesday, skating to a 10-6 victory on the road in Edmonton. Trailing 6-4, with just over five minutes remaining in the second period the Tigers took over. Markus Ruck (1g, 4a) led the way with five points while Noah Davidson scored a hat-trick.
WHERE THEY STAND: Calgary is fourth in the Eastern Conference at 74 points, five points up on fifth place Brandon and three points behind third place Edmonton. The Hitmen have two games in hand on the Wheat Kings and one in hand on the Oil Kings. Medicine Hat is second in the conference, leading Edmonton by 11 points but trailing Prince Albert by five points for first overall.
HOMESTAND REWIND: Tonight marks the end of five straight games at home for the Hitmen where they have picked up seven of a possible eight points thus far with a record of 3-0-1-0. Kale Dach has led the way with five points (2g, 3a) while defencemen Hunter Aura (1g, 3a) and Calder Hamilton (1g, 3a) are next with four points each. The Hitmen have scored 12 goals in the four games off the sticks of 10 different players.
PLAYOFF BOUND: For the second season in a row the Calgary Hitmen will play in the post season. They mathematically cemented their berth last Saturday night and sit sixth overall in the WHL Standings with a .661 winning percentage.
MEDICINE HAT: Tonight marks the seventh of eight regular season meetings between the two Central Division rivals. Their last three meetings have been decided by just a single goal, but Calgary is 1-3-1-1 against Medicine Hat having been outscored by a combined 29-18. Dating back to last season, the Hitmen have just one win in their last 11 games against the Tigers but have picked up at least a point in five of those games with an overall record of 1-6-1-3. Harrison Lodewyk (3g, 2a) leads the Hitmen with five points while Andrei Molgachev (1g, 4a), Rylan Ng (1g, 4a), Ben MacBeath (1g, 3a) and Kale Dach (4a) all have four. Markus Ruck (3g, 8a) is the top performing Tiger with 11 points. Liam Ruck (3g, 4a) and Yaroslav Bryzgalov (3g, 4a) are next with seven points each. Their final regular season meeting is tomorrow night in Medicine Hat.
2025-26 SERIES RECAP
Oct. 4/25 in MH: Tigers 7 Hitmen 1…Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll (2g, 1a) and Yaroslav Bryzgalov (1g, 2a) notched three points each.
Oct. 10/25 in CGY: Hitmen 4 Tigers 2…Eric Tu made 38 saves for Calgary while the Hitmen scored four even strength goals.
Nov. 19/25 in CGY: Tigers 6 Hitmen 2…The Tigers built leads of 2-0 and 5-1 en route to the win.
Nov. 22/25 in MH: Tigers 7 Hitmen 6 Shootout…Medicine Hat overcame a 6-3 second period deficit.
Nov. 23/25 in CGY: Tigers 3 Hitmen 2 OT…Markus Ruck scored the winner 3:42 into the extra session and Carter Casey made 34 saves.
Jan. 20/26 in MH: Tigers 4 Hitmen 3…The Tigers built a 4-1 lead nearly 49 minutes into the game before a Hitmen rally came up short.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 184 MH 202 Power Plays: CGY 6-26 (23.1%) MH 5-19 (26.3%)
STREAKIN’: Kale Dach (4g,5a) is on a team-leading six-game point streak. Calder Hamilton (1g, 3a) has points in four straight games. Hunter Aura (1g, 1a) and Julien Maze (1g, 1a) have points in back-to-back games. Aidan Hesse has won his last two starts.
FAST FACTS: Calgary has picked up points in nine of their last 11 games (8-2-1-0). The Hitmen are 15-7-2-1 against the Central Division. Ethan Moore has 69 career goals, placing him in sole possession of 22nd place on the club’s all-time regular season goal scoring list. Moore is just one goal behind Carter Yakemchuk (70) who is 21st. Two Hitmen have recorded hat-tricks this season, Andrei Molgachev at home in Oct. against Spokane and Kale Dale on the road in Saskatoon in Nov. Counting tonight, Calgary has 12 games left on their 68-game regular season schedule. Only Prince Albert (143) has surrendered fewer goals than the Hitmen (169) in the Eastern Conference.
DOWN TO THE WIRE: Four of Calgary’s last five games have all been decided by a single goal. Overall, the Hitmen have played 25 one-goal games this season, picking up points in 19 of those with a total record of 11-6-7-1.
30-GOAL CLUB: The Hitmen have a pair of 30-goal scorers on the roster. Julien Maze has 32 and Kale Dach 31. One season ago Calgary had a trio of 30-goal snipers. Oliver Tulk led the way with 38 followed by Ben Kindel with 35 and Carson Wetsch who tallied 33.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTEBOOK: The Hitmen power play, which has scored at least once in 12 straight games, leads the WHL at 33.0%…Of note, Calgary has scored 66 power play goals after scoring 60 goals all of last season with the man advantage. The Hitmen penalty kill is fourth at 80.7%.
HOME & AWAY COMPARISON: Calgary is 17-8-3-0 at home, with points in 12 of the last 13 games (11-1-2-0) at the ‘Dome. Medicine Hat is 17-6-3-2 on the road having won their last two games in enemy buildings.
WHL REGULAR SEASON MILESTONES: Ethan Moore is in line to play in his 250th career game tonight against the Tigers. The 20-year-old is in his fourth WHL season and will become just the 23rd player in franchise history to hit the 250 games played mark. Aidan Hesse is 20 saves shy of 500. Andrei Molgachev and Keaton Jundt both played their 50th career games on Tuesday against Moose Jaw.
PROSPECT WATCH: Walker Filewich, Calgary’s top pick in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft, taken in the second round, 35th overall, is playing U18 Prep in the CSSHL with the Calgary International Hockey Academy. The 15-year-old forward has 18 points (10g, 8a) in 22 games.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Harrison Lodewyk (Lower Body, TBD).
UPCOMING SCHEDULE: Calgary makes a return visit to the Gas City tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 28 for a rematch with the Tigers. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Co-op Place with fans invited to watch the game for FREE on Victory+. The Hitmen will then head to Saskatchewan for a pair of games beginning Tuesday, Mar. 3 in Moose Jaw before a Wednesday, Mar. 4 stop in Swift Current against the Broncos.
