Game Preview: Calgary vs Medicine Hat – 12.29.24
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (17-10-3-1) play their final home game of 2024 this afternoon as they welcome the Medicine Hat Tigers (20-14-1-0) to Scotiabank Saddledome. Game time is 2:00 p.m. Not only is it Sunday Funday in the ‘Dome presented by Brookfield Residential with $3 sips and snacks, family fun entertainment on the west concourse plus $6 Hitmen Happy Hour food and drink deals throughout the day but it’s also the RAM Family Skate. Fans will be able to enjoy a post-game skate with Hitmen mascot Farley the Fox or head to the concourse for a Hitmen team autograph session. The Hitmen are coming off Friday’s 4-1 setback in Lethbridge where Brandon Gorzynski tallied the lone goal for Calgary despite outshooting the Hurricanes 32-31. Medicine Hat meanwhile returned from their post-holiday break schedule last night to defeat those same Hurricanes 4-0 while holding the ‘Canes to just 17 shots. Goaltender Jordan Switzer picked up the shutout while Liam Ruck scored twice.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Hitmen are tied for third in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with Lethbridge at 38 points while Medicine Hat is second with 41 points, just a single point behind the front running Saskatoon Blades.
MEDICINE HAT: Today marks the fourth of eight regular season meetings between the two Central Division rivals. Calgary is 0-2-0-1 against the Tigers having been outscored 15-8 despite recording three more shots in the season series. Ethan Moore (2g, 1a), Carson Wetsch (2g, 1a), Ben Kindel (1g, 2a) and Carter Yakemchuk (3a) all have three points each for Calgary in their head-to-head meetings. Gavin McKenna (6g, 3a) has powered Medicine Hat with nine points while Bryce Pickford (3g, 2a) and Oasiz Wiesblatt (5a) both have five points each. Calgary is 9-3-1-1 in their last 14 home games against the Tigers. The two clubs will meet again tomorrow night in Medicine Hat.
2024-25 SERIES RECAP
Oct. 23/24 in MH: Tigers 4 Hitmen 2…Tied 2-2, the Tigers scored two-third period goals 46 seconds apart.
Oct. 30/24 in CGY: Tigers 4 Hitmen 3 SO…The Tigers clawed back from a 3-1 second period deficit.
Nov. 30/24 in MH: Tigers 7 Hitmen 3…Gavin McKenna led the Tigers with four points (3g, 1a).
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 90 MH 87 Power Plays: CGY 5-16 (31.3%) MH 3-12 (25%)
STREAKS: Ben Kindel (9g, 18a) is on a career high 15-game point streak…Oliver Tulk (10g, 19a) is on career high 12-game point streak…Kalem Parker saw this three-game goal scoring streak (4g, 1a) and six-game (4g, 5a) point streak end Friday in Lethbridge. A three-game goal scoring streak for Connor Hvidston (4g, 1a) was also halted the same night…Goaltender Eric Tu has picked up wins in each of his last two appearances.
TRADE WINDS: On Friday the Hitmen acquired 19-year-old forward Lukas Hansen from the Saskatoon Blades in exchange for 15-year-old prospect Adam Halat. Hansen brings 168 career regular season games of experience to the Hitmen plus an additional 34 playoff games. The centre from Winnipeg, MB has amassed 43 career points (22g, 21a) with an additional 814 career faceoff wins. Hansen is expected to make his Hitmen debut this afternoon and wear number 27.
FAST FACTS: Today’s game features two of the WHL’s top goal scoring defencemen as Medicine Hat’s Bryce Pickford leads the league with 13 goals while Calgary’s Carter Yakemchuk is just one back with 12, tied with Victoria’s Keaton Verhoeff for second place…Calgary’s .613 winning percentage ranks second only to Saskatoon in the Eastern Conference…The Hitmen are 10-3 in their last 13 games picking up 20 of a possible 26 points…Medicine Hat is 4-1 in their last five games…The Hitmen have two of the WHL’s Top-11 scorers in Oliver Tulk and Ben Kindel. Kindel is tied for 11th with Berkly Catton of Spokane with 47 points while Tulk is tied for sixth place with Carter Bear of Everett at 50 points.
WORLD JUNIOR NOTEBOOK: Hitmen teammates Tanner Howe and Axel Hurtig are competing for gold in the 2025 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in Ottawa. Both in their 19-year-old season, Howe and Team Canada are 1-0-1 in the tournament while Hurtig and Team Sweden are out of the gate 2-0. Sweden plays Switzerland this morning while Canada faces Germany this evening.
HOME AND AWAY COMPARISION: The Hitmen are riding a six-game home ice winning streak and are 10-2-1-1 in the ‘Dome this season. Medicine Hat is 7-9-0-0 on the road.
CAREER MILESTONE WATCH: Kalem Parker and Ben Kindel are both expected to hit a pair of significant milestones today. Parker will skate in his 250th career game while for Kindel today will be his 100th game in the WHL…Carson Wetsch is two goals shy of 50…Connor Hvidston played career game 200 in the last game before the break on Dec. 18 vs. Prince Albert…Tanner Howe is one point shy of 250 and two assists short of 150. Oliver Tulk is 12th in franchise scoring with 209 points, six points behind Ryan Getzlaf who recorded 215. Tulk is also 15th on the clubs’ all-time goal scoring list 88 goals, one back of Brett Sonne who scored 89 goals. Carter Yakemchuk the highest goal scoring defenceman in Hitmen franchise history with 65 goals. He passed Matt Kinch (63) for top spot on Dec. 13.
DID YOU KNOW? During the holiday break Hitmen forward Oliver Tulk announced this will be his final season in the WHL. The 19-year-old has committed to play next season in the NCAA with the Wisconsin Badgers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison…The Hitmen are riding a four-game overtime winning streak. In total Calgary has played nine overtime games while Victoria leads the WHL with 11 OT appearances…Today is the second game in a stretch of six games in 10 days for the Hitmen
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: None.
NHL RADAR: Three Hitmen are on NHL Central Scouting’s Preliminary Players to Watch List for the 2025 NHL Draft. Ben Kindel has received a ‘B’ Ranking, Brandon Gorzynski a ‘C’ Ranking and Sawyer Mayes a ‘W’ Ranking. Players with B ratings are possible second- or third-round choices. Those with C ratings are potential fourth or fifth-round candidates while players with a W rating are possible sixth and seventh-round picks.
HITMEN MONTH-BY-MONTH: September (1-1-0-0), October (4-4-2-1), November (7-2-1-0), December (5-2-0-0).
UPCOMING GAMES: The Hitmen and Tigers will finish this home-and-home tomorrow, Monday, Dec. 30 in Medicine Hat. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Co-op Place. Calgary then rings in 2025 with a 2:00 p.m. New Year’s Day matinee in Edmonton against the Oil Kings at Rogers Place followed by a Friday, Jan. 3 stop in Red Deer against the Rebels. It’s then back to Calgary for a five-game homestand beginning Sunday, Jan. 5 against Regina.
