GAME PREVIEW: Calgary vs Portland – 10.13.25
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (4-2-0-0), winners of back-to-back games for the first time this season, will look to sweep their three-game homestand this afternoon as they host the Portland Winterhawks (3-4-0-0) in a Thanksgiving Day matinee. Game time is 1:00 p.m. Be sure to take advantage of the $6 food and drink Hitmen Happy Hour from when doors open at Noon up until the opening faceoff. Post game Ben MacBeath and Brandon Gorzynski will be meeting fans and signing autographs behind Section 212. The Hitmen are coming off Friday night’s 4-2 victory over Medicine Hat. Goaltender Eric Tu made 38 saves in a first-star performance and was aided by a timely scoring attack which built leads of 1-0 and 3-1 en route to victory. Ryan Ng with a goal and an assist and Harrison Lodewyk with two assists led the way for Calgary with multi-point performances while Andrei Molgachev, Shaun Hildebrandt and Caine Wilke rounded out the scoring. The Winterhawks are also coming off a game with the Tigers falling 5-0 in Medicine Hat on Saturday. The ‘Hawks fired 31 shots on goal but were unable to solve Carter Casey who picked up his first career WHL shutout. Today’s game is the eighth straight on the road for Portland which opens the season with 11 straight in enemy rinks while their home arena undergoes significant upgrades including new seating.
PORTLAND: Today is the first and only regular season meeting between the two clubs and their first in Alberta since Oct. 29, 2023, when the Hitmen skated to a 7-4 home ice victory despite being outshot 62-35. Goaltender Ethan Buenaventura made 58 saves while Sean Tschigerl scored twice. David Adaszynski (1g, 2a) and Tyson Galloway (1g, 2a) recorded three points each. Last season Calgary picked off a win their lone meeting on the road in Portland helping the Hitmen go 4-1-1-0 on their U-S Road Trip.
2024-25 SERIES RECAP
Nov. 13/24 at POR: Hitmen 3 ‘Hawks 1…Kason Kobelka made 28 saves while Chase Valliant, Keets Fawcett and Carson Wetsch all scored.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 26 POR 29 Power Plays: CGY 0-6 (0%) POR 0-4 (0%)
STREAKIN’: Caine Wilke (2g, 3a) and Landon Amrhein (2g, 2a) are both on four-game point streaks…Harrison Lodewyk (2g, 2a), Brandon Gorzynski (1g, 3a) and Andrei Molgachev (1g, 1a) all have points in back-to-back games.
DID YOU KNOW? Harrison Lodewyk (1g, 7a) owns the team lead in scoring with eight points while Andrei Molgachev (3g, 3a) and Ethan Moore (2g, 4a) are next with six points each…Today is Calgary’s first game this season against a team from outside their own division… This is the 31st season of Hitmen hockey in Calgary since the team started as an expansion franchise in 1995-96…Seven of the 11 teams in the WHL’s Eastern Conference are over .500 while only five of the 12 teams in the Western Conference have more wins than losses.
SHOOTING MENTALITY: Ethan Moore (24), Luc Trevors (12), Ben MacBeath (13), Rylan Ng (9) and Andrei Molgachev (9) all have at least one shot on goal in all six games this season.
CARRYING THE LOAD: Hitmen overage forward Harrison Lodewyk is a stellar 41-55 on face-offs in his three games since joining the Hitmen, for a remarkable 74.5% efficiency.
ROSTER CONSTRUCTION: Calgary has 27 players on their roster including 16 forwards, eight defencemen and three goaltenders. There are only nine returning players from last season with 15 rookies on the club.
DIVERSE ATTACK: Calgary’s last 12 goals have been scored by 11 different players in Caine Wilke (2), Rylan Ng, Shaun Hildebrandt, Andrei Molgachev, Hunter Aura, Brandon Gorzynski, Ethan Moore, Ben MacBeath, Landon Amrhein, Kale Dach and Keaton Jundt.
GUARDIAN OF THE GOAL: Eric Tu has won his last two starts, posting a 2.00 goals against average and .935 save percentage. His 38 saves Friday against the Tigers were a season-high and the third highest total in a single game in his career. Tu had outings of 41 saves (Nov. 9 @ EVT) and 39 stops (Oct. 30 vs. MH) last season.
SPECIAL TEAMS TRACKER: The Hitmen are 4-28 on the powerplay (14%) which is tied for 19th in the WHL with Lethbridge. The penalty kill is 10th in the league at 82.6%, having killed 19 of their 23 shorthanded situations.
HITMEN IN THE PROS: Hitmen 18-year-old forward Ben Kindel has started the season in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins after the Pens selected him 11th overall in the 2025 NHL Draft. On Saturday night at home Kindel scored his first NHL goal beating New York Rangers netminder Igor Shesterkin with a wrist shot on the rush. Through three games, the centre is averaging 14 minutes and 22 seconds of ice time and is 57.1% on draws. Last season Kindel counted 99 points (35g, 64a) in 65 games with the Hitmen to finish seventh in the WHL scoring race as a sophomore.
WHL REGULAR SEASON MILESTONES: Forward Ethan Moore is one point shy of 100 and one goal away from 50. The Okotoks, AB, product skated in career game 200 in Friday’s win over Medicine Hat. Also on Friday, goaltender Eric Tu eclipsed the 1,000 minutes played mark.
HOME AND AWAY COMPARISON: The Hitmen are 3-1 on home ice. Their sixth points are tied for the fifth-most in the WHL while Portland is 3-4 on the road. Their seven road games played shares the league lead with Vancouver.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Parker Schellenberg (Lower Body, Week-to-Week).
UPCOMING SCHEDULE: The Hitmen will enjoy a three-day break before returning to action in Lethbridge to face the Hurricanes for the fourth time this season on Friday, Oct. 17. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at VisitLethbridge.com Arena. It’s then back to Scotiabank Saddledome to host the Spokane Chiefs on Sunday, Oct. 19 in a 2:00 p.m. start. It will be another Sunday Funday in the ‘Dome presented by Brookfield Residential featuring the Hitmen $6 Happy Hour all game long, $3 sips and snacks plus the post game family skate. Tickets are available at HitmenHockey.com/Tickets.
