GAME PREVIEW: Calgary vs Red Deer – 01.26.25
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (27-12-3-2) wrap up the weekend with a rare Sunday evening game as they welcome the Red Deer Rebels (16-23-4-2) to Scotiabank Saddledome tonight. Game time is 6:00 p.m. in 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. There are also $6 Hitmen Happy Hour food and drink deals throughout the day, but the post-game family skate is postponed. The Hitmen will wear the winning design crafted by 16-year-old Angelo in the Real Canadian Superstore #YourTeamYourJersey’ contest. Those game worn and game issued jerseys are up for bid at elevateauctions.com/RCSS until Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 8:00 p.m. MT. Proceeds benefit the PC Children’s Charity in the fight against childhood hunger.
HEADING IN: Calgary is coming off last night’s 3-2 victory in Lethbridge. The Hitmen were powered by a strong first period jumping out to a 3-0 lead on goals from Ben Kindel, Carson Wetsch and Chase Valliant. Red Deer faces their third game in as many days. On Friday they dropped a 4-1 decision in Lethbridge before returning home last night to defeat Moose Jaw 5-1. Jhett Larson and Beckett Hamilton both notched a goal and an assist in the victory.
WHERE THEY STAND: The Hitmen are third in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with 59 points, one point ahead of Lethbridge but trailing the front-running Medicine Hat Tigers by three points. Red Deer is ninth with 38 points, 10 points behind Swift Current for the final playoff spot.
RED DEER: Tonight is fifth of eight regular season meetings between the two Central Division rivals. Calgary is 1-2-1-0 against the Rebels. Oliver Tulk (1g, 7a) leads the Hitmen in the season series with eight points while Ben Kindel (2g, 4a) is next with six. Jaxon Fuder (3g, 2a) has been the top performing Rebel with five points. Matthew Gard (4a) is next with four. Their last meeting on Jan. 3 in Red Deer saw the Hitmen snap an 11-game winless skid against the Rebels dating back to last season. The two teams won’t see each other again until Friday, Feb. 28 in Central Alberta.
2024-25 SERIES RECAP
Oct. 5/24 in RD: Rebels 5 Hitmen 2…The Rebels scored three unanswered goals after Reese Hamilton tied the game for Calgary.
Oct. 16/24 in CGY: Rebels 5 Hitmen 4 OT…The Hitmen overcame a 3-0 deficit to earn a point before Hunter Mayo scored the OT winner.
Nov. 4/24 in CGY: Rebels 3 Hitmen 2…Red Deer overcame a 2-1 third period deficit scoring the winner with 3:56 remaining.
Jan. 3/25 in RD: Hitmen 6 Rebels 2…Anders Miller made 32 saves while Ben Kindel set up three goals.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 152 RD 132 Power Plays: CGY 6-19 (31.6%) RD 2-8 (25%)
STREAKS: Ben Kindel (17g, 37a) has points in 27 of his last 28 games…Oliver Tulk (20g, 32a) has points in 24 of his last 25 games…Tanner Howe (1g, 1a) has points in back-to-back games…Anders Miller is 4-0-0-1 in his last five starts with a 1.77 goals against average and .932 save percentage… Sawyer Mynio (2g, 2a) saw his two-game goal scoring streak and three-game point streak end last night in Lethbridge.
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 16-3-1-1 at Scotiabank Saddledome. Their 34 home points are fourth most in the WHL. Red Deer is 5-16-1-2 on the road.
HAUSER’S HISTORIC CLIMB: Hitmen goaltender Daniel Hauser picked up career victory 109 last night in Lethbridge, moving him into sole possession of 10th place on the WHL’s all-time regular season wins list, one ahead of Hitmen grad Martin Jones. Hauser is now five wins behind Griffen Outhouse who sits ninth with 114.
FAST FACTS: For the second week in a row, the Hitmen have cracked the CHL Top-10 Rankings continuing to hold the eighth spot…Since starting the season with a record of 2-4, Calgary has gone 25-8-3-2.
WHL LEADERBOARD: The Hitmen have two of the WHL’s Top-5 scorers as Oliver Tulk is fifth with 73 points while Ben Kindel is fourth with 74 points.
CAREER MILESTONE WATCH: Dax Williams is in line to player career game 150 tonight against Red Deer…Oliver Tulk is two goals shy of 100. His 98 goals have him sixth on the clubs’ all-time goal scoring list, 12 back of Brandon Segal (110) for fifth place. Tulk is eighth all-time in franchise scoring with 232 points, three points behind Mark Kastelic who is seventh with 235…Carter Yakemchuk needs two assists to reach 100…Connor Hvidston is five points away from 200…Daniel Hauser eclipsed 4,000 saves last night in Lethbridge
DID YOU KNOW? Calgary is 8-8-1-2 against teams from the Central Division…Nine Hitmen have 50 or more wins in the face-off circle this season…Carson Wetsch leads the Hitmen in game winning goals with seven which is also third most in the WHL…This the 30th anniversary season in the WHL for Calgary having won the WHL title twice, their first in 1999 and again in 2010.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Lukas Hansen (Upper Body, TBD).
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 (9-1-0-1).
SPECIAL TEAMS TRACKER: The Hitmen power play is tied for 17th in the WHL at 19.9% while the penalty kill is 15th at 74.6%.
ALUMNI WATCH: Former Hitmen forward Riley Stotts is playing U SPORTS Men’s Ice Hockey with the University of Manitoba Bisons. In 21 games this season the 25-year-old has 28 points (6g, 22a) to sit tied for fourth in Canada West scoring. Stotts played 194 career games with the Hitmen recording 180 points (67g, 113a) in four seasons from 2017-2021.
UPCOMING GAMES: The Hitmen return to the ‘Dome on Wednesday, Jan. 29 to begin a home-and-home with the Edmonton Oil Kings. Game time is 7:00 p.m. Calgary will make the return trip the Alberta capital for the rematch on Friday, Jan. 31 in another 7:00 p.m. start.
