Game Preview: CGY vs EDM – 11.25.23
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (9-10-2-0) play their lone game of the weekend tonight when they welcome the Edmonton Oil Kings (7-15-0-1) to Scotiabank Saddledome. Game time is 7:00 p.m. Be sure to take advantage of the $6 Hitmen Happy Hour from when doors open at 6:00 p.m. up until the opening faceoff. Items include pizza, burgers, hot dogs, 14-ounce beer, highballs and 6-ounce house wine all for $6 each. The Hitmen have been off since last Saturday’s 3-2 setback in Red Deer. Keets Fawcett and Sean Tschigerl provided the goals for the Hitmen with goaltender Ethan Buenaventura making 43 saves in a third star performance. Edmonton is facing a tough turnaround after beating Regina 4-2 last night in the provincial capital. The Oil Kings stormed back from a 2-0 third period deficit to score four goals in the final 7:37 including the game winner from Marc Lajoie with 2:30 remaining to shock the Pats.
EDMONTON: Tonight is the third of nine regular season meetings between the two Central Division with Calgary having won their two previous games by a combined score of 16-3. Oliver Tulk (3g, 5a) leads all Hitmen in the season series with eight points. Ben Kindel (2g, 4a) is next with six. Adam Jecho (1g, 1a) has been the top performing Oil King with two points. Their next meeting won’t be until the New Year when they renew their rivalry on Sunday, Jan. 7 again at the ‘Dome.
2023-24 SERIES RECAP
Nov. 10/23 in CGY: Hitmen 6 Oil Kings 1…Calgary built period leads of 3-0 and 4-1 while 10 different Hitmen notched at least a point.
Nov. 11/23 in EDM: Hitmen 10 Oil Kings 2…Sean Tschigerl, Carson Wetsch and Maxim Muranov all scored twice for Calgary.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 87 EDM 69 Power Plays: CGY 7-10 (70%) EDM 2-13 (15.4%)
STREAKS: Goaltender Alex Garrett has won his last two starts…Sean Tschigerl (7g, 13a) has points in 11 of his last 12 games…Ben Kindel (2g, 7a) has points in five of his last six games…Carson Wetsch (4g, 2a) has points in four of his last five games…Oliver Tulk (3g, 6a) has points in three of his last four games.
DID YOU KNOW? Calgary is 7-3-2-0 in their last 12 games…The Hitmen have scored four or more goals in a game nine times this season…The Hitmen are 5-2-2-0 in one-goal games this season…Oliver Tulk needs to win four more face-offs to reach the 200 mark this season.
ROSTER MOVES: On Thursday the Hitmen acquired a third-round pick in the 2026 WHL Prospects Draft in exchange for 19-year-old forward Carter MacAdams. In a separate transaction, Calgary has called up prospect Brandon Gorzynski, adding the 16-year-old to the roster as an affiliate player. Gorzynski, a centre from Scottsdale, Arizona, was Calgary’s first-round pick (15th overall) in the 2022 WHL U.S. Priority Draft. He signed with the club in mid-September and notched one goal in four pre-season games. This season he has 12 points (7g, 5a) in 12 games with the U16 Elite Pittsburgh Penguins.
WHL TOP-10: Carter Yakemchuk leads the league in goals among defencemen with nine while his 23 points are tied for seventh among blueliners…Oliver Tulk is tied for eighth in power play goals with six…Ben Kindel is tied for fourth in rookie scoring with 21 points. Goaltender Ethan Buenaventura is sixth in the WHL in saves with 540 while is .911 save percentage ranks tied for 10th.
FAST FACTS: Calgary is one of the youngest teams in the WHL with an average age of 17.5, a roster that includes 10 rookies…David Adaszynski (52) is the only Hitmen skater with at least one shot on goal in all 21 games this season…Calgary is 7-1 when they score the game’s first goal this season…Sean Tschigerl leads the Hitmen in multi-goal games with three while Oliver Tulk has two. The Hitmen have yet to record a hat-trick.
CENTRAL DIVISION DIET: Tonight against Edmonton marks the fifth contest in a stretch that sees the Hitmen play eight games in a row against teams from their own division. The remaining games are against Red Deer, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat.
FRONT OFFICE NEWS: On Nov. 2 the Hitmen announced Garry Davidson as the sixth General Manager in franchise history. Davidson, now in his third year with the club, has held previous roles as Director of Player Personnel and Director of Hockey Operations.
CATCHING UP: The Hitmen are tied with Portland and Red Deer for the fewest games played in the WHL this season at 21. On the opposite end Wenatchee leads the way having already played 26 games. Calgary sits 10th in the Eastern Conference with 20 points, two points back of Regina for the eighth and final playoff spot but with four games in hand on the Pats.
SCOUTS EYE: NHL Central Scouting has released its ‘Preliminary Players to Watch’ list for the 2024 NHL Draft. Hitmen defenceman Carter Yakemchuk gained recognition as an ‘A’ ranked skater, projecting as a first-round candidate while forward Carson Wetsch is a ‘B’ ranked skater forecasting as a second or third-round candidate. A total of 63 WHLers are on the list including six potential first-round picks.
TEDDY BEAR TALLY: More than 15,575 seats have been sold for the Sunday, Dec. 3 ENMAX Teddy Bear Toss against the Prince Albert Raiders. Fans can secure their seat to one of the most anticipated games of the season at HitmenHockey.com. Game time is 4:00 p.m.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Reese Hamilton (Lower Body, Day-to-Day).
POST-GAME AUTOGRAPHS: Meet goaltender Alex Garrett and defenceman Fraser Leonard after tonight’s game against Edmonton. Both players will be signing autographs at the Hitmen Booster Club table located behind Section 212.
WHL CAREER MILESTONES: Sean Tschigerl needs one assist for 100 while Maxim Muranov is three points shy of 50. Ethan Buenaventura is 78 saves away from 2,000. Oliver Tulk skated in his 150th career game last Saturday in Red Deer.
HOME AND AWAY COMPARISION: The Hitmen are 6-3-1 on home ice while Edmonton is 3-5 on the road and tied with Tri-City for the fewest road games played by any team this season. Conversely, Prince Albert and Saskatoon share the league lead with 15 road games each.
UPCOMING GAMES: The Hitmen will open a three-game road trip this week with a stop in Red Deer to face the Rebels on Tuesday, Nov. 28. It’s then off to Lethbridge on Wednesday, Nov. 29 before finishing in Medicine Hat against the Tigers on Friday, Dec. 1.
