Game Preview: Hitmen vs Wheat Kings Feb 28
The Calgary Hitmen winners of two games in a row and six of their last seven, host the Brandon Wheat Kings tonight. Game time at Scotiabank Saddledome is 7:00 p.m. for the 2nd annual One Ticket, One Tree.
For each game day and group ticket sold, the Hitmen will plant a tree for reforestation projects in the province. Last year, the Hitmen in partnership with Tree Canada, planted 2,489 trees in Alberta. The Hitmen are coming off yesterday’s 4-1 victory over the Winnipeg ICE in the 4th annual TELUS BE BRAVE game. Played in front of 13,172 fans, including over 12,000 Calgary and area students, a message of acceptance and bullying prevention was conveyed from three guest speakers, concourse displays and in-game activities.
Calgary product Kyle Olson led the Hitmen with two goals and an assist while Mark Kastelic and Carson Focht also found the back of the net. Kastelic’s marker was his 122nd career goal moving him past Borys Protsenko and into sole possession of third place on the clubs all-time goal scoring list. He trails only Brad Moran (204) and Pavel Brendl (172). Calgary outshot the ICE 39-27. Rookie goaltender Brayden Peters made 26 saves to record the win while Liam Hughes recorded 35 stops for Winnipeg.
Highlights Feb 27 vs Winnipeg ICE
Quick Hits
Tonight is the fourth and final regular season meetings between the Hitmen and Wheat Kings. Brandon has won two of the three games outscoring Calgary 10-5. Carson Focht (1g, 2a) leads the Hitmen in the season series with three points while Orca Wiesblatt (2g) and Jett Woo (2a) both have two points each. Goaltenders Jack McNaughton (.912) and Brayden Peters (.920) have also posted strong numbers against the Wheat Kings. Luka Burzan (2g, 2a) and Cole Reinhardt (1g, 3a) are the top performers for Brandon with four points each. Goaltender Jiri Patera has been spectacular stopping 67 of 68 shots in two victories for a .985 save percentage. Calgary is 2-4-1-0 in their last seven home games against Brandon.
Milestone Tracker
Jackson van de Leest and Dakota Krebs are both one assist shy of 50.
Yesterday, Cael Zimmerman played career game 150 against Winnipeg while Mark Kastelic moved into sole possession of seventh place on the clubs all-time points list with 230 passing both Borys Protsenko and Cody Sylvester. Kastelic is now seven points behind Ryan White for sixth place.
Dakota Krebs played career game 300 last Friday against the Giants.
Jack McNaughton has 1,764 career saves and needs 44 more to pull into a tie with Mike Snider for eighth place on the clubs all-time saves list.
2019/20 Stats Leaders
Hitmen
Goals: Mark Kastelic (34)
Assists: Riley Stotts (39)
Points: Kastelic (63)
Power Play Goals: Carson Focht (9)
Shots: Kastelic (206)
Top Goalie: Brayden Peters, 16-11-2, 2.59 GAA, 0.909 SV%
Wheat Kings
Leaders:
Goals: Luka Burzan (35)
Assists: Ben McCartney (35)
Points: Luka Burzan (60)
Power Play Goals: Luka Burzan, Ridly Greig (9)
Shots: Luka Burzan (197)
Top Goalie: Liam Hughes, 22-11-2-2, 2.54 GAA, .922 SV%
