GAME PREVIEW: Home Opener – 09.18.26
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (0-0-0-0) open their 32nd season in the Western Hockey League tonight at home against the Red Deer Rebels (0-0-0-0). The 2026 Hitmen Home Opener is presented by FlexClub, a flexible ticket package for mixing and matching Hitmen, Wranglers and Roughnecks games all season long. Visit FlexClub.ca for more info on how to save. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome. Be sure to take advantage of the $5 and $7 Hitmen Happy Hour specials from when doors open at 6:00 p.m. up until the opening faceoff. The first 1,000 fans in the building will also receive a FREE commemorative jersey patch which pays tribute to the final season at Scotiabank Saddledome. If you can’t make to the ‘Dome, you can also watch the game for FREE on YouTube. The Hitmen are coming off a season which saw thew club post a record of 38-21-8-1. Their 85 points ranked fourth in the Eastern Conference and led to an opening round playoff series with Brandon which saw Calgary complete a four-game sweep of the Wheat Kings. The Hitmen then dropped their second-round series in four games to Medicine Hat.
RED DEER: Tonight marks the first of eight regular season meetings between the two Central Division rivals. Four of those are scheduled before the end of October. Last season Calgary went 7-1 against the Rebels, including a 3-1 record at home. Kale Dach (7g, 4a) topped the Hitmen in the season series with 11 points while Wyatt Pisarczyk (3g, 5a) was next with eight. Landon MacSwain (2g, 2a) and Cameron Kuzma (1g, 3a) were the leading Rebels with four points each.
2025-26 SERIES RECAP
Sept. 25/25 in RD: Hitmen 2 Rebels 1…Calgary erased a 1-0 deficit to improve to 5-0-1-0 in their last six games with the Rebels.
Oct. 29/25 in CGY: Hitmen 4 Rebels 3 SO…Andrei Molgachev scored the shootout winner.
Nov. 30/25 in CGY: Rebels 4 Hitmen 3…The Rebels jumped out to a 3-0 lead 9:23 into the first period.
Dec. 12/25 in CGY: Hitmen 4 Rebels 1…Wyatt Pisarczyk notched a career high three assists.
Dec. 13/25 in RD: Hitmen 9 Rebels 0…A total of 16 Hitmen recorded at least a point while Eric Tu posted a 26-save shutout.
Jan. 23/26 in RD: Hitmen 5 Rebels 1…After the Rebels opened the scoring the Hitmen struck for five unanswered goals.
Feb. 22/26 in CGY: Hitmen 2 Rebels 1…Andrei Molgachev scored the game winner with 5:32 remaining.
Mar. 14/26 in RD: Hitmen 6 Rebels 5 OT…Hunter Aura scored the game winner helping the Hitmen erase a 5-3 third period deficit.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 261 RD 223 Power Plays: CGY 12-30 (40%) RD 1-21 (4.8%)
FAST FACTS: Calgary is 3-3 in their last six regular season openers with their last opening night win coming one year ago when they skated to a 5-3 victory in Lethbridge over the Hurricanes. Kale Dach led the charge with a pair of goals while Andre Molgachev (1g, 1a), Hunter Aura (2a) and Luc Trevors (2a) also had multi-point outings. Anders Miller made 23 saves to pick up the win.
LET’S GO CAMPING: Five Hitmen from the current 27-player roster headed to NHL camps earlier this month: Carter Sanderson (Pittsburgh), Jakob Leander (Calgary), Blake Vanek (Ottawa), Landon Amrhein (Calgary) and Andrei Molgachev (Utah).
OFF-SEASON NOTEBOOK: On June 8, the Hitmen announced the promotion of Cass Bruni to General Manager from Assistant GM while Garry Davidson moved from the GM’s chair to a Hockey Operations Advisory Role…On June 30 the Hitmen made two picks in the 2026 CHL Import Draft selecting 19-year-old defenceman and Calgary Flames prospect Jakob Leander along with 17-year-old Russian forward Artem Katsuro…On June 29 the Hitmen announced the signing of 19-year-old forward and Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Carter Sanderson…On July 27 the Hitmen acquired 19-year-old forward Brennan Brown, a third-round pick in 2027 and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2029 from the Swift Current Broncos in exchange for 18-year-old forward Ty Meunier and a seventh-round pick in 2030…On September 11 the Hitmen inked listed prospect 18 year-old defenceman Maden Simard…On September 14 Calgary acquired a fourth-round pick in the 2028 WHL Prospects Draft from the Red Deer Rebels in exchange for 18-year-old defenceman Kaden Meyer…Also on September 14, the Hitmen signed 2025 fourth-round pick and 16 year-old goaltending prospect Donagh Esler-Twiss to a WHL Scholarship and Development Agreement. On Sept. 27 The Hitmen inked 20-year-old forward Charlie Kresl after the product of Denver, CO, attended training camp as a free agent.
2026 PRE-SEASON RECAP: Calgary went 3-1 during their four-game exhibition schedule with two of those victories coming against the Rebels. Julien Maze (3g, 2a) was the top scorer for the Hitmen with five points while Calder Hamilton (3g, 1a), Hunter Auta (1g, 3a) and rookie Charlie Kresl (1g, 3a) all tallied four points each. In between the pipes, four goaltenders all saw action.
DID YOU KNOW? Fans are invited to stop at Section 213 on the concourse to take in the Fan Farewell sale featuring a number of vintage Hitmen jerseys. Returning this season is also the post-game autograph session where tonight goaltender Eric Tu and defenceman Hunter Aura will be at the autograph table behind Section 212.
HOME COOKING: Of Calgary’s first 15 games of the regular season, 10 of them will be played at home. They include visits from nine different teams with only the Rebels appearing twice.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: Forward Caine Wilke is entering his third season in the WHL and second with the Hitmen after September 20, 2025, trade from Everett. Wilke has 62 career points (22g, 40a) in 115 games. The 18-year-old was a first-round pick of the Silvertips, 20th overall, in the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft.
HOME AND AWAY COMPARISON: Last season the Hitmen collected 44 points at home which tied for eighth best in the WHL. Their overall record was 20-10-4-0 in the ‘Dome. Red Deer meanwhile went 13-18-1-2 on the road.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Rylan Ng (Upper Body, Indefinite).
UPCOMING SCHEDULE: The Hitmen will enjoy a day off before returning to action on Sunday, Sept. 20 on the road to face the Edmonton Oil Kings at Rogers Place. Game time is 7:00 p.m. with fans invited to watch the game for FREE on YouTube. Calgary then returns home to host those same Oil Kings on Friday, Sept. 25 in a 7:00 p.m. start at Scotiabank Saddledome.
