Hitmen Secure First Win of the Season at Home Opener
The Calgary Hitmen hosted the Lethbridge Hurricanes for their 30th Anniversary season home opener against the Lethbridge Hurricanes. The team debuted their 30th Anniversary Jerseys and welcomed special guests; former General Manager Kelly Kisio, Alumni Brad Moran and team namesake Bret Hart for the ceremonial puck to kick off the celebration of three decades off Hitmen Hockey.
Strong special teams played a hand in Calgary’s dominant first win of the season defeating Lethbridge in a 3-1 decision. Ben Kindel opened the scoring just under five minutes into the game off a feed from 16 -year-old Rylan Ng marking Ng’s first Western Hockey League point. Calgary would later find success on the power play with Carson Wetsch finding the net to make it 2-0 heading into the second period. Oliver Tulk and newcomer Connor Hvidston had the helpers. The second period remained scoreless despite trading penalties throughout the period.
Calgary secured their second power play goal of the game for Oliver Tulk’s first of the season at the 5:55 mark. Assists came from Carson Wetsch and Ben Kindel who both finished the contest with a goal and an assist. With under 10 minutes remaining Lethbridge finally put one on the board with a power play goal from Leo Braillard. Calgary was able to fend off a late push from Lethbridge, finalizing the score at 3-1. Calgary outshot the visitors 29-20.
Calgary swept the three stars, with all players registering multi-point games. Carson Wetsch earn first star with the game winning goal and an assist, while Ben Kindel (1g,1a) and Oliver Tulk (1g,1a) earned second and third star respectively.
Calgary is back on home ice Wednesday, Oct. 2 to welcome the Saskatoon Blades for the first time this season. Game time is at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are available here.
