PREVIEW: GAME 1 vs BRANDON | 03.27.26
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen open the 2026 Western Hockey League Playoffs tonight at home against the Brandon Wheat Kings. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome. The WHL Playoffs are presented by Nutrien. The Hitmen enter the post season as the #4 seed in the Eastern Conference after an 85-point regular season which saw the club post a record of 38-21-8-1. Brandon is the #5 seed, finishing their schedule with 82 points following a 40-26-2-0 campaign. Be sure to take advantage of the $6 food and drink 60-minute Hitmen Happy Hour, which begins when doors open at 6:00 p.m. Fans can also watch today’s game for FREE on Victory+ or listen on Sportsnet 960 The Fan following coverage of the Toronto Blue Jays season opener.
SERIES SCHEDULE: The Hitmen have home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference Quarter Final with the Best-of-Seven Round 1 series a 2-3-2 format.
| Game 1 | Friday, March 27 | 7:00 p.m. | Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary | |
| Game 2 | Sunday, March 29 | 7:00 p.m. | Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary | |
| Game 3 | Tuesday, March 31 | 6:00 p.m. | Tundra Oil & Gas Place, Virden | |
| Game 4 | Thursday, April 2 | 6:00 p.m. | Tundra Oil & Gas Place, Virden | |
| Game 5* | Friday, April 3 | 6:30 p.m. | Tundra Oil & Gas Place, Virden | |
| Game 6* | Sunday, April 5 | 5:00 p.m. | Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary | |
| Game 7* | Tuesday, April 7 | 7:00 p.m. | Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary | |
| *Indicates if necessary. Times listed in Mountain Time. | ||||
BRANDON: Calgary picked up five of a possible eight points during their regular season series with the Wheat Kings, posting a record of 2-1-1-0. The road team won all four games with no shortage of scoring as the two clubs combined for 28 goals with each team scoring 14 times. Ben MacBeath (6a) led the Hitmen with six points while Julien Maze (3g, 1a), Andrei Molgachev (2g, 2a), Ethan Moore (2g, 2a) and Caine Wilke (1g, 3a) all tallied four points each. Jaxon Jacobson (4g, 3a) was the top performer for Brandon with seven points. Luke Mistelbacher (1g, 5a) was next with six.
2025-26 SERIES RECAP
Nov. 2/25 in BDN: Hitmen 3 Wheat Kings 1…Calgary scored once in every period getting a goal and assist each from Kale Dach and Brandon Gorzynski.
Dec. 19/25 in CGY: Wheat Kings 3 Hitmen 2 OT…Calgary erased a 2-0 deficit before Joby Baumuller scored the winner 2:25 into extra time.
Feb. 6/26 at BDN: Hitmen 5 Wheat Kings 4…The Hitmen erased a 4-1 third period deficit.
Mar. 11/26 in CGY: Wheat Kings 6 Hitmen 4…Brandon broke a 3-3 third period tie scoring twice in the first 11 minutes.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 153 BDN 88 Power Plays: CGY 8-15 (53.3%) BDN 2-9 (22.2%)
STREAKIN’: Ben MacBeath (1g, 9a) is on a career high tying six-game point streak. Blake Vanek (2g, 3a) and Ty Meunier (1g, 2a) both have points in back-to-back games. Harrison Lodewyk (5g, 4a) saw his four-game point streak end Sunday in Edmonton.
PLAYOFF DATA: This is the eighth time in WHL history but just the first time in 11 seasons the Hitmen and Wheat Kings will square off in a playoff series. Brandon has won four times with Calgary taking three.
1998: BDN 4 CGY 1 Rd3: Wheat Kings were led by Stefan Cherneski with nine points (6g, 3a). Brad Mehalko topped the Hitmen with seven points (1g, 6a).
2005: BDN 4 CGY 3 Rd1: Lance Monych (5g, 2a) & Derek LeBlanc (4g, 3a) led Brandon with seven points each. Ryan Getzlaf led Calgary with nine (3g, 6a).
2007: CGY 4 BDN 2 Rd2: Derek LeBlanc was on the Hitmen this time and led the way with 11 points (5g, 6a). Among his work was a new WHL record for fastest overtime goal, scoring 8 seconds into Game 5. Codey Burki was the top Wheat King with six points (5g, 1a).
2009: CGY 4 BDN 0 Rd3: Kris Foucault was Calgary’s top performer with seven points (3g, 4a). Matt Calvert led Brandon with five points (32g, 3a).
2010: CGY 4 BDN 0 Rd3: Brandon Kozun led the way for Calgary with eight points (2g, 6a). Matt Calvert propelled Brandon with five points (4g, 1a).
2012: BDN 4 CGY 1 Rd1: Alessio Bertaggia drove the Wheat Kings attack with six points (3g, 3a). Collin Bowman led Calgary with five points (5a).
2015: BDN 4 CGY 1 Rd3: John Quenneville pilled up 10 points (6g, 4a) to lead Brandon. Adam Tambellini notched five (4g, 1a) for the Hitmen.
PLAYOFF RECORD: Calgary has a lifetime playoff record of 143-120 including a 25-23 mark all-time in Game 1’s. The Hitmen have competed in 48 series prior to this one. They have won 28 and lost 20. Calgary is 33-24 all-time in post-season overtime games.
POST-SEASON EXPERIENCE: The Hitmen have a combined 99 games of playoff experience while Brandon has 113. Harrison Lodewyk leads Calgary with 21 post-season games played. Ethan Moore with 16 and Julien Maze with 12 round out the top three.
BACK IN THE DANCE: This is Calgary’s second consecutive trip to the WHL Playoffs. Last season they opened at home against Saskatoon and posted a 4-2 victory in their series opener. The Hitmen outshot the Blades 44-17. Ethan Moore scored twice in the victory including the series opening goal with a shorthanded tally 4:26 into the first period. Oliver Tulk and Ben Kindel also found the back of the net in the Game 1 triumph.
REGULAR SEASON FAST FACTS: Julien Maze was the club leader in goals with 38 while Kale Dach notched a Hitmen best 41 assists. Alex Hurtig topped the +/- department at +21. Harrison Lodewyk led the Hitmen with 646 face-off wins.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTEBOOK: The Hitmen power play, which scored at least once in 19 of the last 24 games, finished second in the WHL at 31.7% scoring a league best 77 goals. Calgary’s penalty kill was ninth at 79.2%.
HOME AND AWAY COMPARISION: The Hitmen went 20-10-4-0 at Scotiabank Saddledome during the regular season. Their 44 home points tied with Prince George for eighth most in WHL. Brandon was 20-13-1-0 on the road with their 41 points away from Assiniboine Credit Union Place tied with Calgary for seventh most in the league.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Rylan Ng (Upper Body, Indefinitely).
HITMEN ALUMNUS: Carter Yakemchuk made his NHL debut Tuesday night scoring a goal and adding an assist with the Ottawa Senators. The 20-year-old was also +2 and played 12:46. Yakemchuk appeared in 245 career games with the Hitmen over four seasons from 2021-2025 recording 180 points (70g, 110a).
UPCOMING GAMES: Game 2 of this Best-of-Seven Round 1 series will once again be played in Calgary with a 7:00 p.m. start on Sunday, Mar. 29 at Scotiabank Saddledome. Tickets are on sale atbit.ly/4rJ7NSA for Sunday Funday presented by Brookfield Residential where fans can enjoy $6 food and drink deals all game long, $3 sips and snacks plus Face Painting and the Fun Zone on the West Concourse.
