Round 2 Game 7 Preview: Calgary vs Lethbridge – 04.23.25
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen host the Lethbridge Hurricanes tonight in Game 7 of their 2025 WHL Eastern Conference Semi-Final series. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome. 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. The post season is presented by Nutrien and powered by RAM with tonight’s game live on Sportsnet 960 The Fan and streamed live for FREE on Victory+. Lethbridge forced a seventh and deciding game with a 5-1 home ice win on Saturday night. Scoreless until the middle frame, the Hurricanes scored four goals, including a pair from Noah Chadwick, in a span of 10:59 to take a commanding lead. Brandon Gorzynski tallied the lone goal for the Hitmen with 3:27 remaining in the third period. Lethbridge outshot Calgary 26-22, went 1-3 on the power play, and killed all five Hitmen chances with the man advantage. Anders Miller (15) and Eric Tu (6) combined to make 21 saves for Calgary while Jackson Unger turned aside 21 shots for the ‘Canes.
2025 WHL Playoffs: Round 2 Schedule: The Hitmen and Hurricanes second round playoff series is a 2-2-1-1-1 format.
| Game | Visitor | Home | Date/Result | Time/Series | |
| 1 | Lethbridge | @ | Calgary | Hurricanes 4 Hitmen 0 | LET leads series 1-0 |
| 2 | Lethbridge | @ | Calgary | Hurricanes 2 Hitmen 1 | LET leads series 2-0 |
| 3 | Calgary | @ | Lethbridge | Hitmen 5 Hurricanes 3 | LET leads series 2-1 |
| 4 | Calgary | @ | Lethbridge | Hitmen 3 Hurricanes 2 OT | Series tied 2-2 |
| 5 | Lethbridge | @ | Calgary | Hitmen 6 Hurricanes 5 OT | CGY leads series 3-2 |
| 6 | Calgary | @ | Lethbridge | Hurricanes 5 Hitmen 1 | Series tied 3-3 |
| 7 | Lethbridge | @ | Calgary | Wednesday, Apr. 23 | 7:00 p.m. |
*If necessary
GAME 7 FACTS: The Hitmen are 6-5 all-time in Game 7’s and have won the last two series deciding games. Their last Game 7 was in 2019, again against the ‘Canes which produced a 4-2 victory at Nicholas Sheran Arena in Lethbridge. Carson Focht scored a pair of goals while Riley Fiddler-Schultz and Mark Kastelic added singles on a night where Calgary raced out to a 3-0 first period lead with final shots 27-27. Calgary’s previous Game 7 ended with a 6-2 win over the Kootenay ICE in the opening round of the 2015 playoffs. That game played at Scotiabank Saddledome saw Connor Rankin score a natural hat-trick in the first period. Chase Lang, Radel Fazleev and Kenton Helgesen also netted goals in the win. The Hitmen outshot the ICE 35-13. Only once in franchise history has a Game 7 gone to overtime and that was in the opening round of the 2007 playoffs. Ian Duval scored on a breakaway 7:01 into sudden death to give the Hitmen a 3-2 road triumph in Cranbrook over Kootenay.
SERIES TRENDS: The road team started 4-0 but since then the home team is 2-0…The team holding the lead on the shot clock is 1-5 in the series…The team scoring first is 5-1…The Hurricanes have held the lead for 149 minutes and 50 seconds while the Hitmen have led for 39 minutes and 39 seconds.
SERIES LEADERS: Calgary is led in scoring by Ben Kindel (3g, 3a) and Brandon Gorzynski (3g, 3a) who have six points each. Carson Wetsch (4g), Oliver Tulk (2g, 2a), David Adaszynski (1g, 3a) and Carter Yakemchuk (1g, 3a) are all next with four points. Noah Chadwick (4g, 3a) and Miguel Marques (1g, 6a) top the Hurricanes in points with seven each. Brayden Edwards (3g, 3a) has six.
SERIES RECAP: The best-of-seven series is tied 3-3. Lethbridge has outscored Calgary by a combined 21-16.
Game 1 in CGY: Hurricanes 4 Hitmen 0…Jackson Unger posted a 33 save shutout.
Game 2 in CGY: Hurricanes 2 Hitmen 1…Lethbridge scored the game winner just 49 seconds after the Hitmen had tied the game with 3:04 left.
Game 3 in LET: Hitmen 5 Hurricanes 3…After a scoreless first period, Carson Wetsch scored a hat-trick for Calgary.
Game 4 in LET: Hitmen 3 Hurricanes 2 OT…Ben Kindel scored the winner on Calgary’s third shot of the extra session.
Game 5 in CGY: Hitmen 6 Hurricanes 5 OT…Ben Kindel scored the winner as the Hitmen erased a 5-2 deficit.
Game 6 in LET: Hurricanes 5 Hitmen 1…Noah Chadwick scored twice including the game winner on a second period 5-on-3 power play for 2:00.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 164 LET 171 Power Plays: CGY 2-13 (15.4%) LET 5-14 (35.7%)
STREAKS: Brandon Gorzynski (3g) is on a three-game goal scoring streak and has points in four consecutive games…Ethan Moore (2a) has points in back-to-back games…David Adaszynski (1g, 3a) saw his three-game point streak end in Game 6 while two-game point streaks for Ben Kindel (2g, 3a), Oliver Tulk (2g, 2a) and Sawyer Mynio (2a) were also halted the same night.
COMEBACK TRAIL: Three times in franchise history the Hitmen have rebounded from a 0-2 playoff series deficit to win. During the 2019 playoffs they lost a pair of games in Lethbridge to start their opening round series before responding to beat the Hurricanes in seven games. In the 2010 post-season they lost both games on home ice before bouncing back to defeat the Moose Jaw Warriors in seven games in the opening round. During the 2007 WHL Playoffs, Calgary dropped the first two games of their second-round set with Brandon on the road then came roaring back with four straight wins to capture the series in six.
POST SEASON EXPERIENCE: The Hitmen have a combined 391 games of playoff experience. Sawyer Mynio leads the way with 50 games while Lukas Hansen is next with 41. Connor Hvidston (4g, 11a) has a team leading 15 career playoff points while Ben Kindel (8g, 6a) is next with 14.
PLAYOFF HISTORY: This is the sixth time in WHL history and first time in six years the Hitmen and Hurricanes are meeting in the playoffs. Calgary has won four times.
2005: CGY 4 LET 1 Rd 1– Hitmen were led by Ryan Getzlaf (1g, 7a), Andrew Ladd (1g, 6a) and Justin Pogge (1.29 GAA).
2006: CGY 4 LET 2 Rd 1 – Hitmen were led by Freddie Pettersson (3g, 4a), Craig Lineker (7a), Brodie Dupont (3g, 3A) and Justin Pogge (2.97 GAA).
2008: LET 4 CGY 0 Rd 3 – ‘Canes were led by Mitch Fadden (1g, 6a), Zach Boychuk (4g, 2a), Carter Bancks (4g) and Juha Metsola (1.73 GAA).
2009: CGY 4 LET 0 Rd2 – Hitmen were led by Brandon Kozun (3g, 4a), Kyle Bortis (7a), Joel Broda (3g, 2a) and Martin Jones (1.00 GAA).
2019: CGY 4 LET 3 Rd1 – Hitmen were led by Mark Kastelic (5g, 2a), Carson Focht (4g, 3a), Dakota Krebs (1g, 6a) and Jack McNaughton (3.63 GAA).
PLAYOFF NOTEBOOK: Anders Miller is third in the WHL post season with a 2.49 goals against average and is ninth with a .904 save percentage…The Hitmen are led by Ben Kindel (8g, 6a), who at 14 points, is tied for 16th in the scoring race and is the highest scoring Hitmen post-season performer since Victor Rask (6g, 10a) and Brooks Macek (6g, 8a) tallied 14 or more points 2013. Calgary is 10th on the power play (5-24) at 20.8%. The penalty kill (21-27) is fourth at 77.8%.
ALL-STARS: Four Hitmen have received Eastern Conference All-Star nods this season. Forwards Oliver Tulk and Ben Kindel were both named first-team all-stars while defenceman Carter Yakemchuk and goaltender Daniel Hauser are second-team all-stars.
HITMEN AWARD NOMINEES: Goaltender Daniel Hauser is one of six nominees for the Del Wilson Memorial Trophy given annually to the WHL Goaltender of the Year. GM Garry Davidson is one of six nominees for the Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy given to the WHL Executive of the Year. Forward Oliver Tulk is one of six nominees for the Brad Hornung Trophy handed to the league’s Most Sportsmanlike Player and is also up for the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy given to the WHL Player of the Year.
PLAYOFF RECORD: Calgary has a lifetime playoff record of 145-119 and are 33-24 all-time in post-season overtime games.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Daniel Hauser (Upper Body, Day-to-Day), Tanner Howe (Lower Body, TBD).
