Expectations remain high for Hitmen

Jason Pirie/hitmenhockey.com

Photo: Candice Ward

Exit day.

If you’re not hoisting a championship and the end of a long, hard-fought season it always seems to leave a bitter taste.

For management and coaching staff of the Calgary Hitmen, who had high hopes following a fifth straight 40-plus win campaign, a feeling of dissatisfaction comes only natural.

“You do all the planning, you do all the work and the preparation over eight to 12 months, and when it’s not enough you’re disappointed,” said Hitmen GM Mike Moore. “The goal is to win each and every year and getting knocked out in the first round is not what we wanted.

“We expected and wanted to be a winner and we’re not.”

Not to soften the blow, but the Hitmen were inconveniently matched up against the Memorial-Cup host Red Deer Rebels, a squad that did everything in its power to stack its roster in preparation for a good showing at the big dance.

In fact, the series pitted the two highest seeds of any first round matchup, guaranteeing a serious contender to be knocked out of the playoffs earlier than anticipated.

“We played against a very good hockey team, but our goal was to beat that very good hockey team,” Moore said. “When you start training camp and you see who’s coming back you believe you’re good enough. We certainly believed the pieces were there to be a successful and winning hockey team.

“Memorial Cup hosts or not, we didn’t do enough to beat them.”

Hitmen head coach Mark French shares that sentiment.

“It’s disappointing and not something you want to do this early,” said French, after holding his final one-on-one meetings with players before they shuffled out for the off-season. “But I’m proud of the effort. Even in Game 5 when we were down we continued to push. There was no quit. The guys stayed together. At the end of the day, the guys can be proud of how they fought through the series.”

And though it’s never an easy thing to do when the sting still lingers, Moore said his team can reflect on some of the positives as it looks ahead to next season.

“I think there are a lot of good things that happened for us through the season,” he said. “We had two players (Travis Sanheim and Radel Fazleev) play in the World Junior Championships. That’s always a feather in the cap of those players and our organization. And we saw some growth with some of our young players. You look at a player like (team rookie of the year) Mark Kastelic, who came in as a 16-year-old and had a terrific playoff. He’s only going to get bigger and stronger.”

There was also the breakout seasons of winger Jakob Stukel and goalie Cody Porter, both acquired by the Hitmen in a five-player blockbuster deal with the Vancouver Giants in late October. Both are expected to be essential pieces as they return as 19-year-olds next season.

The swift-skating Stukel, who had a previous season-high of five goals, broke out to lead the Hitmen with 36 markers and a league-high 18 power play tallies.

Porter, meanwhile, shone in his new role as a Western Hockey League starter, finishing with a 25-11-3 record, a 3.04 GAA and .885 save percentage with three shutouts.

“(Jakob) found a good home here and found a way to score, and that was exciting to see,” Moore said. “And Cody Porter had never been a starter before and had never played a playoff game, and he showed some bright signs. When you look at those pieces it certainly gets you excited moving forward.”

There was also the addition of Winnipeg Jets prospect Matteo Gennaro, a record-breaking season by sophomore defenceman Jake Bean, and 20-goal performances by linemates Jordy Stallard and hometown product Carsen Twarynski.

“We did a lot of great things through the season in terms of player personnel,” French said. “I thought our management staff did a good job of attacking the areas that we seemed to be weak in. As a coaching staff, our job is to coach the guys we have in the room to the best of our ability. We had a good group of young men who took instruction well and worked hard. They accomplished a lot of things individually but as a team we fell short.”

Despite the disappointing way this season came to a close for his hockey club, Moore says expectations will never change.

“We’ll have to take the lessons and learn from them,” he said. “Last year was real successful by going to the final four, and our goal this season was to get to the final two and win it. And that will be our goal again next year.”