Sizzling Hitmen look to stay hot vs. Raiders
With the WHL playoffs on the horizon, now’s the time for the 20-year-olds to shine.
And they have.
Led by the stellar leadership and maturity of captain Kenton Helgesen and the torrid scoring pace of Adam Tambellini and Connor Rankin, the Calgary Hitmen trio of over-agers have contributed heavily to the team’s recent success as they ride a four-game win streak.
“This is the time you expect your older guys to step up and lead you in the right direction,” Hitmen coach Mark French said. “We had reiterated with the guys that last weekend was important and you would think the example would be set by your leaders to come out with urgency. They did that.”
As the Hitmen prepare to take on the Prince Albert Raiders on Friday at the Scotiabank Saddledome, their red-hot streak in punctuated by the fact that in their last four games, they have outscored their opponents by a wide 25-4 margin.
The Hitmen duo of top 20 league scorers in Tambellini and Rankin has been a significant factor in the team’s recent push to a 27-17-5 record.
As Rankin leads the Hitmen with 59 points, Tambellini is not far behind him with 56.
The pair’s high-level offensive production is backed up by the solid two-way play of Helgesen, the Anaheim Ducks prospect and “heart and soul” of the team, who has posted 14 goals and 18 assists so far this season playing both forward and defence.
It’s common for 20-year-old players in the major-junior ranks to put up big numbers in their final CHL season and French said his contingent of 1994s are exceeding expectations.
“It’s no secret that the biggest thing in junior hockey is maturity,” French explained. “They (over-agers) have a physical presence and their maturity and experience allows them to have success.”
Playing the third of a four-game season series with the East Divison rival on Friday, the Hitmen face a Raiders squad with a much different roster then the one they brought with them to the Saddledome in the two team’s last meeting on Nov. 26.
In the weeks leading up to the Jan. 10 WHL trade deadline, the Raiders parted ways with key pieces Josh Morrissey, Gage Quinney and the rights to Leon Draisaitl, shipping them all to the Kelowna Rockets.
Through a series of deals with the Western Conference powerhouse, the Raiders received forwards Kris Schmidli and Austin Glover along with defencemen Jesse Lees and Dalton Yourke.
Their scoring charge is led by 19-year-old forward Reid Gardiner and his 22 goals and 18 assists in 43 games.
Although the Raiders sport a new look heading into Friday’s tilt, nothing has changed in the Hitmen preparation for the 20-27-1 Raiders, with whom they sit tied in the season series 1-1.
“It won’t factor into our gameplan at all,” French said. “They are a team that still plays to the same tendancites even though they are missing some of the guys they moved at the deadline.”
French added that maintaining momentum from a successful weekend that saw shutout wins over the Vancouver Giants and Swift Current Broncos will be key as the Hitmen try to secure a fifth-straight win for the second time this season.
“We want to try to do some of the things that we did well last weekend,” he said. “Getting off to a good start was really important against Swift Current. We came out and set the table not only for that game, but the rest of the weekend. Setting that same type of tone this weekend will be really be important.”
The puck drops at 7 p.m. when the Hitmen take on the Raiders at the Saddledome.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Calgary Hitmen |
Prince Albert Raiders |
|
| Record | 27-17-5 | 20-27-1 |
| Past 10 | 6-2-2 | 4-6-0 |
| Streak | W4 | W1 |
| Home | 16-11-1 | 10-14-0 |
| Road | 11-6-4 | 10-13-1 |
| GF | 204 | 139 |
| GA | 149 | 167 |
| PP | (41/181) 22.7% | (37/191) 19.4% |
| PK | (37/205) 82% | (31/179) 82.7% |
| Top Scorer | Rankin (25G, 34A, 59 PTS) |
Gardiner (22G, 18A, 40 PTS) |
