PREVIEW: BRANDON AT CALGARY
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (31-13-1-3) will try to extend their four-game home winning streak as they take on the Brandon Wheat Kings (18-28-2-2) today at the ‘Dome. The Hitmen are coming off a hard fought 6-4 loss in Lethbridge against the Hurricanes on Friday night. Five-straight tallies by the Hurricanes in the middle of the game broke up two-goal periods by the Hitmen in both the first and third, including one in each of those stanzas by Cody Sylvester. With 66 points, Calgary sits in third place in the Eastern Conference, seven points behind the Edmonton Oil Kings for top spot in the Eastern Conference and Central Division.
VS. BRANDON: Tonight is the fourth and final meeting between the Hitmen and Wheat Kings. Calgary has won all three of the prior meetings in the season series. Last time Calgary and Brandon faced off, the Hitmen notched a 7-2 road victory. Brady Brassart led the charge in that game, scoring a goal and adding two assists. Over the last five seasons, Calgary is 12-6-1-0 against Brandon, including a 5-3-1-0 record at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
SERIES RECAP
Nov. 3/12 at BDN: Hitmen 4 Wheat Kings 2 … The line of G. Chase, C. Clayton and P. Padakin combined for seven points in the win.
Jan. 2/13 at CAL: Hitmen 10 Wheat Kings 2 … B. Macek scored his second career hat trick.
Jan. 8/13 at BDN: Hitmen 7 Wheat Kings 2 … B. Macek, B. Brassart, C. Samoridny and Z. Jones all have multi-point nights on the road.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CAL 114 BDN 75
Power Plays: CAL 6-13 (46.1%) BDN 1-8 (12.5%)
HITMEN TEAM LEADERS:
Goals (25) Cody Sylvester
Assists (33) Brooks Macek
Points (56) Brooks Macek
Power Play Goals (10) Cody Sylvester
PIM (89) Kenton Helgesen
Plus-Minus (+34) Alex Roach
Wins (25) Chris Driedger
EAST FEAST: Calgary has of a record of 11-2-0-1 against teams from the East Division, including a 3-1-0-0 mark during a recent road trip out east from Jan. 8-12 where the Hitmen outscored their opponents by a combined 22-11. Calgary will play nine more game against East Division teams this season following tonight’s match-up.
DOUBLE DIGITS: The last time the Wheat Kings made an appearance at the Scotiabank Saddledome, they were dealt a 10-2 loss. In that game, Brooks Macek netted a hat trick while rookies Chase Lang and Austin Calladine picked up their first WHL goals. The 10 goals marked the first time Calgary has hit double digits since Nov.10, 2000 when the Hitmen scored 10 against Medicine Hat. During that 1999-00 season, the Hitmen scored 10 or more twice, including 12 against Prince Albert on Oct. 27, 2000.
GETTING AHEAD: Calgary has netted the first goal of the game in 30 of their 48 games played. Of those matches, the Hitmen have claimed 23 wins and a 0.800 winning percentage to rank fourth (tie) and fifth in the WHL, respectively. Brooks Macek leads Calgary in first goals with five this season. On Jan. 8 in Brandon, Macek scored the game’s first goal nine seconds in, which set a new Hitmen franchise record for fastest goal to start a game.
HOLDING LEADS: The Hitmen this season have a 25-0-1-1 record when leading after two periods. Only Portland (31), Kelowna (31) and Edmonton (30) have more wins when leading after 40 minutes.
DID YOU KNOW?: Forward Zane Jones has scored in each of Calgary’s last four home games. Earlier this season, Jones had a career-high goal streak of six games from Dec. 29, 2012 – Jan. 8, 2013.
CLIMBING THE RANKS: Now in his fifth season with Calgary, Cody Sylvester is moving up the lists of all-time scorers in club history. Sylvester has played 292 games with the Hitmen and has 81 goals, 110 assists for 191 points. The Vernon, British Columbia product now ranks seventh all-time in games played, 12th in goals (tie), 10th in assists and 12th in points.
ALL-STAR GAMES: Former Hitmen goaltender Barry Brust of the Abbotsford Heat will play on the Western Conference All-Star Team at the AHL All-Star Classic over the next two days. Brust was previously an AHL All-Star during the 2008-09 season when he was a member of the Houston Aeros. A member of the Hitmen last season, defenceman Collin Bowman participated in the ECHL All-Star Classic where he was held pointless as his Colorado Eagles fell to the ECHL All-Stars 7-3.
NHL PROSPECTS: Chris Driedger (Ottawa 2012); Kenton Helgesen (Anaheim 2012); Jaynen Rissling (Washington 2012); Alex Roach (Three-year, Entry-level Contract, Los Angeles 2011); Victor Rask (Three-year, Entry-level Contract, Carolina 2011).
POST-GAME AUTOGRAPHS: Meet goaltender Chris Driedger at the Booster Club table located by section 212 after the game.
UPCOMING GAMES: Calgary will now depart on a nine-game road trip which will see them play four games in their conference as well as face all five U.S. Division clubs. The Hitmen return home on Saturday, February 16 when they take on the Victoria Royals. Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster locations and the Scotiabank Saddledome box office. Order online at www.ticketmaster.ca or by phone at 1-855-985-5000.
Tue., Jan. 29 at Medicine Hat Tigers, 7 p.m., SN960 The FAN
Wed., Jan. 30 at Swift Current Broncos, 6 p.m., SN960 The FAN
