PREVIEW: HITMEN AT BRONCOS GAME 3

HITMEN HEADLINES: Tonightthe Calgary Hitmen enter Game 3 of the Husky WHL Eastern Conference Quarter-Final with a 2-0 advantage over the Swift Current Broncos.  The best-of-seven series began Thursday, Mar. 21 with Calgary earning a 6-5 overtime victory at the Scotiabank Saddledome.  The Hitmen returned to action the following night, posting a 3-1 home ice win.  Through two post-season contests, 14 Hitmen players have recorded at least one point in the series including rookie Pavlo Padakin (1a).  Brady Brassart (3g), Victor Rask (1g, 2a), Greg Chase (1g, 2a) and Jaynen Rissling (3a) share the team lead with three points each versus the Broncos. Calgary goaltender Chris Driedger has registered a 2.89 goals-against average and 0.912 save percentage over Games 1 and 2 of the series, allowing six goals on 68 shots-against in 125 minutes played.

HUSKY WHL EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER-FINAL SERIES

 

STREAKIN’: Victor Rask (1g, 2a) and Greg Chase (1g, 2a) have three points each in back-to-back games.  Brooks Macek (1g, 1a) has two points over the same span.

PLAYOFF DEBUT: Rookies Pavlo Padakin and Elliott Peterson along with Swedish import Victor Rask each played in their first WHL playoff game on Thursday, March 21. 

PUCKS TO THE NET:  The Hitmen have 61 shots from 14 different players through two games this series.  Brooks Macek tops the Hitmen with 11 shots on goal in two games, followed by Colten Mayor with eight and Brady Brassart with seven. 

SECURING THE WIN:  When leading after two periods during the regular season, Calgary held a record of 35-0-1-1.  After two post-season contests, the Hitmen are 2-0 when leading after 40 minutes. 

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Calgary and Swift Current met four times in the regular season, with the Broncos posting a 3-1-0-0 record. Brady Brassart (2g, 1a), Zane Jones (1g, 2a), Victor Rask (1g, 2a), Cody Sylvester (1g, 2a) and Jake Virtanen (1g, 2a) all had three points against the Broncos to lead Calgary in the season series.  Calgary native Adam Lowry (3g, 4a) recorded seven points against the Hitmen and was supported in the series by Graham Black (4g), Coda Gordon (2g, 2a) and Reece Scarlett (4a) who each had four points.

REGULAR SEASON SERIES RECAP

Nov. 18/12 at CAL:                        Hitmen 4 Broncos 2                       
P. Padakin scored twice, while P. Kosterman broke a 2-2 third period tie with 7:17 to go.

Jan. 12/13 at S.C:                         Broncos 4 Hitmen 3                       
Colby Cave broke a 3-3 third period tie with 10:13 remaining. 

Jan. 30/13 at S.C:                        Broncos 5 Hitmen 4                       
Ryon Moser scored on a partial breakaway with 0.8 seconds remaining to secure the win.

Mar. 1/13 at CAL:                        Broncos 3 Hitmen 1    
Eetu Laurikainen denied 36-of-37 shots as Victor Rask scored the lone Calgary goal. 

INSIDE THE REGULAR SEASON SERIES
Shots on Goal: CAL 122 S.C 105      
Power Plays: CAL 0-12 (0%) S.C 4-11 (36.3%) 

 

POST-SEASON EXPERIENCE: The Hitmen have 16 players that head into this series with at least one post-season game played. Cody Sylvester, Jaynen Rissling and Peter Kosterman each have a WHL championship on their resume from Calgary’s 2010 WHL title. Brooks Macek and Spencer Humphries also appeared in the 2010 WHL Final, but were on the losing end as members of the Tri-City Americans.  Below is a recap of past post-season production (excludes 2013 playoffs): 

– Brooks Macek  37 GP (10g, 13a)                                               
– Cody Sylvester  37 GP (11g, 6a)                         
– Brady Brassart  21 GP (1g, 3a)                           
– Jaynen Rissling   14 GP (1g, 2a)                           
– Peter Kosterman  10 GP (1g, 1a)       
– Jesse Zgraggen   9 GP (0g, 1a)    
– Colten Mayor   9 GP (0 pts)
– Spencer Humphries      6 GP (0 pts)
– Alex Roach  5 GP (1g, 2a)
– Chase Clayton 5 GP (1g, 1a)
– Greg Chase  5 GP (1g, 1a)
– Jake Virtanen 5 GP (0 pts)
– Kenton Helgesen 5 GP (0 pts)
– Zane Jones  4 GP (1g, 0a)
– Chris Driedger  2 GP (6.59 GAA, 0.813%)
– Calder Brooks  1 GP (0 pts)

PLAYOFF HISTORY:  This is the fourth time the Hitmen have faced the Broncos in the post-season over their 18-year franchise history. Calgary has won two of three playoff series against Swift Current including their most recent match-up in 2008. 

MARCH MADNESS:  In the final month of the regular season, Cody Sylvester recorded 18 points (8g, 10a) in eight games played and was named the CHL Player of the Week for the week ending Mar. 10 and, for the second time this season, the Denny’s WHL Player of the Week (Mar. 4-10). Sylvester was also named the team’s Ed Williams Player of the Month for March, a title he previously received in January.  Brady Brassart had eight goals and added eight assists for 16 points over the last nine games of the regular season.  Swedish import Victor Rask had three goals and eight assists for 11 points in eight regular season games in March, while rookie Jake Virtanen (4g, 7a) also had 11 points over nine contests.  The Hitmen opened March with back-to-back losses before recording six consecutive wins to finish the month 6-3-0-0 following a loss to Kootenay in the final game of the regular season.  Calgary outscored their opponents by a combined 44-30 over that span, including registering two nine-goal games.

HITMEN TEAM REGULAR SEASON LEADERS:        

Goals (41) Cody Sylvester           
Assists (49) Cody Sylvester
Points (90) Cody Sylvester
Power Play Goals (16) Cody Sylvester
PIM (122) Jaynen Rissling             
Plus/Minus (+42) Alex Roach  
Wins (36) Chris Driedger                                                           

2012-13 WHL AWARDS: Cody Sylvester was named the Eastern Conference Finalist for the 2012-13 WHL Humanitarian of the Year award.  The Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy will be awarded to the top humanitarian at the WHL Awards Luncheon on May 1 in Calgary. Sylvester, along with defenceman Alex Roach, was also named to the Eastern Conference Second All-Star Team.  During the regular season, Sylvester raised $17,312 for his Chance To Play program, a fundraising initiative created by the 20-year-old to support local kids who would not normally have the opportunity to play hockey.  In 1999-00, Hitmen alumnus Chris Nielsen was named the WHL Humanitarian of the Year for his contributions on and off the ice. 

2012-13 HITMEN AWARDS:  On March 17, the Hitmen honoured their best at the 2012-13 Calgary Hitmen Awards Banquet at The Fairmont Palliser.  Captain Cody Sylvester received six team awards including the Suncor Energy Player of the Year award which he previously earned in 2010-11.  Past recipients of this prestigious honour include Brad Moran and Ryan Getzlaf.  By being honoured six times, Sylvester has captured the highest number of single season team awards in franchise history. 

 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).

UPCOMING GAMES:  Calgary returns to action tomorrow, Tues., Mar. 26, for Game 4 of the series, with a 7 p.m. puck drop.