PREVIEW: Wakey, Wakey! Oil Kings Set to Battle Hitmen in Hockey Hooky
Edmonton, Alta. – The Edmonton Oil Kings are set for an early puck drop today as they host the Calgary Hitmen for the annual Hockey Hooky game at Rogers Place.
More than 17,000 fans will roll into the rink for the 11 a.m. puck drop for an Eastern Conference battle between two rivals.
This will mark the seventh of eight meetings this season between the Oil Kings and Hitmen with Edmonton currently holding a 1-4-1-0 record so far. Most recently, back in early February, the Oil Kings fell 4-3 in overtime with the help of a Gavin Hodnett hat-trick. Hodnett leads the Oil Kings in the series offensively with seven points in the six games. Calgary is led by Connor Hvidston who has nine points in the series.
Edmonton is coming off a 3-2 thrilling shootout win over the Swift Current Broncos on Sunday afternoon, their second win in a row as they now sit fifth in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with a 35-24-2-2 record, one point behind Saskatoon and one ahead of Brandon.
Meanwhile, Calgary is in a stretch of nine straight games recording a point, going 8-0-0-1. They’re currently third in the Eastern Conference with a 41-15-3-3 record, sitting two points behind Medicine Hat for the East Division and Eastern Conference lead.
The Oil Kings and Hitmen will meet again in Calgary on Sunday.
Oil Kings Scoring Leaders (GP, G-A-Pts):
- Gracyn Sawchyn (50, 29-45-74)
- Gavin Hodnett (59, 24-38-62)
- Adam Jecho (51, 24-27-51)
- Roan Woodward (63, 22-29-51)
- Lukas Sawchyn (61, 14-36-50)
Oil Kings Milestone Watch:
- F Gracyn Sawchyn is 5 points away from 200 in the WHL
- F Marshall Finnie is 8 points away from 100 in the WHL
- F Adam Jecho is 2 points away from 100 in the WHL
- F Cole Miller is 12 points away from 100 in the WHL
Hitmen Scoring Leaders (GP, G-A-Pts):
- Oliver Tulk (62, 38-60-98)
- Ben Kindel (59, 34-62-96)
- Connor Hvidston (62, 16-36-55)
- Carson Wetsch (62, 30-18-48)
- Carter Yakemchuk (50, 16-32-48)
