Thursday 28 February 2013

Saskatoon 3 Calgary 2 Shootout

In a game between the second and third seeds in the Western Hockey League Eastern Conference it did not disappoint going all the way to the shootout before the MasterCard Memorial Cup host Saskatoon Blades beat the Calgary Hitmen 3-2 Wednesday night at Scotiabank Saddledome.

Nathan Burns scored the shootout winner in the fifth round to extend the Blades franchise record winning streak to 17 games.  It also snapped Calgary's eight game home ice winning streak although the Hitmen now have at least a single point (8-0-0-1) in every home game of 2013.

Blades goalie Andrey Makarov proved to be the story for Saskatoon who was outshot 43-25 but never trailed. 

After a scoreless first period, Saskatoon opened the scoring on a break-away from Brett Stovin before a powerplay marker from Spencer Humphries drew the Hitmen even.

Heading to the third period tied 1-1, Saskatoon struck early in the final frame when Stovin pounced on a rebound off the goal post just 16 seconds in.  However again the Hitmen would again tie it, pulling even on a Brady Brassart backhander with just under seven minutes remaining.

Overtime solved nothing leading to the Burns shootout winner. 

It should be noted the Hitmen played without two 19-year-old defencemen as both LA Kings prospect Alex Roach and Washington Capitals prospect Jaynen Rissling sat out with injuries.  However fellow 19-year-old rearguard Peter Kosterman returned after missing the last 10 games.

The Hitmen now 0-2-0-1 against Saskatoon will get another crack at the Blades Tuesday in Saskatoon.



Saskatoon Blades 3 (SO) at Calgary Hitmen 2
Wednesday, February 27, 2013 - Scotiabank Saddledome - Calgary, AB

Saskatoon 0 1 1 0 - 3
Calgary 0 1 1 0 - 2

1st Period
No Scoring.
Penalties-Rask Cal (interference), 7:54; Dietz Sas (interference), 9:54; Macek Cal (tripping), 16:10.

2nd Period
1, Saskatoon, Stovin 8 (Zajac, Sutter), 11:40.
2, Calgary, Humphries 5 (Rask, Macek), 16:32 (PP).
Penalties-Thrower Cal (holding), 3:36; Sutter Sas (boarding), 7:02; Virtanen Cal (faceoff interferance), 7:57; Dietz Sas (tripping), 15:17; Gwinner Sas (major-fighting), 17:15; Mayor Cal (major-fighting), 17:15; Zajac Sas (interference), 17:28; Padakin Cal (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 17:28; Siemens Sas (roughing), 17:50.

3rd Period
3, Saskatoon, Stovin 9 (Sutter, Zajac), 0:16.
4, Calgary, Brassart 27 (Sylvester, Chase), 13:11.
Penalties-Sutter Sas (boarding), 4:48; Brassart Cal (interference), 5:06; Craig Sas (hooking), 18:33.

OT Period
No Scoring.
Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout
Saskatoon 1 (McColgan NG, Stransky NG, Nicholls NG, Stovin NG, Burns G)
Calgary 0 (Rask NG, Macek NG, Chase NG, Brassart NG, Sylvester NG).
Shots on Goal-Saskatoon 10-6-6-2-1-25. Calgary 11-14-14-4-0-43.
Power Play Opportunities-Saskatoon 0 / 5; Calgary 1 / 6.
Goalies-Saskatoon, Makarov 34-16-0-3 (43 shots-41 saves). Calgary, Driedger 30-13-1-3 (24 shots-22 saves).
A-7,315
Referees-Tyler Adair (58), Matt Kirk (4).
Linesmen-Reid Anderson (53), Aidan Henderson (78).

Wednesday 27 February 2013

Saskatoon at Calgary

The Calgary Hitmen open a mini two game home stand tonight against the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup host Saskatoon Blades.  Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome.  It's Western Night with fans encouraged to dust off their hat and boots and cowboy up for a night of western fun.  Husky Hitmen Hockey on Sportsnet 960 The Fan begins at 7 o'clock.

THE STANDINGS:  Calgary is 40-18-1-3 sitting third in the Eastern Conference with 84 points.  Saskatoon is 39-21-0-2 good for the East Division lead and thus the second seed in the conference with 81 points.

                                                   Photo Credit: Steve Hiscock

COMING IN:  Calgary has won seven of their last nine but are coming off Saturday's 5-1 loss in Cranbrook to the Kootenay Ice.  Saskatoon is the hottest team in the WHL right now riding a franchise record 16 game winning streak.  The Blades last loss was January 23rd at home to Edmonton.  The Blades were 4-0 winners in Red Deer last night.

HEAD-TO-HEAD:  Tonight is the third of four regular season meetings.  Saskatoon leads the season series 2-0 having outscored Calgary by a combined 10-0.  Brenden Walker (3g 2a) leads the Blades with five points against Calgary while Russian World Junior goalie Andrey Makarov has back-to-back shutouts stopping a combined 67 shots.
-Nov 30/12 in Calgary: Blades 4 Hitmen 0
-Feb 1/13 in Saskatoon: Blades 6 Hitmen 0

HOME AND AWAY:  Calgary is riding a season high eight game home ice winning streak which began January 2nd against Brandon.  Since then they have outscored their opponents by a combined 45-18 at the 'Dome.  Overall the Hitmen are 19-8-1-2 on home ice.  Saskatoon is on a season high seven game road winning streak which started January 22nd in Brandon.  Since then the Blades have outscored their opponents by a combined 31-8.  Overall Saskatoon is 20-10-0-1 in enemy rinks.

STREAKIN':  Hitmen rookie import Pavlo Padakin is on a three game goal scoring streak.  With just one goal in his first 14 games to start the season Padakin has 18 goals in the 46 games since.  Chris Driedger has won his last two starts in goal and five of his last six.

INJURY REPORT:  The Hitmen might be without the services of three 19-year-old defencemen tonight.
Calgary:
#4 Peter Kosterman, D, lower body, day-to-day
#9 Jaynen Rissling, D, lower body, day-to-day
#7 Alex Roach, D, upper body, day-to-day
Saskatoon:
#41 Jessey Astles, F, upper body, 1 month

TOP SCORERS:
Calgary:
Cody Sylvester 33g 38a 71pts
Brooks Macek 28g 43a 71pts
Brady Brassart 26g 35a 61pts
Saskatoon:
Matej Stransky 37g 40a 77pts
Josh Nicholls 40g 31a 71pts
Brenden Walker 27g 36a 63pts

DID YOU KNOW: The Hitmen have been shutout five times this season and have blanked their opposition three times…. Cody Sylvester (71pts) and Brooks Macek (71pts) are in a battle for the team lead in scoring.  This is the 18th season of Hitmen hockey and only on three previous occasions has there been a tie for top scorer at the end of the season.  In the 2007-08 campaign both Ryan White and Kyle Bortis finished with 72 points.  In the 2005-06 season Ryan White and Brodie Dupont finished with 53 points each while in the 2003-04 season Ryan Getzlaf and Andrew Ladd both had 75 points….NHL Central Scouting has released their mid-term rankings for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft with two members of the Calgary Hitmen cracking the list.  Forward Greg Chase, in his second season, is ranked 94th among North American Skaters.  Rookie Mack Shields is ranked 28th among North American goalies

POWERPLAY SLUMP:  The Hitmen are in an 0-10 drought with the man advantage.  Their last powerplay goal was three games ago in the third period against Regina.

UP NEXT:  Calgary welcomes the Swift Current Broncos to the 'Dome on Friday before heading out on a three game road trip to Medicine Hat (Sunday), Saskatoon (Tuesday) and Prince Albert (Wednesday).




Kootenay 5 Calgary 1

The Kootenay Ice tied a franchise record with their 12th straight win on home ice with a 5-1 triumph over the Calgary Hitmen Saturday night at Western Financial Place.

Levi Cable, Brock Montgomery and Jaeden Descheneau all had a goal and an assist for the Ice who after a scoreless first period scored twice in the middle frame to lead 2-0 after 40 minutes.

Calgary’s Pavlo Padakin pulled the Hitmen to within a goal just past the seven minute mark of the third period with his 19th of the season.  For Padakin it was his third goal in as many games.

Any thoughts of a Calgary comeback were erased when Montgomery scored on the powerplay to make it 3-1 Ice with less than four minutes remaining in regulation.

The Ice outshot the Hitmen 36-28 and won the special teams battle going 2-6 with the extra attacker while killing all five Calgary chances.

The season series between the two clubs is now tied 3-3. 

The Hitmen, third in the 12 team Eastern Conference at 40-18-1-3, open a two game home stand Wednesday night against the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup host Saskatoon Blades.  Game time is 7:00 p.m.  Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster locations as well as the Scotiabank Saddledome box office.  Order online at www.ticketmaster.ca or by phone at 1-855-985-5000.  For more information on tickets, visit www.hitmenhockey.com or contact customer service at 403-777-4646.

                                                   Photo Credit: Chris Pullen

Calgary Hitmen 1 at Kootenay Ice 5
Saturday, February 23, 2013 - Western Financial Place - Cranbrook, BC

Calgary 0 0 1 - 1
Kootenay 0 2 3 - 5

1st Period
No Scoring.
Penalties-Faith Ktn (interference), 3:48; Hubic Ktn (holding), 6:23; Brooks Cal (hooking), 15:31; Brassart Cal (interference), 19:54.

2nd Period
1, Kootenay, Cable 11 (Montgomery), 6:51.
2, Kootenay, Prochazka 3 (Cable, Dirk), 15:59 (PP).
Penalties-Vetterl Ktn (interference), 2:01; Helgesen Cal (hooking), 3:41; Sylvester Cal (high sticking), 15:47; Jones Cal (boarding), 17:36.

3rd Period
3, Calgary, Padakin 19   7:27.
4, Kootenay, Montgomery 27 (Leach, Reinhart), 16:12 (PP).
5, Kootenay, Descheneau 19 (Faith, Reinhart), 17:24.
6, Kootenay, Boyd 6 (O'Connor), 17:59 (EN).
Penalties-Muth Ktn (hooking), 4:27; Harmsworth Cal (tripping), 15:28; Skapski Ktn (roughing), 18:16; Brassart Cal (slashing), 20:00; Zgraggen Cal (major-fighting), 20:00; Muth Ktn (major-fighting), 20:00; Skapski Ktn (roughing), 20:00; Vetterl Ktn (roughing), 20:00.

Shots on Goal-Calgary 10-13-5-28. Kootenay 10-11-15-36.
Power Play Opportunities-Calgary 0 / 5; Kootenay 2 / 6.
Goalies-Calgary, Shields 10-5-0-1 (35 shots-31 saves). Kootenay, Skapski 30-20-1-0 (28 shots-27 saves).
A-2,744
Referees-Kevin Bennett (29), Steve Papp (17).
Linesmen-Michael Boisvert (111), Jim Maniago (85).

Saturday 23 February 2013

Calgary 6 Prince Albert 5 Shootout

Brooks Macek had a goal and two assists plus the shootout winner as the Calgary Hitmen beat the Prince Albert Raiders for the first time in three tries Friday night at Scotiabank Saddledome.

The win clinched a playoff birth for the Hitmen for the second straight season and 15th time in the 18 year history of the franchise.

The Hitmen saw leads of 2-0 and 3-1 slip away but with the Raiders leading 5-4 Macek forced overtime with 2:21 remaining in the third period.

Brady Brassart, Jesse Zgraggen, Pavlo Padakin and Colten Mayor also scored for Calgary who has now won eight straight at Scotiabank Saddledome to improve to 19-8-1-2 on home ice this season.

The Hitmen are back in action tonight in Cranbrook against the Kootenay Ice winners of 11 straight on home ice. 



Prince Albert Raiders 5 at Calgary Hitmen 6 (Shootout)
Friday, February 22, 2013 - Scotiabank Saddledome - Calgary, AB

Prince Albert 0 3 2 0 - 5
Calgary 2 2 1 0 - 6

1st Period
1, Calgary, Brassart 26 (Sylvester, Humphries), 0:10.
2, Calgary, Zgraggen 4   9:47.
Penalties-Helgesen Cal (hooking), 2:22; Hart P.a (interference), 15:42; Virtanen Cal (inter. on goaltender, unsportsmanlike cnd.), 18:05.

2nd Period
3, Prince Albert, Winther 19 (Bardaro, Lange), 2:06.
4, Calgary, Padakin 18 (Jones, Zgraggen), 6:14.
5, Prince Albert, Draisaitl 17   7:44.
6, Prince Albert, Busenius 7 (Daae, Braid), 9:10.
7, Calgary, Mayor 14 (Macek, Helgesen), 9:34.
Penalties-Winther P.a (tripping), 13:43; McNeill P.a (hooking), 14:19; Brassart Cal (hooking), 17:34.

3rd Period
8, Prince Albert, Bardaro 21 (Gardiner), 9:42.
9, Prince Albert, Draisaitl 18 (Perreaux, Conroy), 10:09.
10, Calgary, Macek 28 (Rissling, Peterson), 17:39.
Penalties-Rissling Cal (elbowing), 3:36; McNeill P.a (high sticking), 4:23; Ruopp P.a (roughing, 10-minute misconduct), 7:15; Chase Cal (roughing, 10-minute misconduct), 7:15.

OT Period
No Scoring.
Penalties-No Penalties

Shootout
Prince Albert 0 (Draisaitl NG, Morrissey NG, Winther NG),
Calgary 1 (Rask NG, Macek G, Sylvester NG).
Shots on Goal-Prince Albert 8-18-5-0-0-31. Calgary 12-12-11-0-1-36.
Power Play Opportunities-Prince Albert 0 / 5; Calgary 0 / 4.
Goalies-Prince Albert, Siemens 31-17-2-3 (19 shots-15 saves); Desautels 2-5-0-1 (16 shots-15 saves). Calgary, Driedger 30-13-1-2 (31 shots-26 saves).
A-12,571
Referees-Shaun Harris (43), Matt Kirk (4).
Linesmen-Sean Donnelly (109), Aidan Henderson (78).

Sunday 17 February 2013

Calgary 5 Regina 2

The Calgary Hitmen extended their home ice winning streak to seven games with a 5-2 win over the Regina Pats Sunday afternoon at Scotiabank Saddledome.

Zane Jones broke a nine game goal scoring drought by scoring twice while Brady Brassart, Pavlo Padakin and Colten Mayor added singles.  For Mayor it was his first goal in 15 games as a member of the Hitmen while Brassart tied his career high of 25 goals set last season.

Victor Rask chipped in three assists to extend his point scoring streak to five games.  Brooks Macek also joined the five game point streak club by picking up an assist.

Morgan Klimchuk and Lane Schiedl scored for Regina who trailed 2-0 after the first period and 3-0 after 40 minutes.

Mack Shields made 13 saves to pick up the win in goal, his fifth in his last six starts.

Calgary improves to 39-17-1-3 while the Pats drop to 20-33-3-3.

The Hitmen will now enjoy a full four day break before hosting Prince Albert on Friday night.  Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome.

Regina Pats 2 at Calgary Hitmen 5
Sunday, February 17, 2013 - Scotiabank Saddledome - Calgary, AB

Regina 0 0 2 - 2
Calgary 2 1 2 - 5

1st Period
1, Calgary, Jones 19 (Chase), 1:31.
2, Calgary, Brassart 25 (Macek, Rask), 16:56 (PP).
Penalties-Lang Cal (cross checking), 2:26; Thrower Cal (kneeing), 11:11; McCoy Reg (holding opp. stick), 16:24; Stevenson Reg (major-fighting), 17:16; Helgesen Cal (major-fighting), 17:16; Virtanen Cal (high sticking), 19:52.

2nd Period
3, Calgary, Padakin 17   17:10.
Penalties-Padakin Cal (slashing), 8:29; Ouellette Reg (roughing), 14:25; Mayor Cal (roughing), 14:25; Christoffer Reg (slashing), 17:37.

3rd Period
4, Calgary, Jones 20 (Virtanen, Rask), 2:24 (PP).
5, Regina, Klimchuk 29 (Stevenson, Stephenson), 6:23 (PP).
6, Regina, Scheidl 29 (Stephenson, Burroughs), 12:06.
7, Calgary, Mayor 13 (Rask), 12:23.
Penalties-Williams Reg (high sticking), 1:21; Henry Reg (interference), 2:59; Virtanen Cal (interference), 6:01; Sylvegard Reg (interference), 7:44.

Shots on Goal-Regina 5-8-2-15. Calgary 8-8-12-28.
Power Play Opportunities-Regina 1 / 5; Calgary 2 / 5.
Goalies-Regina, Sacher 7-11-1-0 (28 shots-23 saves). Calgary, Shields 10-4-0-1 (15 shots-13 saves).
A-9,764
Referees-Colin Watt (72), Devin Klein (9).
Linesmen-Greg Chornohus (127), Michael Roberts (87).

Regina at Calgary

The Calgary Hitmen play their second home game in as many days this afternoon when they host the Regina Pats.  Game time is 4:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome.  It's Co-op Family Day.  Visit any Calgary Co-op location to purchase a Hitmen Family Pack that includes game day tickets and concession vouchers. Fans are also encouraged bring their skates and helmet for a post-game family skate.

THE STANDINGS:  Calgary enters the contest (38-17-1-3) with 80 points, good for third in the Western Hockey League Eastern Conference.  Regina (20-32-3-3) is last in the 12 team conference with 46 points.

HEAD-TO-HEAD:  Today is the fourth and final meeting this season.  Calgary leads the season series 3-0 having outscored the Pats by a combined 12-2.  Cody Sylvester had seven points (1g 6a) in the three games to lead the Hitmen.
Calgary 6 @ Regina 1 (Jan 11 2013)
Regina 0 @ Calgary 2 (Dec 15 2012)
Calgary 4 @ Regina 1 (Nov 2 2012)

INSIDE THE STREAK:  Calgary's six game home ice winning streak began January 2nd against Brandon.  Since then they have outscored their opponents by a combined 34-11 at the 'Dome.

PLAYOFFS IN SIGHT:  Calgary's magic number to clinch a playoff spot is three.  Any combination of Calgary wins or Kootenay losses totalling three and the Hitmen will nail down a post season berth for the second straight season and 15th time in the 18 year history of the franchise.

HEADING IN:  Calgary is coming off last night's 3-1 win over Victoria and has now won five of their last six.  Regina last played on Friday at home dropping a 2-1 decision to Swift Current.  The Pats have lost five of their last six.

TOP SCORERS:
Calgary
Cody Sylvester (33g-37a-70pts)
Brooks Macek (27g-40a-67pts)
Brady Brassart (24g-34a-58pts)

Regina
Lane Scheidl (28g-36a-64pts)
Morgan Klimchuk (28g-32a-60pts)
Chandler Stephenson (12g-18a-30pts) 

Calgary 3 Victoria 1

The Calgary Hitmen extended their home ice winning streak to six games with a 3-1 win over the Victoria Royals Saturday night at Scotiabank Saddledome.

The Hitmen scored once in each period with captain Cody Sylvester leading the way with a pair of goals while Brady Brassart added a single.

Victoria broke Chris Driedger's shutout bid scoring on a 5-on-3 powerplay with just 2:35 remaining.  Driedger finished with 31 saves and was named the first star.

Calgary is now 38-17-1-3 while the Royals drop to 32-21-1-4.


Victoria Royals 1 at Calgary Hitmen 3
Saturday, February 16, 2013 - Scotiabank Saddledome - Calgary, AB

Victoria 0 0 1 - 1
Calgary 1 1 1 - 3

1st Period
1, Calgary, Sylvester 32 (Macek, Rask), 14:59 (PP).
Penalties-Clayton Cal (checking to the head), 2:56; Rissling Cal (elbowing), 10:05; Walker Vic (hooking), 13:39; Hicketts Vic (checking from behind), 14:49; Virtanen Cal (holding), 16:52.

2nd Period
2, Calgary, Brassart 24 (Chase), 10:24.
Penalties-Kanzig Vic (slashing), 1:23; Kanzig Vic (major-fighting), 7:27; Rissling Cal (major-fighting), 7:27; Zgraggen Cal (tripping), 11:36; Gagnon Vic (inter. on goaltender), 15:38.

3rd Period
3, Calgary, Sylvester 33 (Jones, Helgesen), 9:59 (PP).
4, Victoria, Hodges 24 (Magee, Crooks), 17:25 (PP).
Penalties-Chase Cal (holding), 0:57; Deacon Vic (tripping), 4:33; Fisher Vic (checking from behind), 8:33; Brassart Cal (high sticking, high sticking), 14:32; Humphries Cal (delay of game), 16:44.

Shots on Goal-Victoria 9-10-13-32. Calgary 9-10-6-25.
Power Play Opportunities-Victoria 1 / 8; Calgary 2 / 6.
Goalies-Victoria, Vollrath 2-7-0-1 (25 shots-22 saves). Calgary, Driedger 29-13-1-2 (32 shots-31 saves).
A-11,362
Referees-Patrick Gagnon (71), Fraser Lawrence (10).
Linesmen-Darren Spurgeon (61), Ian Shaver (74).

Saturday 16 February 2013

Victoria at Calgary

The Calgary Hitmen play their first home game since January 27th tonight at home against the Victoria Royals.  Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome.  It's the Husky Hitmen 7th Man.  Fans attending the game have an opportunity to win some great prizes including up to $500 in Husky gas.

Calgary is coming off their longest road trip in franchise history, a nine game swing, that ended Wednesday night in Spokane with a 4-3 loss to the Chiefs.  It snapped Calgary's four game winning streak and ended their journey with a record of 5-4.

Victoria enters tonight having lost 2-1 in a shootout last night in Red Deer.  It was the Patrik Bartosak show as the Rebels goalie made 44 saves through overtime plus three more in the shootout.

THE STANDINGS:  Calgary is third in the WHL's Eastern Conference with 78 points while the Royals are fifth in the Western Conference with 69 points.

WHAT'S LEFT:  Including tonight, of Calgary's 14 remaining regular season games, nine are at Scotiabank Saddledome.

SEASON SERIES:  Tonight is the third and final regular season meeting.  After Victoria produced a 3-1 win on Vancouver Island on October 18th, the Hitmen bounced back with a 5-2 win over the Royals at the 'Dome on November 9th.

TOP SCORERS:

Calgary
Cody Sylvester 31g 37a 68pts
Brooks Macek 27g 39a 68pts
Brady Brassart 23g 34a 57pts

Victoria
Alex Gogolev 20g 45a 65pts (lower body injury, 10-14 days)
Brandon Magee 28g 23a 51pts
Jamie Crooks 28g 14a 42pts

Spokane 4 Calgary 3

Todd Fiddler had a goal and an assist to lead the Spokane Chiefs to a 4-3 win over the Calgary Hitmen Wednesday night at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.

Dylan Walchuk, Brenden Kichton and Carter Proft also scored for Spokane who erased a 2-0 second period deficit scoring four unanswered goals. 

Brady Brassart, Cody Sylvester and Victor Rask scored for Calgary who pulled to within a goal with 2:11 remaining but could not produce the equalizer.

Sylvester led the Hitmen with three points (1g 2a) to extend his point scoring streak to five games (5g 5a).

The loss snaps Calgary’s four game winning streak and wraps up a franchise long nine game road trip that saw the Hitmen finish with a record of 5-4.

Spokane outshot Calgary 36-33 while both teams went 1-4 on the powerplay.

                                              Photo Credit: Gary Peterson

The Hitmen, third in the 12 team Eastern Conference at 37-17-1-3, return to Scotiabank Saddledome this weekend for a pair of home games.  Saturday they welcome the Victoria Royals for a 7:00 p.m. start in the Husky Hitmen 7th Man.  Fans attending the game have an opportunity to win some great prizes including up to $500 in Husky gas.

Then on Sunday the Regina Pats are in Calgary for a 4:00 p.m. start.  Sunday is Co-op Family Day.  Visit any Calgary Co-op location to purchase a Hitmen Family Pack that includes game day tickets and concession vouchers. Fans are also encouraged bring their skates and helmet for a post-game family skate at the Scotiabank Saddledome. 

Calgary Hitmen 3 at Spokane Chiefs 4
Wednesday, February 13, 2013 - Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena

Calgary 1 1 1 - 3
Spokane 0 3 1 - 4

1st Period
1, Calgary, Brassart 23 (Chase, Sylvester), 8:27.
Penalties-Rissling Cal (major-fighting, game misconduct), 2:07; Smith Spo (major-fighting, game misconduct), 2:07; Zgraggen Cal (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 16:14; Proft Spo (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 16:14; Stewart Spo (tripping), 16:47.

2nd Period
2, Calgary, Sylvester 31 (Helgesen, Macek), 1:59 (PP).
3, Spokane, Walchuk 16 (Holmberg, Fiddler), 9:31.
4, Spokane, Kichton 18 (Gow, Helewka), 12:24 (PP).
5, Spokane, Proft 7 (Chartier, Stewart), 18:49.
Penalties-Helewka Spo (holding), 0:23; Aviani Spo (cross checking), 9:52; Humphries Cal (roughing), 11:45; Rask Cal (slashing), 11:56; Walchuk Spo (inter. on goaltender), 13:50; Jones Cal (interference), 15:34.

3rd Period
6, Spokane, Fiddler 37 (Holmberg, Walchuk), 10:57.
7, Calgary, Rask 11 (Chase, Sylvester), 17:49.
Penalties-Sylvester Cal (slashing), 5:14.

Shots on Goal-Calgary 16-7-11-34. Spokane 10-17-9-36.
Power Play Opportunities-Calgary 1 / 4; Spokane 1 / 4.
Goalies-Calgary, Driedger 29-13-1-2 (36 shots-32 saves). Spokane, Williams 28-17-2-0 (34 shots-31 saves).
A-3,533
Referees-Mike Campbell (89), Brett Iverson (24).
Linesmen-Jeremi Del Campo (44), Bevan Mills (98).

Wednesday 13 February 2013

Calgary at Spokane

HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (37-16-1-3) wrap up a season high nine-game road trip tonight in Spokane against the Chiefs (32-22-2-0).  Internet Broadcast on www.sportsnet.ca/960 starts at 8:00 p.m. MST.  The Hitmen improved to 5-3 on the trip last night with a 6-2 win in Kennewick over the Tri-City Americans.  Victor Rask scored his second career hat trick while Brooks Macek (1g 2a), Brady Brassart and Chase Clayton added singles.  Pavlo Padakin and Spencer Humphries both chipped in a pair of assists.  Tri-City outshot Calgary 33-20 but Chris Driedger made 31 saves to pick up the win.  The Hitmen went 0-3 on the powerplay while the Americans were 2-8 with the extra attacker.  Calgary is third in the Eastern Conference, nine points back of the front running Edmonton Oil Kings but with one game in hand.


VS. SPOKANE: Tonight is the first and only regular season meeting.  Last season Calgary produced a 3-2 overtime win at Scotiabank Saddledome on December 2nd, 2011.  Victor Rask scored the game winner at 2:26 of sudden death after the Chiefs erased a 2-0 third period deficit.  The last time the Hitmen paid a visit to Spokane was on October 20th, 2010.  The Chiefs posted an 8-1 win.  Blake Gal led the Spokane scoring attack with a hat trick as the Chiefs outshot the Hitmen 52-20.  Over the last five seasons Calgary is 1-2-0-1 against the Chiefs including a 0-1-0-1 record in the U-S.

FOUR IN A ROW AND COUNTING:  The Hitmen are riding a four game winning streak dating back to last Wednesday’s 4-3 win in Portland.  During this run they have outscored their opponents by a combined 19-9.  Cody Sylvester (4g 3a) and Jake Virtanen (2g 3a) both have points in each of the four wins while Victor Rask (4g 2a) has points in three straight.  Brooks Macek (2g 4a) and Brady Brassart (1g 1a) both have points in back-to-back games.  Chris Driedger has won his last three starts in goal posting a .932 save percentage.

BRASSART RETURNS: Brady Brassart makes his first trip back to Spokane tonight since the Hitmen acquired him from the Chiefs on August 18th, 2011 in exchange for a conditional fourth round pick in 2012.  Brassart broke into the Western Hockey League with the Chiefs playing both his 16 and 17-year-old seasons.  During that time he appeared in 118 regular season games scoring 17 goals while collecting 30 assists for 47 points.  Brassart also played 16 playoff games picking up three points (1g 2a).  He was Spokane’s Rookie of the Year in 2010 and was a two time winner of the Chiefs Scholastic Player of the Year Award in 2010 and 2011. 

CLIMBING THE COACHING RANKS:  Mike Williamson ranks third on the Hitmen franchise list for most regular season coaching wins.  Dean Clark leads the way with 183 followed by Kelly Kisio at 163 then Williamson with 153.  Williamson has coached 801 career regular season games in the Western Hockey League.  He became only the 12th bench boss in league history to reach the 800 game mark last Saturday in Seattle.

HISTORICAL MARK:  Captain Cody Sylvester is climbing the franchise record books.  In his fifth season with the club, he is now sixth all-time in games played (301), 11th in goals (86) and 10th in both assists (118) and points (204).  He need two goals to tie Brett Sonne for 10th in goals with 88 and is two points shy of Brandon Segal for ninth place in points at 206. 

DID YOU KNOW?  Both Victor Rask and Spencer Humphries were both +4 last night in Tri-City.  For Rask it was a career high while Humphries tied his personal best achieved on three previous occasions….Elliott Peterson returned to the Hitmen line-up last night after missing 19 games with an upper body injury….Calgary is 28-0-1-1 when leading after 40 minutes this season….Following tonight’s game in Spokane, the Hitmen will play only five of their remaining 14 games on the road….The Hitmen scored the opening goal last night for the first time in six games and for only the second time in their last eight contests....Following tonight against Spokane and Friday against Victoria, the Hitmen will close out the regular season with 13 straight against Eastern Conference rivals facing Kootenay the most at three times….Alex Roach is the top scoring defenceman in the Eastern Conference with 43 points.  His plus 39 is also number one in the Eastern Conference….Hitmen forward Pavlo Padakin is tied for fifth in goals by a rookie in the WHL with 16 while his 29 points is 13th best among rookies….Nine different Hitmen have scored 10 or more goals this season while Cody Sylvester has become the first to hit the 30 goal mark….Calgary has been outshot in three of their last four games but have won all four …The Hitmen have been shutout five times this season and have blanked their opposition three times…. Cody Sylvester (65pts) and Brooks Macek (65pts) are in a battle for the team lead in scoring.  This is the 18th season of Hitmen hockey and only on three previous occasions has there been a tie for top scorer at the end of the season.  In the 2007-08 campaign both Ryan White and Kyle Bortis finished with 72 points.  In the 2005-06 season Ryan White and Brodie Dupont finished with 53 points each while in the 2003-04 season Ryan Getzlaf and Andrew Ladd both had 75 points….NHL Central Scouting has released their mid-term rankings for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft with two members of the Calgary Hitmen cracking the list.  Forward Greg Chase, in his second season, is ranked 94th among North American Skaters.  Rookie Mack Shields is ranked 28th among North American goalies…. Calgary is 21-8-0-1 on the road while Spokane is 18-9-1-0 at home….By setting up two more goals Brady Brassart will reach 100 career regular season assists while Chris Driedger is 12 saves shy of 2,500 career regular season stops.

TURNING ON THE RED LIGHT: Five Hitmen are having career years in the goal scoring department.  Brooks Macek has set a career-high in goals at 27, six more than his previous high of 21 set in 2009-10 with Tri-City. Cody Sylvester has 30 goals this season, seven more than his previous best of 23 set last year.  Alex Roach has 14 goals, topping his previous best of four set in each of the last two seasons.  Greg Chase has 14 goals eight more than the six he scored in his rookie campaign last season.  Zane Jones has scored 18 times this season topping the 14 he scored last season in Victoria.

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 plays their first home game in 20 days on Saturday when they welcome former teammate Alex Gogolev and the Victoria Royals.  Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome.  It’s the start of a three game home stand for the Hitmen who also welcome Regina on Sunday for a 4:00 p.m. start and Prince Albert on Friday, February 22nd.

Calgary 6 Tri-City 2

Victor Rask scored his second career hat trick as the Calgary Hitmen beat the Tri-City Americans 6-2 Tuesday night at Toyota Centre.

The win extends the Hitmen winning streak to four games and improves their mark to 5-3 on this season high nine game road trip.

Brooks Macek had a goal and two assists for the Hitmen to pull into a tie with Cody Sylvester for the team lead in scoring at 65 points.

Brady Brassart and Chase Clayton also scored for Calgary who got a pair of assists from Pavlo Padakin. 

Calgary was outshot 33-20 but built period leads of 1-0 and 5-1. 

Chris Driedger made 31 saves to pick up the win.

The Hitmen, third in the 12 team Eastern Conference at 37-16-1-3, return to action tomorrow in Spokane against the Chiefs.  Internet Broadcast on www.sportsnet.ca/960 starts at 8:00 p.m.

Calgary is then back on home ice Saturday against the Victoria Royals before hosting the Regina Pats on Sunday.  Game time Saturday is 7:00 p.m. with a 4:00 p.m. start Sunday at Scotiabank Saddledome. 

Calgary Hitmen 6 at Tri-City Americans 2
Tuesday, February 12, 2013 - Toyota Center - Kennewick, WA

Calgary 1 4 1 - 6
Tri-City 0 1 1 - 2

1st Period
1, Calgary, Rask 8 (Helgesen, Padakin), 7:48.
Penalties-Tomchuk T.c (hooking), 5:14; Padakin Cal (hooking), 10:41.

2nd Period
2, Calgary, Macek 27 (Virtanen, Humphries), 0:31.
3, Calgary, Brassart 22 (Rissling, Sylvester), 11:00.
4, Calgary, Rask 9 (Macek), 11:29.
5, Tri-City, Mychan 12 (Strömwall, Feser), 18:36 (PP).
6, Calgary, Clayton 3 (Padakin), 18:59.
Penalties-Harmsworth Cal (tripping), 5:12; Roach Cal (roughing), 10:35; Rankin T.c (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 10:35; Chase Cal (hooking), 11:45; Helgesen Cal (cross checking), 13:19; Mayor Cal (roughing, major-fighting), 18:17; Dow T.c (major-fighting), 18:17; Chase Cal (roughing), 19:30; Sylvester Cal (roughing), 19:30; Hamonic T.c (roughing), 19:30; Messier T.c (roughing), 19:30.

3rd Period
7, Calgary, Rask 10 (Macek, Humphries), 8:49.
8, Tri-City, Topping 9 (Yuen, Strömwall), 14:22 (PP).
Penalties-Clayton Cal (roughing), 6:42; Sylvester Cal (slashing), 9:33; Gutierrez T.c (roughing), 9:33; Nickles T.c (high sticking), 11:52; Brassart Cal (spearing, spearing), 14:09; Messier T.c (hooking), 18:34; Jones Cal (hooking), 19:24.

Shots on Goal-Calgary 3-8-9-20. Tri-City 4-17-12-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Calgary 0 / 3; Tri-City 2 / 8.
Goalies-Calgary, Driedger 28-12-1-2 (33 shots-31 saves). Tri-City, Lee-Knight 10-8-0-0 (10 shots-6 saves); Trombley 0-0-0-0 (10 shots-8 saves).
A-3,355
Referees-Adam Griffiths (36), Ryan Benbow (62).
Linesmen-Jason Michelbook (112), Trevor Shively (119).

Tuesday 12 February 2013

Calgary at Tri-City

HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (36-16-1-3) play game eight of a season high nine-game road trip tonight in Kennewick against the Tri-City Americans (31-21-1-2).  Radio Broadcast on Sportsnet 960 The Fan starts at 8:00 p.m. (MDT). The Hitmen improved to 4-3 on the trip Saturday night with a 4-3 overtime win in Kent over the Seattle Thunderbirds.  Victor Rask scored the winner on a powerplay 46 seconds into sudden death.  In his 300th career regular season game, Captain Cody Sylvester scored twice including the tying goal with 3:33 remaining.  Brooks Macek also scored for Calgary.  The Hitmen went 1-2 on the powerplay while the Thunderbirds were 1-7.  Calgary is third in the Eastern Conference, 11 points back of the front running Edmonton Oil Kings but with two games in hand.


VS. TRI-CITY: Tonight is the first and only regular season meeting.  Last season Calgary was a 4-1 winner on January 29th, 2012 at Scotiabank Saddledome.  Collin Bowman had three assists to lead the Calgary scoring attack.  The Americans actually had a 1-0 lead late in the second period before Calgary scored four unanswered goals.  The last time the Hitmen paid a visit to Kennewick was on October 19th, 2010.  Calgary outshot Tri-City 35-29 but could only score once on Drew Owsley in a 3-1 loss.  Brooks Macek led the way offensively for the Americans scoring the game winning goal while chipping in an assist.  Over the last five seasons Calgary is 2-2 against the Americans including an 0-2 record in the U-S.

THREE IN A ROW AND COUNTING:  The Hitmen are riding a three game winning streak dating back to last Wednesday’s 4-3 win in Portland.  During the three game run they have outscored their opponents by a combined 13-7.  Cody Sylvester (4g 2a), Jake Virtanen (2g 2a) and Alex Roach (1g 3a) all have points in each of the three wins while Victor Rask (1g 2a) has points in back-to-back games.

TRI-CITY TRIO: The Hitmen roster includes three former Tri-City Americans who were all acquired in 2011.  Brooks Macek, Spencer Humphries and a conditional third round pick in 2012 were traded to Calgary on January 10th, 2011 in exchange for Matt MacKenzie.  Macek played his 16, 17 and half his 18 year-old season with the Americans appearing in 170 regular season games collecting 37 goals and 84 assists for 121 points.  Humphries also spent parts of three seasons with the Americans but only played a total of 38 regular season games ((2g 3a) picking up five points.  Then in the off season on July 20th, 2011 the Hitmen traded for goaltender Chris Driedger from Tri-City giving up a third round pick in 2012.  Driedger was coming off his rookie 16-year-old season with the Americans where he went 6-6-0-1 with a 3.50 goals against average and a .881 save percentage. 

800 FOR WILLIAMSON:  Calgary’s 4-3 overtime win Saturday night in Kent over the Thunderbirds was the 800th regular season game as a Western Hockey League head coach for Mike Williamson, becoming only the 12th bench boss in league history to hit that mark.  Williamson ranks third on the Hitmen franchise list for most regular season coaching wins.  Dean Clark leads the way with 183 followed by Kelly Kisio with 163 then Williamson with 152.

HISTORICAL MARK:  Captain Cody Sylvester is climbing the franchise record books.  In his fifth season with the club, he is now sixth all-time in games played (300), 11th in goals (86) and 10th in both assists (117) and points (203).  He need two goals to tie Brett Sonne for 10th in goals with 88 and is three points shy of Brandon Segal for ninth place in points at 206. 

DID YOU KNOW?  The Hitmen have given up the first goal in five straight games and in six their last seven contests....Including tonight Calgary has only three straight games left against teams from the Western Conference.  The Hitmen will then close out the regular season with 13 straight against Eastern Conference rivals facing Kootenay the most at three times….Alex Roach is the top scoring defenceman in the Eastern Conference with 43 points.  His plus 38 is also number one in the Eastern Conference….Hitmen forward Pavlo Padakin is tied for fifth in goals by a rookie in the WHL with 16….Nine different Hitmen have scored 10 or more goals this season while Cody Sylvester has become the first to hit the 30 goal mark….Calgary has been outshot in two of their last three games but have won all three …The Hitmen have been shutout five times this season and have blanked their opposition three times…. Cody Sylvester (64pts) and Brooks Macek (62pts) are in a battle for the team lead in scoring.  This is the 18th season of Hitmen hockey and only on three previous occasions has there been a tie for top scorer at the end of the season.  In the 2007-08 campaign both Ryan White and Kyle Bortis finished with 72 points.  In the 2005-06 season Ryan White and Brodie Dupont finished with 53 points each while in the 2003-04 season Ryan Getzlaf and Andrew Ladd both had 75 points….NHL Central Scouting has released their mid-term rankings for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft with two members of the Calgary Hitmen cracking the list.  Forward Greg Chase, in his second season, is ranked 94th among North American Skaters.  Rookie Mack Shields is ranked 28th among North American goalies.

HOME AND AWAY:  Calgary is 20-8-0-1 on the road while Tri-City is 13-11-0-2 at home.

TURNING ON THE RED LIGHT: Five Hitmen are having career years in the goal scoring department.  Brooks Macek has set a career-high in goals at 26, five more than his previous high of 21 set in 2009-10 with Tri-City. Cody Sylvester has 30 goals this season, seven more than his previous best of 23 set last year.  Alex Roach has 14 goals, topping his previous best of four set in each of the last two seasons.  Greg Chase has 14 goals eight more than the six he scored in his rookie campaign last season.  Zane Jones has scored 18 times this season topping the 14 he scored last season in Victoria.

MILESTONE WATCH: By setting up two more goals Brady Brassart will reach 100 career assists.  Chris Driedger is 43 saves shy of 2,500.

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 wraps up their five game tour of the U-S Division tomorrow in Spokane.  The Hitmen are then back on home ice Saturday against the Victoria Royals.  Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome.

Calgary 4 Seattle 3 OT

Victor Rask scored a powerplay goal 46 seconds into overtime lifting the Calgary Hitmen to a 4-3 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds Saturday night at ShoWare Centre.

Cody Sylvester forced extra time pulling Calgary even by scoring his second goal of the night and 30th of the season with 3:33 remaining.  His two goals came on a night when Sylvester became only the sixth player in franchise history to play 300 regular season games in a Hitmen jersey.

Brooks Macek (1g 2a) also scored while Alex Roach chipped in a pair of assists for Calgary who overcame deficits of 2-0 and 3-2. 

The Hitmen have now won three in a row improving to 4-3 on their season high nine game road trip.
Seattle outshot Calgary 39-31 but Chris Driedger made 36 saves to record the win.

Tonight also marked the 800th career regular season game as a Western Hockey League head coach for Hitmen bench boss Mike Williamson, becoming only the 12th coach in league history to hit that milestone.

The Hitmen, third in the 12 team Eastern Conference at 36-16-1-3, return to action Tuesday night in Kennewick against the Tri-City Americans.  Radio Broadcast on Sportsnet 960 The Fan starts at 8:00 p.m. MDT.   


Calgary Hitmen 4 at Seattle Thunderbirds 3 OT
Saturday, February 9, 2013 - ShoWare Center - Kent, WA

Calgary 0 2 1 1 - 4
Seattle 2 0 1 0 - 3

1st Period
1, Seattle, Delnov 17 (Lipsbergs, Honey), 3:58.
2, Seattle, Lipsbergs 21 (Delnov, Honey), 5:54.
Penalties-Elliot Sea (cross checking), 6:33.

2nd Period
3, Calgary, Macek 26 (Virtanen, Roach), 3:36.
4, Calgary, Sylvester 29   15:35 (SH).
Penalties-Sylvester Cal (inter. on goaltender), 5:25; Humphries Cal (tripping), 10:14; Humphries Cal (roughing, unsportsmanlike cnd.), 14:02; Rask Cal (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 20:00; Zgraggen Cal (roughing), 20:00; Honey Sea (roughing), 20:00.

3rd Period
5, Seattle, Kambeitz 12 (Sheen), 10:27 (PP).
6, Calgary, Sylvester 30 (Brassart, Macek), 16:27.
Penalties-Calladine Cal (slashing), 8:49; Brassart Cal (slashing), 13:56; Hauf Sea (tripping), 18:46.

OT Period
7, Calgary, Rask 7 (Macek, Roach), 0:46 (PP).
Penalties- Cal (game misconduct), 0:46.

Shots on Goal-Calgary 9-8-13-1-31. Seattle 11-15-13-0-39.
Power Play Opportunities-Calgary 1 / 2; Seattle 1 / 7.
Goalies-Calgary, Driedger 27-12-1-2 (39 shots-36 saves). Seattle, Mumaugh 0-5-1-0 (31 shots-27 saves).
A-3,399
Referees-Ian Croft (30), Curtis Marouelli (86).
Linesmen-Zach Brooks (26), Kevin Boris (95).

Saturday 9 February 2013

Calgary at Seattle

HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (35-16-1-3) play game seven of a season high nine-game road trip tonight in Kent against the Seattle Thunderbirds (19-32-4-1).  Internet Broadcast on www.sportsnet.ca/960 starts at 8:00 p.m. MDT.  The Hitmen improved to 3-3 on the trip last night with a 5-1 come from behind win over the Everett Silvertips.  Jake Virtanen scored twice, including once into an empty net as Calgary overcame a 1-0 Everett lead after 20 minutes.  Pavlo Padakin (1g 1a), Spencer Humphries (1g 1a) and Calder Brooks also scored for the Hitmen while Victor Rask chipped in a pair of assists.  Calgary outshot Everett 38-29.  Mack Shields picked up the win in goal making 28 saves.  The Hitmen went 1-4 on the powerplay while the Silvertips were 1-7.  Calgary is third in the Eastern Conference, 13 points back of the front running Edmonton Oil Kings but with two games in hand.

VS. SEATTLE: Tonight is the first and only regular season meeting.  Last season Seattle was a 5-4 winner on November 11th, 2011 at Scotiabank Saddledome.  Justin Hickman scored twice for the Thunderbirds in a game that saw seven first period goals with Seattle leading 4-3 after 20 minutes.  The last time the Hitmen paid a visit to Kent was on October 16th, 2010.  Jaynen Rissling scored the overtime winner for Calgary in a 3-2 victory.  Juraj Holly made 33 saves to pick up the win as Seattle outshot the Hitmen 35-31.  Over the last five seasons Calgary is 3-1 against the Silvertips including a 2-0 record in the U-S.

WILLIAMSON WATCH:  Wednesday's 4-3 win for Calgary in Portland over the CHL's number one ranked Winterhawks wasn't only a major triumph for the team but was also a milestone win for the head coach.  It was the 150th regular season win for Mike Williamson since taking over as the clubs bench boss on July 22nd, 2009.  It ironically came against a Winterhawks team where Williamson broke into the Western Hockey League, spending a total of 15 seasons, first as a player before making the transition into coaching.  Williamson ranks third on the franchise list for most regular season coaching wins.  Dean Clark leads the way with 183 followed by Kelly Kisio with 163 then Williamson with 151.  Tonight against Seattle produces a second milestone for Williamson this week.  It is his 800th career regular season game as a WHL head coach, becoming only the 12th bench boss in league history to hit that mark

300 CLUB:  Cody Sylvester will play his 300th regular season game in the Western Hockey League tonight against Seattle.  The 20-year-old captain is in his fifth season.  He was an eighth round pick by the club in the 2007 Bantam Draft.  The centre played his first game in the WHL on September 19th, 2008 in the Hitmen home opener against Red Deer and had an assist.  In 299 career games he has 84 goals 117 assists for 201 points.  Sylvester is also starting to climb the franchise record books.  He is now sixth all-time in games played, 11th in goals and 10th in both assists and points.

FORMER TEAMMATES REUNITE:  Tonight is the first meeting since the May 4th, 2012 trade that saw the Hitmen send 20-year-old goalie Brandon Glover to Seattle in exchange for a third round pick in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft.  Over parts of two seasons Glover played 70 regular season games in Calgary, adding four more playoff appearances.  During that time he collected 1,672 saves while picking up 30 wins and two shutouts.

DID YOU KNOW?  The Hitmen have given up the first goal in four straight games and in five their last six contests....Including tonight Calgary’s next four games are against teams from the Western Conference.  The Hitmen will then close out the regular season with 13 straight against Eastern Conference rivals….Alex Roach is the top scoring defenceman in the Eastern Conference with 41 points.  His plus 36 is also number one in the Eastern Conference….Hitmen forward Pavlo Padakin is tied for fourth in goals by a rookie in the WHL with 16….Nine different Hitmen have scored 10 or more goals this season….Calgary has outshot their opponent in nine of their last 10 games …The Hitmen have been shutout five times this season and have blanked their opposition three times…. Cody Sylvester (62pts) and Brooks Macek (59pts) are in a battle for the team lead in scoring.  This is the 18th season of Hitmen hockey and only on three previous occasions has there been a tie for top scorer at the end of the season.  In the 2007-08 campaign both Ryan White and Kyle Bortis finished with 72 points.  In the 2005-06 season Ryan White and Brodie Dupont finished with 53 points each while in the 2003-04 season Ryan Getzlaf and Andrew Ladd both had 75 points….NHL Central Scouting has released their mid-term rankings for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft with two members of the Calgary Hitmen cracking the list.  Forward Greg Chase, in his second season, is ranked 94th among North American Skaters.  Rookie Mack Shields is ranked 28th among North American goalies.

HOME AND AWAY:  Calgary is 19-8-0-1 on the road while Seattle is 11-13-3-0 at home.

TURNING ON THE RED LIGHT: Five Hitmen are having career years in the goal scoring department.  Brooks Macek has set a career-high in goals at 25, three more than his previous high of 21 set in 2009-10 with Tri-City. Cody Sylvester has 28 goals this season, three more than his previous best of 23 set last year.  Alex Roach has 14 goals, topping his previous best of four set in each of the last two seasons.  Greg Chase has 14 goals eight more than the six he scored in his rookie campaign last season.  Zane Jones has scored 18 times this season topping the 14 he scored last season in Victoria.

MILESTONE WATCH: By setting up three more goals, Brady Brassart will reach 100 career assists.  Chris Driedger is 79 saves shy of 2,500.

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 continues their five game tour of the U-S Division on Tuesday in Kennewick against Tri-City before stopping in Spokane on Wednesday.  The Hitmen are then back home one week from tonight on Saturday, February 16th to host the Victoria Royals.  Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome.

Calgary 5 Everett 1

Rookie Jake Virtanen scored twice, including once into an empty net to lead the Calgary Hitmen to a 5-1 win over the Everett Silvertips Friday night at Comcast Arena.

Pavlo Padakin, Calder Brooks and Spencer Humphries also scored for Calgary while Victor Rask chipped in a pair of assists for the Hitmen who have now won back-to-back games to improve to 3-3 on their season high nine game road trip.

Mack Shields made 28 saves to pick up the win as Calgary outshot Everett 38-29.

Landon Oslanski had the lone goal for the Silvertips who owned a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes before the Hitmen scored five unanswered goals.

The Hitmen, third in the 12 team Eastern Conference at 35-16-1-3, return to action Saturday night in Kent against the Seattle Thunderbirds.  Internet Broadcast on www.sportsnet.ca/960 starts at 8:00 p.m. MDT.   

                                                   Photo Credit: Chris Mast

Calgary Hitmen 5 at Everett Silvertips 1
Friday, February 8, 2013 - Comcast Arena - Everett, WA

Calgary 0 3 2 - 5
Everett 1 0 0 - 1

1st Period
1, Everett, Oslanski 13 (Mappin, Harrison), 8:35 (PP).
Penalties-Soumelidis Evt (tripping), 2:34; Brassart Cal (hooking), 4:11; Mayor Cal (kneeing), 8:22; Mayor Cal (charging), 12:26.

2nd Period
2, Calgary, Brooks 1 (Helgesen, Jones), 1:42.
3, Calgary, Humphries 4 (Chase, Sylvester), 9:47 (PP).
4, Calgary, Virtanen 11 (Padakin, Rask), 11:03.
Penalties-Chase Cal (high sticking), 3:48; Jones Cal (bench), 3:48; Bauml Evt (tripping), 8:49; Rissling Cal (boarding), 19:24.

3rd Period
5, Calgary, Padakin 16 (Humphries, Rask), 3:11.
6, Calgary, Virtanen 12 (Lang, Roach), 19:34 (SH EN).
Penalties-Harrison Evt (slashing), 5:20; Helgesen Cal (major-fighting), 7:41; Soumelidis Evt (major-fighting), 7:41; Zipp Evt (slashing), 11:35; Padakin Cal (hooking), 17:35; Zgraggen Cal (major-fighting), 19:54; Soumelidis Evt (major-fighting), 19:54.

Shots on Goal-Calgary 10-17-11-38. Everett 11-13-5-29.
Power Play Opportunities-Calgary 1 / 4; Everett 1 / 7.
Goalies-Calgary, Shields 9-4-0-1 (29 shots-28 saves). Everett, Cotton 9-13-0-2 (37 shots-33 saves).
A-4,475
Referees-Ian Croft (30), Curtis Marouelli (86).
Linesmen-Kevin Boris (95), Mark Heier (125).

Friday 8 February 2013

Mike Williamson hits one milestone, nears another

Wednesday's 4-3 win for Calgary in Portland over the CHL's number one ranked Winterhawks wasn't only a major triumph for the team but was also a milestone win for the head coach.

It was the 150th regular season win for Mike Williamson since taking over as the clubs bench boss on July 22nd, 2009.  It just happened to ironically come against a Winterhawks team where Williamson broke into the Western Hockey League, spending a total of 15 seasons, first as a player before making the transition into coaching.

Williamson ranks third on the franchise list for most regular season coaching wins.  Dean Clark leads the way with 183 followed by Kelly Kisio with 163 then Williamson with 150.

As the Hitmen prepare to play in Everett tonight, tomorrow in Seattle will produce a second milestone for Williamson this week.  It will be his 800th career regular season game as a WHL head coach, becoming only the 12th bench boss in league history to hit that mark

 

Calgary at Everett

HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (34-16-1-3) play game six of a season high nine-game road trip tonight in Everett against the Silvertips (21-29-1-4).  Radio Broadcast on Sportsnet 960 The Fan starts at 8:00 p.m. MDT with a 30 minute pre-game show.  The Hitmen improved to 2-3 on the trip Wednesday night with a 4-3 come from behind win over the CHL’s number one ranked Portland Winterhawks.  Cody Sylvester scored twice including the game winner with 1:32 remaining.  Sylvester finished the night with three points (2g 1a) as the Hitmen erased a 3-1 third period deficit to snap a three game losing streak.  Alex Roach and Brooks Macek also scored for the Hitmen while Greg Chase tied a career high with three assists.  Chris Driedger made 42 saves in a first star performance as Portland outshot Calgary 45-30.  Shaun MacPherson, Ty Rattie and Brendan Leipsic scored for the Winterhawks who saw their six game winning streak come to an end.  Both teams were 1-5 on the powerplay.  Calgary is third in the Eastern Conference, 13 points back of the front running Edmonton Oil Kings but with two games in hand.


VS. EVERETT: Tonight is the first and only regular season meeting.  Last season Calgary produced a 3-1 win at Scotiabank Saddledome on October 29h, 2011.  Trevor Cheek scored the game winning goal shorthanded in the second period to break a 1-1 tie.  Cody Sylvester and Jimmy Bubnick also scored for Calgary who outshot the Silvertips 42-16.  Jari Erricson had the lone goal for Everett.  The last time the Hitmen paid a visit to Everett was on October 15th, 2010.  Tyler Maxwell scored twice and set up another in a 4-2 Silvertips win.  Justin Kirch and Cody Beach scored for Calgary who saw a 2-1 third period lead slip away.  Over the last five seasons Calgary is 3-1 against the Silvertips including a 2-0 record in Everett.

TIMELY GOAL:  When Alex Roach scored on a second period powerplay in Portland on Wednesday it ending a Hitmen scoring drought at 164 minutes and 24 seconds.  Calgary had been blanked in both of their previous two games.  Since the birth of the franchise in the 1995/96 season, the Hitmen have never been shutout in three straight games.

200 POINTS:  Cody Sylvester hit the 200 career regular season points mark Wednesday night in Portland with his game winning goal over the Winterhawks.  Now in his fifth season with Calgary, Cody Sylvester is moving up the lists of all-time scorers in club history.  Sylvester has played 298 games and has totaled 84 goals, 116 assists for 200 points. The Vernon, British Columbia product is now sixth all-time in games played, 11th in goals and 10th in both assists and points.

DID YOU KNOW?  The Hitmen have given up the first goal in three straight games and in four their last five contests....Including tonight Calgary’s next five games are against teams from the Western Conference.  The Hitmen will then close out the regular season with 13 straight against Eastern Conference rivals….Alex Roach is the top scoring defenceman in the Eastern Conference with 40 points.  His plus 35 is also number one in the Eastern Conference….Hitmen forward Pavlo Padakin is tied for fifth in goals by a rookie in the WHL with 15….Nine different Hitmen have scored 10 or more goals this season….Calgary had outshot their opponent in eight straight games until they were outshot Wednesday in Portland …The Hitmen have been shutout five times this season and have blanked their opposition three times…. Cody Sylvester (61pts) and Brooks Macek (59pts) are in a battle for the team lead in scoring.  This is the 18th season of Hitmen hockey and only on three previous occasions has there been a tie for top scorer at the end of the season.  In the 2007-08 campaign both Ryan White and Kyle Bortis finished with 72 points.  In the 2005-06 season Ryan White and Brodie Dupont finished with 53 points each while in the 2003-04 season Ryan Getzlaf and Andrew Ladd both had 75 points….NHL Central Scouting has released their mid-term rankings for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft with two members of the Calgary Hitmen cracking the list.  Forward Greg Chase, in his second season, is ranked 94th among North American Skaters.  Rookie Mack Shields is ranked 28th among North American goalies.

HOME AND AWAY:  Calgary is 18-8-0-1 on the road while Everett is 11-12-0-4 at home.

TURNING ON THE RED LIGHT: Five Hitmen are having career years in the goal scoring department.  Brooks Macek has set a career-high in goals at 25, three more than his previous high of 21 set in 2009-10 with Tri-City. Cody Sylvester has 28 goals in 51 games this season, three more than his previous best of 23 set last year.  Alex Roach has 14 goals, topping his previous best of four set in each of the last two seasons.  Greg Chase has 14 goals eight more than the six he scored in his rookie campaign last season.  Zane Jones has scored 18 times this season topping the 14 he scored last season in Victoria.

ALUMNUS PRO WATCH:  Brandon Kozun of the Manchester Monarchs is currently the top scoring Hitmen grad in the AHL.  His 29 points (11g 18a) in 44 games have him tied for 53rd in the scoring race.  Kozun, a Los Angeles Kings prospect, played parts of four seasons with the Hitmen from 2006/07 to 2009/10 racking up 312 points.

MILESTONE WATCH: By setting up three more goals, Brady Brassart will reach 100 career assists.  Cody Sylvester is two games shy of 300.  Chris Driedger is 79 saves shy of 2,500.

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 continues their five game tour of the U-S Division tomorrow in Kent against former teammate Brandon Glover and the Seattle Thunderbirds before heading to Tri-City on Tuesday and Spokane Wednesday.  Next Hitmen home game is not until Saturday, February 16th when they host the Victoria Royals.

Thursday 7 February 2013

Calgary 4 Portland 3

Cody Sylvester scored twice including the game winner with 1:32 remaining lifting the Calgary Hitmen to a 4-3 win over the CHL’s number one ranked Portland Winterhawks Wednesday night at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
 
Sylvester finished the night with three points (2g 1a) as the Hitmen erased a 3-1 third period deficit to snap a three game losing streak.
 
Alex Roach and Brooks Macek also scored for the Hitmen while Greg Chase chipped in three assists.
Chris Driedger made 42 saves in a first star performance as Portland outshot Calgary 45-30.
 
Shaun MacPherson, Ty Rattie and Brendan Leipsic scored for the Winterhawks who saw their six game winning streak come to an end.
 
The Hitmen, third in the 12 team Eastern Conference at 34-16-1-3, return to action Friday night in Everett against the Silvertips.  Radio Broadcast on Sportsnet 960 The Fan starts at 8:00 p.m. MDT with a 30 minute pre-game show.   
 
Calgary Hitmen 4 at Portland Winterhawks 3
Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - Veterans Memorial Coliseum - Portland, OR

Calgary 0 1 3 - 4
Portland 1 2 0 - 3

1st Period
1, Portland, MacPherson 2 (De Leo, Leier), 13:31.
Penalties-Jones Por (hooking), 4:24; Iverson Por (tripping), 8:42; Roach Cal (hooking), 9:27; Zgraggen Cal (interference), 11:29.

2nd Period
2, Calgary, Roach 14 (Chase, Sylvester), 8:47 (PP).
3, Portland, Rattie 30 (Leipsic, Petan), 17:16 (PP).
4, Portland, Leipsic 37 (Rattie), 17:30.
Penalties-Kopeck Por (high sticking), 7:51; Leipsic Por (boarding), 14:30; Mayor Cal (checking from behind), 16:53.

3rd Period
5, Calgary, Sylvester 27 (Chase, Humphries), 0:56.
6, Calgary, Macek 25 (Virtanen, Rissling), 6:57.
7, Calgary, Sylvester 28 (Helgesen, Chase), 18:28.
Penalties-Chase Cal (slashing), 2:31; Brooks Cal (delay of game), 2:33; Petan Por (slashing), 11:44.

Shots on Goal-Calgary 5-10-15-30. Portland 15-11-19-45.
Power Play Opportunities-Calgary 1 / 5; Portland 1 / 5.
Goalies-Calgary, Driedger 26-12-1-2 (45 shots-42 saves). Portland, Carruth 23-4-0-2 (30 shots-26 saves).
A-4,372
Referees-Mike Campbell (89), Jason Nissen (91).
Linesmen-Jarrod Boman (116), Bevan Mills (98).

Wednesday 6 February 2013

Calgary at Portland

HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen (33-16-1-3) play game five of a season-high nine-game road trip tonight in Portland against the CHL’s number one ranked Winterhawks (43-7-1-2). Radio Broadcast on Sportsnet 960 The Fan starts at 8:00 p.m. MDT.  The Hitmen have dropped three straight, their longest losing streak of the season, and are coming off a 2-0 loss in Prince Albert on Saturday night. Luke Siemens made 40 saves to record his fifth shutout of the season. Shane Danyluk shorthanded in the second period and Chance Braid even strength in the third period scored for the Raiders who were outshot 40-30. The Hitmen went 0-4 on the power play, while Prince Albert was 0-6. Calgary is third in the Eastern Conference, 13 points back of the front running Edmonton Oil Kings but with two games in hand.

VS. PORTLAND: Tonight is the first and only regular season meeting between the two clubs. Last season, Portland produced a 7-1 win in Calgary on October 25, 2011. The Hitmen outshot the Winterhawks 37-36 but Mac Carruth made 36 saves. Jason Tott led the scoring attack with three points (2g, 1a). The last time the Hitmen paid a visit to Portland was on October 13, 2010. Kris Foucault had four points (2g, 2a) in a 5-1 Calgary win. Cody Sylvester also scored twice for the Hitmen who outshot the Winterhawks 38-32. Over the last five seasons, Calgary is 3-1 against the Winterhawks including a 2-0 record in Portland.

TROUBLE SCORING: Despite the fact Calgary has fired a combined 82 shots in their last two games they haven’t scored a goal. Their last goal came early in the third period in Swift Current, a span of 135 minutes and 37 seconds ago. It’s the first time the Hitmen have been blanked in consecutive games since March 19th and 20th to close out the 2010-11 regular season against Medicine Hat. Since the birth of the franchise in the 1995-96 season, the Hitmen have never been shutout in three straight games.

300 CLUB: Brooks Macek played his 300th regular season game in the Western Hockey League Friday night in Saskatoon. The 20-year-old from Winnipeg, Manitoba is in his fifth season. After playing his first 170 games with the Tri-City Americans Macek arrived in Calgary at the January 2010 Trade Deadline. The right winger has 80 goals, 154 assists for 234 points in 301 career games.

DID YOU KNOW?: Tonight kicks off a stretch of six straight games for the Hitmen against teams from the Western Conference. Calgary will then close out the regular season with 13 straight against Eastern Conference rivals….Alex Roach is the top scoring defenceman in the Eastern Conference with 39 points (13g, 26a). His plus-35 is also number one in the Eastern Conference….The Hitmen have dropped six of their last seven games on the road after starting the season 16-2-0-1 away from Scotiabank Saddledome….Hitmen forward Pavlo Padakin is tied for fifth in goals by a rookie in the WHL with 15....Nine different Hitmen have scored 10 or more goals this season….Calgary has outshot their opponent in each of the last eight games but is only 3-5 over that span….The Hitmen have been shutout five times this season and have blanked their opposition three times….Brooks Macek and Cody Sylvester are tied for the team-lead in scoring at 58 points….This is the 18th season of Hitmen hockey and only on three previous occasions has there been a tie for top scorer at the end of the season. In the 2007-08 campaign both Ryan White and Kyle Bortis finished with 72 points. In the 2005-06 season Ryan White and Brodie Dupont finished with 53 points each, while in the 2003-04 season Ryan Getzlaf and Andrew Ladd both had 75 points.

HOME AND AWAY: Calgary is 17-8-0-1 on the road, while Portland is 23-4-0-1 at home.

TURNING ON THE RED LIGHT: Five Hitmen are having career years in the goal scoring department. Brooks Macek has set a career-high in goals at 24, three more than his previous high of 21 set in 2009-10 with Tri-City. Cody Sylvester has 26 goals in 50 games this season, three more than his previous best of 23 set last year. Alex Roach has 13 goals, topping his previous best of four set in each of the last two seasons. Greg Chase has 14 goals, eight more than the six he scored in his rookie campaign last season. Zane Jones has scored 18 times this season, topping the 14 he scored last season in Victoria.

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 297 games with the Hitmen and has 82 goals, 115 assists for 197 points. The Vernon, British Columbia product is now sixth all-time in games played, tied for 11th in goals with Owen Fussey and is 10th in both assists and points.

ALUMNUS PRO WATCH: Ryan Getzlaf of the Anaheim Ducks is currently the top scoring Hitmen grad in the NHL. His eight points (3g 5a) in eight games have him tied for 44th in the scoring race. Getzlaf played four seasons with the Hitmen from 2001-02 to 2004-05, racking up 215 points.

MILESTONE WATCH: By setting up three more goals, Brady Brassart will reach 100 career assists. Cody Sylvester needs three more points to record his 200th career point and is three games away from reaching 300 career games played.

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 continues their five-game tour of the U.S. Division Friday night in Everett. Husky Hitmen Hockey hits the air at 8:00 p.m. MT with a 30 minute pre-game show. Calgary then visits Seattle on Saturday, before heading to Tri-City on Tuesday and Spokane on Wednesday. The next Hitmen home game is not until Saturday, February 16 when Calgary hosts the Victoria Royals.

Prince Albert 2 Calgary 0

For the second time in as many games the Calgary Hitmen were blanked, this time 2-0 Saturday night in Prince Albert.

Luke Siemens made 40 saves to record his fifth shutout of the season and 11th of his career.

Shane Danyluk shorthanded in the second period and Chance Braid even strength in the third period scored for the Raiders who were outshot 40-30. 

The Hitmen went 0-4 on the powerplay Prince Albert was 0-6.

Calgary Hitmen 0 at Prince Albert Raiders 2Saturday, February 2, 2013 - Art Hauser Centre - Prince Albert, SK

Calgary 0 0 0 - 0
Prince Albert 0 1 1 - 2

1st Period
No Scoring.
Penalties-Lang Cal (tripping), 8:25; Sylvester Cal (roughing), 9:37; Morrissey P.a (roughing), 9:37; Padakin Cal (cross checking), 18:21; Braid P.a (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 18:21.

2nd Period
1, Prince Albert, Danyluk 7 (Vandane), 11:32 (SH).
Penalties-Morrissey P.a (cross checking), 1:18; Zgraggen Cal (roughing), 5:26; Vanstone P.a (roughing), 5:26; Clayton Cal (inter. on goaltender), 8:56; Conroy P.a (inter. on goaltender), 9:58; Thrower Cal (major-fighting), 14:26; Vanstone P.a (major-fighting), 14:26; Hart P.a (slashing), 15:21; Brassart Cal (slashing), 16:12; Rissling Cal (roughing), 18:41; Winther P.a (roughing), 18:41.

3rd Period
2, Prince Albert, Braid 8 (Busenius, Hart), 2:38.
Penalties-Rissling Cal (roughing), 5:14; Macek Cal (high sticking), 7:18; Morrissey P.a (slashing), 7:35; Rissling Cal (charging), 13:23.

Shots on Goal-Calgary 16-9-15-40. Prince Albert 9-13-8-30.
Power Play Opportunities-Calgary 0 / 4; Prince Albert 0 / 6.
Goalies-Calgary, Driedger 25-12-1-2 (30 shots-28 saves). Prince Albert, Siemens 28-14-2-3 (40 shots-40 saves).
A-2,871
Referees-Cole Hamm (51), Nathan Wieler (18).
Linesmen-Bob Schrader (126), Troy Semenchuk (65).

Saturday 2 February 2013

Saskatoon 6 Calgary 0

Andrey Makarov made 42 saves to record his second shutout in as many games against Calgary in a 6-0 Saskatoon Blades win over the Hitmen Friday night at Credit Union Centre.

After Saskatoon built a 1-0 first period lead on a goal from Josh Nicholls the turning point came in the second period.  Calgary failed to score on a 5-on-3 powerplay for 69 seconds and Pavlo Padakin missed on a shorthanded breakaway.  Moments later Nathan Burns made it 2-0 Blades and Saskatoon never looked back.

Calgary, 33-15-1-3, has now lost two in a row and five of their last six games on the road.

                                             Photo Credit: Steve Hiscock

Calgary Hitmen 0 at Saskatoon Blades 6
Friday, February 1, 2013 - Credit Union Centre - Saskatoon, SK

Calgary 0 0 0 - 0
Saskatoon 1 2 3 - 6

1st Period
1, Saskatoon, Nicholls 33 (Dietz), 12:49 (SH).
Penalties-Valcourt Sas (hooking), 11:06; Mayor Cal (inter. on goaltender), 17:07.

2nd Period
2, Saskatoon, Burns 15 (McColgan, Benoit), 7:14.
3, Saskatoon, Walker 15 (Ferland, Siemens), 9:27.
Penalties-Thrower Sas (checking from behind), 1:57; Siemens Sas (slashing), 2:48; Mayor Cal (inter. on goaltender), 5:10; Stransky Sas (tripping), 11:46; Clayton Cal (slashing), 16:42.

3rd Period
4, Saskatoon, Burns 16 (Thrower, Benoit), 1:01 (PP).
5, Saskatoon, Stransky 25 (Pufahl, McColgan), 4:14.
6, Saskatoon, Walker 16 (Ferland, Dietz), 10:32 (PP).
Penalties-Chase Cal (checking from behind), 0:50; Clayton Cal (hooking), 6:13; Burns Sas (hooking), 8:23; Rask Cal (high sticking), 9:39; Rissling Cal (major-fighting), 11:35; Valcourt Sas (major-fighting), 11:35; Brassart Cal (slashing), 20:00; Ferland Sas (roughing), 20:00.

Shots on Goal-Calgary 13-16-13-42. Saskatoon 11-10-13-34.
Power Play Opportunities-Calgary 0 / 5; Saskatoon 2 / 6.
Goalies-Calgary, Shields 8-4-0-1 (34 shots-28 saves). Saskatoon, Makarov 20-16-0-3 (42 shots-42 saves).
A-4,954
Referees-Kevin Shmyr (22), Nathan Wieler (18).
Linesmen-Kyle Paulsen (96), Jason Roy (94).

Friday 1 February 2013

Calgary at Saskatoon

After a day off Thursday, the Calgary Hitmen play their thrid game in four days tonight in Saskatoon against the Blades.  Radio Broadcast on Sportsnet 960 The Fan starts at 6:00 p.m. with a a five minute Mr. Fireplace Hitmen Warm-up.

THE STANDINGS:  Calgary is 33-14-1-3, sitting third in the WHL's Eastern Conference with 70 points.  Saskatoon, the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup host, is 25-21-0-3.  At 53 points they are tied for seventh in the conference with 53 points.


HEAD-TO-HEAD:  Saskatoon leads the season series 1-0 after a 4-0 win at the Saddledome on November 30th.  The Blades outshot the Hitmen 38-25 and got a shutout performance from two time Russian World Junior goalie Andrey Makarov.

300 CLUB:  Brooks Macek will play his 300th regular season game in the Western Hockey League tonight in Saskatoon.  The 20-year-old from Winnipeg, Manitoba is in his fifth season.  After playing his first 170 games with the Tri-City Americans Macek arrived in Calgary at the January 2010 Trade Deadline.  The right winger has 80 goals 154 assists for 234 points in 299 career games.

STREAKIN’: Cody Sylvester (3g 5a), Victor Rask (2g2a), Greg Chase (1g 3a) and Zane Jones (1g 3a) are all on four game point scoring streaks.  Calder Brooks (2a) has points in back-to-back games.  Brooks Macek (1g 2a) had his three game streak end Wednesday in Swift Current.  Mack Shields is 2-0 in his last two starts stopping 40 of 42 shots for a .952 save percentage.

BATTLE OF THE BROTHERS:  The Calgary roster includes 16-year-old Josh Thrower while his 19-year-old brother Dalton is a member of the Saskatoon Blades.

HOME AND AWAY:  Calgary is 17-6-0-1 on the road while Saskatoon is 10-11-0-2 at home.