WHL Calgary Hitmen

Hitmen host playoff games Thursday and Saturday

Published on March 15, 2010 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Calgary Hitmen News Release


Monday, March 15th

- Practice 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. Pengrowth Saddledome.

Tuesday, March 16th

- Practice 1:15 to 2:30 p.m. Centennial Arenas.

Wednesday, March 17th

-Practice 12:45 to 2:00 p.m. Pengrowth Saddledome.

Thursday, March 18th

- HOME GAME vs. Moose Jaw Warriors. Game time 7:00 p.m. Pengrowth Saddledome. Calgary finished the regular season at 52-17-1-2 while Moose Jaw was 33-27-5-7. It's Game 1 of their Best-of-Seven Eastern Conference Quarter-Final Series. The Hitmen were 2-2 against Moose Jaw this season. Radio Broadcast begins at 6:00 p.m. from Dutton's Lounge with a one hour pre-game show on The Fan 960.

Friday, March 19th

- Practice 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. Pengrowth Saddledome.

Saturday, March 20th

- HOME GAME vs. Moose Jaw Warriors. Game time 7:00 p.m. Pengrowth Saddledome. It's Game 2 of their Best-of-Seven Eastern Conference Quarter-Final Series. Radio Broadcast begins at 6:00 p.m. from Dutton's Lounge with a one hour pre-game show on The Fan 960.

Sunday, March 21st

- Team bus departs to Moose Jaw at 10 a.m. from the Pengrowth Saddledome.

*Schedule subject to change, all times Mountain Standard Time.

CALGARY HITMEN NEWS AND NOTES

HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen wrapped up the 2009/10 Western Hockey League Regular Season Sunday afternoon at home with an 8-1 win over the Red Deer Rebels. The win was their ninth straight. Brandon Kozun led the way with four assists while Joel Broda and Kris Foucault each scored twice. Michael Stone, Ben Wilson, Del Cowan and Justin Kirsch all added singles. Michael Snider made 22 saves to record the win in goal as the Hitmen outshot the Rebels 26-23. The Hitmen finished the regular season with a record of 52-17-1-2. At 107 points they captured the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as WHL Regular Season Points Champions for the second year in a row and fourth time in franchise history (2009/10, 2008/09, 1999/2000 and 1998/99). To close the season the Hitmen picked up at least a point in 24 of their last 26 games going 23-2-0-1.

VS MOOSE JAW: The Hitmen and Warriors met four times in the regular season with each team winning twice.

Oct. 4 in Calgary: Warriors 4 Hitmen 3. Moose Jaw overcame a 3-1 third period deficit.

Oct. 10 in Moose Jaw: Warriors 6 Hitmen 3. Jason Bast 3g 1a.

Nov. 18 in Moose Jaw; Hitmen 2 Warriors 1 OT. Michael Stone scored the overtime winner while Martin Jones made 25 saves.

Jan. 22 in Calgary; Hitmen 5 Warriors 0. Martin Jones 23 save shutout. Joel Broda with a natural hat trick.

INSIDE THE SERIES

Shots on goal: Calgary 129 Moose Jaw 98 Powerplays: Calgary 7-20 35.0% Moose Jaw 2-16 12.5%

PLAYOFF DATES: The Calgary / Moose Jaw Best-of-Seven Eastern Conference Quarter-Final Series is a 2-2-1-1-1 format with Calgary having home ice advantage. This will mark the fourth time in playoff history the Hitmen and Warriors will meet. In 2000 Calgary swept Moose Jaw in the opening round. In 2006 the Warriors ousted the Hitmen in seven games to win their second round series while in 2008 Calgary won their first round series in six games.

See complete first round schedule below:

Game #1 @ Calgary Thursday, March 18th 7:00pm

Game #2 @ Calgary Saturday, March 20th 7:00pm

Game #3 @ Moose Jaw Monday, March 22nd 7:00pm

Game #4 @ Moose Jaw Tuesday, March 23rd 7:00pm

Game #5 @ Calgary Thursday, March 25th 7:00pm (if necessary)

Game #6 @ Moose Jaw Saturday, March 27th 7:00pm (if necessary)

Game #7 @ Calgary Monday, March 29th 7:00pm (if necessary)

BOB CLARKE TROPHY: Hitmen forward Brandon Kozun won the Bob Clarke Trophy this season awarded to the player with the most points in the WHL. Kozun finished with 107 becoming just the third player in franchise history to receive the honor. Brad Moran won the WHL scoring race in 1999/2000 while Pavel Brendl captured the award in 1998/99.

RECORD BREAKING GOAL: Michael Stone's 20th goal of the season Friday night against Edmonton set a new franchise record for most 20 goal scorers on one team with eight. The previous mark of seven was set last season.

SECOND ALL TIME: The Hitmen scored 108 powerplay goals this season. That is second only in franchise history to last year's 116 goals.

DID YOU KNOW? Calgary has clinched the Central Division title for the third straight season and their 13th consecutive playoff birth.

100 POINTS: For the fifth time in franchise history the Hitmen broke the 100 point plateau. 2009/10 (107pts) 2008/09 (122pts), 1999/2000 (120pts), 1998/99 (110pts), 2005/06 (101pts).

D-FENCE: The Hitmen allowed the fewest goals in the Eastern Conference this season at 178. That's also second fewest in the WHL. Only Everett (175) surrendered less.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Calgary had both the #1 ranked powerplay and the #1 ranked penalty kill in the WHL this season. Calgary has only given up two powerplay goals on the opposition's last 48 chances. Meanwhile the powerplay is 16 for its last 25 (64%).

HALL OF FAMER: Hitmen General Manager Kelly Kisio will be inducted into the Wetaskiwin and County Sports Hall of Fame on March 27th. He will go in as an athlete for his 13 year NHL career. Earlier this season Kisio reached an exclusive milestone with the Hitmen, his 500th victory as General Manager.

STREAKIN: Michael Stone (6g 6a) is on a seven game point streak. Matt MacKenzie (1g 6a) has points in six straight. Brandon Kozun (2g 20a) has points in 10 of his last 11. Tyler Shattock (2g 6a) and Kris Foucault (5g 4a) are both on five game point streaks. Martin Jones is 8-0 in his last eight starts with three shutouts, stopping 207 of 214 shots for a 0.875 goals-against average and remarkable .967 save percentage. Michael Snider is 4-0 in his last four starts with a 1.75 GAA and a .912 save percentage stopping 76 of 83 shots.

CAREER YEAR: 12 Calgary Hitmen had career years in the Western Hockey League; Kyle Aschim 6 points (1), Rigby Burgart 6 points (2), Del Cowan 29 points (22), Tyler Fiddler 58 points (23), Misha Fisenko 44 points (28), Kris Foucault 43 points (17), Matt MacKenzie 40 points (12), Mackenzie Royer 9 points (7), Ian Schultz 55 points (41), Tyler Shattock 78 points (69), Cody Sylvester 25 points (14), Michael Snider 16 wins (10). *Previous career high in brackets

AWARDS NIGHT: The Calgary Hitmen honored their best in 2009-10 Sunday night at the Fairmont Palliser Hotel.

Here are the winners:

Petro-Canada Player of the Year Martin Jones / Brandon Kozun

Booster Club Fan Favorite Brandon Kozun

Husky Energy Top Defenceman Michael Stone

East Side Mario's Most Sportsmanlike Player Tyler Fiddler

Enmax Energy Humanitarian Award Ian Schultz

Chrysler Canada Inc. Scholastic Player Peter Kosterman

Remax 3 Star Award Brandon Kozun

Wendy's Restaurant Rookie of the Year Cody Beach

Molson Coaches Award Del Cowan

NHL DRAFT RANKINGS: Two Hitmen have cracked NHL Central Scouting's Mid Term Rankings for the 2010 Entry Draft. Matt MacKenzie is #85 among North American Skaters while Cody Beach is ranked 181. The NHL Entry Draft will be held at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles from June 25 to 26.

HITMEN TEAM LEADERS:

Goals (39) Joel Broda Powerplay Goals (23) Joel Broda Points (107) Brandon Kozun

Plus/Minus (+24) Tyler Fiddler Assists (75) Brandon Kozun Wins (36) Martin Jones

PIM (157) Cody Beach

HITMEN VS: (Bran 1-3), (Cwk 1-1), (Edm 6-0), (Evt 1-0), (Kam 1-0), (Kel 2-1), (Ktn 5-3), (Leth 3-2), (MH 4-1-0-1), (MJ 2-2), (Port 1-0), (PA 2-1-1-0), (PG 2-0), (RD 5-0-0-1), (Reg 4-0), (Sask 2-2), (Sea 1-0), (Spok 0-1), (SC 4-0), (TC 1-0), (Van 3-0)

DRAFTED PLAYERS: The Hitmen have eight NHL prospects ... Jimmy Bubnick-(5th round Atlanta 2009), Joel Broda-(5th round Washington 2008), Kris Foucault-(4th round Minnesota 2009), Martin Jones-(FA signing LA Kings 2008), Brandon Kozun-(6th round LA 2009), Ian Schultz-(3rd round St. Louis 2008), Tyler Shattock-(4th round St. Louis 2009), Michael Stone-(3rd round Phoenix 2008).

BEATTIE HOMES HOCKEY MUMS FIGHT BREAST CANCER: The Calgary Hitmen Hockey Club is proud to announce the Beattie Homes Hockey Mums Fight Breast Cancer Campaign raised $22,151.20 with all funds to be donated to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Money was collected from an online Hitmen game worn jersey auction, skate-a-thon, Great Clips head shave, sale of pink teddy bears along with Booster Club and Fan Attic merchandise sales. Ten Hitmen players Kyle Aschim, Del Cowan, Tyler Fiddler, Justin Kirsch, Peter Kosterman Matt MacKenzie, Jaynen Rissling, MacKenzie Royer, Ian Schultz and Ben Wilson played a large role in this great cause by having their head shaved.

PLAYOFFS BUFFET: The Avison Young Club will open two hours prior to all Hitmen playoff games. Prices are as follows ($17.50 Adults $10.00 Kids). Reservations are recommended by calling the AYC Reservation Line 403-571-9733.

2009-10 Regular Season Stats

# PLAYER GP G A PTS +/- PIM PPG SHG GW SO OT SOGW

15 Brandon Kozun 65 32 75 107 +20 50 14 2 10 2-4 0 2

29 Tyler Shattock 72 30 48 78 +3 91 13 2 6 0-2 0 0

26 Joel Broda 66 39 34 73 -1 61 23 1 7 1-3 1 0

28 Michael Stone 69 21 44 65 +4 91 15 0 5 0-2 1 0

23 Tyler Fiddler 68 30 28 58 +24 49 5 1 7 0 0 0

19 Ian Schultz 70 24 31 55 +6 150 10 2 3 0-1 0 0

14 Jimmy Bubnick 65 22 31 53 -8 59 10 0 3 1-3 0 1

10 Misha Fisenko 55 12 32 44 +3 29 6 0 3 1-1 0 0

18 Kris Foucault 68 22 21 43 +3 31 8 0 3 1-3 0 1

17 Giffen Nyren 70 8 34 42 -5 89 3 0 0 ? 0 0

5 Matt MacKenzie 64 6 34 40 +16 60 5 0 0 0 0 0

11 Zak Stebner 72 11 24 35 0 116 4 0 2 0 0 0

24 Del Cowan 67 17 12 29 +7 49 2 2 2 0-1 0 0

16 Cody Sylvester 68 10 15 25 +13 63 0 1 1 0 0 0

2 Ben Wilson 66 4 11 15 -1 112 2 0 0 0 0 0

32 Cody Beach 51 3 11 14 +6 157 0 0 0 0 0 0

22 Mackenzie Royer 43 5 4 9 -1 44 0 0 1 0 0 0

12 Justin Kirsch 34 2 6 8 -2 6 0 0 1 0 0 0

9 Jaynen Rissling 36 0 8 8 +7 19 0 0 0 0 0 0

27 Kyle Aschim 44 2 5 7 +9 46 0 0 0 0 0 0

25 Rigby Burgart 57 3 3 6 -8 97 0 0 1 0 0 0

31 Martin Jones 48 0 3 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0

1 Michael Snider 24 0 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0

7 Peter Kosterman 37 0 1 1 +2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0

Bench Penalties 14

Departed Players 155 14 40 54 -12 112 8 0 0 0 0 0

# GOALTENDER GP MINS SAVES GA SO EN AVERAGE PCT WINS LOSSES OTL SOL

1 Michael Snider 24 1419 544 60 2 0 2.54 0.901 16 5 1 1

31 Martin Jones 48 2851 1192 105 8 0 2.21 0.919 36 11 0 1

Departed Goalies 1 57 22 5 0 0 5.26 0.815 0 1 0 0

TEAM 72 4353 1758 175 10 5 2.41 0.909 52 17 1 2

PERIOD SCORING 1st 2nd 3rd OT SO Total

Hitmen 75 97 91 2 4 269

Opposition 51 55 68 1 2 177

HOME AND AWAY

PERIOD SHOTS 1st 2nd 3rd OT SO Total Home: 26-8-0-2

Hitmen 795 815 729 14 4 2357 Away: 26-9-1-0

Opposition 626 665 624 10 2 1927

SHOTS ON GOAL RECORD HITMEN RECORD AFTER 2ND PERIOD

When outshooting opposition: 38-12-1-1 When Leading: 38-2-0-2

When outshot by opposition: 11-3-0-1 When Losing: 2-13-0-0

When shots are tied 3-2-0-0 When Tied: 12-2-1-0

FIRST GOAL OF GAME Shootout: 4-2

When Hitmen Score First: 35-3-1-2 Overtime: 2-1

When Opposition Score First: 17-14-0-0 HITMEN RECORD 52-17-1-2

Check out the Calgary Hitmen Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from March 15, 2010


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