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Calgary Hitmen

Hitmen To Wrap Up The WHL Regular Season

March 10, 2008 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Calgary Hitmen News Release


Saturday, March 15 at Kootenay Ice

HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen wrap up the 2007-08 Western Hockey League regular season this weekend with a home-and-home series against the Kootenay Ice starting tonight in Cranbrook. The Hitmen are coming off Sunday's 4-3 home ice loss to Lethbridge. Two break-away goals 55 seconds apart midway through the third period broke a 2-2 tie and propelled the ‘Canes to victory. Brandon Kozun, Kyle Bortis and Brock Nixon all scored for the Hitmen. Calgary outshot Lethbridge 28-18 as Dan Spence made 14 saves in the loss. The Hitmen went 1-6 with the powerplay while Lethbridge was 1-2.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: At 45-20-1-4 Calgary leads the Central Division and Eastern Conference with 95 points. They sit four points ahead of Lethbridge for top spot in the division and five points ahead of Regina for number one in the conference. The Hitmen are fourth in the overall WHL Standings, seven points back Spokane and Tri-City who share the lead with 102 points. Calgary is 23-10-1-1 at home, 22-10-0-3 on the road.

VS. KOOTENAY: Tonight is the seventh of eight meetings with the Ice. Calgary leads the season series 5-1 having outscored the Ice by a combined 29-12.

-September 24th in Calgary; Hitmen 5 Ice 1. Brett Sonne and T.J. Galiardi each with two goals.

-November 2nd in Cranbrook; Ice 4 Hitmen 2. Ice overcame a 2-1 second period deficit.

-January 4th in Calgary; Hitmen 9 Ice 2. Paul Postma 2g 2a. Hitmen powerplay was 4-8.

-January 22nd in Cranbrook; Hitmen 2 Ice 1 OT. Carson McMillan forces overtime with 1:07 remaining.

-January 29th in Calgary; Hitmen 5 Ice 1. Kyle Bortis 2g 1a.

-January 30th in Cranbrook; Hitmen 6 Ice 3. Ryan White 2g 3a.

INSIDE THE SERIES

Shots on goal: Calgary 222 Kootenay 160. Powerplays: Calgary 7-40 17.5% Kootenay 1-29 3.5%

Their next meeting is tomorrow in Calgary.

STREAKIN': Kyle Bortis has points (6g 7a) in eight of his last nine games. Brandon Kozun is on a four game point streak; (3g 2a). Brock Nixon (3g) and Ryan White (3a) both have points in three straight games.

PLUS/MINUS: Kyle Bortis leads the WHL in +/- at +38. The last Hitmen to reach such a lofty mark was Andrew Ladd now of the Chicago Blackhawks who finished the 2003-04 season +39.

ROOKIE IMPACT: T.J. Galiardi is the highest scoring Hitmen rookie (67pts) since Andrew Ladd in 2003-04 who collected 75 points.

REGULAR SEASON CAREER WATCH: Karl Alzner is two assists shy of 100. Brock Nixon needs four goals for 100.

PLAYOFF PICTURE: The Hitmen are heading to the Western Hockey League playoffs for the 11th straight season. Calgary has clinched home ice advantage in the opening round and can finish no lower than fourth in the Eastern Conference.

HITMEN ALUMNI: Brett Carson is in the American Hockey League with the Albany River Rats. Carson played parts of four seasons with the Hitmen (2002-2003 to 2005-06) appearing in 234 regular season games. This season, Carson has appeared in 63 games for the River Rats and has 20 points 1g 19a).

DEEP OFFENCE: Six Hitmen have a chance to break the 50 point total this season; Ryan White (69), Kyle Bortis (68), Brock Nixon (67), T.J. Galiardi (67), Brandon Kozun (50) and Ian Duval (48). The last time the Hitmen had that many players collect 50 points in a season was 2001-02 when seven players achieved the mark including rookie forward and current New York Ranger Fredrik Sjostrom who finished the season with exactly 50 points.

THE ROSTER: Calgary is carrying 23 players; (13 forwards, 8 defencemen and 2 goalies). The Hitmen roster features eight rookies. -Break down....3 (20 year-olds), 8 (19 year-olds), 4 (18 year-olds), 6 (17 year-olds), and 2 (16 year-olds).

NHL RADAR: Calgary Hitmen Ian Schultz, Michael Stone and Martin Jones have all made NHL Central Scouting's mid-season rankings for the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Stone is ranked 51st among North American Skaters while Schultz is 94th. Jones is ranked 12th among North American Goaltenders.

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

DIVISIONAL RECORDS: Hitmen vs. Central (21-11-0-0), vs. East (18-6-0-2), vs. BC (4-2-0-1), vs. US (2-1-1-1)

DRAFTED PLAYERS: The Hitmen have eight NHL picks ...Ryan White-(3rd round Montreal 2006), Keith Seabrook-(2nd round Washington 2006), Karl Alzner-(1st round Washington 2007), Alex Plante-(1st round Edmonton 2007), T.J. Galiardi-(2nd round Colorado 2007), Brett Sonne-(3rd round St. Louis 2007), Carson McMillan-(7th round Minnesota 2007) and Paul Postma-(7th round Atlanta 2007).

PLAYOFF TICKETS: Calgary Hitmen playoff tickets are now on sale. Fans who reserve their tickets by March 17th will receive at Hitmen toque. Meanwhile Hitmen 2008-09 Season Tickets are also available. Fans who purchase a season ticket package by July 1st will receive a Hitmen jacket as an early bird bonus.

UPCOMING GAMES: The Hitmen wrap up the WHL regular season Sunday in the return meeting with the Ice. Game time is 5:00 p.m. at the Pengrowth Saddledome.

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