WHL Calgary Hitmen

Calgary Hitmen Game Preview - Friday, December 28 at Edmonton

December 28, 2018 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Calgary Hitmen News Release


CALGARY HITMEN (15-15-3-1, 34 pts.) at EDMONTON OIL KINGS (18-12-4-2, 42 pts.)

Friday - 7:00 p.m. MT - Rogers Place

TODAY'S GAME

The Calgary Hitmen play their first game in 12 days tonight as they visit the Edmonton Oil Kings to kick off their post-holiday break schedule. The Hitmen haven't played since Dec. 16 when they dropped a 6-4 decision to the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes. Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Jordy Bellerive led the "Canes with two goals and an assist while Dylan Cozens and Ty Prefontaine both added a goal and an assist. Taylor Ross and Logan Barlage tallied the other Lethbridge markers. Kaden Elder paced the Hitmen attack with a goal and an assist while Mark Kastelic, Bryce Bader and Riley Stotts rounded out the scoring. Calgary outshot the visitors 28-26.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Radio: Sportsnet 960-The Fan

Webcast: WHL Live at whl.neulion.com

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STREAKS

- James Malm (3g, 6a) is on a team leading seven-game point streak.

- Jake Kryski (4g, 2a) has points in four consecutive games.

- Kaden Elder (2g, 1a) has points in back-to-back games.

- Egor Zamula (5g, 7a) saw his career high six-game point streak snapped Dec. 16 against Lethbridge while a four-game streak ended for Carson Focht (4a) that same day.

NOTEWORTHY VS. EDMONTON: Tonight is the fourth of eight regular season meetings between the Hitmen and Oil Kings. Calgary is 1-1-1-0 against Edmonton with the Oil Kings outscoring the Hitmen by a combined 12-9. Jake Kryski (5g, 1a) is Calgary's top performer in the season series with six points while Kaden Elder (2g, 1a) and Egor Zamula (3a) both have three. Quinn Benjafield (2g, 2a) and Brett Kemp (1g, 3a) lead the Oil Kings with four points. Carter Souch (2g, 1a) and Vince Loschiavo (1g, 2a) are next with three. Calgary is 4-2-3-1 in their last 10 visits to Edmonton.

2018-19 SERIES RECAP Sept. 29/18 at CGY: EDM 6 CGY 3...The Oil Kings took a 4-0 lead to the third period. Dec. 1/18 at CGY: CGY 4 EDM 3 OT...Kaden Elder scored the winner 2:30 into the extra session. Dec. 15/18 at EDM: EDM 3 CGY 2 OT...Andrew Fyten scored the winner 40 seconds into extra time.

INSIDE THE SERIES Shots on Goal: CGY 109 EDM 105 Power Plays: CGY 2-12 (16.7%) EDM 2-15 (13.3%)

BOUNCING BACK: Since starting the season 0-5-1-0, the Hitmen have gone 15-10-2-1.

MIDWAY MARK: Tonight is Game 35 for Calgary, officially marking the start of the second half of their 68 game regular season schedule.

RECENT RUN: Calgary has picked up 20 of a possible 28 points in their last 14 games posting a record of 9-3-1-1. Special teams have been a major driver with the power play a combined 13-40 (32.5%) while the penalty kill is 43-49 (87.8%).

WHL TOP 15: Mark Kastelic is tied for sixth in the WHL in goals with 23 while his 127 shots on goal sit tied for 14th. Josh Prokop is tied for 14th in rookie scoring with 16 points. Egor Zamula is in a two-way tie for seventh in defencemen scoring with 29 points.

TEDDY BEAR RECAP: Hitmen forward Kaden Elder scored 4:18 into the first period of The Brick Teddy Bear Toss 2018 on Dec. 9 triggering a waterfall of 29,635 stuffed toys at the Scotiabank Saddledome. That tally set a new franchise record for most bears collected in a single toss breaking the previous mark of 28,815 established in 2015. Nearly 70 local agencies, including the Salvation Army, Calgary Food Bank, Siksika Nation and Hospice Calgary shared the bears this holiday season. The Brick also donated 25 cents for every bear tossed to the Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation for a total of $7,408.75. Each bear was counted one by one by over 100 volunteers who included students, teachers, grandparents and hockey fans. Since the inaugural 1995 toss, the Hitmen, with generous support from their partners and fans, have provided the community with 377,583 teddy bears.

DID YOU KNOW?: Hitmen defenceman Vladislav Yeryomenko helped Team Belarus win silver at the 2019 IIHF World U20 Championship in Germany. Belarus finished the Division I Group A tournament with a 2-0 round-robin loss to Latvia on Dec. 15 but still claimed second spot. This was the third trip to the World Juniors for Yeryomenko. He also won gold in 2017.

HOME AND AWAY COMPARISON: The Hitmen are 7-8-1-1 on the road while Edmonton is 10-5 at home.

SHOT CLOCK: Calgary is averaging 35.7 shots per game. On the flip side the Hitmen are surrendering an average of 30 shots.

CANADA WINTER GAMES: Three Hitmen prospects have been named to play in the 2019 Canada Winter Games. Forward Sean Tschigerl will suit up for Team Alberta with defenceman Tyson Galloway on Team British Columbia and defenceman Rory Neill on Manitoba. The tournament will be held in Red Deer from Feb. 16-22.

CORRAL SERIES: The Hitmen will play a trio of games this season at the historic Stampede Corral. Tickets start at $29.25 for adults and $21.75 for kids (plus applicable Ticketmaster fees and taxes). Also available is the three-game pack for $69 (plus applicable Ticketmaster fees and taxes). "The Corral Series" presented by Adrenalin Source for Sports, will see Calgary host the Brandon Wheat Kings on Friday, Feb. 1, the Regina Pats on Wednesday, Feb. 6 and the Prince Albert Raiders on Friday, Feb. 8. All are 7:00 p.m. starts in the vintage building that first opened on Dec. 15, 1950 and was the original home of the Calgary Flames from 1980-83. Each game will be dedicated to a former elite team who once called the Corral home by wearing commemorative jerseys of the Calgary Centennials, Wranglers and Cowboys.

MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Carl Stankowski (2-4 weeks, lower body), Tye Carriere (4-6 weeks, upper body).

IN THE COMMUNITY: This holiday season the Hitmen are partnering with the Calgary Zoo for ZOOLIGHTS. Hitmen players will visit the Zoo's outdoor rink on four occasions for public skating. Carson Focht, Josh Prokop, Luke Coleman and Jake Kryski along with mascot Farley the Fox have all dropped by so far. The next visit, weather permitting, is Saturday, Dec. 29 when Cael Zimmerman and Hunter Campbell will pop in from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. There is also once more scheduled appearance on Jan. 3 with Mark Kastelic and Dakota Krebs. Fans can take advantage of a special Hitmen/ZOOLIGHTS Family Pack. For $99.95 plus GST receive four Hitmen ticket vouchers and four ZOOLIGHTS tickets (2 Adults, 2 Child). Full details available at hitmenhockey.com.

ALUMNUS REPORT: Brooks Macek, who played parts of three seasons with the Hitmen from 2010-13 is in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves. The 26-year-old forward from Winnipeg, MB has 32 points (16g, 16a) in 31 games. Macek signed a one-year two-way deal with the Vegas Golden Knights in June of 2018. During his time in Calgary he tallied 135 points (51g, 84a) in 149 games to sit 30th on the clubs' all-time regular season points list.

HITMEN VS: (BDN 1-0), (EDM 1-1-1-0), (EVT 0-1), (KAM 1-0), (KEL 1-0), (KTN 2-1), (LET 1-3), (MH 1-1), (MJ 2-0), (POR 1-0), (PA 0-2), (PG 0-0), (RD 0-4-1-0), (REG 0-0-1-0), (SAS 1-2), (SEA 1-0), (SPO 1-0), (SC 1-0), (TC 0-0-0-1), (VAN 0-0), (VIC 0-0). HITMEN YEAR END BUNDLE: The Hitmen are offering fans a Boxing Week special. For $29.99 plus GST you receive a Hitmen single game voucher redeemable for any remaining regular season game in Scotiabank Saddledome plus a ticket for the "One Ticket, One Tree" game on Friday, Mar. 8 against Edmonton. Some exclusions do apply. Every ticket for the "One Ticket, One Tree" game plants a tree in Alberta. Go to hitmenhockey.com/offers to purchase yours today.

UPCOMING GAMES All times in MT. Schedule subject to change. DATE

OPPONENT TIME BROADCAST

Dec. 30 vs. Vancouver 2:00 p.m. Sportsnet 960-The Fan

Jan. 1 vs. Victoria 1:00 p.m. Sportsnet 960-The Fan

Jan. 4 vs. Red Deer 4:00 p.m. Sportsnet.ca/960 (Alt Stream)

Jan. 5 vs. Medicine Hat 1:30 p.m. Sportsnet 960-The Fan

Jan. 9 at Moose Jaw 6:00 p.m. Sportsnet.ca/960 (Alt Stream)

PROMO CALENDAR

Upcoming home game highlights include: - Soccer Day and Sunday Funday presented by Ricky's All Day Grill on Dec. 30 vs. VAN

- Airdrie Day on Jan. 1 vs. VIC presented by Southland Transportation - Wizarding Day on Jan. 5 vs. MH - Sunday Funday presented by Ricky's All Day Grill on Jan. 20 vs. RD - CBE Night on Jan. 25 vs. PG

- Dodge Skate with the Hitmen on Jan. 27 vs. KTN - The Corral Series - Presented by Adrenalin Source for Sports on Feb.1 vs. BDN, Feb. 6 vs. REG and Feb. 8 vs. PA. Tickets on sale starting Nov. 26 - Family Game and Sunday Funday presented by Ricky's All Day Grill on Feb. 10 vs. MJ

- Lunar Celebration/Calgary Catholic on Feb. 15 vs. MH - TELUS BE BRAVE on Feb. 27 vs. SC - Multicultural Night on Mar. 1 vs. BDN - WHL Suits up with Don Cherry to Promote Organ Donation - Presented by RE/MAX and Sunday Funday presented by Ricky's All Day Grill on Mar. 3 vs. KTN - One Ticket, One Tree on Mar. 8 vs. EDM - Fan Appreciation on Mar. 17 vs. EDM

CAREER MILESTONE WATCH

- Riley Stotts is one game shy of 150 while Kaden Elder needs three points for 100.

- James Malm is two games shy of 200 and one assist away from 100. He reached the 150 point mark on Dec. 9 against Kamloops.

- Jack McNaughton needs six saves for 500. He passed 1,000 minutes played on Dec. 14 against Kelowna.

Check out the Calgary Hitmen Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from December 28, 2018


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