WHL Calgary Hitmen

Calgary Hitmen Game Preview - Friday, February 26 vs Victoria

Published on February 26, 2016 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Calgary Hitmen News Release


CALGARY HITMEN (35-22-2-2, 74 pts.) vs VICTORIA ROYALS (40-16-3-3, 86 pts.)

Friday, February 26, 2016 - 7:00 p.m. - Scotiabank Saddledome

TODAY'S GAME

The Calgary Hitmen wrap up a four-game homestand tonight as they welcome the Victoria Royals to the Scotiabank Saddledome. Calgary is coming off Tuesday's 6-2 win over Portland. Radel Fazleev had a team-leading three points with a goal and two assists while Jakob Stukel scored twice. Taylor Sanheim, Jordy Stallard and Pavel Karnaukhov also netted goals for the Hitmen who received a 31 save performance from goaltender Nik Amundrud. The Hitmen went 1-3 on the powerplay. The Winterhawks 2-8. Calgary is third in the WHL's Central Division with 74 points, one point behind second place Red Deer. The Royals are second in the B.C. Division at 86 points, one point behind the Kelowna Rockets.

HITMEN BROADCAST INFORMATION

Radio: Sportsnet 960-The Fan

Webcast: WHL Live at whl.neulion.com

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STREAKS

- Travis Sanheim (2g, 8a) is on an eight-game point streak and has points (4g, 26a) in 22 of his last 23 games.

- Radel Fazleev (2g, 8a) has points in five consecutive games.

- Jordy Stallard (2g, 1a) is on a three-game point streak.

- Jake Bean (3a) has points in back-to-back contests.

- Nik Amundrud has won his last two starts and has posted a 2.34 goals against average and .908 save percentage in 16 games since joining the Hitmen in a Nov. 30, 2015 trade with Saskatoon.

NOTEWORTHY

VS. VICTORIA: Tonight is the second and final regular season meeting between the Hitmen and Royals this season. Victoria took the opener earlier this month on Vancouver Island. Over the last five seasons, the Calgary is 5-5 against the Royals, including a 2-2 record at the "Dome.

2015-16 SERIES RECAP

Feb. 3/16 at VIC: VIC 3 CAL 2...Matthew Phillips led the Royals with two goals and an assist.

INSIDE THE SERIES

Shots on Goal: CAL 29 VIC 26 Power Plays: CAL 0-5 (0%) VIC 2-8 (25%)

HERE WE GO: Tonight marks the sixth game in 10 nights for the Hitmen. So far during this stretch they are 3-1-1-0. It's also Game 6 in a span that sees the Hitmen play seven games in 11 nights.

DID YOU KNOW?: Calgary is 3-6-0-1 this season against teams from the B.C. Division...The Hitmen have not been awarded a penalty shot this season...Calgary is the second-most penalized team in the league, averaging 18.16 minutes per game...The 10 shorthanded goals scored by the Hitmen this season is tied for fourth overall. Prince George leads the WHL with 13.

TOP 10 COLLIDE: Tonight's game features two of the WHL's Top 10 teams in the standings. Victoria is second overall with 86 points while the Hitmen are tied with Prince Albert for seventh at 74 points.

PLAYOFFS IN SIGHT: Calgary's current magic number to clinch a post-season berth is one point. Any combination of one point either gained by the Hitmen or lost by both Swift Current and Saskatoon will lock up a playoff spot for Calgary. The Hitmen, who captured league titles in 1999 and 2010, have made the post-season in each of the last four seasons and have missed the playoffs only once since 1998.

ELITE COMPANY: Jake Bean netted his 20th goal of the season on Feb. 8 in Kamloops, becoming the first defenceman to record 20 or more goals in a WHL season since the 2013-14 campaign. That season Josh Morrissey (28), Ryan Pulock (23), Shea Theodore (22) and Madison Bowey (21) were all members of the 20-goal club. Bean now has 22 goals. The Hitmen franchise record for most goals by a defenceman in a single season is 23, set by Paul Postma in 2008-09.

WHAT'S LEFT: Including tonight, Calgary has 11 regular season games remaining, six at home and five on the road.

RECORD BOOKS: Earlier this season, Travis Sanheim set a new franchise record for the longest assist streak by a defenceman at 14 games. The previous mark of eight was established by Matt Kinch from Nov. 21 to Dec. 10, 1999. Sanheim enters tonight's game with 116 career assists, 13th on the club's all-time regular season assist list. Greg Chase owns 12th spot with 117. The franchise leader is Brad Moran who had 246 career helpers.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Calgary's power play, which has scored at least once in four of the last five games, is 10th in the WHL at 21.2%. Only Lethbridge (71) and Victoria (60) have scored more power play goals than Calgary's 59 this season. The Hitmen penalty kill is sixth in the league at 81.9%.

DYNAMIC DUO: Calgary has two of the top 10 scoring defencemen in the WHL in Jake Bean and Travis Sanheim. Bean (22g, 34a) has 56 points to sit fourth among defencemen while Sanheim's (10g, 42a) 52 points place him sixth. Bean's career-high 22 goals lead the league while his 10 power play goals are tied for top spot. Sanheim is tied for fourth in assists among blueliners.

POWERPLAY PRODUCTION: Hitmen forward Jakob Stukel is tied for the league-lead in powerplay goals with Noah Gregor of Moose Jaw at 15.

WHL COUNTDOWN: To celebrate 50 seasons, the Western Hockey League is counting down its Top 50 Players of All-Time, as voted by fans. So far, two former Hitmen have made the list in Pavel Brendl (No. 45) and Brad Moran (No. 38).

SILVER MEDAL: Hitmen prospect Tristen Nielsen, a 2015 first-round WHL Bantam Draft pick, played for Canada in ice hockey at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway. Canada advanced to the final but lost 5-2 to the United States in the Feb. 21 gold medal game. Nielsen recorded one assist in five games.

NHL DRAFT WATCH: Six Hitmen are among the top players available for the 2016 NHL Draft. The midterm rankings list is compiled by NHL Central Scouting Service and splits prospects into both North American (NA) and International categories. There are five Hitmen among North American skaters, including Jake Bean who is the top-ranked Western Hockey League prospect at number 13. Teammates Jordy Stallard (84th), Carsen Twarynski (95th), Jakob Stukel (113th) and Beck Malenstyn (124th) round out the skaters list. Cody Porter also earned a spot in the rankings among North American goalies at number 18. The 2016 NHL Draft will be held at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York on June 24-25.

TEETER TOTTER: Calgary has been in a series of several runs this season. They started the 2015-16 schedule 5-1-0-1 before going 4-9-0-0 in their next 13 games. They then went on a major roll, posting a mark of 16-3-1-0, followed by a 2-5-0-0 stretch but are 8-4-1-1 since.

RACE FOR THE TOP: It would appear the Hitmen team scoring title will go down to the wire this season as three players are within 10 points of each other; Radel Fazleev (62), Jake Bean (56), Travis Sanheim (52).

POST-GAME AUTOGRAPHS: Meet Hitmen forward Jakob Stukel following tonight's game at the Hitmen Booster Club table located behind section 212 on the concourse.

PROMO CALENDAR

Hitmen single game tickets are on sale now. Upcoming home game highlights include:

- Multicultural Night on Sunday, Mar. 6 against Red Deer

- The North-South Shrine Hockey Challenge on Saturday, Mar. 12 against Edmonton

- Fan Appreciation Day, including a pre-game on-ice player awards ceremony, on Sunday, Mar. 20 versus Kootenay

MILESTONES

- Radel Fazleev needs three assists to reach 100.

- Jake Bean is five points away from 100.

- Micheal Zipp is one point shy of 50.

- Tyler Mrkonjic is eight games away from 200 while Matteo Gennero is nine games back of 200.

- Cody Porter is 12 minutes played away from 4,000.

- Dawson Martin scored his first career WHL goal on Feb. 20 against Lethbridge.

- Jackson Houck played his 300th career game on Feb. 20 against Lethbridge while Taylor Sanheim hit 100 career games on Feb. 19 in Medicine Hat.

- Nik Amundrud eclipsed 1,500 career saves Feb. 20 against Lethbridge.

Check out the Calgary Hitmen Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from February 26, 2016


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