Calgary Hitmen Game Preview - Monday, February 17 at Kelowna
Published on February 17, 2020 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Calgary Hitmen News Release
CALGARY HITMEN (30-18-4-1, 65 pts.) at KELOWNA ROCKETS (24-26-1-2, 51 pts.)
Monday, February 17, 2020 - 3:05 p.m. MT - Prospera Place
TODAY'S GAME
The Calgary Hitmen make their second stop on a five-game B.C. Division road trip today as they visit the 2020 Memorial Cup host Kelowna Rockets. The swing began Saturday night with a 4-2 victory in Prince George. The turning point came less than two minutes into the second period. With Calgary leading 2-0, they pushed the advantage to 4-0 when Riley Fiddler-Schultz and Adam Kydd netted goals 42 seconds apart. Carson Focht and Josh Prokop counted the other Calgary markers while Orca Wiesblatt and Dakota Krebs notched two assists each. Hitmen goaltender Brayden Peters made 26 saves to record his 14th win of the season. Calgary, at 65 points, holds the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference sitting four points up on the Saskatoon Blades. The Blades are idle until Friday when they visit Regina. Kelowna, at 51 points, holds the top Wild Card spot in the Western Conference, three points up on Seattle.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Radio: Sportsnet.ca/960 (Alt Stream)
Webcast: WHL Live at whllive.com
STREAKS
- Five Hitmen take three-game point streaks into today's game;
- Mark Kastelic (6g, 2a), Carson Focht (4g, 2a), Josh Prokop (1g, 3a), Orca Wiesblatt (5a) and Jett Woo (1g, 2a).
- Brayden Peters has won his last two starts in goal while posting a 1.50 goals against average and .929 save percentage.
- Riley Stotts (4a), Luke Prokop (4a) and Jackson van de Leest (2a) all had their two-game point streaks snapped Saturday in Prince George.
NOTEWORTHY
VS. KELOWNA: Today is the first and only regular season meeting between the Hitmen and Rockets. They met only once last season as well with Calgary posting a 5-1 win in Alberta. This is Calgary's first visit to Kelowna since Oct. 13, 2017 when the Hitmen skated to a 4-3 victory. That night Nick Schneider made 31 saves in a first-star performance while Cael Zimmerman notched the game winning goal.
2018-19 SERIES RECAP
Dec. 24/19 in CGY: CGY 5 KEL 1...Jake Kryski scored twice while Egor Zamula added a goal and two assists.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CGY 32 KEL 26 Power Plays: CGY 2-5 (40%) KEL 0-5 (0%)
FAST FACTS: The Hitmen have won two in and row and are 8-3 in their last 11 games...So far on this BC road trip Calgary has traveled 1,470 kilometres...The Hitmen are averaging the second fewest shots against per game in the WHL this season at 27.08...Calgary has three of the WHL's top 27 goal scorers in Mark Kastelic (30g, #10), Carson Focht (27g, Tied #11) and Riley Stotts (22g, Tied #27)...The Hitmen are +347 in the Shots For/Shots Against differential...Calgary has outshot their opponents 38 times this season, which equates to 71.7 percent through 53 games... Jett Woo (4g, 15a) leads the Hitmen in power play points with 19. Rookie defenceman Evan Toth tied a career-high with a +4 plus/minus rating on Saturday in Prince George.
DRAFT WATCH: NHL Central Scouting named two Hitmen players to its midterm rankings list ahead of the 2020 NHL Draft. Defenceman Luke Prokop makes the list at number 86 among North American skaters while goaltender Jack McNaughton is ranked 14th among North American goalies.
HOME AND AWAY COMPARISON: Calgary is 13-9-3-0 on the road, posting a 3-1 record in their last four games away from the 'Dome. Kelowna is 12-13-0-1 at home. Today marks the end of a five-game homestand for the Rockets who are 1-3 through the first four games.
MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Andrew Viggars (upper body, indefinite), Egor Zamula (upper body, 3-to-4 months). Total man-games lost: 132
HOMECOMING: Hitmen defenceman Jackson van de Leest is from Kelowna having played his minor hockey in the city from age six to 13. Now in his third full season with Calgary, he was drafted by the Hitmen in the first round, 16th overall, in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft.
FAMILIAR FACE: Today marks the first meeting between the two teams since their January 10th trade which saw the Hitmen acquire a fifth-round pick in the 2021 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft from Kelowna in exchange for 18-year-old forward Jonas Peterek. Peterek, from Havirov, Czech Republic, is in his first season in the WHL. He tallied 16 points (8g, 8a) in 32 games for Calgary after the Hitmen selected him 37th overall in the 2019 CHL Import Draft.
HITMEN MONTH-BY-MONTH: September (3-0-1-0), October (5-3-0-0), November (6-4-1-1), December (3-4-2-0), January (9-5-0-0), February (4-2-0-0).
THE POWER OF THREE: The Hitmen are 29-7-2-0 when holding the opposition to three goals or less. Conversely, Calgary is 1-11-2-1 when giving up four or more goals.
TOP PROSPECTS REWIND: Defenceman Luke Prokop played in the 2020 Kubota CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game on Jan. 16 in Hamilton, becoming the 27th Hitmen player to compete in the event. Jake Bean was the last to appear, suiting up in 2016. Prokop played a regular shift for Team White in their 5-3 victory over Team Red. He finished with one shot on goal and was +1. The game was a showcase for the top CHL players eligible for the upcoming NHL Draft.
ONE YEAR AGO: Calgary is four points ahead of their start through 53 games last season when they owned a record of 28-20-4-1.
HITMEN VS: (BDN 1-2), (EDM 3-5), (EVT 0-1), (KAM 0-0), (KEL 0-0), (LET 2-3-1-0), (MH 3-2), (MJ 4-0), (POR 1-0), (PA 2-0-1-0), (PG 1-0), (RD 4-1-1-0), (REG 4-0), (SAS 1-2), (SEA 0-1), (SPO 0-0), (SC 2-0-1-0), (TC 0-0-0-1), (VAN 0-0), (VIC 0-0), WPG (2-1).
WHAT'S LEFT: Counting today, of Calgary's 15 remaining regular season games, six are at home and nine on the road.
FOREVER A HITMEN: The Hitmen will honour Kelly Kisio for the outstanding contributions he has made to the organization as an executive and coach on Sunday, March 1, when a 'Forever A Hitmen' banner for Kisio will be raised and remain on permanent display at Scotiabank Saddledome. The pre-game ceremony ahead of the Hitmen and Hurricanes game at 4:00 p.m. will enshrine Kisio as the third inductee in the 'Forever A Hitmen' program. He'll join Ryan Getzlaf who was recognized on January 18, 2015 and Andrew Ladd who was honoured on March 8, 2017.
PROSPECT PROFILE: Mason Finley, Calgary's fifth-round pick, 101st overall, in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft is having a stellar season. The 15-year-old has 45 points (21g, 24a) in 30 games for the Okanagan Rockets of the BC Minor Midget League. His dad Jeff played 708 career games in the NHL from 1987 to 2004.
AUCTION ALERT: In their 25th season in the WHL, the Calgary Hitmen are excited to offer fans an opportunity to own a piece of franchise history. Authentic game-worn and game-issued 25th anniversary jerseys are now available for bid at elevateauctions.com/25thAnniversary. This set of jerseys, worn in 11 games from September 27, 2019 to January 12, 2020, will be the only anniversary set auctioned as the current roster players will receive their own jersey worn in games from January 25, 2020 to March 22, 2020. Bidding closes on Monday, March 2 at 8:00 p.m. MT.
UPCOMING GAMES
All times MT. Schedule subject to change.
Date Opponent Time Broadcast
Wed., Feb. 19 at VIC 8:05 PM Sportsnet 960-The Fan
Fri., Feb. 21 at VAN 8:30 PM Sportsnet.ca/960 (Alt Stream)
Sat., Feb. 22 at KAM 8:00 PM Sportsnet 960-The Fan
Thurs., Feb. 27 vs. WPG 11:00 AM Sportsnet 960-The Fan
Fri., Feb. 28 vs. BDN 7:00 PM Sportsnet 960-The Fan
PROMO CALENDAR
Hitmen single game tickets are on sale at all Ticketmaster locations. Upcoming home game highlights include:
- TELUS BE BRAVE #EndBullying Game on Feb. 27 vs. WPG.
- One Ticket, One Tree on Feb. 28 vs. BDN.
- 'Forever A Hitmen' induction of Kelly Kisio on Mar. 1 vs. LET.
- Multicultural Night on Mar. 7 vs. SPO
- WHL Suits Up to Promote Organ Donation presented by RE/MAX on Mar. 15 vs. RD.
- Fan Appreciation presented by Vision Travel on Mar. 22 vs. SC.
CAREER MILESTONE WATCH
- Connor Gabruch is one game shy of 100.
- Dakota Krebs is three games away from 300.
- Mark Kastelic is tied with Brady Brassart for ninth place on the clubs all-time points list with 222.
- Jett Woo and Carson Focht both reached 150 career points Saturday in Prince George while Focht played career game 250 last Wednesday against Regina.
- Jack McNaughton is 25 saves behind Cody Porter for ninth place on the clubs all-time saves list. Porter has 1,734.
- Jackson van de Leest needs one point for 50 while Cael Zimmerman needs two.
Western Hockey League Stories from February 17, 2020
- Hitmen comeback to down Rockets - Kelowna Rockets
- Rebels Finish B.C. Trip with Second Straight Win - Red Deer Rebels
- Royals Earn Point in Overtime Loss to Blazers - Victoria Royals
- Florchuk's Three-Point Night Leads Giants to Their 10th Straight Win - Vancouver Giants
- Cougars Drop Matinee to Rebels - Prince George Cougars
- ICE Tame the Tigers - Winnipeg Ice
- Giants Just Get Past T-Birds - Seattle Thunderbirds
- Tigers Split Season Series with ICE After Falling 4-2 - Medicine Hat Tigers
- Prokop Gives Hitmen 6-5 OT Win - Calgary Hitmen
- Americans Add Sloan to Roster for Central Division Road Trip - Tri-City Americans
- Pats Fall to Brandon in 2-1 Squeaker - Regina Pats
- Winterhawks' Jarvis Named WHL on the Run Player of the Week - Portland Winterhawks
- Raiders' Paddock Named WHL Eli Wilson Goaltending Goaltender of the Week - WHL
- Winterhawks' Jarvis Named WHL On the Run Player of the Week - WHL
- ICE Conclude Road Trip in Medicine Hat. - Winnipeg Ice
- Game 55 vs Winnipeg - Medicine Hat Tigers
- Calgary Hitmen Game Preview - Monday, February 17 at Kelowna - Calgary Hitmen
- Game Day Preview: Pats Return Home for Afternoon Affair against Brandon Monday - Regina Pats
- Offense Explodes in Sunset Game Win - Portland Winterhawks
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
