Calgary Hitmen Game Preview - Saturday, February 27 at Swift Current
Published on February 27, 2016 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Calgary Hitmen News Release
CALGARY HITMEN (35-23-2-2, 74 pts.) at SWIFT CURRENT BRONCOS (21-32-5-3, 50 pts.)
Saturday, February 27, 2016 - 6:00 p.m. MT - Credit Union i-Plex
TODAY'S GAME
The Calgary Hitmen open a two-game road trip tonight in Swift Current against the Broncos. Calgary is coming off last night's 6-2 home ice loss to the Victoria Royals. Ryan Gagnon and Tyler Soy both scored twice for the Royals who built period leads of 3-0 and 5-1. Bryce Platt and Jordy Stallard replied for Calgary who was outshot 34-23. The Hitmen went 0-4 on the powerplay. Victoria 1-5. Calgary is third in the WHL's Central Division with 74 points, three points behind second place Red Deer. The Broncos are tied for fifth in the East Division at 50 points, 11 points behind Edmonton for the second and final Eastern Conference Wildcard spot.
HITMEN BROADCAST INFORMATION
Radio: Sportsnet.ca/960 (Alt Stream)
Webcast: WHL Live at whl.neulion.com
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STREAKS
- Radel Fazleev (2g, 8a) has points in five consecutive games.
- Jordy Stallard (3g) is on a three-game goal scoring streak and has points (3g, 1a) in four straight games.
- Travis Sanheim (2g, 8a) saw his eight-game point streak end last night against Victoria but has points (4g, 26a) in 22 of his last 25 games.
- Jake Bean (3a) had his two-game point streak end last night against the Royals.
NOTEWORTHY
VS SWIFT CURRENT: Tonight is the fourth and final regular season meeting between the two clubs. Calgary leads the season series 2-1 having outscored the Broncos by a combined 12-10. Jackson Houck (3g, 1a), Jakob Stukel (1g, 3a) and Radel Fazleev (4a) lead the Hitmen with four points each against the Broncos. Lane Pederson tops the Broncos against Calgary with six points (3g, 3a) while Jon Martin (3g, 1a) and Artyom Minulin (4a) both have four points. Over the last five seasons, the Hitmen are 13-5-0-1 against Swift Current including a 4-4-0-1 record in Saskatchewan.
2015-16 SERIES RECAP
Dec. 6/15 at CAL: CAL 2 SC 1 Shootout...Jake Bean scored the winner.
Jan. 15/16 at SC: SC 7 CAL 4... Artyom Minulin had four assists to lead the Broncos.
Jan. 23/16 at CAL: CAL 6 SC 2...Jackson Houck netted a hat-trick for Calgary.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CAL 109 SC 60 Power Plays: CAL 5-14 (35.7%) SC 3-10 (30%)
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 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.
COMING TO AN END: Tonight ends one of busiest stretches of the season for the Hitmen. It's their seventh game in 11 nights.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Tonight is Calgary's first road game following a four-game home stand that saw the club post a record of 2-1-1-0. The Hitmen last played in an enemy arena on Friday, Feb. 19 when they outshot Medicine Hat 50-30 but lost 3-2 to the Tigers.
BREAKOUT SEASONS: Hitmen sophomore forwards Jordy Stallard and Carsen Twarynski have both taken major steps offensively for Calgary in 2015/16. Stallard, who recorded 23 points last season, has 46 points (18g, 25a) this season. Twarynski, who notched 22 points in his rookie campaign, has 34 points (14g, 20a).
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 10 regular season games remaining, five at home and five on the road. Eight of those games are also against teams from their own division.
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 is 10th in the WHL at 20.9%. Only Lethbridge (71) and Victoria (61) have scored more power play goals than Calgary's 59 this season. The Hitmen penalty kill is sixth in the league at 81.9%.
POWERPLAY PRODUCTION: Hitmen forward Jakob Stukel is tied for the league-lead in powerplay goals with Noah Gregor of Moose Jaw at 15.
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.
DID YOU KNOW?: Calgary is 14-7-0-1 this season against teams from the East Division.
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 8-5-1-1 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).
HITMEN ALUMNUS: Connor Rankin is playing CIS Men's Hockey with the Mount Royal University Cougars. The 21-year-old left winger had seven points (2g, 5a) in 11 games during the regular season after leaving pro hockey. Rankin and the Cougars are now in the Canada West semifinals squaring off against Alberta this weekend in a best-of-three series. Alberta won the opener 7-1 last night with Rankin picking up an assist on the lone Cougars lone goal. Rankin played parts of two seasons with the Hitmen from 2013 to 2015, collecting 94 points (39g, 55a) in 95 games.
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 seven games away from 200 while Matteo Gennero is eight games back of 200.
- Cody Porter passed the 4,000 minutes played mark last night against Victoria.
- 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.
Western Hockey League Stories from February 27, 2016
- Royals Topple Rebels - Victoria Royals
- T-Birds Shut out Silvertips - Seattle Thunderbirds
- Fantastic Five - Saskatoon Blades
- Rihards Bukarts Scores in OT to Give Winterhawks a 4-3 Win - Portland Winterhawks
- Pats lose to Blades - Regina Pats
- Hitmen clinch a playoff spot for the fifth straight season - Calgary Hitmen
- Prince Albert splits weekend road swing - Prince Albert Raiders
- Game Day Report: Blazers Host Giants - Kamloops Blazers
- Calgary Hitmen Game Preview - Saturday, February 27 at Swift Current - Calgary Hitmen
- Game Notes: Broncos Host Hitmen - Swift Current Broncos
- Game 63: February 27 vs. Brandon - Medicine Hat Tigers
- Schneider Solid in Crucial Victory - Medicine Hat Tigers
- Nikolishin with the Winner; Rebels Edge Portland 4-3 In - Red Deer Rebels
- Three-Goal First Period Lifts Seattle Past Tri-City 4-2 - Tri-City Americans
- Baillie Hits 300 Points: Rockets over Giants 4-3 - Kelowna Rockets
- Kelowna gets past Vancouver - Kelowna Rockets
- Blazers Beat Silvertips 3-2 In Overtime - Kamloops Blazers
- T-Birds Trump Americans; Keep Them from Being Great - Seattle Thunderbirds
- Bondra Scores Twice in 4-3 Loss to Kelowna - Vancouver Giants
- Chiefs Fall Flat on Friday Night, Lose 6-0 - Spokane Chiefs
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.
