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WHL Calgary Hitmen

Calgary Hitmen Game Preview - Saturday, February 8 at Red Deer

February 8, 2020 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Calgary Hitmen News Release


CALGARY HITMEN (28-16-4-1, 61 pts.) at RED DEER REBELS (17-28-2-3, 39 pts.)

Saturday, February 8, 2020 - 7:00 p.m. MT - Westerner Park Centrium

TODAY'S GAME

The Calgary Hitmen travel up the QE2 to face the Red Deer Rebels tonight in their fourth meeting in just 15 days. The Hitmen are coming off last night's 2-1 home ice win over Prince Albert where rookie goaltender Brayden Peters made 39 saves, including 17 in the third period in a first star performance. The Hitmen did all their scoring in the opening frame on markers from Josh Prokop and Riley Fiddler-Schultz and have now won six of their last seven games. The lone Prince Albert goal came off the stick of Brayden Watts in the middle frame while a third period push for the equalizer, which included a power play with 1:28 remaining, fell short. The end result was the first regulation loss in 13 games for the Raiders. Prince Albert outshot Calgary 40-28 and went 0-3 on the power play while the Hitmen were 0-1 with the extra attacker. Calgary, at 61 points, holds the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference sitting six points up on the Saskatoon Blades.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Radio: Sportsnet.ca/960 (Alt Stream)

Webcast: WHL Live at whllive.com

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STREAKS

- Riley Stotts (3g, 6a) and Josh Prokop (3g, 3a) both have points in five of their last six games.

- Riley Fiddler-Schultz (2g, 2a) has points in four of his last five games.

- Goaltender Brayden Peters has won five of his last six starts.

NOTEWORTHY VS. RED DEER: Tonight is the sixth of eight regular season meetings between the two clubs. Calgary is 4-0-1 against their Alberta rivals. Riley Stotts (7g, 4a) leads the Hitmen attack against the Rebels with 11 points. Jett Woo (7a) is next with seven while Mark Kastelic (2g, 4a) and Orca Wiesblatt (1g, 5a) both have six. Cameron Hausinger (1g, 1a), Ben King (1g, 1a), Joel Sexsmith (1g, 1a), Josh Tarzwell (1g, 1a) and the departed Dawson Barteaux (1g, 1a) and Brett Davis (2a) are the top-performers for Red Deer with two points each. Calgary is 5-6-1-1 in their last 13 visits to Red Deer. Their next meeting is not until Saturday, Mar. 14 back in Central Alberta.

2019-20 SERIES RECAP Sept. 28/19 in RD: CGY 5 RD 1...Calgary snapped a 1-1 tie 11 minutes into the first period. Dec. 1/19 in CGY: RD 3 CGY 2 OT... Josh Tarzwell netted the game winner 2:13 into the extra session. Jan. 25/20 in RD: CGY 5 RD 2...The Hitmen built a 4-0 third period lead. Jan. 26/20 in CGY: CGY 5 RD 2...Riley Stotts recorded four points (2g, 2a). Feb. 1/20 in CGY: CGY 5 RD 0...Carson Focht and Jackson van de Leest both scored twice for Calgary.

INSIDE THE SERIES Shots on Goal: CGY 152 RD 103 Power Plays: CGY 4-14 (28.8%) RD 1-22 (4.5%)

FAST FACTS: Calgary is 14-9-3-0 against the Central Division...The Hitmen are in the midst of three games in three days for the sixth and final time this season...Calgary has outshot their opponents 34 times this season, that equates to 69.4 percent of the time through 49 games...Riley Stotts (6g, 11a) and Jett Woo (3g, 14a) are tied for the Hitmen lead in power play points with 17 each...Starting tonight, the Hitmen will play six of their next eight games on the road which includes a five-game B.C. Division swing from Feb. 15-22.

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 12-8-3-0 on the road, riding a two-game winning streak away from Scotiabank Saddledome. Red Deer is 9-12-1-3 on home ice but 2-1 in their last three games at Westerner Park Centrium.

MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: Andrew Viggars (upper body, indefinite), Egor Zamula (upper body, 3-to-4 months). Total man-games lost: 128

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 (2-0-0-0).

THE POWER OF THREE: The Hitmen are 27-6-2-0 when holding the opposition to three goals or less. Conversely, Calgary is 1-10-2-1 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.

HITMEN ALUMNUS: Brooks Macek, who played parts of three seasons with the Hitmen from 2010-13 is in the KHL with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg. The 27-year-old forward from Winnipeg, MB has 42 points (21g, 21a) in 54 games. During his time in Calgary he tallied 135 points (51g, 84a) in 149 games and sits 30th on the clubs' all-time regular season points list.

IN THE COMMUNITY: On Monday, the entire team attended Subway Hang with the Hitmen. Hitmen players led four teams through a series of on and off-ice sessions including warm-ups, cool-downs, skill development, scrimmages and video sessions. The evening closed with a meal from Subway and an autograph session. Participating teams included the Springbank Pee Wee 1 Rockies, Bow River Pee Wee Bruins, Crowfoot Pee Wee Coyotes and Girls Hockey Calgary Jr. Inferno.

PROSPECT PROFILE: The Hitmen selected Brandon Whynott in the second round, 35th overall in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft. Whynott is a 6'1", 161-pound forward from Langley, BC who played Bantam Prep with the Yale Lions last season recording 32 points (17g, 15a) in 30 games. The Lions went on to win the CSSBHL Championship where Whynott added another two points (1g, 1a) in five games. This season the 15-year-old has advanced to Midget Prep with Yale. In 27 games he has 30 points (14g, 16a).

ONE YEAR AGO: Calgary is six points ahead of their start through 49 games last season when they owned a record of 25-19-4-1.

HITMEN VS: (BDN 1-2), (EDM 3-5), (EVT 0-1), (KAM 0-0), (KEL 0-0), (LET 2-2-1-0), (MH 3-2), (MJ 4-0), (POR 1-0), (PA 2-0-1-0), (PG 0-0), (RD 4-0-1-0), (REG 3-0), (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).

HITMEN PLEDGE: 'The Hitmen Pledge powered by ENMAX' is here. As part of the 25th anniversary season fans and members of the community are asked to take the pledge and donate 25 volunteer hours to a charitable cause. During the regular season finale, one lucky winner will receive $25,000 to gift to a registered Southern Alberta charity of their choice. Full details can be found at https://hitmenhockey.com/pledge.

UPCOMING GAMES All times MT. Schedule subject to change.

Date Opponent Time Broadcast

Sun., Feb. 9 vs. LET 4:00 PM Sportsnet 960-The Fan

Wed., Feb. 12 vs. REG 7:00 PM Sportsnet.ca/960 (Alt Stream)

Sat., Feb. 15 at PG 8:00 PM Sportsnet.ca/960 (Alt Stream)

Mon., Feb. 17 at KEL 3:05 PM Sportsnet.ca/960 (Alt Stream)

Wed., Feb. 19 at VIC 8:05 PM Sportsnet 960-The Fan

PROMO CALENDAR

Hitmen single game tickets are on sale at all Ticketmaster locations. Upcoming home game highlights include: - Family Game presented by Calgary Co-op. It's also Sunday Funday, presented by Ricky's All Day Grill on Feb. 9 vs. LET. - Canadian Mental Health Association Awareness Game and on Feb. 12 vs. REG. It's also RE/MAX Chuck-A-Puck where four lucky participants will win a hot air balloon ride courtesy of RE/MAX. - 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 - Jett Woo is three points shy of 150 while Carson Focht needs five points to hit 150.

- Mark Kastelic is one point behind Ryan Getzlaf for 10th spot on the clubs all-time points list. Getzlaf tallied 215.

- Jack McNaughton is 40 saves behind Cody Porter for ninth place on the clubs all-time saves list. Porter has 1,734.

- Riley Stotts notched career assist 100 in last Sunday's win over Red Deer.

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