WHL Calgary Hitmen

Calgary Hitmen Game Preview - Sunday, February 21 vs Medicine Hat

Published on February 21, 2016 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Calgary Hitmen News Release


CALGARY HITMEN (34-22-1-2, 71 pts.) vs MEDICINE HAT TIGERS (21-34-3-1, 46 pts.)

Sunday, February 21, 2016 - 4:00 p.m. - Scotiabank Saddledome

TODAY'S GAME

The Calgary Hitmen play their third game in as many days this afternoon, hosting the Medicine Hat Tigers for Sunday Funday presented by Booster Juice and McKnight 24 Hour Veterinary Hospital. The day features face painters and a post-game family skate. All participants under 18 are required to wear a helmet. A special kids ticket price of $7.50 (plus applicable fees) for children 12 and under is available for Sunday home games. Calgary began their busy weekend stretch with a 3-2 road loss to the Tigers on Friday evening before rebounding last night with a 3-2 home win over the CHL's #7 ranked Lethbridge Hurricanes. Jakob Stukel scored twice for Calgary, his team-leading 28th and 29th goals of the season, while rookie Dawson Martin netted his first career Western Hockey League goal, the eventual game winner. Nik Amundrud made 25 saves between the Hitmen pipes, preserving the victory with a partial breakaway save off of Hurricane captain Tyler Wong in the dying seconds. The Hitmen remain third in the WHL's Central Division with 71 points, four points behind Red Deer but with a game in hand on the Rebels. The Tigers sit fifth in the division with 46 points, 11 points back of the Edmonton Oil Kings for the 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

- Travis Sanheim (1g, 7a) is on a six-game point streak and has points (3g, 25a) in 20 of his last 21 games and assists (15a) in 11 straight home games.

- Radel Fazleev (1g, 5a) and Jakob Stukel (3g, 1a) both have points in each of their last three games.

NOTEWORTHY

VS. MEDICINE HAT: Today is the fifth of six regular season meetings between the two teams. Medicine Hat leads the season series 3-1 outscoring the Hitmen by a combined 16-9. Jordy Stallard (3a) tops Calgary with three points against the Tigers while Bryce Platt (2g), Carsen Twarynski (2g), Radel Fazleev (1g, 1a), Jake Bean (2a) and the departed Layne Bensmiller (2a) all have two points each. Mason Shaw (2g, 5a) leads Medicine Hat in the season series with seven points. Chad Butcher (3g, 1a), David Quenneville (1g, 3a) and Ty Stanton (4a) are next with four each. Over the last five seasons, Calgary is 11-15-1-1 against the Tigers including a 6-6-0-1 record when playing at the "Dome. The Hitmen and Tigers will meet again on Sunday, Mar. 13, in Calgary.

2015-16 REGULAR SEASON SERIES RECAP

Oct. 17/15 at MH: MH 6 CAL 0...Austin Lotz made 27 saves for the shutout.

Dec. 18/15 at MH: CAL 2 MH 0...Cody Porter recorded a 32 saves shutout.

Dec. 19/15 at CAL: MH 7 CAL 5...Cole Sanford and Max Gerlach both scored twice.

Feb. 19/16 at MH: MH 3 CAL 2...The Tigers erased a 2-1 third period deficit.

INSIDE THE SERIES

Shots on Goal: CAL 137 MH 116 Power Plays: CAL 3-20 (15.0%) MH 4-15 (26.7%)

HERE WE GO: Today marks the final game of a three-in-three stretch for the Hitmen. It's also Game 4 in a span that sees the Hitmen play seven games in 11 nights.

PLAYOFFS IN SIGHT: Calgary's current magic number to clinch a post-season berth is seven points. Any combination of points either gained by the Hitmen or lost by Swift Current totaling seven will lock up a playoff spot for Calgary.

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 today, Calgary has 13 regular season games remaining, eight 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 today's game with 115 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 21.4%. Only Lethbridge (69) and Victoria (60) have scored more power play goals than Calgary's 57 this season. The Hitmen penalty kill is fifth in the league at 82.4%.

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

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY: Hitmen prospect Tristen Nielsen, a 2015 first-round WHL Bantam Draft pick, is representing Canada in ice hockey at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games. Canada finished the preliminary round with a record of 3-1 and defeated Finland 4-3 in overtime in yesterday's semi-final. Canada will now face the United States in today's gold medal game. Nielsen has an assist through four games played.

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.

DYNAMIC DUO: Calgary has two of the top 10 scoring defencemen in the WHL in Jake Bean and Travis Sanheim. Bean (22g, 31a) has 53 points to sit fifth among defencemen while Sanheim's (9g, 41a) 50 points place him tied for 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.

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 7-4-0-1 since.

RACE FOR THE TOP: It would appear the Hitmen team scoring title will go down to the wire this season as four players are within 10 points of each other; Radel Fazleev (58), Jake Bean (53), Travis Sanheim (50) and Jakob Stukel (48).

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).

BIG SCREEN MOMENT: Calgary Hitmen assistant coach Joel Otto will be recognized this weekend at the 2016 NHL Stadium Series in Minneapolis. He's being honoured among the Top Minnesota-born Scorers, both past and present. Otto comes in at number 10 with 508 career NHL points (195g, 313a).

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

- Jackson Houck played his 300th career game last night against Lethbridge while Taylor Sanheim hit 100 career games played on Friday in Medicine Hat.

- Tyler Mrkonjic is 10 games shy of 200 while Matteo Gennaro is 11 games back of 200.

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

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

- Micheal Zipp is one point shy of 50 while Carsen Twarynski passed the 50-point plateau on Feb. 12 against Red Deer.

- Jake Bean is eight points shy of 100 while Radel Fazleev is six assists away from 100.

- Keegan Kanzig played his 300th career game on Feb.6 in Kelowna.

- Jake Bean hit the century mark in games played on Feb. 3 in Victoria.

Check out the Calgary Hitmen Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from February 21, 2016


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