WHL Calgary Hitmen

Calgary Hitmen Game Preview - Tuesday, March 8 vs Saskatoon

Published on March 8, 2016 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Calgary Hitmen News Release


CALGARY HITMEN (36-25-2-2, 76 pts.) vs SASKATOON BLADES (25-37-4-0, 54 pts.)

Tuesday, March 8, 2016 - 7:00 p.m. MT - Scotiabank Saddledome

TODAY'S GAME

The Calgary Hitmen wrap up a two game homestand tonight against the Saskatoon Blades. It's RE/MAX Chuck-A-Puck. Purchase a puck and toss it on the ice in the second intermission for a chance to win one of four hot air balloon rides. Proceeds will support the Children's Miracle Network and Jr. Hitmen Hockey. The Hitmen are coming off Sunday's 4-3 home ice loss to Red Deer. Jake DeBrusk had a goal and an assist for the visitors who never trailed, building leads of 2-0 and 4-2. Travis Sanheim, who had a team-leading eight shots, led the Hitmen with a goal and an assist. Both teams recorded 26 shots but the Rebels won the special teams battle going 2-5 on the powerplay while killing all four shorthanded situations. The Hitmen are third in the WHL's Central Division with 76 points, nine points behind second place Red Deer but with a game in hand. The Blades, at 54 points, are tied for fifth in the East Division with Swift Current, nine points behind Edmonton for the final Eastern Conference Wildcard spot.

HITMEN BROADCAST INFORMATION

Radio: Sportsnet 960-The Fan

Webcast: WHL Live at whl.neulion.com

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STREAKS

- Pavel Karnaukhov (2g, 2a) is on a three-game point streak.

- Carsen Twarynski (2g, 1a) has scored in back-to-back games.

- Matteo Gennaro (4a) has assists in four consecutive games.

- Travis Sanheim has points (5g, 28a) in 24 of his last 28 games.

NOTEWORTHY

VS SASKATOON: Tonight is the fourth and final regular season meeting with Calgary leading the season series 3-0. Radel Fazleev (2g, 6a) tops the Hitmen with eight points against the Blades while Micheal Zipp (3g, 2a) and Jakob Stukel (4g, 1a) are next with five points each. Connor Gay (4g, 1a) is the leading Blade against the Hitmen with five points. The departed Brycen Martin (1g, 3a) is next with four points. Over the last five seasons, Calgary is 13-5-0-1 against Saskatoon including a 5-3-0-1 record at the "Dome.

2015-16 REGULAR SEASON SERIES RECAP

Nov. 3/15 at SAS: CAL 6 SAS 3...Micheal Zipp scored two goals and added an assist.

Nov. 22/15 at CAL: CAL 5 SAS 2...Jake Bean had two goals and an assist.

Nov. 25/15 at SAS: CAL 4 SAS 2...Tyler Mrkonjic and Radel Fazleev both had a goal and an assist.

INSIDE THE SERIES

Shots on Goal: CAL 91 SAS 76 Power Plays: CAL 4-15 (26.7%) SAS 2-11 (18.2%)

PLAYOFF BOUND: Calgary, who will face either Red Deer or Lethbridge in the opening round has clinched a post season berth for the fifth season in a row. The Hitmen, who captured league titles in 1999 and 2010, have missed the playoffs only once since 1998.

SHOT CLOCK: Calgary is giving up an average of 26.75 shots per game, the second lowest total in the WHL, trailing only Everett's 26.06.

DID YOU KNOW?: Calgary is 15-7-0-1 this season against teams from the East Division....The Hitmen are 21-5-0-1 when leading after the first period....Only Prince George (306) and Edmonton (296) have been shorthanded more than Calgary's 289 times this season. On the flip slide, Everett has been shorthanded a league-low 188 times.

SLOW STARTS: The Hitmen have surrendered the opening goal in each of the last four games.

BUSY TIMES: Last Friday's game in Red Deer kicked off a stretch of seven games in 12 days. Tonight is Calgary's third game in give days

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 seven regular season games remaining, four at home and three on the road. Tonight is also Calgary's last contest against an opponent from outside their division.

DYNAMIC DUO: Calgary has two of the top 10 scoring defencemen in the WHL in Jake Bean and Travis Sanheim. Bean (22g, 37a) has 59 points to sit fifth among defencemen while Sanheim's (11g, 44a) 55 points place him tied for sixth. Bean's career-high 22 goals lead the league while his 10 power play goals are tied for second.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Calgary's power play is 11th in the WHL at 21.4%. The Hitmen penalty kill is fifth in the league at 81.3%.

DYNAMIC DUO: Calgary has two of the top 10 scoring defencemen in the WHL in Jake Bean and Travis Sanheim. Bean (22g, 37a) has 59 points to sit fifth among defencemen while Sanheim's (11g, 44a) 55 points place him tied for sixth. Bean's career-high 22 goals lead the league while his 10 power play goals are tied for second.

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 118 career assists, 12th on the club's all-time regular season assist list. Ryan Getzlaf owns 11th spot with 120 assists. The franchise leader is Brad Moran who had 246 career helpers.

POWERPLAY PRODUCTION: Hitmen forward Jakob Stukel is in a four-way tie for the league-lead in powerplay goals at 15 with Cole Sanford of Regina, Noah Gregor of Moose Jaw and Parker Bowles of Tri-City.

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 44 points (19g, 25a) this season. Twarynski, who notched 22 points in his rookie campaign, has 37 points (16g, 21a).

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 9-7-1-1 since.

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

HITMEN ALUMNUS: Spencer Humphries is in the ECHL with the Evansville Icemen. The 23-year-old left defenceman has 16 points (2g, 14a) in 53 games. Humphries played parts of three seasons with the Hitmen from 2010-11 to 2012-13, collecting 88 points (15g, 73a) in 156 games.

PROMO CALENDAR

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

- 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 two assists to reach 100.

- Jake Bean is two points away from 100.

- Micheal Zipp is one point shy of 50.

- Tyler Mrkonjic is four games away from 200 while Matteo Gennaro is five 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.

Check out the Calgary Hitmen Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from March 8, 2016


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