WHL Calgary Hitmen

Calgary Hitmen Game Preview - Tuesday, November 24 at Prince Albert

Published on November 24, 2015 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Calgary Hitmen News Release


CALGARY HITMEN (14-10-0-1, 29 pts.) at PRINCE ALBERT RAIDERS (15-5-2-1, 33 pts.)

Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015 - 6:00 p.m. MT - Art Hauser Centre

TODAY'S GAME

The Calgary Hitmen open a two-game Saskatchewan road trip tonight at the Art Hauser Centre against the CHL's #10 ranked Prince Albert Raiders. The Hitmen are riding a season-high five game winning streak after beating the Saskatoon Blades 5-2 at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Sunday afternoon. Jake Bean (2g, 1a) and Radel Fazleev (3a) had three points each for Calgary. Jakob Stukel, Micheal Zipp and Layne Bensmiller also found the back of the net with Jordy Stallard setting up a pair of goals. Libor Hajek and Connor Gay responded for the visiting Blades who were outshot 32-25. Kyle Dumba made 23 saves to record the win, helping the Hitmen sweep their five-game homestand. Calgary sits second in the WHL's Central Division at 29 points, three points back of the front running Red Deer Rebels. Prince Albert, winners of three in a row, leads the East Division by three points over the Brandon Wheat Kings.

HITMEN BROADCAST INFORMATION

Radio: Sportsnet.ca/960 (Alt Stream) Webcast: WHL Live at whl.neulion.com

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STREAKS

- Three Hitmen take point streaks into tonight's game with Layne Bensmiller (2g, 1a) and Jordy Stallard (1g, 3a) both riding three game streaks while Micheal Zipp (1g, 2a) has points in back-to-back games.

- Keegan Kanzig (1g, 1a) and Carsen Twarynski (1g, 1a) both had their two-game point streaks halted against Saskatoon on Sunday.

- Jake Bean (3g, 1a) has at least a point in two of his last three games.

- Cody Porter has won his last four starts, posting a 1.75 goals-against average and .911 save percentage.

NOTEWORTHY VS PRINCE ALBERT: Tonight is the second of four regular season meetings between the two teams. Prince Albert leads the season series 1-0. Jakob Stukel and Radel Fazleev both have goals for Calgary against the Raiders this season while Reid Gardiner (2g) and Jordan Tkatch (2a) have two points each against the Hitmen. Over the last five seasons, Calgary is 12-4-0-1 against the Raiders including a 6-3 record in Prince Albert. Their next meeting is in nine days, on Thursday, December 3rd in Calgary.

2015-16 REGULAR SEASON SERIES RECAP Nov. 4/15 at PA: PA 3 CAL 2...Reid Gardiner scored the tying and winning goal 25 seconds apart in the final two minutes.

INSIDE THE SERIES Shots on Goal: CAL 26 PA 37 Power Plays: CAL 0-3 (0%) PA 0-6 (0%)

INSIDE THE STREAK: During Calgary's five-game winning streak they have outscoring their opponents by a combined 22-9 while outshooting them 162-104.

DID YOU KNOW? Calgary is tied with Red Deer for the most points over the last 10 games in the Eastern Conference. Both clubs have picked up 14 while posting records of 7-3.

GIANT IMPACT: Since arriving in a trade with the Vancouver Giants on Oct. 27, Jackson Houck, Jakob Stukel and Cody Porter have all made significant contributions. Houck has points in seven of his 10 games with Calgary collecting four goals and 10 assists. He was also named the WHL Player of the Week for the week ending Nov. 15 after recording six assists in two games. Stukel has eight points in 11 games (6g, 2a) while Porter has notched a record of 6-2 with a 2.74 goals-against average.

SHOT CLOCK: Calgary is 12-1 this season when outshooting their opponents. They have outshot the opposition in each of the last five games, averaging 32.4 shots.

OT NUMBERS: Around the Western Hockey League 43 games have got to overtime this season with the vast majority of them 31 or 72.1 percent producing a winner. Ironically the Hitmen have been to overtime twice this season but neither has produced a goal with both contests requiring a shootout. Tonight's opponent in Prince Albert leads the league with eight overtime appearance winning four in sudden death and one more in the shootout.

ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT: As part of the WHL's 50th Season celebrations, the Hitmen presented two distinguished graduates with Alumni Achievement Awards on Nov. 13. Former Hitmen captain and current Anaheim Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf was recognized in the professional hockey category while two-time WHL Scholastic Player of the Year Chris Nielsen, now a senior orthopaedic surgery resident, was honoured in the scholastic category.

HITMEN VS: (BDN 1-0), (EDM 0-2), (EVT 1-0), (KAM 1-0), (KEL 0-1), (KTN 3-0), (LET 0-0), (MH 0-1), (MJ 0-2), (POR 0-0), (PA 0-1), (PG 1-2), (RD 1-0-0-1), (REG 2-0), (SAS 2-0), (SEA 1-0), (SPO 0-1), (SC 0-0), (TC 1-0), (VAN 0-0), (VIC 0-0).

DYNAMIC DUO: The Hitmen have two of the top 10 scoring defencemen in the WHL in Travis Sanheim and Jake Bean. Sanheim's 22 points (6g, 16a) is tied for fifth in the league while Bean (11g, 10a) is tied for seventh with 21 points. Bean's career-high 11 goals tops all blueliners while his five power play markers is tied for first among all rearguards.

FAZ'S FRIENDS: The Calgary Hitmen Hockey Club has announced details on a new community program, Faz's Friends presented by MEG Energy. The initiative will see Hitmen centre Radel Fazleev and MEG Energy partner with Kids Cancer Care, a charitable organization that helps families fighting childhood cancer in Alberta. Throughout the season, families will receive tickets to attend a Hitmen home game, custom Faz's Friends t-shirts and concession vouchers. Following the game, the Faz's Friends guests will meet Fazleev for photos and autographs. The program will see close to 200 Kids Cancer Care guests benefit this season.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Calgary's power play, which has scored at least once in four of the last five games, is seventh in the WHL at 21.8%. The Hitmen penalty kill has killed off 11 of their last 12 shorthanded situations. Overall it's fifth in the league at 83.3%. Calgary is also tied for the third-most shorthanded goals in the league at four. Prince George leads the way with eight.

WHL TOP 125: The Western Hockey League has unveiled its list of the Top 125 players in WHL history as selected by a committee of League historians. Among them are seven Calgary Hitmen grads: Karl Alzner, Pavel Brendl, Ryan Getzlaf, Brandon Kozun, Andrew Ladd, Brad Moran and Brad Stuart. As part of the WHL's 50th Season celebrations, fans can now vote for the selection of the Top 50 Players of All-Time. Fans can visit Top50.WHL.ca to cast their ballots once per week from the 125-player list. Voting closes Sunday, Dec. 20.

MO BROS 2: The Calgary Hitmen, together with Tommy Gun's Original Barbershop, are proud to support Movember, a month-long campaign committed to changing the face of men's health. During the month of November for the seventh season in a row, Hitmen players and coaches are growing moustaches to raise funds and awareness for prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health issues. To support the Hitmen Movember team, visit moteam.co/calgary-hitmen.

HITMEN ALUMUS: Former Hitmen goaltender Brendan Burke has landed a job in the Ontario Hockey League. After being placed on waivers by the Hitmen on Nov. 13 he cleared through the WHL and was claimed by the Guelph Storm of the OHL. On Saturday he was traded to the London Knights in exchange for a sixth round pick in 2016.

UPCOMING GAMES All times in MT. Schedule subject to change.

DATE OPPONENT TIME BROADCAST

Nov. 25 at Saskatoon 6:05 p.m. Sportsnet 960-The Fan

Nov. 27 vs Regina 7:00 p.m. Sportsnet.ca/960 (Alt Stream)

Dec. 2 at Lethbridge 7:00 p.m. Sportsnet 960-The Fan

Dec. 3 vs Prince Albert 7:00 p.m. Sportsnet 960-The Fan

Dec. 6 vs Swift Current 4:00 p.m. Sportsnet 960-The Fan

PROMO CALENDAR

Hitmen single game tickets are on sale now. Upcoming home game highlights include: - 21st annual Petro-Canada Teddy Bear Toss on Sunday, Dec. 6 versus Swift Current - Dodge Skate with the Hitmen on Sunday, Jan. 31 against Brandon - Lunar Celebration with post-game fireworks on Friday, Feb. 12 versus Red Deer - Co-op Family Day on Sunday, Feb. 14 against Lethbridge - Fan Appreciation Day on Sunday, Mar. 20 versus Kootenay

MILESTONES - Jackson Houck needs five more goals to reach 100 and hit 200 career points on Oct. 29 against Spokane. - Bryce Platt recorded his first Western Hockey League point on Sunday with an assist against the Saskatoon Blades. - Keegan Kanzig reached the 500 career penalty minutes mark last night against Everett.

- Jakob Stukel recorded his first career WHL hat-trick on Nov. 14 against Tri-City.

- Radel Fazleev surpassed 100 career points on Nov. 13 against Kootenay. - Travis Sanheim played his 150 career game on Nov. 1.

- Mark Kastelic recorded his first career WHL goal on Nov. 1.

Check out the Calgary Hitmen Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from November 24, 2015


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