WHL Calgary Hitmen

Calgary Hitmen Game Preview - Wednesday, November 20 at Regina

Published on November 20, 2019 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Calgary Hitmen News Release


CALGARY HITMEN (10-6-2-1, 23 pts.) at REGINA PATS (3-13-2-0, 8 pts.)

Wednesday, November 20, 2019 - 6:00 p.m. MT - Brandt Centre

TODAY'S GAME

The Calgary Hitmen play game four of a season long six-game road trip tonight in Regina against the Pats. The Hitmen are 1-1-1-0 on the swing following Sunday's 5-4 overtime loss in Prince Albert. Ozzy Wiesblatt scored his second goal of the night 1:12 into extra time after netting the tying goal with 2:26 remaining. Brayden Watts also scored twice for the Raiders with Kaiden Guhle chipping in a single. The Hitmen erased deficits of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 to help secure a point on the road. Goals came off the stick of Blake Allan, Riley Stotts, Adam Kydd and Josh Prokop. Prince Albert outshot Calgary 27-19 and finished 1-4 on the power play. The Hitmen went 1-2 with the man advantage and tallied a shorthanded goal.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Radio: Sportsnet 960-The Fan

Webcast: WHL Live at whllive.com

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STREAKS

- Riley Stotts (1g, 3a) is on a three-game point streak.

- Josh Prokop (2g), Adam Kydd (1g, 1a) and Blake Allan (1g, 1a) all have points in back-to-back games.

- Jonas Peterek (2g, 2a) saw his four-game point streak snapped Sunday in Prince Albert while a three-game goal scoring streak for Mark Kastelic (4g) and two-game point streaks for Luke Prokop (2a) and Hunter Campbell (1g, 1a) ended the same night.

NOTEWORTHY VS. REGINA: Tonight is the second of four regular season meetings between the Hitmen and Pats. Calgary grabbed the opener last month in the Prairie Classic outdoors at Mosaic Stadium posting a 5-4 overtime win. Mark Kastelic (2g), Riley Stotts (2a) and Egor Zamula (2a) all recorded two points each while nine different Hitmen picked up at least a point. Robbie Holmes (1g, 1a), Austin Pratt (1g, 1a) and Nikita Sedov (1g, 1a) were the Pats top performers with two points each. Calgary is 3-3-1-0 in their last seven visits to Regina. Their next meeting is in nine days on Friday, Nov. 29 but this time back in Alberta.

2019-20 SERIES RECAP Oct. 22/19 at REG: CGY 5 REG 4 OT...Carson Focht scored the winner 59 seconds into extra time.

INSIDE THE SERIES Shots on Goal: CGY 45 REG 27 Power Plays: CGY 0-3 (0%) REG 0-4 (0%)

FAST FACTS: Calgary is tied with four other teams for the second fewest road games played this season at eight. Brandon leads the WHL with 15...The 19 shots allowed by the Hitmen Saturday in Saskatoon were the third fewest they have surrendered in a game this season. On Sept. 28 in Red Deer and again on Oct. 18 at home against Moose Jaw they allowed just 16.

GAME DATA: This is an Eastern Conference matchup; this season the Hitmen have a record of 9-5-1-1 against Eastern Conference foes and a record of 5-2-1-0 against the East Division.

REGINA TIES: Four Hitmen have immediate ties to Regina. Carson Focht and Adam Kydd both grew up in the Queen City. Egor Zamula played 38 games of his rookie campaign with the Pats in 2017/18 before he was claimed by the Hitmen off WHL Import Waivers while Blake Allan started this season with the Pats before an October, 22 trade to Calgary. That deal saw the Hitmen surrender for a conditional eighth-round pick in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft. In 10 games with the Hitmen, Allan has five points (2g, 3a) and has a plus/minus rating of +3.

PICKING UP POINTS: Calgary has recorded at least a point in four of their last five games posting a record of 2-1-1-1.

DOWN TO THE WIRE: Eight of Calgary's last 11 games have all been within a goal in the final 90 seconds.

CALL UP: Last Thursday, the Hitmen recalled 16-year-old forward Zac Funk from the Okanagan Rockets of the BCMML. Funk, who has played six games with Calgary this season, has 10 points (7g, 3a) in 10 games with the Rockets. He was taken by the Hitmen in the second round of the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft. Last season Funk was named a BC Major Midget League All-Star recording 58 points (34g, 24a) in 38 games with the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds.

SHOT CLOCK: The Hitmen have outshot their opponent in 11 of their last 13 games.

HOME AND AWAY COMPARISON: Calgary is 4-2-2-0 on the road this season, going 3-1-1-0 in their last five games away from the 'Dome. Regina is 2-7-2-0 at home and coming off last night's 2-1 loss to Swift Current.

WORLD STAGE: Hitmen forward Sean Tschigerl was a member of Canada Black at the 2019 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge co-hosted earlier this month between Medicine Hat, AB and Swift Current, SK. Tschigerl served as an alternate captain and finished the eight team tournament with two points (1g, 1a) in five games.

ONE YEAR IMPROVEMENT: Calgary is 11 points ahead of their start through 19 games last season when they owned a record of 5-12-2-0.

MAYFAIR DIAGNOSTICS INJURY REPORT: James Malm (upper body, week-to-week), Riley Fiddler-Schultz (lower body, week-to-week), Layne Toder (lower body, day-to-day), Carson Focht (lower body, day-to-day), Tye Carriere (lower body, two-three weeks), Cael Zimmerman (lower body, indefinite).

TEDDY BEAR TICKETS: Due to overwhelming demand, press-level seating for the Dec. 1 ENMAX Teddy Bear Toss is now open. Game time is 4:00 p.m. against the Red Deer Rebels. General admission tickets in the third level are available for only $9.99 for kids 12 and under and $14.99 for adults (plus applicable fees and taxes). They can be purchased at Ticketmaster, the Scotiabank Saddledome box office or by phone at 1-855-985-5000. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the toss in Calgary with the goal of taking back the world record for most bears tossed in a single game. The AHL's Hershey Bears set a new mark last season of 34,798. "Our fans have supported this terrific cause since day one and have told us they want the record back," said Hitmen Assistant Manager of Business Operations Rob Kerr. "A full building that sees everyone bring two stuffed animals to toss on the ice after our first goal would break the record. It would also accomplish the greater goal of helping more than 60 local agencies this holiday season including the Alberta Children's Hospital and Salvation Army." All interested charities are encouraged to contact info@hitmenhockey.com to request their number of bears.

PROSPECT PROFILE: Billal Noori, Calgary's fourth round pick, 79th overall, in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft is in the CSSHL with the North Alberta Elite 15s. In 15 games the 15-year-old forward has 29 points (14g, 15a). He also was a member of Team Alberta at last month's 2019 WHL Cup where he recorded five points (4g, 1a) in five games. Noori played Bantam Prep for Northern Alberta in the CSSBHL last season notching 49 points (25g, 24a) in 26 games.

HITMEN IN THE COMMUNITY: This holiday season the Hitmen are once again partnering with the Calgary Zoo for ZOOLIGHTS. Hitmen players will visit the Zoo's outdoor rink on four occasions for public skating. The first visit is Tuesday, Nov. 26 when Mark Kastelic and Dakota Krebs will pop in from 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. Fans can take advantage of a special Hitmen/ZOOLIGHTS Family Pack. For $99.99 plus GST receive four Hitmen ticket vouchers and four ZOOLIGHTS tickets (2 Adults, 2 Child). Full details available at hitmenhockey.com/zoolights

UPCOMING GAMES All times MT. Schedule subject to change.

Date Opponent Time Broadcast

Fri., Nov. 22 at BDN 6:30 PM Sportsnet 960-The Fan

Sat., Nov. 23 at MJ 6:00 PM Sportsnet 960-The Fan

Fri., Nov. 29 vs. REG 7:00 PM Sportsnet 960-The Fan

Sat., Nov. 30 at EDM 2:00 PM Sportsnet.ca/960 (Alt Stream)

Sun., Dec. 1 vs. RD 4:00 PM Sportsnet 960-The Fan

PROMO CALENDAR

Hitmen single game tickets are on sale now at all Ticketmaster locations. Upcoming home game highlights include: - Christmas Miracles for SHINE on Fri. Nov. 29 vs. REG - ENMAX Teddy Bear Toss on Sun. Dec. 1 vs. RD

- Carols for Christmas on Fri. Dec. 6 vs. EDM - Sunday Funday, presented by Ricky's All Day Grill on Dec. 8 vs. EVT - Sunday Funday, presented by Ricky's All Day Grill on Dec. 15 vs. LET - Soccer Day on Mon. Dec. 30 vs. EDM

CAREER MILESTONE WATCH - Egor Zamula is one game short of 150.

- Jett Woo is three games shy of 200 and needs four assists for 100.

- Luke Prokop is five games away from 100.

- Dakota Krebs needs two points to reach 50.

- Mark Kastelic passed the 100 goal total Saturday in Saskatoon and now has 101. Kastelic is also 14th on the clubs all-time points list with 184, nine points behind Kenton Smith who holds 13th place.

- Last Saturday against the Blades, Jack McNaughton moved past Aaron MacDonald and into 13th spot on the clubs all-time saves list with 1,370. He is now 126 saves behind Gerry Festa for 12th place.

Check out the Calgary Hitmen Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from November 20, 2019


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