Hitmen at Kootenay Thursday, then host Vancouver Friday and Chilliwack Sunday
January 12, 2009 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Calgary Hitmen News Release
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen play the Kootenay Ice for the third time in 13 days Thursday night in Cranbrook. The Hitmen are coming off Sunday's 7-3 home ice win over Swift Current. Joel Broda, in his first home game as a Hitmen, led the scoring attack with four points (1g 3a) while Canada's World Junior Gold Medalist Brett Sonne had a pair of goals for Calgary. Paul Postma, Michael Stone, Tomas Karpov and Ian Schultz also scored for the Hitmen who overcame deficits of 2-0 and 3-2. Brandon Kozun chipped in three assists while Carson McMillan added a pair of helpers. Calgary outshot Swift Current 34-23. The Hitmen went 2-4 on the powerplay while the Broncos were 0-3.
VS KOOTENAY: Thursday is the seventh of eight meetings with the Ice. Calgary leads the season series 4-2 having outscored the Ice by a combined 18-12.
-Sept. 26 in Cranbrook; Ice 3 Hitmen 1. Kootenay outshot Calgary 41-17.
-Sept. 27 in Calgary; Hitmen 3 Ice 2 in a shootout. Carson McMillan scored twice including the shootout winner.
-Nov. 3 in Calgary; Hitmen 6 Ice 2. Kyle Bortis and Carson McMillan scored two goals each.
-Nov. 7 in Cranbrook; Hitmen 5 Ice 2. Brendan Rowinski 2g.
-Jan. 3 in Calgary; Hitmen 2 Ice 0. Martin Jones 31 save shutout.
-Jan. 15 in Cranbrook; Ice 3 Hitmen 1. Nathan Lieuwen stops 35 of 36 shots to earn first star.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on goal: Kootenay 170 Calgary 161. Powerplays: Calgary 6-34 17.6% Kootenay 3-27 11.1% The Hitmen and Ice will play their final regular season meeting on Sunday, February 8th in Calgary.
TRADE WINDS: The Hitmen made a pair of deals on January 8th. The first saw Calgary acquire Kris Foucault from the Kootenay Ice in exchange for Ryan Fox. Later in the day the Hitmen picked up Joel Broda and Tomas Karpov from the Moose Jaw Warriors in exchange for Brendan Rowinski along with second and seventh round picks in the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft.
STREAKIN': Martin Jones is 6-0 in his last six starts with three shutouts and a 0.83 GAA while stopping 137 of 142 shots. Ian Schultz (3g 5a) is on a five game point streak. Michael Stone (2g 2a) has points in three straight.
RECORD BREAKING WIN: Sunday's 7-3 win over Swift Current was the 17th straight at home for the Hitmen extending the current franchise record. The old mark of 14 spanned from January 4 to March 14/2000.
WHL TOP GUNS: The Calgary Hitmen have four of the Top 12 scorers in the Western Hockey League. Brandon Kozun is second with 67 points, Brett Sonne is fourth with 58, Kyle Bortis is tied for eighth 54 points while Joel Broda is 12th with 52 points. The Hitmen also have four of the top scoring defencemen in the WHL. Paul Postma is second with 43 points, Michael Stone is seventh with 36 points, Keith Seabrook is tied for 13th with 28 while Alex Plante is tied for 17th with 26 points. Martin Jones leads the WHL in wins (27), shutouts (5) and goals against average (1.92).
DID YOU KNOW? Calgary's last 19 goals have been scored by 14 different players....Calgary has scored at least one goal in 39 of the last 48 periods....For the second week in a row the Calgary Hitmen are ranked number one in the Canadian Hockey League Top 10.
2008-09 HITMEN STANDINGS: Record (38-6-1-1). Home (23-1-0-0). Road (15-5-1-1). Central Division (1st). Conference (1st). Western Hockey League (1st).
HITMEN TEAM LEADERS:
Goals (37) Joel Broda Points (67) Brandon Kozun Plus/Minus (+33) Paul Postma
Assists (39) Brandon Kozun PIM (105) Rigby Burgart Wins (27) Martin Jones
SCORCHING SPECIAL TEAMS: The Hitmen have scored at least one powerplay goal in 22 of their last 23 games. Meanwhile the penalty kill is a combined 34-35 in the last six games.
KOZUN WHL PLAYER OF THE MONTH: For the first time this season a member of the Hitmen has been named HUSKY WHL Player of the Month. The 18-year-old native of Calgary, Alberta, recorded 19 points through December, netting seven goals and 12 assists all while maintaining a plus minus rating of +9. Kozun, who led all WHL players in scoring through December, had seven multi-points nights and a nine game point streak.
NHL DREAM: Four former Hitmen have all played their first game in the NHL this season; Karl Alzner-Washington, Johnny Boychuk-Boston, Brett Carson-Carolina, Justin Pogge-Toronto.
RECORD START: The Hitmen entered the Christmas Break with the most points of any team in franchise history at 64. The previous best was in 1999/2000 when the Hitmen entered the break with a record of 28-7-1-2, good for 58 points.
CAREER WATCH: Keith Seabrook is one game shy of 100. Brandon Kozun needs two goals for 50 while Carson McMillan is three shy of the 50 mark. Alex Plante needs 11 penalty minutes for 300.
DOME SWEET DOME: Starting Friday against Vancouver, the Hitmen will play six of their next eight games at the Pengrowth Saddledome.
DRAFTED PLAYERS: The Hitmen have nine NHL prospects ...Joel Broda-(5th round Washington 2008), Carson McMillan-(7th round Minnesota 2007), Alex Plante (1st round Edmonton 2007), Paul Postma-(7th round Atlanta 2007), Ian Schultz-(3rd round St. Louis 2008), Keith Seabrook-(2nd round Washington 2006), Brett Sonne-(3rd round St. Louis 2007) and Michael Stone-(3rd round Phoenix 2008). Martin Jones-(Los Angeles Kings-Signed '08).
THE ROSTER: Calgary is carrying 24 players; (15 forwards, 7 defencemen and 2 goalies)
-Break down....3 (20 year-olds), 7 (19 year-olds), 7 (18 year-olds), 4 (17 year-olds), and 3 (16 year-olds).
HITMEN ALUMNI: Dan Spence, who played parts of five seasons in Calgary (2004-05 to 2008-09), is in the Ontario Hockey League with the Sarnia Sting. The 20-year-old is 15-11-2-2 with a 2.57 GAA and a .919 save percentage.
PROMOTIONS: On Friday January 16th, the Hitmen will host the Western Conference Leading Vancouver Giants in the HUSKY 7th man promotion. All fans in attendance will receive a $2 gas coupon from HUSKY while someone will also win a $500 HUSKY gas coupon. Meanwhile Flight Centre will be giving away a $1000 travel voucher.
UPCOMING GAMES: The Hitmen will play a pair of weekend home games. They host the Vancouver Giants Friday night at 7:00 p.m. then welcome the Chilliwack Bruins Sunday at 5:00 p.m. The Edmonton Oil Kings visit the Pengrowth Saddledome on Tuesday for a 7:00 p.m. start.
Western Hockey League Stories from January 12, 2009
- Calgary Hitmen Forward Brandon Kozun Cracks NHL Central Scouting's Midterm Rankings - Calgary Hitmen
- Pats to Raise 2010 Banner - Regina Pats
- Blades Weekly - Saskatoon Blades
- Pink In The Rink Tuesday Night - Bruins Take On Tri City Americans - Chilliwack Bruins
- Edmonton Oil Kings Unveil Special Third Jersey - Edmonton Oil Kings
- Mikael Backlund Comes To Kelowna - Kelowna Rockets
- Hitmen at Kootenay Thursday, then host Vancouver Friday and Chilliwack Sunday - Calgary Hitmen
- Kane Named WHL Player of the Week - Vancouver Giants
- Pats Weekly - Regina Pats
- Giants' Evander Kane name Boston Pizza WHL Player of the Week - WHL
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