Hitmen hit the community, then host Edmonton Sunday
Published on January 8, 2008 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Calgary Hitmen News Release
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen have won six games in a row and nine of their last 10 as they host the Edmonton Oil Kings this afternoon. The Hitmen are coming off a 6-2 win in Edmonton last Sunday. Calgary tied a franchise record with five powerplay goals as six different Hitmen scored in the victory. Ryan White led the offensive charge with a goal and two assists while Ryan Fox scored his first goal in the WHL. Bostjan Golicic, Brandon Kozun, Keith Seabrook, and Ian Schultz also scored. It was scoreless after one period with the Hitmen owning a 3-2 lead after two. Dan Spence made 19 saves to record the win. Calgary outshot Edmonton 37-21. The Hitmen went 5-7 on the powerplay while the Oil Kings were 1-5.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: At 30-12-1-2 Calgary leads the Central Division and the Eastern Conference with 63 points. They sit eight points ahead of Lethbridge for top spot in the division, and nine points ahead of Regina for number one in the conference. The Hitmen are also tied for number one overall with Vancouver. Calgary is 16-6-1-0 at home, 14-6-0-2 on the road.
VS. EDMONTON: Today is the sixth of eight meetings with the Oil Kings. Calgary leads the season series 3-2 having outscored Edmonton by a combined 19-13.
-Oct. 19 in Edmonton; Hitmen 4 Oil Kings 2. Ian Duval three goals.
-Oct. 28 in Calgary; Oil Kings 4 Hitmen 3. Craig McCallum scores game winner with 1.2 seconds left.
-Nov. 23 in Calgary; Hitmen 5 Oil Kings 3. Bostjan Golicic two goals.
-Dec. 11 in Edmonton; Oil Kings 2 Hitmen 1. Craig McCallum two goals.
-Jan. 6 in Edmonton; Hitmen 6 Oil Kings 2. Hitmen score five powerplay goals.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on goal: Calgary 182 Edmonton 115. Powerplays: Calgary 9-26 34.6% Edmonton 8-32 25%
Their next meeting is Friday, January 18th in Edmonton.
TRADE WINDS: On January 5th, the Hitmen acquired 20-year-old forward Brock Nixon along with a sixth round pick in the 2008 WHL Bantam Draft from the Kamloops Blazers in exchange for 17-year-old forward Devon Kalinski and a second round pick in the 2008 Bantam Draft. Nixon played 286 regular season games in Kamloops recording 181 points (81g 100a).
POINT STREAKS: Kyle Bortis is on a seven game point streak (6g 7a) and has points in 16 of his last 19 games (15g 10a). Michael Stone is riding a four game point streak (2g 5a). Dan Mercer has points in five of his last six games (1g 5a). Brandon Kozun has points in 12 of his last 14 games (7g 11a). Ian Schultz and T.J. Galiardi both have points in seven of their last eight games; Schultz (5g 5a), Galiardi (1g 10a). Bostjan Golicic has points in eight of his last nine games (5g 7a).
CAPTAIN CANADA: Karl Alzner returns to the Hitmen line-up today after helping Team Canada win a gold medal at the 2008 World Junior Hockey Championship. Captain Canada finished the tournament with 1g 1a in seven games and was a +2 with six shots on goal. A member of the Hitmen has made Team Canada in each of the last five years.
KILLING TIME: The Hitmen penalty kill is 44 for its last 47, operating at 93.6%.
POWERPLAY PRODUCTION: In the last four games the Hitmen are 12 for their last 21 with the man advantage, operating at 57.1%.
REGULAR SEASON CAREER WATCH: Kyle Bortis is one goal shy of 50 and needs two points for 100. Dan Spence is 31 minutes shy of tying Alexandre Fomitchev for second on the Most Minutes Played List by a Hitmen goaltender with 6758. Spence is also 51 shy of tying Brent Krahn for number one overall with 6778 minutes played. Michael Stone played in his 100 game last Sunday in Edmonton.
THE ROSTER: Calgary is carrying 24 players; (13 forwards, 9 defencemen and 2 goalies). The Hitmen roster features eight rookies. -Break down....3 (20 year-olds), 9 (19 year-olds), 4 (18 year-olds), 6 (17 year-olds), and 2 (16 year-olds).
TEAM PACIFIC: Calgary Hitmen forward Chase Schaber and defenceman Matt Mackenzie both suited up for Team Pacific at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. Team Pacific finished fourth after falling 9-6 in Friday's Bronze Medal game to Team West. Schaber finished the tournament with six points (4g 2a) while Mackenzie finished with two points (2a).
DID YOU KNOW? Hitmen forward Bostjan Golicic won a Bronze Medal with Slovenia at the 2008 World Junior Hockey Championship. Golicic finished the tournament with three points (2g 1a) in five games. He also had 17 shots on goal.
NHL RADAR: Calgary Hitmen Michael Stone and Martin Jones have both cracked NHL Central Scouting's Preliminary Rankings for the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Stone is 18th among WHL prospects, while Jones is fourth among WHL goalies.
HITMEN VS: (Bran 2-0), (Cwk 0-1), (Edm 3-2), (Evt 0-1), (Kam 2-0), (Kel 0-1), (Ktn 2-1), (Leth 1-3), (MH 2-0), (MJ 3-1), (Port 0-0), (PA 2-1-0-1), (PG 2-0), (RD 5-0), (Reg 0-1), (Sask 3-0), (Sea 1-0), (Spok 0-0-1-0), (SC 2-0), (TC 0-0), (Van 0-0-0-1)
DIVISIONAL RECORDS: Hitmen vs. Central (13-6-0-0), vs. East (12-3-0-1), vs. BC (4-2-0-1), vs. US (1-1-1-0)
DRAFTED PLAYERS: The Hitmen have eight NHL picks ...Ryan White-(3rd round Montreal 2006), Keith Seabrook-(2nd round Washington 2006), Karl Alzner-(1st round Washington 2007), Alex Plante-(1st round Edmonton 2007), T.J. Galiardi-(2nd round Colorado 2007), Brett Sonne-(3rd round St. Louis 2007), Carson McMillan-(7th round Minnesota 2007) and Paul Postma-(7th round Atlanta 2007).
HITMEN ALUMNI: Lance Morrison is in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport with the UBC Thunderbirds. Morrison, who played 129 games with the Hitmen over three seasons (2001-02 to 2003-04), has played in 17 games with the Thunderbirds. He has 10 points (2g 8a).
UPCOMING GAMES: The Hitmen will enjoy five full days off before returning to action on Friday night in Edmonton. It's the start of three games in three nights for the Hitmen as Calgary will host Flames prospect J.D. Watt and the Regina Pats Saturday night (7:00pm) and former Hitmen Brett Plouffe and the Tri-City Americans Sunday afternoon (5:00 p.m.).
Western Hockey League Stories from January 8, 2008
- Chiefs Weekly Report - Spokane Chiefs
- Chiefs Face-Off Three Times This Week - Spokane Chiefs
- This Week In Silvertips Hockey - Everett Silvertips
- Americans Add Depth with Toigo - Tri-City Americans
- Bartek Expected Back Tuesday - Brandon Wheat Kings
- Rockets' Jung named ADT CHL Goaltender of the Week - WHL
- Pats and Warriors Get Set for 2nd Trans-Canada Clash - Regina Pats
- Blazers Weekly Update - Kamloops Blazers
- Edmonton Oil Kings First Annual Teddy Bear Toss Night Is Set - Edmonton Oil Kings
- Hitmen hit the community, then host Edmonton Sunday - Calgary Hitmen
- Kelowna Rockets Release 100 Extra Tickets - Kelowna Rockets
- Calvert Up For Fans Choice Award - Brandon Wheat Kings
- Blades and Rebels on Rogers Sportsnet - Saskatoon Blades
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
