WHL Calgary Hitmen

Hitmen hit the community then travel to Lethbridge Friday, host Brandon Saturday

Published on January 26, 2009 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Calgary Hitmen News Release


HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen, winners of three in a row, return to action following a four day break Friday in Lethbridge against the Hurricanes. Calgary is coming off Sunday afternoon's 7-4 home ice win over Regina where the Hitmen set a franchise record scoring six times on the power play. Bostjan Golicic, Keith Seabrook and Michael Stone all scored a pair of goals in the win while Paul Postma added a single. Postma led all Hitmen with four points (1g 3a) while Brandon Kozun chipped in three assists. Calgary outshot the Pats 51-18. It was 1-1 after one, 4-2 Calgary after two. The Hitmen went 6-12 on the power play while the Pats were 3-8.

VS LETHBRIDGE: Friday is the fifth of six meetings with the Hurricanes. The Hitmen lead the season series 4-0 having outscored Lethbridge by a combined 15-6.

-Oct. 2 in Cgy; Hitmen 4 Hurricanes 2. Brett Sonne 1g 2a.

-Oct. 10 in Leth; Hitmen 3 Hurricanes 1. Brandon Kozun 2g 1a.

-Oct. 16 in Cgy; Hitmen 4 Hurricanes 0. Martin Jones 23 save shutout. Brandon Kozun 1g 2a.

-Nov. 8 in Cgy; Hitmen 4 Hurricanes 3 shootout. Brett Sonne 1g 1a.

INSIDE THE SERIES

Shots on goal: Calgary 133 Lethbridge 81. Power plays: Calgary 4-16 25% Lethbridge 1-19 5.3% The Hitmen and Hurricanes meet again on Sunday, March 15th in Lethbridge.

SECOND FASTEST TO 40: The Hitmen recorded their 40th win of the season in their 50th game on January 20th in a 7-1 win over Edmonton. The franchise record of 40 wins in 49 games was set in the 1999/2000 season.

RECORD BREAKING SEASON: From Oct. 15/08 to Jan. 16/09 the Hitmen set a new franchise record 18 game home ice winning streak. The previous mark of 14 was set in the 1999/2000 season....On January 25th vs. Regina the Hitmen scored a franchise record six power play goals. In that game defenceman Paul Postma tied the franchise mark for power play points by a defenceman with four....On January 18th vs. Chilliwack the Hitmen fired 26 third period shots tying a franchise record for most shots in a single period....The Hitmen currently have 26 home ice wins with eight games remaining. The franchise record is 30, set in the 1999/2000 season.

STREAKIN': Martin Jones is 15-0-1-0 in his last 16 starts. He has also won his last 17 starts at home. Paul Postma (4g 12a) has points in seven straight. Brett Sonne (4g 4a) has points in four straight. He also has 14 goals in his last 13 games. Keith Seabrook (3g 5a), Kris Foucault (3g 2a), and Kyle Bortis (1g 4a) all have points in three straight games. Brandon Kozun (6a) has points in back-to-back games. Michael Stone (6g 7a) has points in seven of his last eight games. Carson McMillan (2g 5a) had his four game point streak snapped Sunday against Regina.

WHL TOP GUNS: The Calgary Hitmen have five of the Top 16 scorers in the Western Hockey League. Brandon Kozun is second with 76 points; Brett Sonne is fourth with 68, Kyle Bortis is tied for 12th with 60, Joel Broda is tied for 13th with 58 points while Paul Postma is tied for 15th with 57 points. The Hitmen also have three of the top scoring defencemen in the WHL. Paul Postma leads all blueliners with 57 points; Michael Stone is fourth with 45 while Keith Seabrook is 12th with 36 points. Martin Jones leads the WHL in wins (31) and shutouts (5). He has the second best GAA at 2.04.

DID YOU KNOW? Calgary has scored four or more goals in a game 36 times this season....Calgary defencemen have scored 52 combined goals this season or 22.7 percent of the 229 total goals scored by the Hitmen....Brandon Kozun is ranked 149th among North American Skaters by NHL Central Scouting. It's their midterm rankings for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft....The Hitmen have slipped a spot in the CHL Mosaik MasterCard Top 10 Rankings to #2 this week.

POSTMA'S STAMP: Paul Postma (57 points) is the highest scoring Hitmen defeceman since the 2000/01 season when Matt Kinch (18g 66a) had 84 points.

IRON MEN: Only Brandon Kozun and Jason MacDonald have played in every Hitmen game this season.

2008-09 HITMEN STANDINGS: Record (42-7-2-1). Home (26-2-0-0). Road (16-5-2-1). Central Division (1st). Conference (1st). Western Hockey League (1st).

HITMEN TEAM LEADERS:

Goals (39) Joel Broda Points (76) Brandon Kozun Plus/Minus (+42) Paul Postma

Assists (48) Brandon Kozun PIM (115) Alex Plante Wins (31) Martin Jones

CAREER YEAR: 13 Calgary Hitmen are having career years in the Western Hockey League; Joel Broda 58 points (53) Bostjan Golicic 34 points (30), Kris Foucault 6 points (3), Brandon Kozun 76 points (53), Jason MacDonald 13 points (7), Matt Mackenzie 12 points (8), Carson McMillan 51 points (42), Paul Postma 57 points (42), Chase Schaber 18 points (4), Ian Schultz 37 points (30), Keith Seabrook 36 points (17), Brett Sonne 68 points (30), Michael Stone 45 points (35)

*Previous career high in brackets

WHAT'S LEFT: Including Friday in Lethbridge the Hitmen have 20 regular season games remaining; Eight at home and 12 on the road as the Hitmen won't play a regular season home game in March because of the Tim Hortons Brier at the Pengrowth Saddledome.

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.

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: Shaun Landolt who played parts of three seasons in Calgary (2002/03 to 2004/05) is playing in the East Coast Hockey League with the Victoria Salmon Kings. The 24-year-old has 25 points (9g 16a) in 39 games.

HITMEN VS: (Bran 2-0), (Cwk 1-1), (Edm 4-1), (Evt 1-0), (Kam 1-0), (Kel 1-0), (Ktn 4-2-1-0), (Leth 4-0), (MH 4-0), (MJ 3-0), (Port 1-0), (PA 3-0-1-0), (PG 1-0), (RD 4-0), (Reg 2-0), (Sask 1-2), (Sea 1-0), (Spok 0-0-0-1), (SC 3-0), (TC 0-1), (Van 1-0)

HITMEN IN THE COMMUNITY: The Calgary Hitmen will take part in two nights of Pond Hockey by ENMAX Energy this week. On Tuesday the Hitmen will visit the Wildwood Community Association before stopping by the Shaganappi Community Association on Wednesday. Both events will run from 6 to 8 p.m. and see the Hitmen play pond hockey with grassroots players and sign autographs.

PROMOTIONS: On Saturday January 31st, the Hitmen will host the Brandon Wheat Kings in the Lunar Celebration Game recognizing the Chinese New Year. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at the Pengrowth Saddledome and will feature post game fireworks.

UPCOMING GAMES: The Hitmen will enjoy a full four day break before returning to action on the weekend for a pair of games. Friday Calgary plays in Lethbridge before returning home Saturday to host the Brandon Wheat Kings. Game time is 7:00 p.m. at the Pengrowth Saddledome.

Check out the Calgary Hitmen Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from January 26, 2009


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