WHL Calgary Hitmen

Hitmen host Seattle Wednesday, then head to Saskatchewan

Published on November 13, 2007 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Calgary Hitmen News Release


HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen wrap up their five game home stand tonight against the Seattle Thunderbirds. The Hitmen snapped a two game losing streak Friday night with a 3-2 win over Moose Jaw. Ryan White led the offense scoring twice while Paul Postma added a single. All three Hitmen goals came in the final frame as Calgary overcame a 1-0 deficit to score three unanswered. The Hitmen Calgary out shot Moose Jaw 40-19 with Martin Jones recording the win in goal. Calgary went 2-7 on the powerplay; the Warriors were 0-4. Paul Postma and Kyle Bortis each had six shots on goal to lead the Hitmen.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: At 13-8-0-1 Calgary is third in the WHL's Central Division, but just one point behind both Medicine Hat and Lethbridge for first. Calgary is 7-4 at home, 6-4-0-1 on the road.

VS. SEATTLE: Tonight is the first and only regular season meeting with the Thunderbirds. Last season Calgary won 5-2 in Seattle as five different Hitmen scored in the victory. The Hitmen out shot the Thunderbirds 36-25. This is Seattle's first visit to the Pengrowth Saddledome since a 5-3 loss to the Hitmen on December 11, 2005. Five different Hitmen collected goals that night as well.

POINT STREAKS: Ryan White and Kyle Bortis both have points in five of the last six games; Bortis (3g 4a), White (5g 1a). Karl Alzner is on a three game point streak (3a), while T.J. Galiardi has points in two straight games (1g 1a).

CARRYING THE PLAY: The Hitmen have recorded at least 29 shots on goal in seven straight games. Meanwhile Calgary has only been outshot in four of their 22 games this season.

OFFENSIVE LOAD: Carson McMillan, Kyle Bortis and Ryan White have scored nine of Calgary's last 12 goals.

TEAM WHL: Two Calgary Hitmen have been named to Team WHL for the upcoming ADT Canada/Russia Challenge. Defenceman Karl Alzner and forward Ryan White were selected. White will play in both WHL games on November 28th in Cranbrook and November 29th in Medicine Hat, while Alzner will only dress in Medicine Hat.

CAREER WATCH: Dan Spence needs one more win to tie Justin Pogge (52) for the third most victories in franchise history. Brent Krahn tops the list with 74. Ian Duval needs three goals for 50 while Karl Alzner is five points shy of 100.

DID YOU KNOW? The Hitmen are #9 in this week's CHL Top 10 Rankings. That's down from the #3 spot last week.

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).

THE ROSTER: Calgary is carrying 25 players; (14 forwards, 9 defencemen and 2 goalies). The Hitmen roster features nine rookies. -Break down....2 (20 year-olds), 9 (19 year-olds), 5 (18 year-olds), 7 (17 year-olds), and 2 (16 year-olds).

HITMEN ALUMNI: Owen Fussey is in the East Coast Hockey League with the Columbia Inferno. Fussey played four and a half seasons with the Hitmen (1999-2000 to 2002-2003). In 10 games with the Inferno this season Fussey has 3g 4a.

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

DIVISIONAL RECORDS: Hitmen vs. Central (5-3-0-0), vs. East (5-2-0-0), vs. BC (3-2-0-1), vs. US (0-1-0-0)

TEDDY BEAR TOSS JERSEY: The Hitmen will hold a news conference Thursday morning to unveil their special Petro-Canada Teddy Bear Toss Jersey. The game itself will be played on Sunday, December 2nd against the Prince George Cougars. Game time is 2:00 p.m. at the Pengrowth Saddledome.

ATTENDANCE WATCH: The Hitmen have drawn 78,453 fans to their first 11 home games for an average crowd of 7,132.

UPCOMING GAMES: The Hitmen will board the bus Thursday heading out on a four game tour of Saskatchewan. The road trip will make stops in Moose Jaw on Friday, Saskatoon on Saturday, Prince Albert on Sunday and Swift Current on Tuesday. Calgary is then back in the 'Dome on Friday, November 23rd against the Edmonton Oil Kings. Game time is 7:00 p.m.

Check out the Calgary Hitmen Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from November 13, 2007


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.

OurSports Central