Hitmen in Kootenay Tuesday, Home Friday and Sunday
Published on January 21, 2008 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Calgary Hitmen News Release
HITMEN HEADLINES: The Calgary Hitmen play the second of four games this month against the Kootenay Ice tonight in Cranbrook. The Hitmen are coming off Sunday's 3-2 home ice shootout loss to the Tri-City Americans. All four goals in regulation were scored in the second period with Ian Duval and Karl Alzner scoring for the Hitmen. The shootout went to the fourth round where T.J. Fast scored the winner for the Americans. Dan Spence made 33 saves and took the loss as the Hitmen were outshot 36-28. Calgary went 1-5 on the powerplay while Tri-City was 2-6.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: At 32-13-1-3 Calgary leads the Central Division and the Eastern Conference with 68 points. They sit seven points ahead of Lethbridge for top spot in the division, and two points ahead of Regina for number one in the conference. The Hitmen are fourth in the overall WHL Standings. Calgary is 17-7-1-1 at home, 15-6-0-2 on the road.
VS. KOOTENAY: Tonight is the fourth of eight meetings with the Ice. Calgary leads the season series 2-1 having outscored the Ice by a combined 16-7.
-September 24th in Calgary; Hitmen 5 Ice 1. Brett Sonne and T.J. Galiardi each with two goals.
-November 2nd in Cranbrook; Ice 4 Hitmen 2. Ice overcome a 2-1 second period deficit.
-January 4th in Calgary; Hitmen 9 Ice 2. Paul Postma 2g 2a. Hitmen powerplay goes 4-8.
INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on goal: Calgary 113 Kootenay 79. Powerplays: Calgary 6-23 26.1% Kootenay 1-17 5.9%
Their next meeting is Tuesday, January 29th in Calgary.
REGULAR SEASON CAREER WATCH: Kyle Bortis is one goal shy of 50 and needs one point for 100. Ryan White is tied for eighth on the Hitmen's all time goals list with Owen Fussey. Both players have 82.
DID YOU KNOW? For the second week in a row the Hitmen are ranked #4 in the CHL Top 10. Calgary is 7-1-0-1 in the month of January having outscored their opponents by a combined 39-19.
THE ROSTER: Calgary is carrying 23 players; (13 forwards, 8 defencemen and 2 goalies). The Hitmen roster features eight rookies. -Break down....3 (20 year-olds), 8 (19 year-olds), 4 (18 year-olds), 6 (17 year-olds), and 2 (16 year-olds).
NHL RADAR: Calgary Hitmen Ian Schultz, Michael Stone and Martin Jones have all made NHL Central Scouting's mid-season rankings for the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Stone is ranked 51st among North American Skaters while Schultz is 94th. Jones is ranked 12th among North American Goaltenders.
TRADE WINDS: On January 10th, the Hitmen dealt defenceman Eric Frere to the Kootenay Ice for a fifth round pick in the 2008 WHL Bantam Draft. 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).
HITMEN VS: (Bran 2-0), (Cwk 0-1), (Edm 5-2), (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 0-2), (Sask 3-0), (Sea 1-0), (Spok 0-0-1-0), (SC 2-0), (TC 0-0-0-1), (Van 0-0-0-1)
DIVISIONAL RECORDS: Hitmen vs. Central (15-6-0-0), vs. East (12-4-0-1), vs. BC (4-2-0-1), vs. US (1-1-1-1)
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).
UPCOMING GAMES: The Hitmen return to the Pengrowth Saddledome for three straight home games starting Friday against the Portland Winter Hawks. Game time is 7:00 p.m. On Sunday, the Hitmen host Brandon at 5:00 p.m. then on Tuesday Kootenay is in the 'Dome for a 7:00 p.m. start.
Western Hockey League Stories from January 21, 2008
- Edmonton Oil Kings and CHL Honor Lorne Davis - Edmonton Oil Kings
- Bruins Mentor, Show Their Skills - Chilliwack Bruins
- Rockets' Jamie Benn is the WHL Player of the Week - Kelowna Rockets
- Hitmen in Kootenay Tuesday, Home Friday and Sunday - Calgary Hitmen
- Jamie Benn named WHL Player of the Week - WHL
- Cougars to Host Season Ticket Holder Party - Prince George Cougars
- Regina Pats Weekly - Regina Pats
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