Weekly Preview: Calgary Hitmen

After an eight-point week that saw the Calgary Hitmen take part in five games while also completing their season series with the Edmonton Oil Kings and Moose Jaw Warriors, the team will move on to face the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Swift Current Broncos on home ice. Although the Hitmen have picked up nine points in their last seven games, they have been without top defenseman Egor Zamula who won a silver medal with the Russian Under-20 team at the World Junior Championship. The return of Zamula as well as a potentially healthy Kyle Olson, who was recently acquired from the Tri-City Americans, will likely strengthen the Hitmen offensively in this week’s contests.

On Friday, when the Hitmen return to play against the Lethbridge Hurricanes, the game will serve as a rematch of their January 5th overtime victory at the Enmax Centre. While Calgary took the last game of the season series, the two have an even 2-1-1-0 record against each other thus far with 11 goals scored a piece. Despite the even series, the Hurricanes have been without their top three players for the last two meetings. Calen Addison, Dylan Cozens and Oliver Okuliar were all selected to their respective countries’ World Junior rosters with the first two winning gold with team Canada. The Hurricanes also made a significant move on Monday in reacquiring Brett Davis from the Red Deer Rebels. With the addition of Davis and the three stars returning from the Czech Republic, Lethbridge will likely be healthy and in full force for Friday’s game at the dome.

The key to the game for the Hitmen is to continue their steady defensive approach against the ‘Canes. In all four games thus far, the Hitmen have limited Lethbridge to under 30 shots each game while Calgary exceeded the 30-shot mark in all games. Calgary has also managed to shut down the Lethbridge power play as Cozens and company have only gone 4-for-22 on the man advantage against Calgary. The Hitmen have managed to score on five of 14 attempts. The Hitmen, however, match up well with the talented Hurricanes with a strong and fast forward group highlighted by Kastelic, Focht, Wiesblatt and now Olson. Lastly, the pair of Alex Cotton and Calen Addison has been outstanding so far but will be tightly contested by Egor Zamula, Jett Woo and the rest of the deep defensive corps in Calgary.

Carson Focht – Photo By: Candice Ward Photography

Following the game against Lethbridge, the Hitmen will host the Swift Current Broncos on Sunday. This will be the second of five meetings between the two clubs. The first was taken by the Broncos at home in extra time. Despite the loss, the Hitmen outshot the Broncos in every frame except overtime where Joona Kiviniemi, who has since returned to Finland, was the hero. Despite the win to open the campaign, Swift Current has endured a rather disappointing season with just nine wins and a league low 21 points. The Broncos are led by a relatively young core including forwards Aiden Bulych, Ethan Regnier and Kasper Puutio along with defenceman Hendrik De Klerk. Swift Current has also relied heavily on 2001-born goaltender Isaac Poulter who has started 28-of-37 games played while posting a 0.913 save percentage. The Broncos went 25% on the power play against the Hitmen while killing all 3 penalties. The club has since struggled on special teams, now ranked second-to-last on both the man advantage and penalty kill. In their last 10, the Broncos have picked up just six points and have scored just one or fewer goals in those 10 games. Important aspects of the game for Calgary on Sunday against the Broncos will likely be volume of shots, especially considering Calgary has outshot its opponents by a combined 51 shots in its last three victories.

After the two game homestand this week, the Hitmen will hit the road for a five game trip over the span of 10 days with battles against two divisional rivals and three against East Division teams.

 

The Hitlist:

  • Blake Allan took part in his 100th game on Saturday. Now with 101 games played, the forward has recorded seven goals and 11 assists for 18 career points.
  • Three Hitmen alumni in Adam Tambellini, Brendan Burke and Paul Postma won the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland, last week. Postma recorded a goal and an assist while Tambellini picked up three assists.
  • Josh Prokop will be taking part in the 2020 CHL Top Prospects Game in Hamilton, Ontario, on January 16th. The 17-year-old defenseman has a goal and 11 assists in 37 games this year. Prokop will be the first Hitmen player since Jake Bean to take part in the annual Top Prospects Game.
Blake Allan – Photo By: Candice Ward Photography