Franchise playoff history:
2005 first round: The Hitmen took out the Hurricanes in five games in a strikingly similar match up of the second and third seeds in the Central Division.
2006 first round: This time it was the second-seeded Hitmen who took out the Hurricanes in six games.
2008 Eastern Conference Final: Lethbridge took out the Hitmen in four straight to reach the WHL final.
2009 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals: Calgary ended the Cinderella run for the Hurricanes with a four game sweep in the second round.
A Central Division rivalry will highlight the 2019 playoffs and will also mark the return of the Calgary Hitmen to the postseason. They missed out on the big dance last season while their opponents the Lethbridge Hurricanes have made postseason for the fourth consecutive season. The Hurricanes finished the regular season just two points out of top spot in the Central Division behind the Edmonton Oil Kings who defeated the Hitmen twice in the final weekend to earn the division crown.
The Windy City owned the regular season series winning five of the six matchups. Goals were not hard to come by between these teams as they combined for 59 goals over the six games. The Hurricanes averaged 5.84 goals over those game while Hitmen averaged four. Twice the Hurricanes put up seven goals and twice the Hitmen managed six in a game. Surely either coach wants to be caught in a track meet but both team clearly are able to do so.
The captains lead the way in the head to head meetings. Jordy Bellerive collected 13 points in the six games, Seven of which were goals while Mark Kastleic tallied nine points over the series.
Lethbridge comes into the series riding an eight-game winning streak. They are being led by red hot overager Jake Elmer. He comes in on an 18-game point streak. He finished the season 39 goals and 81 points in 68 games. Even with those impressive numbers, Elmer finds himself only fifth in team scoring though. Nick Henry led the way this season with 94 points including 29 goals which was good enough for seventh in the WHL overall scoring leaders.
Lethbridge’s balanced attack also includes NHL top draft prospect Dylan Cozens came in with 84 points on the season including 34 goals to finish just behind Henry in scoring and 11th in the league. Bellerive came in third with 83 points while Jake Leschyshyn joined Elmer at 81 points to round out the top five. It’s interesting to note that Bellerive, Leschyshyn and Elmer would finish 12,13,14 on the WHL scoring list. Yes, that makes five guys in the top 15 in league points. It is with that lethal attack that the Hurricanes are never truly out of a game.
It’s not just up front that the Hurricanes possess firepower, Calen Addison leads the back end, tallying 65 points in 67 games played. The Pittsburgh draft choice is a playoff specialist that was one assist off leading the league with 32 power play assists. The rest of the Lethbridge defence while not flashy or offensively gifted do possess strong skaters and puck movers the which of like includes 20-year-old import Igor Merezkho and penalty minute leader Koletrane Wilson. The Edmonton product amassed 120 penalty minutes while playing all 68 games this season.
The Hitmen’s attack counters with James Malm and captian Mark Kestelic. Although playing mainly on different lines, they both put up 77 points to lead the charge. Those totals were good enough for 19th and 20th in the league scoring race. Kestelic leads the WHL in power play goals with 24. The Hitmen also rely on a balanced attack, after the two big scorers on the team its a pretty even distribution in points. They carry five players north of the 55 point mark including Carson Focht with 64 points Kaden Elder at 60.
The back end of the Hitmen features import Egor Zumula who was the power play setup man finishing with 30 assists. That is good enough for third best and just behind Addison of the Hurricanes in that category. Zamula is also part of that 55 plus point club leading the rear guards with 56 points over his 61 games played. Fellow import Vladislav Yeryomenko added 33 points from the back end, 26 of which were assists. Getting contribution from the defence is a key for the Hitmen that keep the scoring balance in the lineup.
The goaltending in this series is a strange matchup. Both teams will be using and starting 17-year-old rookies. Carl Tetachuk for Lethbridge and Jack McNaughton for Calgary both attended WHL training camps on the outside looking in and played their ways onto their respective teams as the backup. Tetachuk was playing behind Reece Klassen to start the year and then Liam Hughes after a couple of trades. He then became the starter and Hughes parted ways with the team. McNaughton took over the net after Carl Stankowski was injured and never looked back, including a streak of 22 games started in a row.
Tetachuk, a native of Lethbridge started 37 games in net posting a 24-9-1-1 record with a 2.88 goals against average and .909 save percentage that included a 3-1-0-0 record vs the Hitmen while posting a 3.66 GAA and .887 save percentage over the season series. Meanwhile, Calgary product McNaughton appeared in 46 games putting up a record of 25-14-3-1 with a 3.25 goals against and .888 save percentage. He appeared in three games vs the Hurricanes posting a 1-2-0-0 record along with a 5.16 GAA and .838 percentage.
Very respectful numbers for both guys but It will be a big test for these two rookie netminders and hard to say who has the advantage here. This could be a battle of who is stronger mentally and can elevate their game. Like all playoff series, the goaltending could be the deciding factor over the seven games series.
While both the Hurricanes and the Hitmen possess balanced attacks up front the edge would have to be given to Lethbridge. With five players above the 80 point mark this team can score. On the back end, the edge would have to be given to the Hitmen who arguably possess a depth starting six who provide a bigger offensive punch than their counterparts. As discussed above it seems on paper it’s a 50/50 split between the projected starter in goal and both guys will be the X factor for their team if they are to win.
Special teams notes: Calgary finished with the second best power play in the WHL at 27.9 percent and the leagues eight ranked penalty kill at 80.5 percent. Lethbridge’s power play comes in at 23.8 and ranked fifth and penalty kill of 76.5 percent which sits 17th overall.
DUBNetwork Prediction: Lethbridge in six games.
