Calgary at Prince George

The Calgary Hitmen (17-15-2-1) open a five game in eight days BC Division road trip tonight in Prince George against the Cougars (12-20-0-2).  Radio Broadcast on Sportsnet960 The Fan will be joined in progress following coverage of Team Canada at the World Juniors.  Internet Broadcast on fan960.com starts at 8:00 p.m. MST.  It's the first of two meetings between the two clubs this season as PG will make a return trip to Scotiabank Saddledome on January 20th.  The Hitmen skated last night in Prince George as a team for the first time since their final game prior to the break on December 17th in Edmonton.  They also hit the ice today for a morning skate.

As I mentioned on the blog yesterday, Jake Virtanen will play his first regular season game for the Hitmen this season.  The 15-year-old first overall bantam pick in 2011 has been summoned from the BC Major Midget League's Fraser Valley Bruins.

There are a few line-up notes for both teams.  For the Hitmen both Victor Rask (Team Sweden 2012 World Juniors) and Greg Chase (Team Pacific 2012 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge) will miss the game and presumably most of the road trip at International tournaments while defenceman Spencer Humphries is out three weeks with an upper body injury.  For Prince George Martin Marincin (Team Slovakia 2012 World Juniors) and four others Jarrett Fontaine (Team West), Alex Forsberg (Team West), Jordan Tkatch (Team West) and Chase Witala (Team Pacific) are all at the 2012 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

Calgary holds the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot with 37 points, two points ahead of Red Deer and four points back of both Saskatoon and Regina.  Prince George meanwhile with 26 points is ninth in the 10 team Western Conference, three points back of Seattle for a playoff berth.

The Hitmen are 9-8-2-0 on the road this season, while the Cougars are 3-11-0-1 on home ice.

Top Scorers:

Calgary
Cody Sylvester 13g 24a 37pts
Victor Rask 16g 13a 29pts
Jimmy Bubnick 13g 15a 28pts

Prince George
Alex Forsberg 11g 15g 26pts
Troy Bourke 8g 17a 25pts
Cody Carlson 4g 20a 24pts
  
This is just one of many impressive Cougar Alumni tributes found on the concourse in the CN Centre.  Hamhuis, as many of you know, now stars with the Vancouver Canucks.

One final note a good read on three Hitmen prospects courtesy of the Calgary Sun can be found here.  Click here to read