Thursday 27 September 2012

Calgary at Edmonton

THE MATCH-UP:  The Calgary Hitmen travel up the QE2 to the provincial capital where they face the Edmonton Oil Kings Friday night at Rexall Place.  Husky Hitmen Hockey on Sportsnet 960 The Fan hits the air at 7pm.  It’s the battle of the unbeaten with the Hitmen 2-0 and the Oil Kings 3-0.  Both teams are also nationally ranked in the Canadian Hockey League with the Hitmen at #10 and the defending Western Hockey League Champion Oil Kings at #2.

                                                   Photo Credit:  Brad Watson

COMING IN:  Calgary hasn’t played since Saturday’s 5-1 home ice win over the Kootenay Ice while Edmonton fired 60 shots Wednesday night in Lethbridge en route to a 3-0 victory.

LEADING THE WAY:  Cody Sylvester has points in back-to-back games to start the season and leads the Hitmen in scoring with five points (3g 2a).  Brady Brassart , Zane Jones and Brooks Macek are all next with three points apiece.  Three games in Edmonton’s offensive leader is Micharl St. Croix with five points (3g 2a) while Curtis Lazar, Henrik Samuelsson and Stephane Legault are all next with four.

SEASON SERIES:  Friday is the first of six regular season meetings between the two clubs.  Last season Edmonton took five of the six meetings outscoring Calgary by a combined 30-14.
- Dec. 1 in EDM: Oil Kings 6 Hitmen 1.  Mark Pysyk led the Oil Kings with three assists.
- Dec. 6 in EDM: Oil Kings 6 Hitmen 2.  Griffen Reinhart had one goal and two assists for Edmonton.
- Dec. 17 in EDM: Oil Kings 2 Hitmen 1.  Cody Corbett had two assists for the Oil Kings who out shot Calgary 33-22.
- Jan. 15 in CAL: Hitmen 4 Oil Kings 3.  Cody Sylvester had three points (1g, 2a) for Calgary.
- Feb. 8 in CAL: Oil Kings 9 Hitmen 5.  T.J. Foster and Tyler Maxwell each recorded a hat-trick for Edmonton.
-Feb. 24 in CAL: Oil Kings 4 Hitmen 1.  Laurent Brossoit made 20 saves in the win for Edmonton while Michael St. Croix had two assists.
                                                          INSIDE THE SERIES
Shots on Goal: CAL 156  EDM 168     Power Plays: CAL 3-27 (11.1%)  EDM 7-24 (29.2%)

KOSTERMAN'S CORNER:  Hitmen 19-year-old defenceman Peter Kosterman leads the team in plus-minus at +4.  Kosterman was the clubs first round bantam pick, 19th overall, in the 2008 WHL Bantam Draft.

HENRY'S NEW HOME:  The Hitmen acquired 18-year-old defenceman Darian Henry from the Everett Silvertips in an off season deal that saw fellow 18-year-old Hitmen prospect Luke Gordon go the other way.  Henry, from Strathmore, Alberta, celebrated his first career WHL goal on Saturday's win over Kootenay.  Two games into the season he has two points (1g 1a) and is +2.

LEADERSHIP GROUP:  On Thursday the Hitmen announced 20-year-old Cody Sylvester will wear the captains "C" for the second straight season.  Fellow overagers Spencer Humphries and Brooks Macek have been named alternates.

CENTRAL DIVISION DIET:  Tonight's game in Edmonton is the third straight Central Division opponent for the Hitmen in as many games.  The first four games of the season for Calgary are against teams from their own division with seven of their first eight games against teams from the Central Division.

GETTING TO KNOW EDMONTON:  Including tonight, three of Calgary's next five games are against the Oil Kings.  October 7th in Calgary and October 12th in Edmonton are their next meetings.  Following this steady stretch of one another the Hitmen and Oil Kings won't meet again until December 7th in Edmonton.

NHL PROSPECTS:  Calgary: Chris Driedger (3rd Round, Ottawa 2012); Kenton Helgesen (7th Round, Anaheim 2012); Jaynen Rissling (7th Round, Washington 2012); Alex Roach (Free Agent singed a Three-year, Entry-level Contract, Los Angeles 2011); Victor Rask (2nd Round, 2011, Carolina 2011).  Edmonton: Keegan Lowe- Carolina Hurricanes (3rd Round, 2011), Travis Ewanyk- Edmonton Oilers (3rd Round, 2011), Michael St. Croix- New York Rangers (4th Round, 2011), Martin Gernat- Oilers (5th Round, 2011), Laurent Brossoit- Calgary Flames (6th Round, 2011), Griffin Reinhart- New York Islanders (1st Round, 2012), Henrik Samuelsson- Phoenix Coyotes (1st Round, 2012), Mitch Moroz- Edmonton Oilers (2nd Round, 2012)

INJURY REPORT:  Calgary: #19, Calder Brooks, F, upper body, week-to-week, #5 Spencer Humphries, D, lower body, day-to-day, #2 Josh Thrower, D, upper body, day-to-day, Edmonton: #28, Martin Gernat, D, upper body, TBD, #11, Dylan Wruck, F, upper body, week-to-week

UP NEXT:  The Hitmen are back at Scotiabank Saddledome Saturday night to host Minnesota Wild first round pick Matt Dumba and the Red Deer Rebels.  Game time is 7:00 p.m.  Radio Broadcast on Sportsnet 960 The Fan starts at 6:00 p.m. with a one hour pre-game show. 

No comments:

Post a Comment