Moose Jaw at Calgary

The Calgary Hitmen play game two of a three game homestand tonight against the Moose Jaw Warriors.  Game time is 7:00 p.m. at Scotiabank Saddledome.  Radio Broadcast on Sportsnet 960 The Fan begins at six with Mr. Fireplace Hitmen warmup.

THE STANDINGS:  Calgary is 25-10-1-3.  At 54 points the Hitmen are third in the Eastern Conference, three back of the conference leading Edmonton Oil Kings who blanked Lethbridge 4-0 last night.  Both the Hitmen and Oil Kings have played 39 of their 72 game schedule.  Moose Jaw is 14-18-3-4.  At 35 points the Warriors are ninth in the conference, just a single point back of Medicine Hat for the final playoff spot. 

HEAD-TO-HEAD:  Tonight is the third of four meetings:  Calgary leads the season series 2-0 having won both meetings beyond 60 minutes.
-Nov 4 at MJ: Cal 2 MJ 1 OT
-Nov 7th in Cal: Cal 2 MJ 1 Shootout.

COMING IN:  Calgary is fresh off their biggest performance of the season blasting Brandon 10-2 on Wednesday night.  The Hitmen have now won two of their last three.  Moose Jaw hasn't played since last Saturday when their two game winning streak was snapped with a 5-1 home ice loss to Regina. 

HOME AND AWAY:  Calgary is 12-8-1-2 at home while Moose Jaw is 7-11-1-2 on the road.

WORLD JUNIOR IMPACT:  The Calgary Hitmen are without Victor Rask who's with Team Sweden at the World Junior Hockey Championship.  Rask has four points (2g 2a) in five games along with 15 shots on goal.  Sweden will face the U-S tomorrow in the gold medal game.  Moose Jaw is without Morgan Rielly who is a member of Canada.  Rielly has three points (1g 2a) in five games along with 15 shots on goal.  Canada will face the Russians in the bronze medal game Saturday.

WORLD UNDER-17 HOCKEY CHALLENGE:  Team Pacific has finished fifth at the World Under 17's in Quebec.  Two Hitmen were member of that squad as Jake Virtanen finished the tournament with seven points (5g 2a) in five games while Josh Thrower had two points (1g 1a) in five games and also earned a Player of the Game nod.

THE ROAD AHEAD:  Calgary will host former teammate Trevor Cheek and the Vancouver Giants on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. before starting a four game East Division road trip Tuesday in Brandon.  For Moose Jaw tonight starts a three game road trip for the Warriors that will also take them to Red Deer tomorrow and Lethbridge on Sunday. 

HITMEN NHL PROSPECTS:  Chris Driedger (Ottawa 2012); Kenton Helgesen (Anaheim 2012); Jaynen Rissling (Washington 2012); Alex Roach (Three-year, Entry-level Contract, Los Angeles 2011); Victor Rask (Three-year, Entry-level Contract, Carolina 2011).

MOOSE JAW NHL DRAFTED PLAYERS: Morgan Rielly, Toronto, 1st round 2011; Travis Brown, Chicago, 5th round 2011

TOP SCORERS:
Calgary
Brooks Macek 19g 27a 46pts
Cody Sylvester 21g 19a 40pts
Brady Brassart 11g 26a 37pts

Moose Jaw
Sam Fioretti 19g 17a 36pts
Morgan Rielly 7g 21a 28pts
Brayden Point 8g 18a 26pts
Travis Brown 8g 18a 26pts