Hitmen Report: a sudden cold streak

After rattling off several impressive wins to kick off the season, the Calgary Hitmen fell to Earth a little bit this past week. They entered action on the long weekend with zero regulation losses on their record, but saw a pair added to that tally before things were all said and done.

On Saturday night in Edmonton, the Hitmen suffered their first regulation loss of the season via a 6-4 setback to the Oil Kings. The Hitmen got out to a 2-0 lead, then gave up the next three goals and were chasing for the remainder of the game. Egor Zamula, Carson Focht, Mark Kastelic and Sean Tschigerl scored for the Hitmen, while Jack McNaughton made 26 saves (but gave up five goals) in the loss.

Monday afternoon’s game was considerably worse for the Hitmen. They gave up four goals in the first period – three of them to Washington Capitals prospect Eric Florchuk – en route to a 9-3 drubbing at the hands of the Saskatoon Blades. Kastelic had a pair of goals and Orca Wiesblatt also scored, but it was too little, way too late. Carl Stankowski gave up five goals, McNaughton four in relief.

The Hitmen (4-2-1) have another relatively quiet weekend ahead of them, with a pair of home games on tap. On Friday they host the Moose Jaw Warriors and on Sunday they welcome the Medicine Hat Tigers. Moose Jaw boasts potential 2020 NHL Draft first round pick Daemon Hunt, while Sunday is the annual Diwali game.

Hitmen forward Sean Tschigerl has been invited to represent Hockey Canada at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. The tournament runs Nov. 2-9 in Medicine Hat and Swift Current. Players that make the U17s are typically in the mix to be top prospects in the following year’s NHL Draft.

Hitmen goalie Carl Stankowski was re-assigned following the weekend’s games, leaving the Hitmen goalie tandem as Jack McNaughton and 16-year-old Brayden Peters (who impressed in training camp but has yet to dress this season).