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Last season Victoria picked up 3 of a possible 4 points against Calgary, in a pair of back to back home games, winning 7-2 then dropping a 7-6 overtime decision.
The Hitmen sit second in the Central with 7 points, and have points in 4 straight riding a two game win streak.
Saturday Calgary overcame a 4-1 second period deficit, rattling off five unanswered goals to beat Kootenay 6-4 at the Saddledome.
The Hitmen now have Mark French behind the bench, as they enter their 20th anniversary season in the Western Hockey League. The club boasts 8 NHL drafted players on their roster.
Victoria beat the visiting Portland Winterhawks 6-2 Monday, in their first meeting since a 5 game second round defeat in last years post season.
The Royals got goals from six different players, led by Jack Walker’s three point night with a goal and two assists.
Victoria was still without the injured Axel Blomqvist (upper) and Brandon Fushimi (lower). Brandon Magee was still under suspension, and is eligible to return in the final game of the trek, Saturday October 18th at Kootenay.
The Hitmen are still without Canucks first rounder forward Jake Virtanen due to shoulder rehab.
The Royals have points in their last two outings, picking up a single in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Broncos last Saturday.
Leading Scorers:
CALGARY VICTORIA
Lang (3-4-7) Carroll (4-3-7)
Karnaukhov (5-1-6) Hicketts (3-3-6)
Tambellini (4-2-6) Walker (2-4-6)
Sanheim (3-3-6) Brown (2-4-6)
Draude (1-5-6) Soy (1-4-5)
After Calgary, Victoria plays in Medicine Hat Saturday, Tuesday in Red Deer, Wednesday in Edmonton, Friday in Lethbridge and Saturday at Kootenay.
The Royals will then kick off a 5 game homestand and unveil their first ever 3rd Jersey when they entertain the Giants on Friday October 24th, followed by Pink In The Rink on the 25th.
MORE FROM HITMEN.COM:
Last season, Calgary (48-17-3-4) finished third in the Eastern Conference with 103 points.
CHL IMPORT DRAFT: Calgary selected 17-year-old Pavel Karnaukhov with the 56th overall pick in the 2014 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft. Last season, Karnaukhov, a native of Minsk, Belarus, scored 13 goals and added 16 assists for 29 points along with 56 penalty minutes over 48 games played with Krasnaya Armiya Moskva of the MHL. Karnaukhov also played for Team Russia at the 2014 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament where he had one assist in four games.
8 NHL PROSPECTS: Greg Chase (Rd. 7, EDM ‘13 - Signed); Radel Fazleev (Rd. 6, PHI ’14); Kenton Helgesen (Rd. 7, ANA ’12 - Signed); Chase Lang (Rd. 6, MIN ’14); Travis Sanheim (Rd. 1, PHI ’14 - Signed), Adam Tambellini (Rd. 3, NYR ’13); Ben Thomas (Rd. 4, TB ’14); Jake Virtanen (Rd. 1, VAN ‘14 - Signed).
PROSPECT: Pavel Karnaukhov (5-1-6) is a ‘C’ rated skater according to NHL CSS.
OFF SEASON CHANGES: Mark French was hired on June 12 to replace Mike Williamson becoming the eighth head coach in franchise history. French, a native of Milton, Ontario, has an extensive coaching resume having been both a head coach and an assistant coach with the Washington Capitals’ AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears for six seasons. Last season he was the bench boss of Medvescak Zagreb of the KHL, where he guided the expansion team to the playoffs after a 92-point regular season that included setting a league record for most consecutive wins by a debut team at eight. Also on June 12 the Hitmen promoted Associate Coach Brent Kisio who adds the title Assistant General Manager.
DID YOU KNOW?: Taylor and Travis Sanheim are fraternal twins, Lochlan Morrison won the 2014 TELUS Cup, the national midget championship with the Prince Albert Mintos.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN (24):
’94-born (3): Helgesen, Rankin, Tambellini,
’95-born (5): Chase, Donald*, Harmsworth, , Peterson, Shields
’96-born (8): Fazleev, Lang, Taylor Sanheim*, Evan Johnson, Travis Sanheim, Thomas,
Virtanen, Zipp,
’97-born (6): Bensmiller*, Draude, Karnaukhov*, Morrison*, Stallard*, Twarynski*,
’98-born (2): Bean*, Malenstyn*
*Denotes rookie
Victoria Royals vs Calgary Hitmen: Head To Head Stats
Summary
Description
|
Result
| |
| Head to Head Record 2014-15 Regular Season | Victoria 0-0-0-0 | Calgary 0-0-0-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2013-14 Regular Season | Victoria 1-0-1-0 | Calgary 1-1-0-0 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Victoria 3-5-1-0 | Calgary 6-3-0-0 |
| Victoria vs. Calgary Last 5 Years record at Victoria | Victoria 2-2-1-0 | Calgary 3-2-0-0 |
| Victoria vs. Calgary Last 5 Years record at Calgary | Victoria 1-3-0-0 | Calgary 3-1-0-0 |
How the 2 teams match up
Calgary
|
Victoria
| |
| Team Record | 3-2-0-1 -- 7 points | 2-4-1-0 -- 5 points |
| Division Ranking | 2nd Central | 5th B.C. |
| Conference Ranking | 6th Eastern | 8th Western |
| League Ranking | 12th | 17th |
| Past 10 Games | 3-2-0-1 | 2-4-1-0 |
| Streak | 3-0-0-1 | 1-0-1-0 |
| Last Game | 6-4 W vs Kootenay (Oct 4 2014) Final | 6-2 W vs Portland (Oct 6 2014) Final |
| Home Record | 2-2-0-0 | 2-1-1-0 |
| Away Record | 1-0-0-1 | 0-3-0-0 |
| GF | 23 | 20 |
| GA | 19 | 29 |
| PP (Overall) | (5/22) 22.7 | (8/40) 20.0 |
| PP (Home) | (4/14) 28.6 | (4/20) 20.0 |
| PP (Away) | (1/8) 12.5 | (4/20) 20.0 |
| PK (Overall) | (4/28) 85.7 | (6/30) 80.0 |
| PK (Home) | (3/22) 86.4 | (4/16) 75.0 |
| PK (Away) | (1/6) 83.3 | (2/14) 85.7 |
| Leading Rookie | Karnaukhov (5-1-6) | Hannoun (1-2-3) |
| Most PIM | Donald - 17 | Crunk - 20 |
| Team PIM/GM | 16.3/Game | 18.0/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Lang (3-4-7) | Carroll (4-3-7) |
| Karnaukhov (5-1-6) | Hicketts (3-3-6) | |
| Tambellini (4-2-6) | Walker (2-4-6) | |
| Sanheim (3-3-6) | Brown (2-4-6) | |
| Draude (1-5-6) | Soy (1-4-5) | |
| Last 5 Games | 6-4 W vs Kootenay (Oct 4 2014) Final | 6-2 W vs Portland (Oct 6 2014) Final |
| 2-1 W @ Edmonton (Oct 3 2014) Final | 2-1 L vs Swift Current (Oct 4 2014) Final OT | |
| 4-3 L @ Lethbridge (Oct 1 2014) Final SO | 5-3 L @ Vancouver (Sep 28 2014) Final | |
| 9-2 W vs Lethbridge (Sep 28 2014) Final | 4-3 W vs Kamloops (Sep 27 2014) Final OT | |
| 4-2 L vs Medicine Hat (Sep 26 2014) Final | 8-2 L vs Kamloops (Sep 26 2014) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 1-2-0-1 | 1-1-0-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 1-0-0-1 | 1-1-0-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 1-0-0-0 | 1-0-0-0 |
| Tied After 2nd | 1-0-0-0 | 1-0-0-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 1-0-0-0 | 0-3-1-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 1-2-0-0 | 0-3-1-0 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 2-0-0-1 | 1-1-1-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 1-2-0-0 | 1-3-0-0 |
| 1-Goal Games | 1-0-0-1 | 1-0-1-0 |
| 2-Goal Games | 1-1-0-0 | 0-2-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 0-1-0-0 | 0-1-0-0 |
