Calgary Hitmen

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Calgary Hitmen
founding 1995
history Calgary Hitmen
since 1995
Stadion Scotiabank Saddledome
Location Calgary , Alberta , CanadaCanadaCanada 
Team colors gold, silver, copper
league Western Hockey League
Conference Eastern Conference
division Central Division
Head coach Mark French
General manager Mike Moore
owner Calgary Flames
Memorial Cups no
Ed Chynoweth Cups 1998/99 , 2009/10

The Calgary Hitmen are a Canadian ice hockey team from Calgary , Alberta and play in the Central Division of the Western Hockey League , one of the top three Canadian junior leagues . The Hitmen were founded in 1995, named after the former Calgary wrestler Bret "Hitman" Hart . They have been owned by the Calgary Flames since 1997 . The home game venue is the Scotiabank Saddledome . They are the third team in the city in the history of the Western Hockey League after the Calgary Centennials and Calgary Wranglers .

Since its inception, the Calgary Hitmen have finished the regular season four times as the best-point team and made it into the play-offs for 13 seasons in a row between 1998 and 2010 . In 1999 they won the President's Cup as WHL champions as the first team from Calgary , and they repeated this success eleven years later and won the championship trophy , which has now been renamed the Ed Chynoweth Cup .

history

The Hitmen were founded in 1995 by NHL professionals Theoren Fleury and Joe Sakic , wrestler Bret Hart , and 15 other investors, on the initiative of Hart. The club colors were initially pink and black, the colors Hart wore in the ring during his career.

In the first two seasons in the Western Hockey League (WHL) the success of the Hitmen failed due to poor defensive performance and so they were sold to the Calgary Flames in 1997 and the club colors were changed to gold, silver and copper.

Calgary Hitmen after winning the 2010 Ed Chynoweth Cup

In their possession there was an immediate increase in points of more than 100 percent and the hitmen were able to qualify for the playoffs for the first time with second position in their division. There they reached the conference finals straight away.

In the fourth year of their existence, they were able to finish the regular season in the WHL in first place in 1999 and then also won the playoffs. This qualified them for the Memorial Cup , in which they lost in the final against the Ottawa 67’s 6: 7 after overtime .

In the following season they reached 120 points and thus the highest value in club history, but were eliminated in the playoffs in the second round. In the 2009/10 season, the team won the Ed Chynoweth Cup as the WHL playoff winner .

At the U20 World Junior Championship in 2005 , the Hitmen put two players ( Andrew Ladd and Ryan Getzlaf ) for Team Canada , which won gold.

Trivia

The Teddy Bear Toss has become a good tradition among fans of the hitmen : immediately after their team's first goal in the run-up to Christmas, or alternatively after the first final siren, fans throw plush teddy bears onto the ice surface. With almost 29,000 teddy bears and other cuddly toys most recently (2015) that benefit needy and sick children and are often even given personally by the players, the fans from Calgary are currently by far the most generous.

Season statistics

Abbreviations: GP = games, W = wins, L = defeats, T = draws, OTL = defeats after overtime , SOL = defeats after shootout , Pts = points, GF = goals scored, GA = goals conceded

season GP W. L. T OTL GF GA Pts space Play-offs
1995-96 72 18th 51 3 - 222 359 39 5th, Central not qualified
1996-97 72 15th 53 4th - 199 360 34 4th, Central not qualified
1997-98 72 40 28 4th - 265 232 84 1st, Central Lost in the Eastern Conference Final
1998-99 72 51 13 8th - 319 187 110 1. Central President's Cup , lost in the Memorial Cup final
1999-2000 72 58 10 2 2 313 182 120 1. Central Lost in the Eastern Conference Final
2000-01 72 37 27 5 3 284 250 82 3rd, Central Lost in the Eastern Conference semifinals
2001-02 72 33 33 5 1 271 281 72 3rd, Central Lost in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals
2002-03 72 27 36 7th 2 240 260 63 4th, Central Lost in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals
2003-04 72 34 24 8th 6th 220 187 82 3rd, Central Lost in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals
2004-05 72 34 23 9 6th 200 183 83 3rd, Central Lost in the Eastern Conference semifinals
2005-06 72 47 18th 3 4th 195 155 101 2., Central Lost in the Eastern Conference semifinals
2006-07 72 39 26th 3 4th 251 205 85 3rd, Central Lost in the Eastern Conference Final
2007-08 72 47 20th 1 4th 259 166 99 1st, Central Lost in the Eastern Conference Final
2008-09 72 59 9 3 1 330 159 122 1st, Central Defeat in the final
2009-10 72 52 17th 1 2 269 177 107 1st, Central Ed Chynoweth Cup , loss in Memorial Cup semifinals
2010-11 72 20th 47 3 2 171 271 45 6th, Central not qualified
2011-12 72 44 25th 2 1 273 221 91 2., Central Lost in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals
2012–13 72 46 21st 1 4th 266 204 97 2., Central Lost in the Eastern Conference Final
2013-14 72 48 17th 3 4th 287 207 103 2., Central Lost in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals

Internal team records

Regular season

(Status: end of season 2011/12)

Record player
space player Games
1. Brad Moran 357
2. Kenton Smith 334
3. Steve Covington 327
4th Matt Kinch 320
5. Jerred Smithson 319
6th Michael Bubnick 294
7th Sean McAslan 289
8th. Brandon Segal 286
9. Rod Sarich 281
10. Wade Davis 277
Top scorer
space player Points (T / A)
1. Brad Moran 450 (204/246)
2. Pavel Brendl 320 (172/148)
3. Matt Kinch 306 (63/243)
4th Brandon Kozun 270 (92/178)
5. Kris Beech 256 (91/165)
6th Ryan White 237 (91/146)
7th Borys Prozenko 229 (121/108)
8th. Ryan Getzlaf 215 (95/120)
9. Brandon Segal 206 (110/96)
10. Chris Nielsen 196 (93/103)
Top goal scorers
space player Gates
1. Brad Moran 204
2. Pavel Brendl 172
3. Borys Prozenko 121
4th Brandon Segal 110
5. Ryan Getzlaf 95
6th Chris Nielsen 93
7th Brandon Kozun 92
8th. Ryan White 91
8th. Kris Beech 91
10. Board sun 89
Top template provider
space player templates
1. Brad Moran 246
2. Matt Kinch 243
3. Brandon Kozun 178
4th Kris Beech 165
5. Kenton Smith 150
6th Pavel Brendl 148
7th Ryan White 146
8th. Michael Stone 129
9. Ryan Getzlaf 120
10. Borys Prozenko 108
Penalty minutes
space player Minutes
1. Mike Egener 704
2. Ryan Shannon 650
3. Ryan Andres 583
4th Curtis Rich 529
5. Sean McAslan 469
6th Kenton Smith 442
7th Robin Gomez 434
7th Brandon Segal 434
9. Ray Schultz 423
10. Ryan White 411
Shut-outs
space player SO
1. Martin Jones 16
2. Justin Pogge 13
3. Daniel Spence 12
4th Brent Krahn 7th
5. Scott Bowles 5
5. Alexander Fomichev 5
7th Chris Driedger 3
7th Gerry Festa 3
7th Michael Snider 3

NHL alumni

40 players from the Calgary Hitmen roster were selected by the teams in the annual NHL Entry Draft . The first was Borys Prozenko in the 1996 draft in the third round in a total of 77th position. The Pittsburgh Penguins brought him into their organization. The earliest picks in history are Pavel Brendl , 1999 New York Rangers, and Andrew Ladd , 2004 Carolina Hurricanes, both of whom were selected fourth overall. Nine Hitmen players were drafted in the first round.

35 players have played in the NHL. The first was Ryan Bast in the 1998–99 season, with two games for the Philadelphia Flyers . Andrew Ladd won the Stanley Cup twice , in 2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes and in 2010 with the Chicago Blackhawks. Ryan Getzlaf won the famous 2007 trophy with the Anaheim Ducks.

Web links

Commons : Calgary Hitmen  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ N24: When suddenly 28,815 teddy bears fly onto the ice ; Retrieved December 9, 2015