Oil Kings to meet Rebels in playoffs

Edmonton Journal

March 20, 2011

Top NHL draft prospect Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored twice to lead the Red Deer Rebels to a 3-1 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings on Saturday night.

Brett Ferguson also tallied for the Rebels, who will host the Oil Kings in Game 1 of their best-of-seven Western Hockey League opening-round playoff series on Friday night.

Abney Cameron scored for the Oil Kings.

© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

Wilson scores awards hat trick

Calgary Herald

March 20, 2011 10:01 PM

Hitmen defenceman Ben Wilson (2), seen keeping the puck away from Tigers Reid Petryk, picked up three awards at the Calgary team?s season-ending banquet on Sunday.

Photograph by: Lorraine Hjalte, Calgary Herald

CALGARY — Defenceman Ben Wilson was a triple winner at the Calgary Hitmen’s season-ending awards banquet Sunday night at the Fairmont Palliser.

The Calgary product, who turns 20 on Saturday, was the lone Hitmen player to dress for all 72 regular-season games, and was honoured three times on Sunday night, following the regular-season finale at the Saddledome.

Wilson, who counted four goals and 18 assists, was named the Hitmen Booster Club’s Fan Favourite — an award he shared with fellow blueliner Peter Kosterman — and also won the Enmax Energy Humanitarian Award along with the Molson Coaches Award.

Hitmen captain Cody Sylvester was named the Petro-Canada Player of the Year, while Trevor Cheek took home the Wendy’s Restaurant Rookie of the Year Trophy.

Other winners:

* Husky Energy Top Defenceman — Spencer Humphries

* NSD Most Sportsmanlike Player — Justin Kirsch

* Chrysler Canada Inc. Scholastic Player — Kosterman

* ReMax 3 Star Award — Kris Foucault

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Hitmen season ends with offence absent

By Allen Cameron, Calgary Herald

March 20, 2011 10:01 PM

It was a crowded net in front of Hitmen goalie Michael Snider, with teammates Jaynen Rissling (9), Rob Trzonkowski (17), Tyler Fiddler (23) and Misha Fisenko (10) and Medicine Hat Tigers Curtis Valk (18) and Linden Vey (15), but he managed to keep the puck out. The Hitmen eventually lost 2-0 to the Tigers.

Photograph by: Lorraine Hjalte, Calgary Herald

How fitting that the lowest-scoring team in the Western Hockey League team — indeed, the lowest-scoring Calgary Hitmen team EVER — would close out the season in an offensive drought.

Five straight losses, including a 2-0 setback to the Medicine Hat Tigers in their 2010-11 curtain-dropper before an announced crowd of 15,694 Sunday at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

A goal-scoring dry spell of an appalling 122 minutes and 14 seconds to finish off a 20-47-3-2 campaign.

And, most galling of all, a pre-playoff garbage day for the first time since 1997.

“I don’t remember ever missing the playoffs at any level,” murmured veteran left-winger Tyler Fiddler, who played his final junior game on Sunday. “This year’s been difficult for me; not knowing how to lose (from past seasons) was tough. It’s a new experience. Some days, it was tougher to come to the rink, but it’s part of being a younger team. I think we under-achieved a little bit, but I think the young guys got a lot of experience this year and hopefully they can build for the future.”

In fact, as much as there was a sense of relief around the Hitmen dressing room that the 2010-11 season had finally, mercifully, come to an end, there was optimism, too, that the growing pains are over and that one of the most stable, and successful, franchises in the WHL has the core of players to return to the top half of the standings.

Certainly, the closing weekend of this season — back-to-back shutout losses to the playoff-bound Tigers — was enough to put a bitter taste in a lot of mouths that likely won’t dissipate until the beginning of training camp five months hence.

There were some good signs on Sunday; the Hitmen did pepper Tiger goalie Deven Dubyk with 40 shots, but just like Saturday in the Hat, Dubyk turned them all aside.

Hitmen goalie Mike Snider, once again, couldn’t be faulted, making 24 saves.

As well, the Hitmen got a solid outing from young Greg Chase, their first-round pick in last year’s bantam draft; he didn’t hit the scoreboard, but got some quality chances in extensive power-play time.

Still, it was hardly the way veterans such as Fiddler and fellow overages Kris Foucault (who despite leading the team in scoring wasn’t on the ice for the Hitmen’s last-gasp power-play attempt late in the third period) and Misha Fisenko.

“The last two games were frustrating,” admitted Foucault, who’s awaiting word regarding contract talks with the Minnesota Wild, who made him a fourth-round pick in 2009. “It’s tough to go out getting shut out two games in a row. But we’ve got some great guys returning next year who can put up some goals. I’ve had a lot of good seasons here, I’ve had a good career up till now. So it’s tough to go out this way. But I’m moving forward and looking to the future now.”

The 46-18-4-4 Tigers, who open their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarter-final series against the Brandon Wheat Kings with home games Friday and Saturday (7:30 p.m. both nights) at The Arena, got both of their goals from Emerson Etem, one into an empty net.

And while the Tigers start preparing for the post-season, the Hitmen start packing their bags and sitting down for exit interviews with general manager Kelly Kisio and coach Mike Williamson.

“We don’t like losing in this organization, and like Kelly (Kisio) said (in a Herald story on Sunday), it’s unacceptable,” said captain Cody Sylvester. “We’re going to come out next year a lot stronger than we did this year and get some wins.

“I saw (Kisio’s comment) in the paper, and he’s right, it’s obviously not acceptable,” added defenceman Peter Kosterman, considered the top Hitmen NHL draft prospect this year. “But he also made the point that everyone’s going to be given an equal chance here, and they’re going to take the players who want to be here and deserve to be here.

“It’s a big summer for all of us, and we should be a lot better next year.

“And we will be.”

acameron@calgaryherald.com

Follow Allen Cameron on Twitter/AllenCameronCH

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Kid looks alright for Hitmen

By SCOTT FISHER, Calgary Sun

Last Updated: March 20, 2011 10:32pm

It’s all over for this miserable campaign.

But the Calgary Hitmen hope to be in the Chase next season.

Freshman Chase Clayton and centre Greg Chase, who will begin his rookie Western Hockey League season in the fall, are the cornerstones of the club’s rebuilding process.

Chase, whose midget season came to an end when his Sherwood Park Kings bowed out of the playoffs last week, suited up with the Hitmen for the final weekend.

“It’s fast and everyone is strong,” the 16-year-old said after Sunday’s 2-0 season-ending loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers at the Dome.

“It’s a whole different level of hockey.

“It was a good experience.”

Overall, Chase got into five games with the Hitmen, which should pay dividends when he looks to crack the roster full-time in September.

“I know what I have to work on all summer,” Chase said.

“I have to get bigger and faster.

“I thought I did pretty well and had some good chances.”

Chase scored 24 goals and 39 points in 30 games with Sherwood Park and then added 10 points in a dozen playoff tilts.

Hitmen bench boss Mike Williamson said the youngster was impressive during his brief audition.

“He has a good skill set, competes hard, and he’s hungry on the puck,” Williamson said. “We’re happy with his outlook for next year.”

Chase suffered a knee injury during Sunday’s chippy affair that saw the Tigers with more players in the penalty box (six) than on their bench (five) in the third period. But he did return from what he said was just a bruise.

The Hitmen had no answer for Tigers goaltender Deven Dubyk on the weekend.

The Manitoba product, who had never posted a shutout at any level, finished the season by kicking out 67 pucks in a row for back-to-back goose eggs against the Hitmen.

As the game started to deteriorate into a series of scraps in the third, Hitmen goalie Michael Snider extended a dance invitation to Dubyk.

But with his second straight shutout on the line, he was having none of it.

“I think Snider was calling me down, but I was like, ‘not this time,’ ” Dubyk said.

Snider, who made 54 saves on 56 shots over the weekend, said he didn’t blame Dubyk for declining.

“I’ve kinda always wanted to be in a goalie fight,” Snider said with a smile. “I think it would be exciting.

“That would have been fun, but nothing against him.”

Anaheim Ducks first-rounder Emerson Etem scored both goals for the Tigers

(46-18-8), who will face the Brandon Wheat Kings in the opening round of playoffs.

Hitmen hand out awards

The Hitmen handed out their year-end awards Sunday night at the Fairmont Palliser.

C Cody Sylvester was named the Petro-Canada player of the year.

Other winners included

LW Kris Foucault (three stars),

LW Trevor Cheek (rookie), LW Justin Kirsch (most sportsmanlike player) and Spencer Humphries (top defenceman).

D Ben Wilson (coach’s award, humanitarian) and

D Peter Kosterman (scholastic) also shared the fan favourite honours