Calgary Hitmen

The Calgary Hitmen are a junior ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada playing in the Western Hockey League (WHL). They play their home games at the Pengrowth Saddledome. The Hitmen name is derived from Calgary-born wrestler, and original part owner, Bret "the Hitman" Hart. The Hitmen's original jerseys were a distinctive mix of pink, black and grey, also taken from Hart's ring attire.

The Hitmen are the third WHL team to represent Calgary, preceded by the Centennials and Wranglers. In 1999, the Hitmen became the first Calgary team to win the President's Cup as league champions, and the first to represent Calgary in the Memorial Cup since the Calgary Canadians won the national junior title in 1926.

History
Calgary had been without a WHL team since 1987, when the Calgary Wranglers moved south to become the Lethbridge Hurricanes, as the juniors could not compete against the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League. Eighteen investors, however, convinced the WHL to grant the city of Calgary an expansion franchise for the 1995-96 WHL season. In addition to Hart, the ownership group included NHL stars Theo Fleury and Joe Sakic. Though initially nervous of competing with the Hitmen for hockey fan's dollars, the Flames chose to purchase the Hitmen in 1997, and have since built the team into one of the premier junior hockey teams in Canada.

Controversial beginnings
The Hitmen immediately generated controversy when the team logo was unveiled. While the "Jason Voorhees" style logo was instantly popular with many fans, some in the local media, as well as the league office found the look too violent, and the Hitmen were forced to use an alternate "starburst" logo in their inaugural season. The WHL relented after one year, allowing the original logo to return in 1996.

The Hitmen were caught up in a second controversy in their second season as general manager and head coach Graham James was forced to resign partway through the 1996-97 season after being charged with sexually assaulting two of his players while coaching the Swift Current Broncos. James was convicted in January 1997.

The team on the ice did not fare much better than it did off of it. The Hitmen won only 33 games in their first two seasons, finishing safely out of playoff contention both years.

WHL championship
After two challenging seasons, the Hitmen quickly rose to prominence. In 1997-98, the Hitmen won 40 games and the Central Division. Entering the playoffs for the first time, the Hitmen cruised past the Saskatoon Blades, then upset the Swift Current Broncos before falling in the Eastern Conference final to the Brandon Wheat Kings. Head coach Dean Clark, brought in to replace James, won the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as WHL coach of the year for his efforts. He was also named the CHL coach of the year.

Calgary improved to 51 wins in 1998-99, narrowly edging the Kamloops Blazers for the regular season title. Led by Brad Moran, Pavel Brendl and goaltender Alexandre Fomitchev, the Hitmen lost just five games in the playoffs, capturing their first President's Cup at home before a WHL playoff record crowd of 17,139.

In the 1999 Memorial Cup, the Hitmen finished atop the round robin standings earning a berth straight into the final. Calgary faced the host Ottawa 67s of the Ontario Hockey League in the championship game in an exciting back-and-forth affair. The Hitmen fell just short however, losing 7-6 in overtime.

In 1999-00, the Hitmen set franchise records for wins (58) and points (120) while capturing their second straight regular season title. After sweeping their first two playoff series, the Hitmen were stunned by the eventual WHL champion Kootenay Ice.

Recent years
In the past several seasons, the Hitmen have settled in as a middle of the road team on the ice. Despite this, the team has become a perennial attendance leader, finishing atop the WHL standings each of the past four years. In 2004-05, the Flames heavily marketed the Hitmen in the wake of the 2004-05 NHL lockout. As a result, the Hitmen averaged 10,062 fans, the first junior team to average 10,000, and the highest average of any junior or professional team in North America. Their season total of 362,227 set WHL and CHL records.

While the team has not been extremely successful in recent years, the Hitmen have developed several players who have gone onto success in the NHL and at major international tournaments. Ryan Getzlaf and Andrew Ladd were both members of the dominating Canadian team that won the 2005 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. Justin Pogge emerged as the unlikely hero for team Canada as they defended their gold medal at the 2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. Pogge would also be named the WHL and CHL goaltender of the year in 2005-06.

Ladd also became the first Hitmen alumnus to win the Stanley Cup, which he did with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006. Getzlaf won the cup the following season with the Anaheim Ducks, leading the team in scoring with seven goals and ten assists in twenty-one games.

NHL Alumni
Ryan Getzlaf played four seasons with the Hitmen between 2001 and 2005.|alt=Upper body of a hockey player staring intently into the distance. He is in a white jersey with black, red and gold trim, with the word "DUCKS" scrawled across the chest.]] Thirty-eight players have been selected from the Hitmen roster at the National Hockey League's entry drafts. Of those, nine players were selected in the first round. The highest drafted players in club history were Pavel Brendl (1999) and Andrew Ladd (2004). Both players were selected fourth overall.

Forty-one former Hitmen players have gone on to play in the National Hockey League. The first was Ryan Bast, who played two games with the Philadelphia Flyers in 1998–99. Andrew Ladd has gone on to win two Stanley Cup championships since graduating: with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 and the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010. His former Hitmen teammate, Ryan Getzlaf won the Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007.


 * Karl Alzner
 * Ryan Bast
 * Kris Beech
 * Johnny Boychuk
 * Pavel Brendl
 * Barry Brust
 * Brett Carson
 * Brodie Dupont
 * Chris Driedger
 * Justin Falk
 * Kris Foucault
 * Owen Fussey
 * T. J. Galiardi
 * Ryan Getzlaf
 * Darcy Hordichuk
 * Martin Jones
 * Dustin Kohn
 * Brandon Kozun
 * Brent Krahn
 * Jordan Krestanovich
 * Andrew Ladd
 * Carson McMillan
 * Brad Moran
 * Chris Nielsen
 * Stephen Peat
 * Matt Pettinger
 * Alex Plante
 * Justin Pogge
 * Paul Postma
 * Konstantin Pushkarev
 * Victor Rask
 * Brandon Segal
 * Jeff Schultz
 * Ray Schultz
 * Fredrik Sjostrom
 * Jerred Smithson
 * Rastislav Stana
 * Michael Stone
 * Brad Stuart
 * Ryan Tobler
 * Jake Virtanen
 * Ryan White

Retired numbers

 * 20 - Brad Moran 1995-2000

Head coaches
Dean Clark has thus far been the most successful coach for the Calgary Hitmen. He led the team between 1996 and 2001, and in that time won more WHL games than any other coach. He was named coach of the year in both the WHL and CHL in 1998. Clark led the Hitmen to three division titles, two regular season titles, one league championship, and coached the Hitmen to their first Memorial Cup final. Kelly Kisio is the team's former head coach from the 2004–05 season to the end of the 2007–08 season, a role he shared with Dean Evason in his first year at the helm of the Hitmen. Kisio stepped down as coach in 2008, naming former assistant Dave Lowry, as head coach for the 2008–09 season. Lowry was promoted to an assistant with the Calgary Flames after leading the Hitmen to a 122-point season in his rookie year. He was replaced by Mike Williamson, who led the team to a WHL championship in 2010 but left the team in 2014. The current head coach is Mark French.

Club records
Team records held by the Hitmen and players:

Season
Individual Team
 * Most goals, 73, Pavel Brendl, 1998-99
 * Most assists, 72, Brad Moran, 1999-00
 * Most points, 134, Pavel Brendl, 1998-99
 * Most penalty minutes: 302, Ryan Andres, 1997-98
 * Best goals against average, 1.72, Justin Pogge, 2005-06
 * Most shutouts, 11, Justin Pogge, 2005-06
 * Most wins: 59, 2008-09
 * Most points: 122, 2008-09
 * Most goals for: 330, 2008-09
 * Fewest goals against: 155, 2005-06

Career

 * Most goals: 204, Brad Moran, 1995-00
 * Most assists: 246, Brad Moran, 1995-00
 * Most points: 450, Brad Moran, 1995-00
 * Most games played: 357. Brad Moran 1995-00
 * Most penalty minutes: 704, Mike Egener, 2000-04
 * Best goals against average: 1.92, Justin Pogge, 2004-06
 * Most shutouts: 16 Martin Jones 2006-10
 * Most games played, goaltender: 179, Dan Spence, 2004–08
 * Most saves, goaltender: 3390, Chris Driedger, 2011–14

Awards and honours
The Calgary Hitmen have captured numerous awards during the franchise's tenure. Hitmen players have been named the WHL's most outstanding player four times. Defenceman Karl Alzner won the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy in 2007–08, also named the defenceman of the year, and Brett Sonne won the trophy in 2008–09. Goaltender Martin Jones captured numerous awards in Calgary's championship season of 2009–10, including being named the top goaltender of the Memorial Cup, and Brandon Kozun led the entire Canadian Hockey League in scoring.

As a whole, the Hitmen have won the Central Division six times, and four times have been the regular season champions. Brad Moran, the franchise's all-time leading scorer, had his number 20 retired in 2005, the only player to be so honoured. Following the lead of the Calgary Flames, the team introduced a new program in 2015 to honour former players. Called "Forever a Hitmen", the team named Ryan Getzlaf the first inductee.

Ed Chynoweth Cup

Western Hockey League champions
 * 1998–99, 2009–10

Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy

Regular season champions
 * 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2008–09, 2009–10

Central Division titles
 * 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000
 * 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10

Four Broncos Memorial Trophy

Player of the year
 * Brad Moran: 1999–2000
 * Justin Pogge: 2005–06
 * Karl Alzner: 2007–08
 * Brett Sonne: 2008–09

Bob Clarke Trophy

Top scorer
 * Pavel Brendl: 1998–99
 * Brad Moran: 1999–2000
 * Brandon Kozun: 2009–10

Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Trophy

Scholastic player of the year
 * Chris Nielsen: 1998–99, 1999–2000

Brad Hornung Trophy

Most sportsmanlike player
 * Matt Kinch: 1998–99, 2000–01

Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy

Defenceman of the year
 * Brad Stuart: 1998–99
 * Karl Alzner: 2007–08

CHL Defenceman of the Year
 * Brad Stuart: 1998–99
 * Karl Alzner: 2007–08

Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy

Rookie of the year
 * Pavel Brendl: 1998–99

CHL Top Draft Prospect Award
 * Pavel Brendl: 1998–99

Del Wilson Trophy

Goaltender of the year
 * Justin Pogge: 2005–06
 * Martin Jones: 2009–10

CHL Goaltender of the Year
 * Justin Pogge: 2005–06

Hap Emms Memorial Trophy

Top goaltender at the Memorial Cup
 * Martin Jones: 2010

Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy

Coach of the year
 * Dean Clark: 1997–98

Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award

CHL coach of the year
 * Dean Clark: 1997–98

Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy

Executive of the year
 * Kelly Kisio: 2003–04, 2008–09

Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy

Humanitarian of the year
 * Chris Nielsen: 1999–2000
 * Cody Sylvester: 2012–13

WHL Playoff MVP
 * Brad Moran: 1999
 * Martin Jones: 2010

WHL Plus-Minus Award

Top plus-minus
 * Pavel Brendl: 1998–99
 * Kenton Smith: 1999–2000
 * Andrew Ladd: 2003–04
 * Paul Postma: 2008–09

St. Clair Group Trophy

Top marketing/public relations department
 * Mark Stiles: 2003–04
 * Kip Reghenas: 2007–08