Hitmen blank Pats to close out road trip
How’s that for a debut? Rookie Hitmen goalie Lasse Petersen made 19 saves to record a goose egg in first Western Hockey League start as the Calgary Hitmen closed out a weekend Eastern Conference road trip with a 3- 0 win over the Regina Pats on Sunday.
Actually he had it pretty easy early in the contest as Regina failed to record a shot in the first 11 minutes.
The play was mostly in the Pats’ end as Calgary ran up a 2- 0 lead before the game was six minutes old.
Elliott Peterson got it started when he took a pass in the slot and fired it past screened Regina goalie Tyler Brown, who started his first game of the season.
Just 1: 57 later, Travis Sanheim slipped a lead pass up to Pavel Karnaukhov, who caught the Pats’ defence flat- footed and cruised in alone, beating Brown for a 2- 0 lead.
The momentum tilted in Regina’s favour during a scoreless second period as the home team outshot Calgary 11- 8. Brown followed that up with a big save on Layne Bensmiller early in the third, only to have the Hitmen pad their lead with the man advantage just over a minute later.
Travis Sanheim did the honours by pinching in from the point and redirecting a shot from Chase Lang past Brown. He finished with a goal and an assist.
The Hitmen head home with a 2- 1 record on the road trip — following up Friday’s 3- 2 win over No. 1- ranked Brandon with a clunker in Moose Jaw ( a 6- 3 defeat). Now 4- 1, the Hitmen get set for a homeandhome series against the Red Deer Rebels ( 4- 0) on Friday ( 7 p. m., Scotiabank Saddleome) and Saturday ( 7 p. m., Enmax Centrium).
Seven new players will be on the Calgary Inferno roster after a weekend training camp at WinSport.
The local Canadian Women’s Hockey League team will be bolstered by the additions of Team Canada stars Brianne Jenner, Hayley Wickenheiser, Blayre Turnbull, Brigette Lacquette and Jillian Saulnier. Japanese national team player Kanae Aoki and former University of Calgary Dinos star Elana Lovell will also be key additions to a squad that fell just short of winning a Clarkson Cup last season.
They join 17 players returning from last season’s second- place team, including league- leading scorer Rebecca Johnston, top defenceman Jacquie Pierri and starting goalie Delayne Brian.
“The girls still have to get used to us and we still have to get used to them, but we have some standards in place and they’re working especially hard,” head coach Scott Reid said. “Naming the team today wasn’t an easy decision, though we are happy to announce our outstanding roster and move ahead with preparations for the season.”
The CWHL season kicks off Oct. 24 for the Inferno when they host the Boston Blades to WinSport.