Hot start turns cold as Calgary Hitmen search for identity at home

The first few strides of the Saddledome’s farewell season treated the Calgary Hitmen kindly.

Four games, four wins and a start that suggested the Dome’s junior puck tenants might be ready to make noise.

Then the volume changed, and the Hitmen have dropped three straight on the 2026-27 Western Hockey League season — the latest a 5-2 drop to the visiting Victoria Royals on Thanksgiving Monday that has Dustin Friesen wondering what’s happened to the hot start by his hockey squad.

“Yeah … we’ve got to work through it,” said the Hitmen head coach following the holiday matinee at Scotiabank Saddledome. “Just collectively as a group, we’ve got to play more structured, more connected and just overall harder to play against.

“I know we have the players to do that,” continued Friesen. “It’s our job as coaches to get them there.”

They did collectively get there early with the 4-0 opening to the WHL’s regular schedule.

But since then it’s been a rough go.

Monday’s defeat followed previous losses to the host Red Deer Rebels — 8-5 — on Friday and, before that, to the visiting Regina Pats — 7-2 — five days earlier.

A perfect opening has become a 4-3 record, with 20 goals allowed during the skid.

Too many penalties, especially too many self-inflicted ones.

Too many slow starts — the Royals’ Cameron Schmidt scored just 40 seconds into Monday’s affair.

And simply too soft to play against far too often.

“Throughout this weekend, I thought there’s some guys who made some steps which was really positive,” Friesen said. “I liked the guys pushing back. There are momentum shifts there, and it’s really important to continue that momentum, but we didn’t win the middle of the ice.

“We needed everyone to take steps together and just — like I said — be harder to play against and more connected.”

The Thanksgiving Monday loss marked the first of five straight home affairs for the Hitmen at Scotiabank Saddledome.

Included are two upcoming weekend contests against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday (7 p.m.) and the Red Deer Rebels on Saturday (1 p.m.).

Then it’s two more home games — Wednesday, Oct. 21, to the Penticton Vees (7 p.m.) and Friday, Oct. 23, to the Medicine Hat Tigers (7 p.m.).

So with much time slated in cozy confines, it’s a good time for the Hitmen to settle back into their familiar form — or at least what Friesen feels is more like themselves.

But they’re doing so without a number of key players.

Veteran defenceman Wyatt Pisarczyk and forwards Landon Amrhein and Rylan Ng were among the regular roster players injured against the Royals.

And first-year Hitmen forward Charlie Kresl also sat out after receiving a boarding major and game misconduct in Red Deer, leaving the home team with 11 forwards dressed Monday.

Yet Friesen isn’t using sidelined talent as an excuse, opting instead to see it as a chance for others to step up and contribute to team play across the board.

“You need depth within your lineup, and you need consistent effort,” Friesen said. “You need predictability in how you play. If you don’t do those things, the game gets really hard.

“I think as a group, we just need to keep on growing and pushing through and get back to what our identity as a team is.”

The skid has not taken the shine off the squad’s promising newcomers.

Carter Sanderson is the new sniper for the squad.

He’s introduced himself to Calgary and the league with a team-high seven goals in just five games. South Dakota’s Sanderson, 19, was brought in during the summer by the Hitmen after spending the past two seasons with the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks.

Artem Katsura, too, has brought talented hands to the team with four goals in seven games after the 17-year-old Moscow native was selected in the second round by the Hitmen in the 2026 CHL Import Draft.

And Brennan Brown, also brought in over the off-season in a trade with the Swift Current Broncos, has sniped four goals for the Hitmen to help lead the offence. The Saskatchewan native is 19, as well.

“This team has a ton of potential,” said Kresl, another new addition in the off-season to the lineup and a two-goal man so far. “We’re a younger group with a lot of returners, but we also have a lot of vets that have had a lot of junior experience, and everyone’s got a different role.

“I think I can bring leadership,” continued Kresl. “I’ve had different teams, experiences, towns and types of locker rooms. On the ice, I bring speed and a little grit. I’m a smaller forward, but I’m not afraid to throw the body and get into the dirty areas.”

The newest addition is Bode Laylin, a 2007-born defenceman acquired earlier this month from the Everett Silvertips for forward Caine Wilke and a fourth-round pick in the 2028 WHL Prospects Draft.

Laylin was the Calgary Flames’ sixth-round selection, 164th overall, in the 2026 NHL Draft.

The Minnesota product posted 11 goals and 38 points in 55 games for the USHL’s Tri-City Storm last season. He had one assist in five games for the Silvertips before the trade and scored in his Hitmen debut in Red Deer.

“Bode is going to fit in really well,” added Friesen. “He moves well, defends and checks well with his feet.”