HITMEN REPORT: Ben Kindel back in Pittsburgh 'doing better' after 'scary moment'

Former Calgary Hitmen star Ben Kindel is back in Pittsburgh and undergoing further testing after collapsing aboard his NHL’s team flight Tuesday, Penguins GM Kyle Dubas said Thursday morning.

The 19-year-old forward lost consciousness about 10 minutes after the charter left Salt Lake City. Team doctors diagnosed the incident as a vasovagal episode, prompting an emergency return to Utah.

Dubas says team medical director Dr. Dharmesh Vyas and other members of the Penguins’ medical staff immediately attended to Kindel and gave him oxygen. Kindel regained consciousness before the plane landed and was met by paramedics, who took him to University of Utah Hospital.

He was cleared to travel Wednesday and returned to Pittsburgh with members of the organization. He was back at the Penguins’ facility Thursday for treatment and further testing.

“We’ll place him on injured reserve, and we will obviously follow very strict guidelines to ensure a safe return to training and play for Ben,” Dubas said. “That’s our primary goal and paramount to his future and health.”

Penguins head coach Dan Muse described Kindel as “doing better” when talking to reporters Wednesday.

Kindel, a native of Coquitlam, B.C., spent three seasons with the Hitmen and broke out with 35 goals and 99 points in 65 games in 2024-25. The Penguins selected him 11th overall in the 2025 NHL Draft.

He made the Pens as a teenager last season and remained with the NHL club for the 2026-27 campaign.

Dubas says Kindel had no known history of similar episodes and that doctors are still trying to determine what triggered Tuesday’s collapse, which Muse described as “a scary moment.”

A vasovagal episode is a sudden fainting caused when heart rate and blood pressure drop unexpectedly.

“Very clearly shaken and sorting through it,” Dubas said of Kindel’s condition Thursday. “We just have to continue to help him with our resources through that.”

The Penguins cancelled Wednesday’s practice while Kindel remained under medical care. Dubas also thanked the medical team and Air Canada crew for their response, saying their calm restored order during a frightening situation.

There is no firm timetable for Kindel’s return. Dubas said the club hopes to complete testing and move him back into training over the next four days, possibly allowing a return to practice Sunday or Monday.

He warned that plan could change depending on the results.

Dubas says the organization will provide updates as Kindel progresses carefully through medical clearance, training and practice in the days ahead. For now, the focus remains on the health of a young player whose sudden collapse, Dubas says, reminded everyone aboard that some moments quickly become bigger than any hockey game.

The Hitmen’s top line has come to play early in the 2026-27 Western Hockey League campaign.

And it certainly came early to play Wednesday.

Captain Carter Sanderson scored twice and added an assist, Artem Katsuro had a goal and an assist, and Charlie Kresl collected two helpers as Calgary held off the Penticton Vees 4-3 at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

The trio combined for seven points and figured in each of the Hitmen’s first three goals, all scored during a first period the Hitmen controlled.
Katsuro opened the scoring on the power play at 9:00, hammering home a one-timer from Sanderson and Kressl. Sanderson then followed with another man-advantage goal at 15:13, taking passes from Kresl and Calder Hamilton and scored again at 18:56 after Katsuro found him.

The Vees’ Noel Pakarinen replied 32 seconds later, but Calgary left the period with a 3-1 lead and had already established the margin it would need.

“My line was good,” Katsuro said. “Sandy passed to me. I did one-timer. It’s so nice.”
Kressel had the other assist.

Grady Anaka made it 4-1 midway through the second period for the hosts, scoring what stood as the winner from Shaun Hildebrandt. The Fees answered with goals from Tyler Deakos and Carter Cunningham, trimming the Hitmen lead to one before the second intermission.

And Hitmen goaltender Aidan Hesse protected it from there.

The Vees outshot the Hitmen 14-6 in the third period and 34-27 overall, but Hesse finished with 31 saves. The Hitmen killed all five power plays owned by the Vees, while going 2-for-6 with the man-advantage themselves.

“I really liked our start — the first period is really good for our team,” said Hitmen head coach Dustin Friesen. “I thought special teams was a difference-maker in that game today, getting some power-play goals early and the penalty kill digging in in some important areas.”

For Katsuro, who now has six goals, he’s finding chemistry with Sanderson and Kressl.

“It’s a good line,” said the 2026 CHL Import Draft second-round selection. “I’m so happy to be with them.”

The line’s production did more than fill the scoresheet. It gave the Hitmen a three-goal cushion before the Vees settled into the game, provided both power-play goals and forced the Vees to chase from behind for most of the night at the Dome on Wednesday.

The win was Calgary’s second straight and lifted the club to 6-4, good for fifth place in the WHL’s Eastern Conference with 12 points.

The Hitmen have one game left on their current five-game home stand, and it’s a challenge.

They host the talented Medicine Hat Tigers on Friday at the Dome (7 p.m.). The teams entered Thursday separated by one point in the Eastern Conference, with the Hitmen sitting fifth at 6-4 with 12 points and the Tigers in sixth at 5-3-0-1 with 11.

The home stand has been a mixed bag but is finishing better than it started. The Hitmen opened the stretch with losses to the Victoria Royals and the Lethbridge Hurricanes before responding with a 7-3 win over the Red Deer Rebels and Wednesday’s 4-3 decision over the Vees in that franchise’s first-ever visit to the Dome. That leaves the Hitmen 2-2 through four games, with a chance to finish above .500 on Friday.

The standings remain crowded. The Hitmen went into Thursday’s action one point behind the fourth-place Saskatoon Blades and within four points of the conference-leading Brandon Wheat Kings. The Tigers, the Edmonton Oil Kings and the Regina Pats went in to the night just one point behind the Hitmen.
Friesen wants his forces to carry forward the urgency it showed against the Vees without repeating the puck-management problems that allowed the visitors back into Wednesday’s affair.

“When we do that really well, then … we’re really hard to play against,” added Friesen. “When we don’t do that, then we’re chasing the game a little bit.”
The Hitmen then visit the Tigers on Saturday before returning home Sunday to face fourth-place Blades at the Dome (4 p.m.).

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