Calgary Hitmen

The Calgary Hitmen are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Hitmen play in the Central Division of the Western Hockey League (WHL), hosting their home games at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Bret "Hitman" Hart, a professional wrestler and Calgary native, was a founding owner and the inspiration for the team's name. Established in 1994, the team has been owned by the Calgary Flames hockey club since 1997. They are the third WHL team based in Calgary, after the Centennials and Wranglers.

The Hitmen have won four regular season titles, and the team qualified for the playoffs for thirteen consecutive seasons between 1998 and 2010. In 1999, they became the first Calgary team to win the President's Cup as league champions, and the first to represent the city in the Memorial Cup since the Calgary Canadians won the national junior title in 1926. The team won a second league championship in 2010. The Hitmen hold numerous WHL attendance records, and in 2004–05 became the first team in Canadian Hockey League history to average 10,000 fans per game. Thirty-nine former Hitmen players have gone on to play in the National Hockey League.

Graham James left his position as coach and general manager of the Swift Current Broncos to found the Hitmen in 1994. He organized a group of eighteen investors in the club, including former Broncos and star National Hockey League players Theoren Fleury and Joe Sakic, along with Bret Hart, who made a career in the World Wrestling Federation. The Calgary Flames, who had just assumed control of the Saddledome and were looking to fill extra dates in the building, were receptive to the new team. When scheduling conflicts occurred, the Hitmen used the Stampede Corral as a secondary venue—including for the first seven games in club history.

Calgary had been without a WHL team since the Wranglers moved south to become the Lethbridge Hurricanes in 1987. The league's expansion into Calgary was met with skepticism, as the league had historically struggled in Western Canada's largest markets of Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg, when in competition with the NHL.

The Hitmen entered their first season playing in the newly formed Central Division, and were predicted to finish as high as third in the five-team division. Instead, they finished as the second-worst regular season team in the league, posting an 18–51–3 record. The Hitmen lost $250,000 in their first season and saw their season ticket base halved to 700 for the 1996–97 season. The losses led to questions about the viability of the club.

James stunned the organization when he resigned as coach and general manager on September 5, 1996. Two days later, the Calgary Police Service revealed that James was being investigated on allegations he sexually abused two former players while he was with the Swift Current Broncos. James was charged, and in January 1997 pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault. Upon James' conviction and sentencing to prison, the Hitmen attempted to distance themselves from their former coach.

The Hitmen struggled on the ice as well, again missing the playoffs after falling to a record of 15–53–4. The spectre of the Graham James scandal hurt the franchise. The original investors, many of whom played for or were otherwise associated with James, sold the team to the Flames for approximately $1.5 million in June 1997. It was widely speculated that the new owners would change the team name, possibly to the Junior Flames; however, they ultimately chose to retain the name.

Dean Clark took over as head coach shortly after James' resignation, and led the 1997–98 Hitmen to a significant turnaround. The team improved to a 40–28–4 record and first-place finish in the Central Division, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. They defeated the Saskatoon Blades and Swift Current Broncos to reach the Eastern Conference final before falling to the Brandon Wheat Kings. Clark was awarded the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as the WHL's top coach, and also won the Canadian Hockey League's Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award. Calgary improved to 51–13–8 in 1998–99, finishing one point ahead of the Kamloops Blazers for the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy for best regular season record. Led by Brad Moran, Pavel Brendl, and goaltender Alexandre Fomitchev, the Hitmen lost just five games in the playoffs en route to their first President's Cup. They won the title at home before a WHL playoff record crowd of 17,139. They became the first Calgary-based team to qualify for the Memorial Cup since the Calgary Canadians won the 1926 title.