'We needed to add': Hitmen going all in after two more big trades

The Calgary Hitmen appear to be going all in after making several big trades leading up to the WHL trade deadline.

At the beginning of the season, going all in probably wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card for the Hitmen.

But here we are in January, and the Hitmen have thrown all of their cards in the middle. General manager Garry Davidson says they’re going for a championship.

“I was one of those people that didn’t think we were going for it early on,” he said.

“I wanted to see where we were at, and again, pretty soon I felt confident that we needed to add.”

The WHL’s trade deadline is on Thursday night, but the Hitmen have already done a lot of their work.

In November, they acquired 20-year-old defenseman Kalem Parker from the Moose Jaw Warriors and then swung a deal to bring veteran 19-year-old forward Tanner Howe to Calgary from Regina.

Last week, they added 20-year-old goaltender Daniel Hauser from the Wenatchee Wild. Hauser is from Chestermere and has plenty of playoff experience. He’s excited to be coming back home to play.

“It’s amazing,” he said.

“You know, when I first got the news and when I told my family as well, we were all super excited. It’s very exciting what they’re doing here and I’m super grateful and super happy to be a part of it.”

More trades

On Saturday, the Hitmen made two more trades. Nineteen-year-old Sawyer Mynio, who played defence for Team Canada at the world juniors, was brought in from Seattle and Carson Birnie was acquired from the Red Deer Rebels.

Birnie was surprised but happy when he got the news.

“I’m jacked and I’m super excited to come and join these guys,” said the 20 year old.

“Obviously, we’ve made some pretty big moves and I’m just honoured that I’m one of them. I’m excited and we’ll see where it takes us.”

Check your ego at the door

When you add this many players to a roster, roles will change. Head coach Paul McFarland says everyone will have to buy in if the Hitmen want to succeed.

“The reality of it is as you add more pieces, everyone is probably going to have to take a little bit less,” he said.

“There’s obviously going to be competition as well for those roles. To play every night or what your role is going to be when you do play, that’s part of being a good team.”

“I think we have a group that’s selfless and wants the team to have success over individual success.”

Are they done?

As the trade deadline approaches, Davidson continues to work the phones. He says if there’s another trade out there that will help his team, he won’t hesitate to pull the trigger.

“There’s still two days here (until the trade deadline),” he said.

“I think we have to do our due diligence on any potential adds so I don’t know if we’re done yet.”

The Hitmen face the Moose Jaw Warriors on Wednesday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Mynio and Howe both played for Team Canada at the World Juniors and will join the team on Thursday. They’ll likely be in the lineup when the Hitmen face off against the Saskatoon Blades on Friday night.