The Calgary Hitmen are a major junior ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Hitmen play in the Western Hockey League. They play their home games at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Their name is derived from local-born professional wrestler Bret "The Hitman" Hart, a founding owner. Established in 1994, the team has been owned by the Calgary Flames hockey club since 1997. They are the third WHL team to represent Calgary, preceded by the Centennials and Wranglers. The Hitmen have had the best record in the WHL four times, and have qualified for the playoffs every season since 1998. In 1999, they became the first Calgary team to win the President's Cup as league champions, and the first to represent Calgary in the Memorial Cup since the Calgary Canadians won the national junior title in 1926. The Hitmen hold numerous WHL attendance records, and in 2004–05 became the first team in the Canadian Hockey League to average 10,000 fans per game. Thirty-two former Hitmen players have gone on to play in the National Hockey League. The Hitmen are the defending league champions, winning their second title in 2009–10.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calgary_Hitmen

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1301:

The Árpád dynasty, which had ruled Hungary since the late 9th century, ended with the death of King Andrew III. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81rp%C3%A1d_dynasty

1814:

Sweden and Denmark–Norway signed the Treaty of Kiel, whereby Frederick VI of Denmark, a loser in the Napoleonic Wars, ceded Norway to Sweden in return for the Swedish holdings in Pomerania. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Kiel

1907:

A 6.5 MW earthquake struck Kingston, Jamaica, resulting in at least 800 deaths, which was at the time considered one of the world's deadliest earthquakes recorded in history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1907_Kingston_earthquake

1933:

Cricketer Harold Larwood of England, employing the controversial tactic known as Bodyline, bowled a ball into Australian captain Bill Woodfull's chest, an image that became one of the defining symbols of the series. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodyline

1978:

Austrian logician Kurt Gödel , who suffered from an obsessive fear of being poisoned, died of starvation after his wife was hospitalized and unable to cook for him. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_G%C3%B6del

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

go hand in hand (v): (idiomatic) Of two things, to be closely related or to go together well http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/go_hand_in_hand

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The great secret of success is to go through life as a man who never gets used up. That is possible for him who never argues and strives with men and facts, but in all experience retires upon himself, and looks for the ultimate cause of things in himself. --Albert Schweitzer http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Schweitzer