Having registered 21 saves in a 5-1 victory against the Red Deer Rebels on March 22nd, Calgary Hitmen goalie Daniel Hauser earned his 123rd career victory in the Western Hockey League (WHL) – officially becoming the WHL’s all-time wins leader.
The 21-year-old from Chestermere, Alta., surpassed Saskatoon Blades graduate Nolan Maier (122 career wins) to sit first among WHL netminders all-time. Hauser also moved into a three-way tie for seventh in CHL history with Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) alumni Philippe Cadorette (123 career wins) and Olivier Roy (123 career wins).
Currently, the all-time wins record in the CHL is held by QMJHL alumnus Jacques Cloutier who won 142 games playing for the Trois-Rivières Draveurs over four seasons from 1976-80. Additionally, with 126 victories in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), J.P. Anderson holds the OHL’s all-time record having earned his career wins over five seasons with the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors and the Sarnia Sting.
On top of the WHL history he’s produced in 2024-25, Daniel Hauser has put together a memorable campaign. With five shutouts this season, Hauser leads all WHL goalies and sits tied for first in the CHL in that category. Impressively, all five of Hauser’s shutouts have come during the 24 starts he has made since being acquired by the Hitmen from the Wenatchee Wild via a trade in early January.
Between February 19 to March 2, the veteran netminder recorded four straight shutouts – setting a new Hitmen franchise record for consecutive clean sheets. Hauser also didn’t allow a goal in 245:25 of game action, surpassing Justin Pogge’s Hitmen franchise record of 228:47 which was set in 2006. Moreover, from February 17 through March 15, Hauser put together an impressive nine-game winning streak.
This season, in 46 games played between the Wenatchee Wild and the Calgary Hitmen, Hauser has recorded a 28-13-2-1 record, a 2.57 goals-against average, a .912 save percentage, and five shutouts. Since playing in his first game with the Calgary Hitmen on January 5, Hauser’s numbers are all the more impressive, as he has won 20 of 24 starts, posting a 1.94 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage to go along with five shutouts. His 20 wins, five shutouts, and 1.94 goals-against average rank first among any goalie in the WHL over that stretch (min. 10 games played).
Originally drafted by the then-Winnipeg ICE in the sixth round of the 2019 WHL Prospects Draft, Hauser backstopped the Winnipeg ICE to appearances in the Eastern Conference Championship in 2022 and the WHL Championship Series in 2023 while making the WHL East Division First All-Star Team in both campaigns.
With 175 career games played in the WHL, the 21-year-old puckstopper has posted a 123-36-8-1 career record, a 2.59 goals-against average, a .910 save percentage, and 17 shutouts.
Hauser’s first career win in the WHL came on March 15, 2021, when he turned aside 14 shots for the Winnipeg ICE in a 6-4 victory over the Swift Current Broncos. The 5-foot-11, 166-pound netminder enjoyed a record-setting start to his WHL career, going 20-0-2 before suffering his first regulation loss. That 22-game stretch set a new CHL record for consecutive games started in a career without a regulation loss.