NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
Medicine Hat Tigers Cole Sillinger looks for an open teammate during a Western Hockey League game against the Swift Current Broncos at the Canalta Centre on Tuesday, March 3, 2020.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
When Cole Sillinger was driven off the ice following a hard neutral zone check in a game against the Swift Current Broncos on Jan. 28, he circled Feb. 28 on the calendar.
Although he would have liked to return sooner, the 16-year-old Medicine Hat Tigers forward still managed to lace up his skates exactly one month later in the same place he made his Western Hockey League debut – his hometown of Regina.
“It kind of just ended up the way I wanted it to,” said Sillinger, who had a goal and two assists in the return, an 8-2 win over the Pats last week. “I wanted to be back for that one. I maybe could have been back the weekend earlier but you don’t want to rush things this late in the season. So I came back for the Regina game and it kind of went the way I wanted. I had some family there and stuff like that, so I knew it would be a big game.”
A few things changed in Sillinger’s 10-game hiatus. After posting 49 points in his first 42 games of the season to lead the league’s rookie scoring race, Sillinger returned to find himself trailing Edmonton’s Dylan Guenther and Winnipeg’s Michal Teply by 10 points. He still sits nine points back of Guenther with only eight games left in the regular season, but Sillinger says the title isn’t even on his radar anymore.
“I’ve been injured so I don’t put too much pressure on myself with those kinds of things. I’m more focused on team goals,” he said, adding he focused on conditioning during his recovery. “My goal was to come back healthier and stronger than I was before. I feel like I did that. I got into the gym a little bit more, rode the bike a little bit more, so maybe I’m a little bit better conditioned right now. It’s good.”
While Sillinger was able to reunite Medicine Hat’s five-forward power play unit, he returned to a somewhat different even strength situation. After spending the bulk of the season on a line with Ryan Chyzowski and Brett Kemp, Sillinger came back to find Kemp had moved up to the first line with James Hamblin and Corson Hopwo. Meanwhile, newly acquired playmaker Lukas Svejkovsky jumped onto the right wing next to Chyzowski and Sillinger – and the three immediately started to mesh.
“That line has been really good,” said Tigers assistant coach Joe Frazer. “Chyzowski and Sillinger are such great shooters, and when you watch Lukas, he’s so elusive down low. He can tight-turn those D-men, and then with his skill-set – he’s an unbelievable passer – he puts it in their wheelhouse. And when you’ve got two shooters like Sillinger and Chyzowski, they’re not going to miss many of those opportunities.”
The newly formed trio combined for seven points in its debut Friday. Svejkovsky followed up with a goal in Saturday’s 2-0 win over the Pats then added two more assists to help Chyzowski complete a hat trick in Tuesday’s 5-2 win over the Swift Current Broncos. That’s 13 points in three games.
“Hopefully we can just keep on going,” said Svejkovsky. “Two shot-first guys and I consider myself more of a pass-first guy, so I think we’ve been clicking really well lately.”
The new set-up seems to be working for everyone involved. Kemp lit the lamp four times in Friday’s win over the Pats, then Chyzowski potted a hat trick of his own just two games later to help the Tigers ride to a three-game winning streak.
“I like how we’re all fitting in with each other,” said Chyzowski. “I think Svejkovsky brings a lot of speed and skill down low and Sillinger obviously has a good shot and he works real hard.”
The Tigers return to the Canalta Centre Friday to host the Calgary Hitmen at 7:30 p.m.
