NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers net minder Garin Bjorklund stretches ahead of starting in the Tigers 3-2 win over the Calgary Hitmen on Dec. 30. Bjorklund was drafted by the Tigers 21st overall in the WHLÕs 2017 draft.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Western Hockey League draft is a special moment for players and families every year.
For some of the Medicine Hat Tigers, it’s been years since they heard their names on draft day; for others, it was less than a month ago. Most of them still remember it like it was yesterday.
Tigers goaltender Garin Bjorklund said he was lucky on his draft day in 2017 that he could stay home from school and watch himself be taken 21st overall by the Tigers with his family.
“My mom, my dad and my brother, it was definitely really special to see your name pop up on the screen and show a little clip of yourself,” Bjorklund said. “I had been to Medicine Hat before and had been to one of their games before I was even drafted so I was super pumped. I knew what kind of fans and what kind of organization they had so it was really exciting.”
Bjorklund had another draft day experience in 2020 when the Washington Capitals took him in the sixth round, 179th overall in the NHL Draft. When asked about how he approached the jump from minor hockey to the WHL, Bjorklund said there’s a stepping stone everyone has to take with every league jump.
“Just keep going out there and playing hard, do what you can do, control what you can and good things are going to happen,” Bjorklund said.
He’s not the only current Tiger to be drafted by the Capitals, as defenceman Dru Krebs was selected 176th overall by Washington in the 2021 draft.
Krebs joined the Tigers in the 2019-20 season after being selected 38th overall in 2018.
He said he was at a track and field meet on his WHL draft day and found out with his friends.
“I was just laying around and a few friends came by and were chatting with me and we looked and I was drafted by the Medicine Hat Tigers,” Krebs said. “I was like, ‘Woah, sweet.'”
By the time his own WHL draft came around, Krebs had seen firsthand what the WHL experience was like following the footsteps of his older brothers, Dakota and Peyton.
Dakota played five seasons in the Dub with the Tri City Americans and Calgary Hitmen. Peyton also played five years in the WHL with the Kootenay/Winnipeg Ice before being drafted to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2019.
Krebs said watching both brothers go through the WHL gave him two different perspectives of how to handle the potential idea of not being selected.
“I had my one brother Peyton, who went first overall and I had my oldest brother Dakota who didn’t get drafted at all and they both had successful careers in the WHL,” Krebs said. “I think that comes to show that no matter what your situation is at 14 years old, that doesn’t depict what you are going to be later on in your junior career.”
He said his favourite part of being in the WHL has been the bond created within the Tigers locker room.
Of course with the Tigers they push you to be a very successful hockey player and push you to the next level,” Krebs said. “But I think the guys and the team atmosphere itself are what you live for.”
