Tigers find continued success on U.S. trip

By JAMES TUBB on October 14, 2022.

It’s safe to say the Medicine Hat Tigers are enjoying their trip through the United States.

The Tigers have picked up five of a possible eight points through their first four games of the trip, which wraps up tonight in Spokane against the Chiefs. After beating the Everett Silvertips 6-3 on Oct. 7 and falling in overtime 4-3 against the Portland Winterhawks on Oct. 8, the Tigers have gone 1-1, with a 5-2 loss in Seattle against the Thunderbirds on Tuesday and an explosive 11-3 win over the Tri-City Americans on Wednesday night.

Associate coach Joe Frazer says the Tigers had a good start against Tri-City and credited the forecheck for their offensive success.

“That has to be a staple of our game, we want to be a relentless team,” Frazer said. “It’s important that all four lines are doing it along with all six defence. But to be relentless you need everyone going, and just based off who scored last night, all four lines are. We’re doing a great job being relentless on the forecheck and the guys got rewarded for that.”

The Tigers had eight players register a multi-point night in the 11-3 victory. Forwards Brendan Lee (one goal, three assists), Braden Boehm (two goals, two assists), Tomas Mrsic (two assists), Shane Smith (three goals) and defencemen Dru Krebs (four assists), Bogdans Hodass (three assists), Rhett Parsons (two assists) and Pasha Bocharov (one goal, one assist) led the way offensively in the bloated win. Tyler Mackenzie, Dallon Melin and Andres Basha also had a goal to round out the offence.

Smith’s hat trick was his first in the Western Hockey League, coming two games after he scored his first WHL goal against Everett. Frazer says it’s good to see a player like Smith get rewarded for his efforts.

“He’s been really good all season for us, just an honest 200-foot player who plays the right way,” Frazer said. “He’s been physical, he’s been really good on this trip. So to see him get rewarded for all of his effort is great to see, and his line was big for us.”

The offensive onslaught against the Americans came on the heels of the 5-2 loss in Seattle. Frazer said the Tigers liked their game in the loss as they skated with the undefeated Thunderbirds for the whole contest. He said the Tigers really took the loss for momentum into Tri-City.

“It was just a few mistakes that killed us against Seattle,” Frazer said. “We knew Wednesday night was going to be tough because we got in at 3:30 in the morning, Tri-City didn’t play the night before so those are always tough. We had to make sure we were all were ready to go and I think the guys were hungry. They were pretty upset after that loss to Seattle, so it was great to see them come up with the response.”

Hunter St. Martin scored in the game against Seattle for his first WHL goal and Reid Andresen had the second marker against the Thunderbirds.

Frazer said they’ve been excited about the passion and the effort the Tigers have shown each night through the trip and said they’ve entered every game with the expectation of leaving with two points.

“Obviously we haven’t won every game but we’ve been there with every team and I think it just goes to show we have four lines rolling and all six defencemen,” Frazer said. “We talked about it before the season, we don’t have the superstar line but we have 20 guys who are going to work hard and play to win. We’re just excited with the character and how hard we’ve been working on this trip.”

The U.S. excursion wraps up after tonight’s game in Spokane, a contest with special meaning for the Tigers. Forward Owen MacNeil was drafted and played three seasons for the Chiefs before being traded to Medicine Hat ahead of last season. Tigers assistant coach Josh Maser also donned the Chiefs red and blue for two seasons. Frazer said it is an important game as the Tigers look to get seven out of a possible 10 points on the trip.

“We’ve had a couple of days off and have been able to go to a comedy show or go to the mall and do team activities to just the bond off the ice,” Frazer said. “I think it’s been great timing and you can tell the guys are having fun away from the rink, and that’s super important as you as you move in the season and start playing games.”

Tonight’s contest in Spokane gets underway at 8:05 p.m. MST.

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