Medicine Hat Tigers goaltender Beckett Langkow and forward Hunter St. Martin keep eyes on the puck on Winnipeg forward Connor McClennon’s stick in the first period of a 5-2 Ice win at Co-op Place on Oct. 1.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers know they are in for a tough first-round series against the first-place Winnipeg Ice. They also know, any team can be beat.
The Tigers enter the playoffs as serious underdogs against the Ice who are coming off a 57-10-1-0 season that included a 15-game winning streak and earning home-ice advantage throughout the entire WHL postseason.
One of Winnipeg’s 10 losses did come against the Tigers, who beat them 6-4 on March 1 at Co-op Place and enter the playoffs with a record of 30-29-8-1, sneaking into the eighth and final playoff spot in their last game. Medicine Hat’s longest winning streak was three games in early January, an improvement over the first half when they notched a seven-game losing streak.
“We have the utmost respect for that team,” Tigers forward Brendan Lee said. “They finished No. 1 in the whole league, so they’re an unbelievable team and they’ve done unbelievable stuff this season. But I think towards the end of the season, we’ve showed we can beat anybody and I have full confidence in our team that we can win as well.”
The two teams faced off four times, with Winnipeg taking the season series 3-1.
Head coach Willie Desjardins plainly summed up the series for his team by saying it will be a challenge and they will need all 19 players in the lineup at their best every night.
“They have an awful lot of talent in that lineup,” Desjardins said. “We’re going to have to play with structure, we have to play a really complete game. How much resiliency will come in remains to be seen. The last few times we played them were good but they were tired. They had a long trip and they were tired, so we didn’t see the best in their game.
“For sure we’re the underdogs, they’ve had an amazing year. For us, it’s just go out and see what we can do. It’s a chance for every guy to show people what they can do. It’s their opportunity to show who they are and how far they’ve come this year.”
The Tigers are in Winnipeg tonight for Game 1 and will stay on the road for Game 2 on Saturday before returning home for Games 3 and 4 at Co-op Place on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Tonight’s game will mark the first WHL playoff action for every player in Medicine Hat’s lineup except for 20-year-olds Dallon Melin and Kurtis Smythe who have a combined 23 games of postseason action. It will also only be the 17th game in the WHL for 15-year-old top prospect Gavin McKenna who has put up four goals and 18 points in 16 regular season games with the Tigers, including 12 points in his last six games.
He says they are looking forward to facing the league’s best team.
“It’ll be a good challenge, we’ll have to work all game,” McKenna said. “They’re a fast team but I think we can match that pace. They have lots of skill as well so we have to play physical on them. Playoff hockey is just a completely different game so it’s going to be a battle.”
