NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers draft pick Markus Ruck plays keep away from twin brother and fellow draftee Liam Ruck during Day 2 of the Tigers prospects camp this weekend.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers had their first opportunity to see their 2023 WHL draft class in person and in their colours.
The Tigers had 24 players take part in the camp, with participants from their most recent draft, U.S. drafts and other rookies showcase their skills and take in the presentations.
Head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins says it was a successful camp and weekend.
“There was lots of good things out of the camp,” Desjardins said. “It wasn’t like one player was out of place or didn’t look good, all of them looked good so that’s encouraging.
“There’s lots of guys who had good camps and we look forward to good things down the road.”
The weekend included two on-ice sessions of skills and drills Friday and Saturday, fitness testing and presentations supplemented throughout providing the prospects information regarding the WHL scholarship program, what it takes to reach the WHL and beyond and what it means to be a Medicine Hat Tiger. It wrapped up with an inter squad scrimmage on Sunday.
The message of what it takes to be a Tiger is one the coaching staff wants players to take away from the weekend, having a set vision and desire in mind for their passion and careers. Desjardins says that type of message sticks with good players right away while some others take a little longer to learn.
“It doesn’t mean those slow learners don’t turn out to be players, looking at Cole Clayton, we gave the same message every year and then at 19 finally it was like, ‘This is what I want to do, this is where I want to go.'” Desjardins said. “When you look at this camp, just because you’re the best player at this camp, it doesn’t mean you’re going to be the best player at 18 or 19, everybody has a different drive. Everybody has different hearts, different focus but it’s exciting to see the guys and see different things in them. Some guys you could just tell they’re taking stuff away from this camp and it’s going to make a difference down the road.”
There were three returning Tigers in attendance as Tyler MacKenzie and Rhett Parsons took part in all three days of on-ice activities, defenceman Josh Van Mulligen participated in Sunday’s scrimmage.
Medicine Hat’s 2023 first round picks Liam (ninth) and Markus (21st) Ruck headlined the draft class with Riley Steen (6th, 127th), Sutton Verot (7th, 141), Avery Watson (8th round, 159th), Liam Chartrand (9th, 185th), Tafari Chingwaru (10th, 207th), Matyas Fischer (11th, 229th). Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll, who Medicine Hat selected in the 2023 U.S. priority draft was also in attendance alongside members of Medicine Hat’s 2022 and 2021 draft classes.
The next step for the Tigers is get players signed and send them off for summer workouts before training camp begins in September and they can show off what work they put in. Associate coach Joe Frazer says he hopes players left the weekend with a hunger to continue getting better.
“There’s a lot of hard work still involved to make our team and then to be an impact player on this team,” Frazer said. “Hopefully they’ve got that hunger to want to be a Tiger and then they take that to the offseason and become the hardest workers and most competitive guys at their other gyms and when they’re doing their on-ice sessions.”
