NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Mat Ward and Lethbridge Hurricanes forward Luke Cozens line up for a face off in the first period of a 10-1 Tigers win at Co-op Place on March 22.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
A rivalry like none other breeds familiarity between two clubs.
The Medicine Hat Tigers and Lethbridge Hurricanes know one another as well as any two teams could in the Western Hockey League, playing eight regular season games and countless preseason contests against each other.
It sets up an intimate Eastern Conference Championship series that will be a meeting of two neighbouring clubs who are both vying for a spot in the WHL Finals for the first time since the 2000s.
“It’s exciting for sure, obviously a rivalry and I know the crowd and the city will be pumped up for this,” Tigers forward Gavin McKenna said. “I know in that room we’re all excited. We know they’re a really good team and they’re going to come hard, so we’re ready and excited.”
Despite it being just the third time the two rivals have met in the playoffs there are a string of connections between the clubs.
Mid-season swap
An obvious standout was the Oct. 5 trade between the clubs that sent forward Shane Smith to Lethbridge in exchange for overage net minder Harrison Meneghin becoming a Tiger.
“That was a big, big trade at the start of the year, so we want to do it for Harry and I know Smitty is going to really want this one,” defenceman Josh Van Mulligen said.
Both have found success with their new clubs, the 20-year-old Smith has three goals and six points in 10 playoff games after tallying 12 goals and 30 points in the regular season. Meneghin earned himself two goalie of the month honours, picking up 23 wins in the regular season with three shutouts. He’s recorded two shutouts in the playoffs with a 2.00 goals against average and a .910 save percentage.
Tigers head coach Willie Desjardins says it will be a special series for both players.
“Losing Smith was hard on us, he was a big part of our team and he is a great community guy, so that was a really big loss for us,” Desjardins said. “With that, Harrison’s a great goaltender. We knew we needed a goaltender at that time and he came in and fit the bill. So both guys are going to want to play hard in this series. Harrison will be good, I’m sure he’s looking forward to it and it’ll be a good series for both guys.”
A homecoming on the away bench
On the Lethbridge bench, assistant coach Ryan Aasman gets his first look at a playoff series with his hometown childhood Tigers, and the Hurricanes. The 33-year-old says he was a diehard Tigers fan growing up and has a close connection with hockey in the city, having grown up as a Medicine Hat Hound and with his dad Tony’s involvement with the city’s minor hockey. He says it will be a fun and emotional series.
“I have a lot of family, friends and people reaching out and it’s really exciting,” Aasman said. “I’m really excited to hop on the bench and coach in front of a lot of people that I know, and I always love coming back to Medicine Hat whenever I can.”
He played one game for the Tigers in 2011-12 after spending two and a half seasons with the Prince Albert Raiders from 2007-09 and then Seattle Thunderbirds. He also played for the Swift Current Broncos (2010-11) and Edmonton Oil Kings (2011-12) before moving on to the AJHL. When the Tigers and Hurricanes faced off in 2017 he was in his final season with the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns.
He hasn’t exiled or blocked the numbers of friends who are cheering for the Tigers but says he’s already heard some good chirps from those around him.
“I’ve had a couple buddies that are posting stuff on social media and say you’re coming home just to get beat by the Tigers, so that’s been a lot of fun,” Aasman said. “I enjoy that, this city is so hockey driven and the Tigers are such a big part of the identity. They were a big part of my identity growing up so you have to love the community here. It’s very special to me as well.”
Cozens connection
The last time the Tigers and Hurricanes met in the playoffs was in 2017, a second-round series which Lethbridge won with a shorthanded overtime goal in Game 7 from forward Tyler Wong. In that game, the Hurricanes tied the game at 4-4 late in the third period with a goal from rookie Dylan Cozens.
His younger brother Luke was eight years old at the time and doesn’t remember much beyond watching the game back home in Whitehorse, Yuk., seated on the couch with his parents.
A quick eight years later, older bother Dylan is battling with the Ottawa Senators in a first-round series with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Luke is getting set for his own moment as a Hurricane against the Tigers.
“It’s pretty cool getting to follow in his footsteps,” Luke said. “Playing in Lethbridge after him has been nothing but great. It’s awesome seeing what he did against Medicine Hat and hopefully being able to do that myself this series would be really huge.”
The 17-year-old forward has his own connection in this series having grown up alongside McKenna. The two workout together in the offseason and have shared the same passion of representing Whitehorse wherever they go. It’s a matchup Cozens says provides easy extra motivation.
“There’s going to be a lot of people from Whitehorse watching at home and that’s exciting,” Cozens said. “It’s bit of fuel to the fire playing against a longtime buddy.”
McKenna shares the excitement in the matchup.
“You just kind of got to use that as excitement, playing against old teammates and playing against buddies, it’s a competition out there for bragging rights,” McKenna said. “We’re all pumped up and excited, so we’re going to be ready.”
