NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Kade Stengrim leans into a pass from the defensive end in the first period of a 4-2 preseason win Sept. 6 at Co-op Place over the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers’ offseason saw the signing of seven U.S.-born players, with five still in the mix to make the opening night roster.
It’s a change of pace for the Tigers but not so dissimilar to associate coach Joe Frazer’s first season in the WHL.
The Brainerd, Minn. product was one of four U.S. players on the 2008-09 Tigers, joined by forwards Tristan King, John Stampohar and defenceman Matthew Konan. Those fellow Americans, also adjusting to the new situations and the league, made the transition easier Frazer says as they look to welcome the newest wave of Tigers.
“There’s always an adjustment going to a new place and when you have some guys you’re familiar with or know already, they can make that adjustment a lot easier,” Frazer said.
“Our group’s very welcoming and we’ve had a lot of team builders already, which I think is probably the most important. We always talk about being a family and that really comes off the ice. You practise hard against each other and then you make sure you’re best friend’s off the ice. That’s how family is formed.”
For those new Tigers, forwards Kade Stengrim, Gavin Kor, Noah Davidson, defenceman Kyle Heger and goaltender Carter Casey, it’s been a quick adjustment as they’ve joined their new team and new home for the next few years. They’ve also benefited from having returning Tigers’ forward Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll to show them the ropes of the city and team.
“When I was considering signing up here, when I was talking with Joey, he said there’s not really ever little cliques, everyone is a big group and they do everything together,” Casey said. “It was awesome to have that group, and some of the U.S. guys knew some of the returners, and having Shaeffer as a U.S. guy was awesome. But now I think we’re all a big group.”
The influx of U.S. players this time around is the change to the NCAA’s rules regarding junior hockey players’ eligibility to play D1 hockey. Before this season, any player who signed a contract with a CHL club was ineligible to play D1. Since the change, players have signed in the CHL and others have left for the NCAA. Three of the five Tigers (Davidson, Heger and Casey) all have NCAA commitments for the 2027 season.
“I valued my options both ways, with the American route and coming up here, I just saw both and I think Medicine Hat was a better fit for me,” Heger said. “I always tell my dad that you got to start with the end in mind, I want to play in the NHL and I think this is going to help me the best and develop my game the most, to come up here.”
Heger and Davidson played at the U18 level with Shattuck St. Mary’s last season. Kor and Stengrim spent all of last season on different teams in the USHL, Casey finished his season in the league as well. There’s been a difference in pace from their respective leagues to the first few days in the WHL. It’s a welcomed jump, Davidson says, one they’ll look to tackle early in the season.
“Even though it’s preseason, all the guys are working at their best and the speed’s really high,” Davidson said. “It’s something I’ll have to get adjusted to, but I’m not worried about that, I’ve got great teammates to work with.
Of those five U.S. players, Davidson is the only one not from the state of Minnesota, joining the Tigers as a product of Irvine, Calif. Stengrim hails from the same hometown as Frazer, his father Dave even coached the Tigers’ coach in high school hockey.
There’s no comparison between the two, Stengrim stands 6-foot-4, but the connection has made his early time with the Tigers easier to handle.
“Just having that connection kind of gets you settled in, feeling a little bit more comfortable than not necessarily having that connection,” Stengrim said. “Just settling in, with all those American guys coming up here, I’ve known Hager and Davidson and Casey for a bit so the connection definitely helps.”
The U.S. players are excited for their opportunity, they’re looking forward to making the jump into the WHL and to experience that style of junior hockey. Their addition this offseason helped put some air back into the sails of the Tigers after the departures of Gavin McKenna, Cayden Lindstrom and Ryder Ritchie, all three leaving for the NCAA on top of other graduates to pro hockey.
The challenge of being the new guys and having to fill those roles is easy, Kor says, because they’re not here to be McKenna or replicate the 2025 championship team. He says they’ll play how they do and find success together as a new team.
“We have some old guys still coming back who are also really good players, so I’m super excited, I think we’re going to have another good team and it’s going to be different,” Kor said. “Last year is obviously exceptional with all the skill and talent they had on the back end and obviously at forward.
“But this year, it’s important that we just find our own way to win and find our own identity. “We don’t have to be the team that last year was, we’re just going to be whatever our identity is and we’ll figure that out.”
