Medicine Hat Tigers head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins speaks to referees at the start of the third period in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Tri-City Americans on Nov. 2 at Co-op Place.--NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Willie Desjardins has seen some positives through the first 17 games of the Medicine Hat Tigers’ title defence season. But there’s a long way to go before they can think of another banner in the rafters.
The Tigers hit the quarter mark of the 2024-25 season with a 10-5-2 record, tied for second in the Central division with the Calgary Hitmen (10-4-2) and six points back of the Eastern conference-leading Edmonton Oil Kings (13-4-1-1).
They’ve had a four-game win streak in the first six games of the year and hang in on team counting stats, seventh in goals for (64) and have surrendered the fifth fewest (50). Markus Ruck leads the team with three goals and 17 points in 17 games, all three of Misha Volotovskii, Bryce Pickford and Liam Ruck have 14 points.
Desjardins has liked what he’s seen from his newest players, Yaroslav Bryzgalov sits fifth in team scoring with four goals and 13 points in 17 games. Goaltender Carter Casey has three wins in seven appearances, with a 2.73 goals against average and a .902 save percentage.
The Tigers’ bench boss says the additions have been good but the group has to be better.
“Casey’s been solid in all his outings, (Kyle) Heger on the back end certainly learned about the league, he’s a good offensive player, creates a lot,” Desjardins said.
“Then you go up front with (Kade) Stengrim, (Noah) Davidson, (Gavin) Kor, those guys are all highly skilled players.
“The league will catch you off guard. You think it’s going to be an easier league than it is, but it’s never easy. (Cam) Parr coming in, so we have some different parts, but all have to be guys for us, they know us now and we have to get going as a group.”
Stengrim has three goals and six points in 16 games. He says adjusting to the speed took some time getting used to.
“Just finding my speed and maybe the pace of play a little bit,” Stengrim said. “I think I’ve kind of settled in pretty well but obviously can always be better.”
Desjardins has exercised a call for patience through the first half over the last few seasons, expressing a need to wait until after the Holidays to be at the level they want to be. It’s not easy for the franchise’s winningest coach, but he says the difficulty of patience is a good thing for them.
“The best thing is that you want to win and you push guys to win and it’s the same with players,” Desjardins said. “If you’re ever fine with losing, you’re going to lose a lot of hockey games. So it’s the same with players, they just can’t be satisfied with it. So at no time is it something that we accept. You look at the big picture sometimes, but you never accept it.”
At the 17-game mark last year, the Tigers had a 9-8 record. They’ve battled injuries to a similar extent this year, missing defenceman Josh Van Mulligen since opening night, blue liners Niilopekka Muhonen, Jonas Woo and Pickford missing handful of games, forwards Gavin Kor, Ethan Neatens and Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll out for extended times.
Going through those injuries has provided the benefit of ice time for defenceman Riley Steen, Tyson Moss and Kyle Heger. Pickford says it’s also helped the team form a stronger bond, in a similar way it did last year.
“It makes the bond on the team a lot deeper, you just have to love the grind,” Pickford said. “All the boys do love it and they love adversity, so I think they’re up to the challenge every time and it’s pretty cool to watch.”
Health is one of the asks Desjardins has for their next 17-game stretch, not that the injury bug picks up the phone. His other need from his team, something that has long been the identity of the Tigers, is more structure and speed.
“You have to work for structure, but we have to pick up our pace,” Desjardins said. “We have to be willing to work hard. We have four lines, so there’s no reason we can’t play hard the whole game.”
Desjardins says the Tigers work hard, but he’s seen too many times where players are watching plays to see what’s going to happen next, something he says won’t work in the WHL.
“When you make a play, you have to recover with speed, and while you’re recovering, then you read to see what’s happened,” Desjardins said. “Sometimes you’re going to stop and go right back to where you where you started. But if you don’t do that, then you’re too late tracking back. So we just have to learn to get our feet moving while we’re making our reads.”
The Tigers injuries have dictated a lot of their lineup decisions so far this season. Getting some players back, they’ve had to shorten the roster by releasing Brayden Ryan-MacKay and Max Sullivan in the middle of October. Forward Luke Ruptash, who’s played eight games this year, was reassigned to the St. Albert Raiders U18 team on Wednesday.
Desjardins says the move was best for the 16-year-old’s development with more ice time available at U18. Fellow 16-year-old Luke Warrener has played just three games on the blue line, battling a lower-body injury according to the weekly report.
No decision has been made on where Warrener will spend the majority of the season.
“If guys aren’t getting in, then you’re probably looking to find someplace where they can play,” Desjardins said.
The Tigers have two home games at Co-op Place this weekend, hosting the Edmonton Oil Kings tonight and the Brandon Wheat Kings on Saturday.
