PHOTO COURTESY MARK PETERSON/PRINCE ALBERT RAIDERS
Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman Riley Steen battles with Prince Albert Raiders forward Connor Howe during a 3-2 win Saturday at Prince Albert's Art Hauser Centre.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
After a slow start to November, the Medicine Hat Tigers ended the year’s penultimate month with momentum.
They lost the first four games of November, two defeats coming in an overtime and shootout, before rattling off a 6-0-1-1 record as they carry a four-game win streak into tonight’s contest with the Prince Albert Raiders. They collected 16 of a possible 24 points in the month.
“It’s funny, you’re going there early and you’re not winning games and everybody’s wondering, what’s wrong,’ head coach Willie Desjardins said. “We’re losing lots of overtime games and you win some overtime games. Whenever you get to overtime or shootout, it can go either way and it’s kind of balancing out a little bit for us now.
“The biggest thing is our guys have played hard. I think we’re getting better as a group., we still have some work to do, but there’s guys stepping up their game. Guys are playing better than they have in the past, so it’s good to see.”
The Tigers have been led by two defencemen of the year candidates in captain Bryce Pickford and Jonas Woo. The pair sit first and second in WHL defenceman scoring, with Woo leading the league and the team with 14 goals, Pickford one tally behind.
They’ve seen an increase of production from the Ruck twins, Liam had five goals and 13 points in 12 November games, Markus had four goals and 15 points in the same span. The elder twin (Markus) sits first in points on the Tigers with 30 on the season.
Desjardins has enjoyed seeing his players get rewarded for the work they’ve been putting in both on and off the ice.
“These guys work really, really hard and it’s hard when you put all that work in, work harder than you ever have in your whole life, and get less out of it. That’s a tough thing.”
Forward Kadon McCann sits fifth in team scoring with nine goals and 20 points, tying his career high in points and sitting two away from his previous high of 11 goals in a year. He says it’s been a bonus to see the counting stats keep tallying and he hopes to continue the trend.
“At the same time it’s the coaching staff, being on the last couple minutes for a face-off, or standing net-front on the power play, it’s a great opportunity for me and I’m super grateful for the opportunity the coaches have given me.”
They’ve also benefited from having stellar goaltending from the duo of Carter Casey and Jordan Switzer. Casey has won four straight games and Switzer bucked a three-game slide with the 3-2 win Saturday in Prince Albert, turning aside 20 shots.
The Tigers entered December with a 16-6-3-2 and have played one more game than last year at the same time when they were 14-11-1. Including tonight’s game at Co-op Place, they have a six-game sprint before the Holiday break.
“The guys have to stay focused, every game is going to be hard, there won’t be an easy game in that group,” Desjardins said. “They’re going to have to be prepared and it always comes down a lot of ways to goaltending too. Whenever you have great goaltending, it always gives you a good chance.”
There are differences between the two teams, last year’s and this year’s, McCann says there’s a similarity in how close the team has gotten this season. He says they’ve found the family bond that was critical to their championship run last year.
“Before it was kind of tough with guys from everywhere, you still get to know each other and stuff but now we’re all hanging out every day and it’s starting to feel like a little bit like last year,” McCann said. “Seeing the boys every day, going to movies, or just walking around the city, it’s super special.
“It’s something we love to do here, you want to be a family. So it’s something we’ve always wanted to do and we’re finally getting that here.”
