NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman Jonas Woo scores five hole on Edmonton goaltender Parker Snell in the second period of a 7-3 win over the Oil Kings on Jan. 16 at Co-op Place.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers look to lengthen a Central division lead tonight.
The division leaders host the Edmonton Oil Kings at Co-op Place, sitting five points ahead of their rivals. Edmonton comes into the contest winners of just five of their last 10 games, the latest a 6-3 win in Swift Current over the Broncos on Saturday.
The Tigers have seven wins in their last 10, coming off an 8-4 win the same night over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. While Medicine Hat leads the division now, they had to pass the Oil Kings in the middle of December to grab the baton. It’s a divisional race head coach Willie Desjardins expects to last over the last month of the season.
“We just happen to be up now but that doesn’t mean anything, they have a really good hockey team,” Desjardins said. “They’ve been banged up, but so have we. So it’s going to be a game where both teams know they need it, and it’s going to be a playoff game.”
According to the WHL’s weekly report Tuesday, the Oil Kings have three players out with day-to-day injuries (forwards Adam Jecho and Mirosalv Holinka and defencemen Noa Ta’amu). Forward Max Curran is out month to month and forward Luke Powell is out indefinite. They also have forward Jaxon Fuder out due to suspension.
Despite any injuries, the Tigers expect a relentless Oil King team at Co-op Place.
“I don’t think they’ve been doing playing the best lately, so they’re going to want to change that around against us,” forward Kadon McCann said. “They know we’re fighting for first in the East and first in the Central, it’s tight points this time of the year, so we’re excited for this challenge. We know they’re gonna be ready for us, so we’re excited.”
The Tigers received a boost on the same weekly report, with defenceman Jonas Woo no longer listed among the team injuries. The 19-year-old blue liner was a full participant in practice Tuesday after missing the win over Lethbridge.
“He’s a heck of a hockey player, he’s got lots of life out there,” Desjardins said. “He certainly gives a dimension to our team when he’s in so it’s great to have him back.”
Forward Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll (upper-body injury) also practised Tuesday in a non-contact jersey, upgraded from his previous week-to-week status.
Captain Bryce Pickford remains day to day with an upper-body injury. He did not practise ahead of tonight’s game. Desjardins says they are taking their evaluations of his status day by day. He says the Montreal Canadiens, who signed Pickford in December, haven’t spoken to them about the injury.
“We’re looking at and monitoring it and maybe he can play, but we also have to do what’s best for the season,” Desjardins said. “There’s lots of things to consider when you’re looking at this one.”
The hockey world was rocked Monday evening with the news that three junior hockey players, 18-year-olds Cameron Casorso and JJ Wright, both from Kamloops, and 17-year-old Caden Fine from Birmingham, Ala., died in a collision near Stavely where they played for the Southern Alberta Mustangs of the USPHL.
Desjardins spoke with the News after he left the Co-op Place ice during practice, sharing his condolences for the players and their families.
“It’s tragic and hard when you lose hockey players, the three young men out of Stavely who were going to practice, the hockey world always feels it because we’ve all gone to practice, we’ve all done that, you forget sometimes,” Desjardins said. “When accidents like this happen, it just makes you realize how lucky you are that it hasn’t happened to you. We certainly think about those boys and their family.”
