Noah Davidson, Markus Ruck and Liam Ruck celebrate after the Tigers took a 4-0 lead over the Red Deer Rebels in the first period Saturday night at Co-op Place. The Tigers scored 17 goals in a two-game romp of their Central division foe over the weekend. The Tigers have the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and will face the No. 7 Regina Pats in the first round of playoffs.–NEWS PHOTO ZOE MASON
ZOE MASON
zmason@medicinehatnews.com
In the last game of the regular season, the Medicine Hat Tigers put up a decisive 8-3 win over the Red Deer Rebels in front of full house at Co-op Place.
The game began with the presentation of the 2025-26 season awards, which saw numerous Tigers take home trophies, including captain Bryce Pickford, who was named Most Valuable Player.
The team also honoured its three 20-year-old players, for whom Saturday’s tilt represented their last regular season game.
Saturday’s win marked the 50th win of the season for the Tigers, the fourth time in franchise history the team cracked 50 and the first since 2007. The Tigers outshot the Rebels 40 to 28.
Coach Willie Desjardins says the whole team deserves credit for hitting the milestone.
“If you can ever get 50 wins in a season, it’s a pretty impressive season. A lot of credit to all the players, and they battled a lot this year. And it wasn’t one or two guys, it was the whole team that played hard.”
Seven Tigers scored Saturday, including four in an explosive first period, heading into the first intermission leading the Rebels 4-1. Andrew Basha struck first, with a goal assisted by Dayton Reschny.
Just over a minute later the Tigers struck again when Kade Stengrim tallied his seventh goal in four games.
Stengrim isn’t letting his hot streak distract him from the challenge ahead.
“I think our group and myself personally want to be playing our best hockey come playoffs. So super excited to get these two this weekend, and I’m focused on next weekend,” he said.
Red Deer took their timeout after the back-to-back goals, but couldn’t stem the tide of Tigers offence. A third Tigers tally came from Veeti Vaisanen, assisted by both Ruck brothers, Liam and Markus, 13:30 into the first.
The Rucks added another point each two minutes later when Liam potted his 45th of the season. Noah Davidson, who was awarded Rookie of the Year in the pre-game ceremony, picked up the other assist.
Red Deer goaltender Matthew Kondro got the hook after allowing four goals on 11 shots.
The Rebels got on the board with just over three minutes remaining, when Poul Andersen capitalized on a high-sticking penalty taken by Riley Steen and put one past Jordan Switzer.
But the Tigers hit the ground running in the second as Basha added his second of the night 37 seconds into the period.
Basha, playing in his final regular season game as a Tiger, said it was a privilege to end such a special night with a multi-goal game.
“It was great,” he said. “I think I’ve come a long way from when I first got here. I give all the credit to the coaching staff, just turning me into the person I am today. I’m just so grateful to be a part of this. So it was cool, for sure.”
Noah Davison added another, putting one past Red Deer goaltender Peyton Shore, who came in to relieve Kondro, with assists from both Rucks for the Tigers’ sixth.
Red Deer scored their second of the night on their second power play, when Talon Brigley redirected a rebound across the crease and beneath the pad of a sprawling Switzer. After making the initial stop, there was some discussion that Switzer may have been interfered with, but after a lengthy review, the call on the ice stood, putting Red Deer four back from the Tigers almost halfway through the second.
Markus Ruck added a seventh for the Tigers on their fourth power play of the night, with assists from brother Liam and Basha.
The Rebels’ Andersen took a bench minor after the goal, putting the Tigers back on the power play to finish out the second.
The Tigers made no mistake on the man-advantage, with Reschny beating Shore with under a minute remaining to send the Tigers into intermission up 8-2.
The pace of play slowed in the third, with the Rebels scoring the only goal of the final frame when Kalder Varga beat Switzer just over two minutes into the third.
Pickford, Jonas Woo and Carter Cunningham didn’t play in Saturday’s matchup. Head coach Willie Desjardins says he wanted to make sure his team came out healthy ahead of the playoffs.
“Those guys have played a lot of minutes, and we just felt we could give them the night off,” he said.
Switzer made 25 stops in his last performance before playoffs.
Holding Red Deer out of the points, the Tigers ensured that their first-round match-up will be against the Regina Pats.
It will be the first time the two teams meet in the playoffs since 2006-07.
