NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Liam Ruck celebrates scoring early in the third period of a 6-5, overtime win March 14 at Co-op Place over the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
After a year of re-writing history books, defying expectations and pacing the way, the Medicine Hat Tigers are ready to turn the page.
The Tigers finished off their 56th season with a 50-10-5-3 record, reaching the 50-win plateau for just the fifth time in franchise history. They captured a second straight Central division title, first time since 2016-17, ’17-18. They also reset the franchise’s longest win streak at 19 games.
It’s been a fun team and season to coach, Willie Desjardins says, a credit to the players.
“The boys did such a great job the second part of the season, they played hard and it was a good team, it was a fun team to coach,” Desjardins said. “They came to the rink every day. They were a group, there was a lot of things they did, they provided a lot of energy. But there was a lot of things going on with this group.
“How hard they play and how well they played were certainly encouraging.”
Individually, defencemen Bryce Pickford and Jonas Woo re-wrote the franchise record books, both eventually passing Cliff Lane’s 1975-76 single season point record of 82, Woo setting the new mark at 86, also leading all CHL defencemen in points.
Pickford ended his season with 83 points, not before he broke Kris Russell’s 2006-07 mark of 32 goals from a D-man in a single season, finishing with a CHL-leading 45 goals by a blue liner.
The Tigers’ captain is able to reflect on the season, ready to get set for the first-round series with the Regina Pats.
“You give yourself a couple hours or one day, just to give yourself credit for the year you’ve had,” Pickford said. “Then after that, you just want to accomplish more as a team. Playoffs are right around the corner, so that’s the time to show up.”
The Tigers weren’t able to repeat as Eastern Conference champions, finishing two wins and two points back of the East Division champion Prince Albert Raiders. They did have a pair of skaters finish atop the CHL, with Markus Ruck leading all CHL skaters with 108 points, adding 21 goals in 68 games. Younger twin brother Liam, born eight minutes later, finished four points back with 45 goals and 104 points.
Leading the CHL in scoring wasn’t a goal the elder Ruck had in mind at the start of the season, he says it was one that came through team play and his teammates.
“It’s pretty cool getting that, but I have a lot of guys around me who can finish,” Markus said. “So it was such a fun year with all the boys on and off the ice. I couldn’t have asked for a better regular season and hopefully the playoffs go a similar way.”
