NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Noah Davidson screens Red Deer Rebels goaltender Peyton Shore in the first period of a 10-1 win at Co-op Place on Feb. 16.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
From first-year players to overage skaters, the WHL Playoffs bring out child-like excitement in all.
The post season gets underway tonight, with the No. 2 seed Medicine Hat Tigers starting their title defence against the No. 7 seed Regina Pats. Kadon McCann is entering his third playoffs in Medicine Hat, and he still has some nerves, while looking forward to another challenge ahead.
“Maybe a little more nerves honestly this year, you’ve done it before so you want to kind of repeat it,’ McCann said. “Our group that we had last year was super special, but we have a really special group this year, so I’m really confident in our group. At the same time, we have a tough challenge ahead of us with Regina.”
The Tigers return 13 players who suited up in their championship run last year, with another eight about to get their first look at WHL Playoffs. Forwards Noah Davidson, Gavin Kor, Kade Stengrim, Yaroslav Bryzgalov, Dayton Reschny, defencemen Tyson Moss and Riley Steen and goaltender Carter Casey await their first playoff action.
Bryzgalov capped off his first season in the WHL with three goals and five points in the last two games, finishing his rookie season sixth in team scoring with 13 goals and 55 points in 64 games. He’s ready to go for post season action.
“I’m looking forward to it, we’re just ready to go, we have a great group,” Bryzgalov said.
Davidson entered his rookie season in the WHL off a high-end performance, taking gold with the United States at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup alongside Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll. In that tournament he had three goals and six points in five games, scoring in the 5-3 gold medal win over Sweden.
He says his game is made for the post season.
“I think I’m a big-game player,” Davidson said. “The brighter spotlight, I like to put out a little bit more effort and definitely try to bring my game.”
After a slow start to his WHL tenure, he finished with 30 goals and 52 points in 67 games, only missing that one game due to a suspension in the penultimate weekend of the regular season. The 17-year-old Irvine, Calif. product has felt his game rise since the Christmas break.
“You don’t really know what to expect from the league, I want to go in and make an impact and just play my game,” Davidson said. “Obviously I didn’t get the first half I necessarily wanted, but I think a lot of learning happened in that first half, what works, what doesn’t and what to expect.
“Just going back for the Christmas break and realizing you deserve to be in this league, that helped me.”
After the Tigers had 6,048 fans at their final regular season game, Davidson is looking forward to playing up for the faithful come playoffs.
“Every time you’re in the anthem and you see how many fans are in the building, you definitely want to bring your A game and just show it off to them,” Davidson said.
There are a pair of Tigers who have played a plenty of playoff games but are getting their first postseason experience in Medicine Hat. Forwards Cam Parr and Luke Cozens, acquired during the season, will play their first postseason games since each losing to the Tigers last playoffs.
Parr and the Spokane Chiefs lost in the league finals, a destination with a long road to reach, but one he hopes to get another shot at.
“Last year was a little bit of a heartbreak, but I have this year to try to win it back,” Parr said. “It’s kind of how our focus is right now.”
His advice to his teammates getting their first look at the WHL postseason, live in and enjoy the moment. For Cozens, losing out in the Eastern Conference finals last year with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, staying on the gas peddle has been his biggest playoff lesson.
“You have to finish teams early, we went up 2-1 on Calgary in their building and then we got comfortable and they came back and won three against us,” Cozens said. “So when you get up, you just can’t give a team any breathing room. You have to get it done as quick as you can, because it leads into the next series.”
After doing all he could last year to try to eliminate the Tigers, he’s looking to give everything he has to help get the Tigers back to the WHL Finals.
“I took a big step this year but I’m never satisfied, I want more,” Cozens said. “Winning a championship is what I want, so I’m just going to use these playoffs as a chance to chase that and I want it so bad. So I’ll give everything to this team to win this championship.”
