Bullion and Rassell in, Fischer and Rubins out for Tigers’ season opener

By Ryan McCracken on September 21, 2017.

rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com @MHNMcCracken

Medicine Hat Tigers overagers Zach Fischer and Kristians Rubins will start the Western Hockey League season on the injured reserve, while Mark Rassell has returned to the team and will be in the lineup for Friday’s season opener in Lethbridge against the Hurricanes.

Fischer sustained a concussion while competing alongside Rassell at Flames training camp and Rubins is still recovering from shoulder surgery he received in the off-season, but their absences open the door for Michael Bullion.

“We have Bullion and Rassell (as overagers) and as of today that’s our plan. Those guys are in and Bully will start on Friday. As we move on we’ll see who’s healthy and when. We’re allowed to carry extra overage players until the 10th,” said Tigers head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston. “We’ve got a lot of moving parts right now.”

Bullion took over Medicine Hat’s crease after being traded from the Portland Winterhawks on Jan. 1, but his overage status and the acquisition of goaltender Jordan Hollett in a swap for Matt Bradley with the Regina Pats placed his future with the team in doubt. But with Hollett still recovering from a case of mono and two free overage spots on the opening day roster, Bullion will start a season with the Tigers for the first time on Friday.

Hollett returns to the Tigers today, though Clouston says it will still be a few weeks before he will be ready to make his debut in orange and black.

“They’ll do a scan of his spleen, that’s the biggest danger. With mono you don’t feel great obviously and it can really wear you down and affect a person physically but the danger is the enlarged spleen that nearly always accompanies mono,” said Clouston. “On Friday we’ll get a read as to where that’s at. If that’s good and it’s gone down and the doctors say it’s safe now, then he’ll start back.”

Rassell and Fischer returned to the team Wednesday after a two-week stint with the Flames. While Fischer’s ended on a sour note after being concussed on a hit from behind, he says the positive experiences heavily outweigh the bad.

“The professionalism from their whole organization is top-notch. It’s unbelievable. For my play, I thought I played very well. I played consistently and played hard. They’re impressed with what I can bring and I’m happy with the results I got back,” said Fischer, adding the symptoms haven’t been too bad. “I’m just kind of taking it day-by-day and seeing if I get better. So far, so good. I’ve made some big improvements with my head”

Rassell says it was great to have Fischer by his side throughout the experience, especially after realizing Calgary’s systems are quite similar to the ones they use in Medicine Hat.

“Jumping into the games in Penticton they threw us into a crash courses of their systems, and guys like me and Fischer almost had it easy because they’re very similar to the ones we do here,” he said. “The terminology is a little different but the systems themselves were the same.”

Rassell is entering an important leadership role with the Tigers this season, and says Flames camp provided him with an important revelation — that consistency is just as important as raw talent.

“I definitely learned a lot about my game and what I need to do to get to that next level,” said Rassell. “They just do everything at a high pace and they don’t make mistakes. It’s kind of eye opening. If you look at practices here there will be a couple practices here or there, nothing major, but when you go up there, there’s not a single mistake the whole practice.”

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