Haden finally gets in to playoffs

By Ryan McCracken on March 24, 2018.

rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com @MHNMcCracken

It’s hard to say anyone on the Medicine Hat Tigers is more deserving of their place in the post-season than Gary Haden.

Despite playing in 106 regular season games with the Tigers since being shipped to the Gas City in the 2016 trade that sent Cole Sanford to the Regina Pats, Friday’s Eastern Conference quarter-final opener against the Brandon Wheat Kings was Haden’s first taste of the playoffs.

“It’s awesome. This is why you play the game,” said Haden. “This is for all the marbles, this is what makes hockey fun.”

Haden spent last season bouncing in and out of Medicine Hat’s lineup, serving more than half the year as a healthy scratch while logging seven goals and an assist in his 32 games on the ice. When the playoffs came around, the Tigers were sporting a healthy group of forwards, and Haden was the odd man out.

“Only playing 32 games last year was a real eye-opening learning experience for me,” said Haden.

The 5-foot-10, 175-pound Airdrie product earned the chance at significantly more ice time this season with the departure of six forwards over the summer, and he immediately flourished in his new role.

Haden ended up closing out the season with 17 goals and 25 assists in 70 games. While he spent the latter half of those 70 games on Medicine Hat’s third line alongside Jaeger White and Elijah Brown, Haden has spent time all over the line, including on defence during periods of blue line adversity.

“With (Zach) Fischer leaving and Mason (Shaw) unfortunately going down, it opened up some spots to play some bigger minutes n the power play and stuff like that,” said Haden. “I couldn’t have asked for a better season.”

Haden and White were joined by a new linemate in Baxter Anderson for Game 1 — with Brown moving up to centre the top line due to a season-ending wrist injury to James Hamblin —and Haden says they all seem to compliment each other well.

“We’re telling (Anderson) to shoot, shoot, shoot. Me and Jaeger are both pass-first guys and when Brown was on our line, he’s a pass-first guy too, so we’d always look at each other like ‘OK, someone has to shoot the puck.’ I think Baxter will be good for that,” said Haden. “I think if we give him the puck in front of the net he can surprise people and bury a few.”

Anderson added he’s thrilled to have the chance to play alongside Haden and White in the post-season, and expects the trio will be leaned on not just for scoring depth, but as an energy line as well.

“They’re both great players,” said Anderson. “I think I can bring a lot of energy to that line and bring a little grit too.”