Rassell’s rise

By Ryan McCracken on March 24, 2018.

rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com @MHNMcCracken

Every off-season brings a plethora of changes to all Western Hockey League franchises, but few faces will be missed by fans more than Mark Rassell.

While the Medicine Hat Tigers captain’s major junior career will conclude at the end of the playoffs, Rassell says it’s been an honour to wear orange and black for all four seasons of his career— one he hopes to make last four more rounds.

“It’s been an honour. I’ve learned a lot and I’ve loved every minute of this. It’s disappointing that it’s coming to and end but a long playoff run would really put a bow on the top of this career,” said Rassell. “A lot of hockey players talk about junior being the best time of their life. I can definitely vouch for that.”

Rassell says he’ll never forget the way the Tigers helped shape the player and the man he has become. From teammates to coaches and even fans, Rassell says they all had a hand in helping aid his development and spur on his 80-point overage season.

“Coming in at 17 I never really expected to be one of the guys with the potential to make it to the next level and jump to pro. When I was 17 I said I was going to use my WHL education scholarship, go to school and then try to go pro after that,” said Rassell, who competed as a free agent at Calgary Flames training camp in the pre-season before putting up 50 goals while leading the Tigers to back-to-back Central Division banners. “My development has sped up rapidly here where I’m almost able to make that jump next season. It’s been very exciting and it’s a credit to the Tigers staff for getting me here four years faster than I thought I would be.”

Tigers head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston says Rassell has been the perfect leader since taking over the captaincy when Mason Shaw went down with a torn ACL in the pre-season, and added he truly believes Rassell has what it takes to succeed at the professional level.”We needed somebody to step up and take over a major leadership role, we have lots of different guys who contribute to the leadership group but we lost our captain and Rassell became our captain. He’s been excellent for our younger players, he’s been a very positive example and a positive role model. He keeps things up beat in the dressing room,” said Clouston. “I think he’s going to have a lot of opportunities after this. I think it’s not about where you’re at in any particular time, it’s more about a mindset and he’s got a mindset that allows him to keep improving.”

When Rassell earned his place with the team as an undrafted 17-year-old winger, he had to fight for his time on the ice. The now 6-foot-1, 190-pound Calgary product logged four goals and nine assists through 62 games in his rookie season while soaking up experience alongside veterans like Tyler Lewington and Trevor Cox, but as soon as the Tigers entered the Canalta Centre, Rassell took on a much larger role.

“Learning how to just be a man and become independent, those guys taught me a lot off the ice,” said Rassell. “And obviously on the ice I’ve grown so much over these four years with the Tigers. On trade deadline day I was absolutely thrilled to remain a Tiger for all four years.”

Rassell was scratched for just two road games early in his sophomore year before. He went on to record 27 points in 70 games that season before leading the team in goals with 36 while playing in all 72 contests the following year.

Rassell’s ironman streak passed the 200-game mark on Feb. 23 in a 3-2 win over the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook. He went on to become the 23rd Tiger to reach 50 goals in a single season six games later before finally ending the ironman run at 208 games. Rassell could have pushed it to 210, but was scratched for the final two games of the regular season to allow him to heal some bumps and bruises before playoffs.

Medicine Hat’s regular season finale on March 17 was the first game Rassell missed at the Canalta Centre in his career.

“Mark coming in as a listed player and working his way up to becoming the captain is an incredible feat,” said Tigers defenceman David Quenneville, who shared the team scoring lead with Rassell at 80 points apiece. “He’s done a great job leading the way with (Mason) Shaw being out the whole year. For a lot of guys it’s tough leaving the league b4ecause I think we all just have so much fun. Junior hockey is probably the last point of hockey where you’re still playing like kids instead of playing as a job.”

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