NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
Saskatoon Blades centre Gary Haden watches the action from the bench during a Western Hockey League game against the Medicine Hat Tigers on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019 at the Canalta Centre.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
The has no nieces or nephews, but he’s still Uncle Gary to the city of Saskatoon.
Gary Haden was traded from the Medicine Hat Tigers to the Saskatoon Blades on Oct. 25, and it only took a few months before a catchy nickname took hold.
“Our media guy was having some fun with me at our Christmas party,” said Haden. “He was kind of making fun all the guys when they came up to the stage and he made fun of my name saying he’s never met anyone born after 1980 named Gary. It’s been Uncle Gary ever since.”
Haden’s former Tigers teammate and current Blades linemate admits he’s never met a Gary in his age bracket, and the fun moniker seems to be a massive hit among Blades fans.
“It’s kind of an older name. I don’t really know many Gary’s,” said Gerlach. “Our media guy, I think he kind of made it up on the fly and now they’re getting T-shirts out of it. It’s become a pretty big deal.”
Haden spent parts of four seasons with the Tigers before requesting a trade in October with the hope of landing of a larger role – one that he found with the Blades. The 20-year-old Airdrie product’s offensive output has more than doubled since he made the switch from Medicine Hat to Saskatoon.
After producing 17 goals and 25 assists in 70 games with the Tigers last season for an average of 0.6 points per night, Haden exploded for 25 goals and 29 assists in just 43 games with the Blades – a staggering jump to 1.26 points per game.
The upturn reached a pinnacle on Dec. 11, when Haden netted his first career WHL hat trick against the Edmonton Oil Kings, but he didn’t stop there. Still basking in the glory of the milestone, Haden found himself on another odd-man rush and netted his fourth goal of the night. Then he did it all over again in a 5-2 victory over the Swift Current Broncos on Jan. 25.
“The first night I had some chances. I had one goal in the third, then I got my second, then like a shift later I scored a terrible goal that should not have went in. I was just skating around the ice like, oh wow I just got my first WHL hat trick – then I got a 2-on-1 and got a back door pass and put it in the open net. I was just trying to think, what just happened?” said Haden, who added an assist for a five-point night against the Oil Kings. “The second one was kind of the same thing. I scored a goal in the first then came out for the second and had about three chances and I was fortunate enough to score on all of them. They were really memorable nights. My parents were there for one of them so it was awesome.”
Haden has been fortunate enough to spend the majority of 2019 on a line with Gerlach. While they didn’t spend too much time paired up in Medicine Hat, Haden says it’s great to share the ice with a long-time friend – especially one with a nose for the net like Gerlach.
“It’s lots of fun. I played with him (in Medicine Hat) a little bit and it’s pretty easy. You just get him the puck, get out of the way and he finds you points,” said Haden, who assisted one of Gerlach’s two goals in Wednesday’s 6-3 win over the Tigers in Medicine Hat. “I don’t know many goalies who are going to stop that shot, so I’ll take it 10 times out of 10.”
Gerlach added he’s always seen potential in Haden ever since skating alongside him as a member of the Tigers, but it’s truly been a spectacle to watch him make the absolute most of the opportunity he’s been given in Saskatoon.
“I think when Gary was younger and it was my 18-year-old year we had a stacked team so it wasn’t easy for him to get into the lineup,” said Gerlach. “Last year playing with him, I think everyone saw he’s a really talented, really smart, he knows where to go on the ice. This year he wasn’t getting that opportunity on that side. We’re lucky to have him in Saskatoon, and given the opportunity he’s really run away with it.”
