NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN - Medicine Hat Tigers winger Ryan Jevne deflects a shot on Moose Jaw Warriors goaltender Brodan Salmond during Western Hockey League action at the Canalta Centre on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
Ryan Jevne has been there before.
Entering his final Western Hockey League post-season on a Medicine Hat Tigers roster with eight rookies, the 21-year-old alternate captain is keeping things calm among the ranks in anticipation of Game 1 against the Edmonton Oil Kings on Saturday night at Rogers Place.
“If you go out there with crazy expectations and a lot of nerves, then it can kind of take away from what you want to do,” said Jevne. “We just want to go out there and have fun, and not stress about it too much because it is just a hockey game even though the stakes are a bit higher. If you’re not ready to play and you’re worried about everything that could go wrong, it can kind of backfire. A big part of it is just staying positive and remembering that it is a seven-game series so if things are going to go wrong, you’ve just got to work through them.”
Jevne earned a full-time spot on the roster to start Medicine Hat’s first season at the Canalta Centre in 2015-16 – though he played three games at The Arena as a 16-year-old call-up in 2014-15- and slowly climbed his way through the sytem.
The 5-foot-9, 175-pound power forward spent the majority of two seasons on an energy line with centre Ryan Chyzowski and right winger Tyler Preziuso, generating a good deal of chemistry in the process. Recent line juggling resulted in former Oil King Brett Kemp landing on the wing beside Chyzowski and Jevne, but the new line has been producing at a prolific rate ever since – combining for 34 points over the past six games, 13 from Jevne.
“He’s a guy who has come a long way. He didn’t make our team at 16, then at 17 and 18 he had to bide his time a little bit, lower in the lineup. Give him credit, he did that and he just kept getting better,” said Tigers head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston. “He’s been a huge part of it offensively for the last two years. He plays big minutes and he plays on the power play, and he also kills penalties – he’s one of our top penalty killers. He’s extremely important to us, a player that we’re going to rely on heavily in the playoffs.”
While an injury held Jevne off the ice for five games with an upper-body injury earlier this month, it’s a rare occurrence to see him listed as a scratch. Over the course of four seasons with the Tigers, Jevne has missed just 15 of a possible 285 games due to injuries and the occasional suspension.
“Obviously you want to be out there because you want to help the team, especially as you get older,” said Jevne. “You don’t want to miss games so you’ve got to do the little things away from the ice with the trainers and all that. Part of it is just luck, you’ve got to make sure you’re not getting long-term injuries, but for the most part if you’re doing everything you can to prevent it, it usually works out.”
Jevne added he believes the Oil Kings are a favourable matchup for Medicine Hat despite dropping the season series 1-3-2-0 – especially considering it provides at least two more guaranteed matchups in his hometown of Edmonton, where he missed a pair of contests due to injury this season.
“I think it’s a good matchup. And for myself it’s exciting to be able to be able to play at home in front of friends and family. It’s not something that you get to do a whole lot,” said Jevne, adding he expects a lot of fan support, but won’t hold it against anyone who can’t make it out to Rogers Place. “I think there were a lot that went to the one game where I ended up getting hurt just the game before. Hopefully a lot of people come out and show support, but a lot of people are busy so if they can’t make it, it’s not the end of the world.”
