NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN - Medicine Hat Tigers forward Nick McCarry (right) is helped off the ice by teammate Noah Danielson after suffering an injury in a Western Hockey League game against the Prince Albert Raiders on Saturday at the Canalta Centre.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
The Medicine Hat Tigers will be looking to shake off the injury bug this week.
After closing out their four-game homestand at 3-1 with Saturday’s 4-2 win over the reigning Western Hockey League champion Prince Albert Raiders, the Tigers are off until Friday’s tilt against the Warriors in Moose Jaw – giving forwards Bryan Lockner and Nick McCarry five days to cure what ails them.
“Now we’ve got some time,” said Tigers assistant coach Ryan Smith, adding Lockner is on the brink of return after missing four games with a lower body injury sustained on Nov. 15 in Red Deer. “It’s not a long-term thing but it’s an injury you want to make sure you don’t rush back into.”
Lockner has produced five goals and six assists over 20 games before being forced off the ice with the injury. Smith says the 19-year-old Colorado product been skating with the team and was back on the ice again Monday with the hope of returning as soon as possible.
“It’s still day-to-day. He skated again (Saturday) for our morning skate,” said Smith. “We’ll get a day off (Sunday) and we’ll enjoy the Grey Cup, then he’ll skate again on Monday.”
As for McCarry, the 18-year-old Calgarian went down hard in the first period of Saturday’s win over Prince Albert and came off the ice favouring his right leg. Smith wasn’t able to provide much information following the game, but doesn’t anticipate McCarry will miss too much action.
“He was taken care of throughout the game and we’ll re-evaluate,” Smith said of McCarry, who has five goals and five assists in 24 games this season. “I don’t think it’s anything that’s going to send him out for a long time, but that’s above my pay grade.”
Medicine Hat sits third in the Central Division standings with a 16-7-1-0 record, though only two points separate them from the Edmonton Oil Kings (16-7-0-3) for first.
The Tigers return to the Canalta Centre Saturday to host the Saskatoon Blades (12-11-1-1) in the Medicine Hat News Teddy Bear Toss at 7:30 p.m. Fans are encouraged to bring bagged stuffed animals and winter gear to throw onto the ice when the Tigers score their first goal of the game.
