He shoots, they soar: Kemp nets Teddy Bear Toss tally in win over Saskatoon

By RYAN MCCRACKEN on December 2, 2019.

NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Brett Kemp leaps through the air after scoring the Medicine Hat News Teddy Bear Toss goal in a Western Hockey League game against the Saskatoon Blades at the Canalta Centre on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2019.

rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken

Brett Kemp led by example on Saturday night at the Canalta Centre.

The 19-year-old Tigers forward netted the Medicine Hat News Teddy Bear Toss goal just past the five-minute mark of the opening frame – sending an off-balance Kemp tumbling through the air in celebration and prompting thousands of stuffed animals to do the same in an eventual 5-3 victory over the Saskatoon Blades.

“I just kind of went into the game thinking it was just another game and I wasn’t worried about it too much, but to have that happen and have that feeling is nice,” said Kemp, who will help deliver the bears to children with teammates at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital this morning. “It’ll be nice to give them and just to see how happy they are and the joy on their face.”

The result pushes Medicine Hat’s winning streak to four games while leaving them three points back of the Edmonton Oil Kings for first in the Central Division with an 18-7-1-0 record and three games in hand.

“I think it always starts with your leadership,” said assistant coach Joe Frazer, whose Tigers went 9-3-0-0 through November. “We’ve got a great group of leaders and they’re making sure our guys are ready every night, but that starts in practice. We’ve had great practices all year, we work out a ton and the leaders set the tone for that.”

Kemp’s power play tally gave the Hat a 1-0 edge after 20 minutes thanks to 10 saves from Mads Søgaard, but the Blades figured out the big Dane in the second.

Riley McKay drew even three minutes into the middle frame, then Zach Huber followed up exactly 60 seconds later to steal the lead away for Saskatoon.

Elijah Brown knotted the game back up on a breakaway later in the period – giving both Brown and James Hamblin their second point of the game – but the Blades quickly answered again on a goal from Kyle Crnkovic to carry a narrow lead into the third.

“We had a good start and I think we kind of got away from it in the second period for a bit there,” said forward Cyle McNabb, who joined the Tigers in a trade with the Blades Tuesday and laced up for his home debut against his former team Saturday. “It felt a little weird to play against my former teammates, but at the end of the day it’s just another competition out there. There are no friends on the ice, that’s kind of how I approached it and I’m happy to get that win.”

Blades goaltender Koen MacInnes held his team in front with 25 saves through the first two periods, while his teammates potted three goals on just nine shots in the second.

But the Tigers kept coming in the third and defenceman Eric Van Impe broke through with nine minutes left. Riding the new surge of momentum, Medicine Hat regained the zone, Hamblin put the puck on net and Corson Hopwo chipped the rebound over MacInnes to take back the lead while igniting the crowd of 3,056.

“We didn’t overly like our second period,” said Frazer. “I thought the transition was way too slow – give them credit, they did a really good job in the neutral zone of clogging it up, but we were hanging onto the puck too long and not moving it quick enough on the transition. It was great that we addressed it between periods and the guys really got back to the game plan in the third.”

Jonathan Brinkman kept the offence rolling just over a minute later, pouncing on a loose puck and beating MacInnes from a sharp angle to flip a one-goal deficit into a two-goal lead in 93 seconds flat.

“Our schedule is getting a lot harder here in the next month-and-a-half so to know we can come together and really pull games out like this, it’s awesome,” said Brown, who set up Kemp’s teddy tally. “I missed the last two Teddy Bear Tosses. One I was sitting at home and last year I was hurt, so it was pretty cool to be on the ice for.”

The Blades were unable to regain their footing following the three quick markers, and Søgaard secured the victory with a 20-save effort.

MacInnes stopped 41 shots in the loss, dropping Saskatoon to 14-13-1-1.

Tabby defenceman Nick Perna – acquired in a deal with the Portland Winterhawks Thursday – also made his debut with Medicine Hat in Saturday’s big victory. The 18-year-old Dallas product finished with a plus-one rating,

“It was awesome,” Perna said of his first game in orange and black. “The fans were great, it was even better that it was the Teddy Bear Toss game so it was a great experience and I loved it.”

The Tigers return to the Canalta Centre Tuesday to open a home-and-home set with the Lethbridge Hurricanes (17-7-0-4) at 7 p.m.