NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN - Medicine Hat Tigers head coach Willie Desjardins takes his first step onto the bench at Canalta Centre prior to his team's Western Hockey League home opener against the Lethbridge Hurricanes Sept. 21, 2019.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
On May 31, a story broke that is still dominating the direction of sports coverage in Medicine Hat: the return of Willie Desjardins.
Less than 24 hours after the Medicine Hat Tigers announced they were parting ways with longtime head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston, the team scheduled another press conference and Desjardins stepped out in front of the microphones after a nine-year hiatus spent traveling through the National Hockey League, American Hockey League and Olympic Winter Games.
Ever since that day, Desjardins has been laying the foundation for what is becoming an unforgettable 50th season for Medicine Hat. There’s still plenty of hockey to be played, but the Tigers entered the holiday break in a battle for the top of the Central Division with a 22-10-1-0 record. What’s more, a recent blockbuster deal with the Vancouver Giants all but signaled the Tigers have moved all-in for a Memorial Cup push in 2020.
“It’s not just coming back to the Tigers, it’s coming back to Medicine Hat,” Desjardins said on the day of his hiring. “The fun part is doing things people don’t think you can do. We have a challenge ahead of us and I know the players are excited, I know they’ll want to win, so we’ll just see how far we can take it.”
They may not have closed out the first half on a high – dropping back-to-back divisional games to the Red Deer Rebels and Edmonton Oil Kings – but there’s simply no denying that the Tigers are in the middle of one of their most successful seasons in recent memory. Although a great number of factors have influenced the team’s surge through the first three months of the campaign, captain James Hamblin says Desjardins’ influence can’t be ignored.Â
“He’s really pushed us to be our best, especially in the gym. It’s really helped us and hopefully we can keep it going in the second half,” said Hamblin. “It was a great first half. We have to remember that and we have to take that moving forward. I think coming back, we’ll have to keep continuing to get better and building off it.”
Tigers centre Elijah Brown said prior to the season that “everyone in this city is happy to have Willie here and I sure am happy to have Willie here,” and that sentiment hasn’t faded.Â
“It’s been awesome with Willie coming in and really changing the culture here. Even the camp, with all the young guys here, you could just tell things were going to be different this year and we really ran with it,” said Brown, adding Desjardins has helped keep the emotions steady through the ups and downs of the season.
“After a big win it’s not getting too high, and after a loss it’s not getting too low. It’s having that same energy all the time. It’s awesome as a player just to know that your coach has got your back all the time. I’d say we’ve got one of the better coaching staffs in the league and it’s awesome to play here.”
Hamblin added one of the biggest ways Desjardins has helped transform the team is by focusing heavily on the importance of conditioning.  After practices and games alike, the Tigers can be found continuing the workout on exercise bikes with the goal of developing their endurance to the point of easily outworking opponents in the third.Â
“We’re doing as much as we can,” said Hamblin. “We’re trying to do more than other teams and I think that’s the biggest thing. As long as we’re doing more than other teams we’re going to beat them in the third.”
Considering they racked up 51 third-period goals while surrendering just 28 in their first 33 games, it’s safe to say the approach is paying off. As centre Ryan Chyzowski points out, the shift in conditioning has been a massive benefit to their development as players as well as a key factor to their success to start the year.Â
“Just getting conditioning up and being a team that plays all three periods and kind of takes over the game as we go, I think it’s been huge for our development,” said Chyzowski. “Everybody has been getting better as the year is going on. It’s looking positive for us right now and we’ve still got a whole half-season to go.”
I do not follow the WHL all that close, mostly what I read in the paper or on the news so I probably don’t have the full picture but everyone is sure making a big deal over his return.
Am I the only one that thinks there is a connection between Clouston parting ways and Desjardin coming back??.
What I see is Shaun stepping up when Willie dropped the Tigers to go play in the big leagues. Now only after that door has closed he is back, welcomed with open arms and Clouston is out.
One has to wonder, how long is he back for this time or would he be back at all if there were other offers.
I do not follow the WHL all that close, mostly what I read in the paper or on the news so I probably don’t have the full picture but everyone is sure making a big deal over his return.
Am I the only one that thinks there is a connection between Clouston parting ways and Desjardin coming back??.
What I see is Shaun stepping up when Willie dropped the Tigers to go play in the big leagues. Now only after that door has closed he is back, welcomed with open arms and Clouston is out.
One has to wonder, how long is he back for this time or would he be back at all if there were other offers.