Fischer gets to wear all-star C on home ice

By RYAN MCCRACKEN on January 4, 2020.

rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken

The stars have aligned for Mason Fischer’s final season of junior hockey.

After spending a few years bouncing between the Alberta Junior Hockey League, Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and Manitoba Junior Hockey League, Fischer returned the Gas City to spend the remainder of his junior career with his hometown Medicine Hat Cubs partway through last season. In the time since, Fischer has helped the Cubs rally to Game 7 of the Southern Division semifinals before leading them to an 18-7-2 record at the holiday break and earning an all-star nod in the process. To top it all off, the 21-year-old Hatter will be sporting the captain’s C when he leads the Southern Division’s top talent onto the ice for Sunday’s Heritage Junior Hockey League all-star game at the Kinplex.

“It was a pretty big honour being named captain,” said Fischer, whose Cubs will also host the provincial junior B championships in April. “I don’t think you could write it any better. Being able to host the all-star game, play in front of my family and my friends who I grew up with … and being named captain just puts a little cherry on top of it. To be able to perform at my best throughout this year, coming back from last year off of a good half-season with the club here and being able to showcase that now is a pretty big honour for me.”

Fischer leads the Cubs in scoring with 21 goals and 14 assists through 23 games this season, good enough for 16th in the HJHL. He’ll be joined by teammates Chandler Aleman and Fletcher Aleman in Sunday’s 4 p.m. showcase, but Fischer says he’s also looking forward to lacing up his skates with the league’s top talent like Okotoks Bisons forward Tyson Scott, who leads the HJHL with 68 points in 25 games.

“It’ll be cool. Some of these guys I’ve been battling with since I was playing still in junior A,” said Fischer. “It’s cool to be able to play against them again and show that there is talent on our level. And being able to play against some of the guys that are top players in our league – who come into our barn and we have a pretty big rivalry with – we’ll sit down in our dressing room and then play a game with them, even on the same line, you never know.”

The all-star game returned to the HJHL in 2018 after a hiatus of more than 20 years, and each of the last two contests were decided by a shootout.

Airdrie Thunder forward Jordan McConnell will captain the Northern Division all-stars – a team that includes Airdrie’s Tristan Paquette, who sits fourth in the league’s scoring race with 45 points in 19 games, and Mountainview Colts defenceman Travis Gerrard, who leads all HJHL defencemen with 22 points in 21 games.

But before Fischer can shift his focus to the all-star game, he and the Cubs will be tasked with taking down the Copperheads on Saturday night in Coaldale. Medicine Hat has struggled to an 0-2 record against its divisional rivals through the 2019 portion of the season, and Fischer says they plan on changing that trend in 2020.

“We’ve had some struggles with them earlier in the year, but we just want to be able to come out and show them that this half of the season we’re ready to play,” said Fischer. “It’s over halfway done and this is my last season, same with a few of the others guys, and I know myself, I’d like to go out with beating Coaldale a couple more times because there’s nothing that I love more than going into Coaldale’s barn and getting a win.”

The HJHL’s top prospects game will kick off Sunday’s events at the Kinplex with a 1 p.m. puck drop. Cubs forwards Levi Schlosser and Cooper Hilworth, defenceman Brandon Hauck and goaltender Dawsen Savage will all suit up for the Southern Division.

“It’s a cool opportunity. Everybody gets to have fun, meet everybody and just enjoy yourself,” said Hilworth. “It’s cool to see a bunch of our players make the top prospects game and make the all-star game, so it’s nice.”

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