Medicine Hat Tigers forward Oren Shtrom gathers the puck behind the Red Deer Rebels net during a Western Hockey League game at Co-op Place on Saturday, Feb. 27. -- NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
Oren Shtrom is no stranger to a change of scenery.
The 16-year-old forward is embarking on his rookie season with the Medicine Hat Tigers after living in multiple states and provinces, and learning from some of the best the game has to offer.
“I’ve kind of just been all over the map,” said Shtrom, who notched his first career WHL assist in last Friday’s 5-4 overtime win over the Red Deer Rebels.
“I lived in Montreal until I was about 10-11, then I moved to Arizona for hockey actually … We moved as a family for hockey. I played there for a couple years. I played under Ray Whitney which was a really big year for me, that really helped me. Then I moved to Colorado recently.”
Shtrom says learning from a veteran forward like Whitney – who played in 1,330 games with eight teams and logged 1,064 points before retiring in 2014 – allowed him to make the most of his development, but the gains didn’t come easily.
“He really changed me,” said Shtrom. “He had me at 14, so coming from my 13-year I maybe wasn’t as good defensively. He definitely taught me a few lessons, sat me a couple times for sure. I definitely learned right away with him that you can’t slide. He just taught me a lot of little tips and tricks that really help offensively, and things to do you maybe wouldn’t get from a normal coach. Him having over 1,000 games and over 1,000 points, not many guys ever have that so to get some insight from him was just really incredible.”
Shtrom is one of five rookies on Medicine Hat’s roster to have started his season in Dunmore with South Alberta Hockey Academy. The 5-foot-9, 161-pound left-winger says playing on the U18 prep squad allowed him to grow his bond with teammates Oasiz Wiesblatt, Cayden Glover, Tyler MacKenzie and Teague Patton – but their friendships started well before SAHA.
“From rookie camp, we started a great bond,” he said. “We’ve kind of kept in contact since then, and then SAHA came and we all went there and played together. We were able to be more of leaders over there, and that kind of helped us grow more chemistry and a bond to be comfortable around each other. When we got here, we were all going through the same thing so we could all help each other out and talk about everything going on.”
Tigers head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins says he’s been impressed by the performance of his team’s crop of rookies, as they were key in sweeping a more veteran Rebels squad and showed improvement as the opening weekend progressed.
“I’d say they were very good. Red Deer had only two guys, that first night, that didn’t play us in the last game last year, and we were playing really well,” said Desjardins. “I think our guys were ready and I think they got stronger as the game went on.”
Tigers sign a goalie
On Thursday, the Tigers announced they had signed 2004-born goaltender James Venne to a standard WHL player agreement.
The 6-foot-1, 160-pound Saskatoon product started his year with the Saskatoon Blazers U18 AAA squad at 2-0 with a 1.5 goals against average and .949 save percentage before COVID stopped the season.
The Tigers (2-0-0-0) return to action tonight in Edmonton against the Oil Kings (2-0-0-0). The puck drops at 7 p.m.
