Medicine Hat Tigers goaltender Garin Bjorklund makes a glove save on Edmonton Oil Kings captain Scott Atkinson during in a Western Hockey League game on Saturday at Co-op Place.--NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
Bus legs could prove to be a significant factor as the Western Hockey League’s Central Division schedule presses on this season – at least for the lengthier stretches of highway.
After shaking off a sizeable deficit in Red Deer and weathering a late push at home to sweep the Rebels in their opening two-game set, the Medicine Hat Tigers fell into other side of a similar scenario against the Edmonton Oil Kings this weekend.
A late push wasn’t enough to secure a victory in a 4-2 loss on the road Friday, then Saturday’s early lead was nullified when Edmonton rallied back with a goal in the second before scoring on a late power play and stealing a 3-1 win.
“It’s definitely a factor,” said Edmonton Oil Kings forward Josh Williams, a former Tiger. “The long road trips, they can be hard on the legs and the team that can sort of deal with that adversity early the best is going to have advantages when they play road games.
“The first two periods (Saturday) definitely was not the game we wanted to play, but I think we were pretty inspired in the third. Seeing Scott score that goal, he had a great game tonight. He was all over the ice and to see him get rewarded was a good feeling.”
One of the many COVID-related changes for Albertan WHL teams is a schedule built to accommodate day trips for games. While it mitigates risk by preventing hotel stays, it can make for very long days on the road – even before dropping the puck.
“It kind of strains on your body a bit but you’ve got to deal with it,” said Tigers captain Ryan Chyzowski, adding Saturday’s loss ultimately came down to puck management. “I thought we just didn’t manage the puck and it didn’t go our way.”
Either way, it may not be as big of an issue when the schedule shifts to pit the Tigers (2-2-0-0) against the Calgary Hitmen (1-0-1-0) this weekend, then the Lethbridge Hurricanes (0-2-0-0) from March 26-28. Both destinations feature significantly shorter trips to opposing arenas, but the series should prove no less demanding as a new scheduling change to three-game weekends will have the Tigers in Calgary on Friday and Sunday, with a game in Medicine Hat slated for Saturday.
The Tigers will then get a weekend off – a scheduling necessity with five teams in the Central Division – before hosting the Hurricanes in Friday and Sunday games, and making a sole trip to Lethbridge in between.
The Hitmen opened their season on a bye week, then split their first series against Red Deer this weekend. The Hurricanes dropped back-to-back games against Edmonton to open the season and will return from a bye week to face the Rebels in a three-game set this weekend.
