NEWS PHOTO James Tubb
Medicine Hat Tigers' Hunter St. Martin breaks into the offensive zone during his team's 4-3 over the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday. St. Martin, who had two assists Saturday, signed his WHL deal with the club on Friday, the same team his father Blair St. Martin played for.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Joining a new team isn’t easy for anyone.
Whether it’s through trade or by signing a contract, there is a culture shock that comes with changing teams.
For Owen MacNeil, Medicine Hat’s newest centremen acquired via trade last week, it was a nervous move.
“Obviously pretty nerve wracking at first, coming to a new team, don’t know what to expect,” he said. “I heard nothing but good things about the organization and the guys have been so welcoming to me, I really appreciate that.”
The Tigers a fourth-round 2022 bantam draft pick and an eighth round pick in 2023 to the Spokane Chiefs for MacNeil. He spent the last three seasons with the Chiefs, where he had three goals and 11 points in 67 games. The Calgary product was selected by the Chiefs 39th overall in the 2018 draft.
MacNeil says he will bring a big role to Medicine Hat as a 200-foot player while also helping out some of the younger Tigers on the roster. Being one of the older guys and playing the premiere position of centre, left vacant by the off-season departures of Brett Kemp, Ryan Chyzowski and potentially Cole Sillinger to the NHL, he will have a big hole to fill for the Tigers. It is a challenge he says he embraces.
“When I got traded that was one of the main things they told me and I think to have a better opportunity here is better for me and my development,” he said. “Whatever I can do for the team, and if it’s filling that top-six role or wherever they see me, I’m able to do it.”
The key part of joining the Tigers for MacNeil is that it’s nice to be back in Alberta, much closer to his family in Calgary than he was in Spokane.
“My family gets to drive up now from Calgary to come see me play,” said MacNeil. “It’s just a lot better honestly, kind of closer to home, knowing more people from Alberta. It’s huge for me mental wise and everything.”
Family is just as important for Hunter St. Martin, a second generation Tiger who signed with the team on Saturday. St. Martin was draft by Medicine Hat in the sixth round of the 2020 bantam draft.
His father, Blair St. Martin, played 274 games in a Tigers uniform, something Hunter says he is proud to don.
“It’s an honour to wear the logo,” he said. “I’ve heard he’s a fan favourite here, so trying to live up to the name but excited for the future here.”
St. Martin does not plan to have as many penalty minutes as his dad did for the Tigers, 804 over four seasons, but he does bring some physicality in his game.
“From my dad, I obviously get a bit of grit in there,” he said. “So with a bit of size I just get in there, win puck battles and work hard.”
Both MacNeil and St. Martin got in their first games as Tigers this past weekend as they split wins in a home-and-home series with the Lethbridge Hurricanes concluding with a 4-3 with for the Tigers on Saturday at Co-op Place.
Both players will look to keep making an impact as pre-season continues for the Tigers, and they enter another home-and-home with the Swift Current Broncos.
That two-game set opens Friday night in Swft Current before returning to Co-op Place on Saturday for a 7 p.m. puck drop. Any fans in attendance must be masked and are required to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within the last 72 hours.
