Bounce back from big Broncos loss

By JAMES TUBB on October 1, 2021.

jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb

It was a statement loss for the Tigers in their last pre-season game.

Swift Current beat Medicine Hat 8-2 after a six-goal third period that stuck around for the Tigers. They did beat the Broncos the night before in Swift Current but losing by that much, at home and with a rookie net minder between the pipes, didn’t sit well with Medicine Hat.

Veteran forward Corson Hopwo was vocal after Saturday’s loss as he said it was embarrassing for the team to lose like that.

The Tigers now have a chance at retribution as their season gets underway with another home-and-home series with the Broncos. They get their campaign started tonight in Swift Current before returning home Saturday for the home opener.

“We’ve just got to play harder as a team. We didn’t really show up that Saturday night. This weekend’s huge, opening regular season here. Good week of practice and we’ll be ready to go,” defensemen Rhett Parsons said.

For Hopwo, with a couple of days to reflect, he is looking forward to getting the regular season going against the Broncos.

“I think we wanted to work on the things that we worked on and just having had a great week. We are going into the week with our heads high and we’re excited for the games,” Hopwo said.

Joe Frazier, the Tigers associate coach, says the loss wasn’t how they wanted to end their preseason but it’s how the guys handle themselves from here.

“It obviously wasn’t the way we wanted to end preseason. You can use it one of two ways: you can blow on it or learn from it. I think the guys have done a good job this week as far as practicing wth a purpose, the details and getting back to our game,” he said. “It’s how we’re gonna handle it. So we have to learn from it and it has to make us better.”

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