NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Tigers forward Corson Hopwo sizes up the Broncos' winger in-front of him during Medicine Hat's final pre-season game. Swift Current would beat the Tigers 8-2.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Coming off a winless road trip, the Tigers will look to get back in the win column with their third game against Swift Current this young season.
Medicine Hat dropped both games on their mini-Saskatchewan tour this weekend, getting shutout by the Saskatoon Blades 4-0 on Friday and losing a close one in the shootout Saturday night, 3-2 against the Prince Albert Raiders.
The Tigers sit 2-3-0-1 on the season and host the Broncos tonight at 7 p.m. in Co-op Place. Medicine Hat has yet to record a win against Swift Current this season. Both games against the Broncos have been filled with emotion and physicality dating back to when Swift Current beat the Tigers 8-2 at home in their final pre-season game.
Corson Hopwo, who was vocal on at the time of how the Broncos handled their win in Medicine Hat, says keeping emotions in check is a big thing for him, especially ahead of tonight’s matchup.
“I can’t take any dumb penalties this up-coming game so I think doing that is going be a big part of our success,” Hopwo said. “Just playing our game, getting in behind their d-men is a key part and we know how they play obviously, so just playing our game and countering them is a big factor.”
The 20-year-old says he isn’t tired of playing the Broncos yet and that the Tigers need to play a full game if they want to be successful this season.
“Coming into Swift we just need to have a good start and play a full 60 minutes,” he said. “We’ve been saying it throughout the season but now it’s six games in and we have to keep on doing it.”
Head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins said the Tigers have to learn from their last matchup against the Broncos if they want to have success in tonight’s game.
“They’ve got some good young players that played hard and they’ve got good goaltending. If we don’t have a really good game we won’t win so we have to be prepared to have a good game,” Desjardins said.
Hopwo says the road trip last weekend, their first multi-day trip since March 2020, was refreshing for the team and gave them an opportunity to get closer with one another.
“It would’ve been nice to have a coupe more nights to hangout with the guys a little more and get to know more guys on a more personal level, but it was good,” Hopwo said. “I’m excited to get more road trips in this season and hopefully we come out on the better end of the other trips.”
