Tigers finding balance in daily lives

By JAMES TUBB on December 3, 2021.

NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB Owen MacNeil goes for a puck in the corner in the first period of the Medicine Hat Tigers 6-2 loss to the Regina Pats at home on Nov. 23.

The Medicine Hat Tigers are not so different when it comes to their day-to-day lives.

Besides the hours spent at the rink and on the road, they eat breakfast, go on walks as everyone else does.

It’s how they get through their days and find the balance between hockey and real life. Especially during a 12-game losing streak, it has been important to get away from the game and not dwell on the slump.

Head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins says they try to make sure the guys have fun as well as getting prepared for games.

“It’s a good group and you want to have fun,” Desjardins said. “There is some stuff we do where they have gotten together outside of hockey and been able to enjoy things. It is important because it builds and all the guys are aware and don’t want this (losing streak), they want to do well. It’s tough for them right now.”

Tabbies centre Owen MacNeil says he hasn’t changed his routine in the middle of the slump, but alters some of the things he does around the rink.

“It’s not going to last, so I think if you just keep plugging it will change,” MacNeil said.

The 18-year-old says he plans out his game-day routines to the minute and it’s something he has done since his minor hockey days. He says he’s not superstitious but has become used to the routine.

“Call me crazy,” MacNeil said.

MacNeil spends his time away from the rink by trying to hangout with his teammates as much as he can. When it comes to road trips — like the 10 hour Manitoba trip the Tigers just returned from —MacNeil has his own approach to pass the time.

His go to is sleeping as much as he can, watching movies or mixing in a book. On that multi-province trip, the Calgary product watched Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson’s latest film, Red Notice, and read the book, ‘Make your bed,’ written by former Navy SEAL Admiral William H. McRaven on motivation and inspiration.

Teague Patton has an opposite approach to pass the time on the bus, as he prefers to tell stories and talk about the past with the guys.

“We’ve all been through kind of the same thing so it’s good to see what other guys have done,” Patton said.

The Kelowna product spends the majority of his time away from the rink either with his teammates, billet family or FaceTiming with friends and family back home. He’s one of the gamers on the Tigers who have started replaying the multiplayer battle royale game, ‘Fortnite.’

On his game days, Patton says he likes to get up early and take part in morning skates before grabbing some ChoppedLeaf and heading home for a nap. He is one of the many hockey players who needs to have the same pre-game meal, salmon and rice, before heading to the rink.

Corson Hopwo is another of those players, as he always has spaghetti before a pre-game nap. The 20-year-old is currently off the ice but he’s, “progressing on course” through his upper body injury.

He says he always tries to wake up early and gets out of the house for a walk after a good breakfast. That’s his escape from the hockey stress and he says it allows him to clear his mind. While he’s been off hurt, his new escape has been puzzles.

“Right now puzzles are my thing. I’m really into puzzles, so I think that takes my mind off of things.”

He hasn’t gotten any of the other guys into the new-found activity yet, but is passionately working on a Christmas puzzle at the moment.

Hopwo always plays video games away from the rink, usually Call of Duty or Apex Legends with friends from home.

“I play with my buddies back home, one’s from Toronto and one’s from Vancouver,” Hopwo said. “We don’t get to see each other often so it’s good to catch up.”

Patton called out Hopwo as the best cards player on the team when they hit the road, and he accepted it sheepishly. He says he played a lot with former Tiger Eric Van Impe.

“When he was here we used to play cards a lot with each other, we would play crib a lot. I would always take his money,” Hopwo said.

Besides cards, the Duncan, B.C. product flips between listening to music and rewatching movies, right now it’s the Star Wars series. He uses music as a chance to collect his thoughts as the Tigers head to or home from their next opponent.

“I listen to a lot of music too,” Hopwo said. “I like looking outside and just seeing the scenery. So I plug in and listen to music and just ponder my thoughts outside.”