NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Carter Chorney moves the puck out of the Tigers zone in the first period of their 6-5 loss to the Calgary Hitmen on Jan. 29.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Carter Chorney was able to unpack his travel bag Monday.
The veteran Medicine Hat Tigers forward had already started to pack for an extended road trip this week that would’ve had them playing in Edmonton Wednesday before heading to Manitoba for three straight games beginning Friday against the Brandon Wheat Kings and Winnipeg Ice.
That second leg of the trip was postponed Monday due to capacity restrictions in the province of Manitoba. Medicine Hat will fill the schedule Saturday with a make-up home game against the Moose Jaw Warriors.
The Tigers were supposed to take on the Moose Jaw on Jan. 8 but that game was postponed due to the Warriors being shut down.
Chorney said the couple days off as a result of the postponement won’t change his approach to the upcoming games.
“Nothing changes, the preparation coming into Wednesday is huge, we have to focus on that game right now and then focus down the road,” Chorney said. “When we come back, a little more time off, and then just get ready for Moose Jaw.”
Tigers associate coach Joe Frazer said the schedule change is a bit of an adjustment but they are just focused on the Edmonton matchup. He said the Tigers can use that game against the Central division leading Oil Kings as a measuring stick.
“They’ve obviously loaded up, they’re a great team with lots of great players, a lot of guys (who) are going to play in the NHL one day,” Frazer said. “I think it’s exciting for our guys to use it as a measuring stick to see where we are at.”
Frazer said the Tigers will continue to be without forward Tyler MacKenzie as they continue to evaluate the upper body injury he suffered on Jan. 22. The 17-year-old has still been around the team, including watching practice from the bench, while recovering from the injury.
When asked what that means to him, Frazer said it shows why they gave him an assistant captain role before he was injured.
“He’s already a leader but he’s going to be a huge leader coming into next year and the year after,” Frazer said. “He’s going to be a big part of this future. Just watching him last year to this year, just that compete level and love to win, he’s brought it every day. It’s great to see him still hanging around and in the locker room. I know he’s itching to get back out there.”
Medicine Hat will also be without defenceman Bogdans Hodass for their two games this week after being hit with a two-game suspension for his cross-check on Red Deer’s Frantisek Formanek in Sunday’s win. The Latvian D-man was given a game misconduct on the play.
Coming off Sunday’s win, the Tigers head into Edmonton looking to win back-to-back games for the first time since Oct. 22.
Tigers sign pick
The Tabbies announced Tuesday afternoon they have signed defenceman Nate Corbet to a Standard WHL Player Agreement.
The Calgary product was selected by the Tigers 60th overall in the 2021 WHL Prospect Draft. Corbet is currently playing for the Calgary Flames U16 of the AEHL where he has four goals and 17 assists in 22 games.
