NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers goaltender Garin Bjorklund, stares down the Edmonton Oil Kings forward that sprayed him with snow in the first period of the Tigers 3-0 loss to the Oil Kings on April 15.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
It was a busy year between the pipes for the Medicine Hat Tigers goaltenders.
Net minders Garin Bjorklund and Beckett Langkow split duties in net for the orange and black in a season where the Tigers were outshot in all but 15 games.
Tigers associate coach Joe Frazer said the goaltending duo was in a tight spot and wishes the team could have helped them more.
“We gave up tough chances for them and they bailed us out, never complained about it, not once, they’re always ready to go the next day and be there for their teammates,” Frazer said. “I think first and foremost they’re great teammates, great team guys. I think both guys, it’s tough with their stats, they read them and look into that but they play way better.”
Both appeared in a career high number of games, with Bjorklund making 48 appearances sporting an 4.26 goals against average and an .877 save percentage. Langkow appeared in 25 games with a 4.64 goals against and an .861 save percentage.
Langkow said with a team like the Tigers had this season, looking toward the future, he doesn’t look at the results but instead focuses on how he looked game by game.
“There’s some games this year where I’m giving up five, six goals and I think I had a pretty good game,” Langkow said. “Just like there’s years in the past where I’ve let in one or two goals and they haven’t been good goals. I feel like you just have to be realistic with your goals and know the results weren’t here. But I feel like I got better throughout the year.”
The Vegreville product said his focus for the summer is that no one wants to go through again what the Tigers did this season.
“Everybody here is going to work really hard over the summer to make sure we come back stronger next year,” Langkow said.
He said he’ll approach his summer by taking some time away to rest and recover before getting back to getting better for next season. Langkow also said he’s going to be working with the town of Vegreville for the second summer, something he’s excited for.
“I think this summer we’re going to be working on the ball diamonds with all the ball teams starting up again, so that should be fun,” Langkow said.
His goaltending partner has a different start to his off-season, as Bjokrlund joined the AHL’s Hershey Bears once the Tigers’ season ended, and alongside defensemen Dru Krebs, signed an amateur tryout contract Wednesday morning. Bjokrlund described the experience as an opportunity to turn heads with the franchise that drafted him.
“This is my chance to go down there and turn some heads and hopefully, sign a piece of paper, that’s my goal,” Bjorklund said.
The Grand Prairie product said he’s been on winning hockey teams the last few years and with this season being the exact opposite, he said it’s a good learning opportunity.
“I feel like as many downs as there was this year, hopefully I can look back and kind of reflect and maybe this could have been good for me,” Bjorklund said.
He said one of the good parts of the year was the competitive friendship he had with Langkow, as both supported one another but also wanted to beat each other at anything, whether it be pool, ping pong or a game in practice.
As competitors do, both Bjorklund and Langkow said, with big smiles, they were the better ping pong players over the other.
“How close we are and how we always battle and just, are always there for one another, if you have a tough game or whatever.” Langkow said about his relationship with Bjorklund. “I think that’s definitely something that’s kept both of us going this year.”
