NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Teague Patton admires his pass accross the ice in the first period of the Tigers 2-0 loss to the Swift Current Broncos on March 19 at Co-op Place.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers made their first move of the off-season Tuesday.
The Tigers traded 18-year-old forward Teague Patton to the Victoria Royals for a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft.
The Kelowna product appeared in 59 games for the Tigers last season, recording 10 goals and 21 points. Tigers head coach and GM Willie Desjardins said after the season the Tigers had there was going to be change to open up spots for younger players.
“We didn’t have the year we wanted last year, so we know we have to make some changes coming into this year,” Desjardins told the News. “One thing we want, we want to make sure that we want to increase our team speed a little bit and we have some young players with pretty good speed, we wanted to open up some room for them.”
Patton said it was a hard day of talking with now former teammates and sharing some laughs and tears.
“I’m going to miss every single guy in that locker room, they became brothers to me,” Patton said. “I’m gonna miss Mikki (Lanuk). He’s done so much for me, for the organization. The Masers (owners), they’ve been great to all of us and you know, I’m not going to forget any memories I have here and I’m gonna cherish them for the rest of my life.”
Patton signed with the Tigers after their 2019 training camp and played one game with the club. He made his Western Hockey League debut in the 2020-21 season and had two goals and two assists in 18 games. He split that season with the South Alberta Hockey Academy of the CSSHL.
Patton said he’s happy with the opportunity the Tigers gave him.
“Bringing me into the Western Hockey League and showing me the ropes, I can’t thank anyone enough,” Patton said.
Patton was part of the Tigers’ best line in the latter half of the season alongside Oasiz Wiesblatt and Andrew Basha. The trio was the lone line to remain intact on the lineup card until an upper body injury cut Patton’s season short.
Desjardins said he liked Patton’s development over the last couple of seasons and Victoria is getting a player who plays the game hard.
“You bring in a guy that’s a young guy and you see a young man that’s looking to get a career in hockey. We had that time with him when he was young, he got a chance to grow and he has a lot better understanding of the game now and what it takes to be a player,” Desjardins said.
He said there is no other focus other than they are committed to building a team that’s going to have a chance to win a championship down the road.
“Whatever that takes, that’s what we’re willing to do,” Desjardins said. “We don’t have any other agenda than to bring a championship team back to Medicine Hat that the organization and the fans can be excited about.”
Patton said he is going to remember the hard work it takes to be a Medicine Hat Tiger.
“It’s a well run organization top to bottom, everyone there was really great to me and it’s a family,” Patton said.
Desjardins said the docket is empty in regards to anymore moves because they want to give players an opportunity to show what kind of work they put in over the summer.
“We have good players, we believe that all the players have a chance to put in a really good summer of hard work and everybody will put in a different degree of work,” Desjardins said. “We want to give them the chance to do that. Then, when they come back, we will see and we’ll have to make some decisions in the fall.”
Patton said he is excited for the opportunity in Victoria and is thankful for his billet family. He said he’s looking forward to returning to Co-op Place for one more game.
“Coming into the barn again, it’ll be pretty exciting just to see everyone and see all the familiar faces and everyone I met there and all the relationships I’ve built there,” Patton said.
