PHOTO COURTESY OF TYLER JESKE
Medicine Hat Mavericks players enjoy their ice cream from 1 Scoop Ice Cream Shoppe in Tompkins, Sask. Friday afternoon after their bus blew a tire one kilometre out of the small town on their way to Swift Current.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
When life handed the Medicine Hat Mavericks a blown tire, they turned it into ice cream.
On their way to Swift Current Friday afternoon the Mavericks bus suffered a blown tire approximately one kilometre outside of the Saskatchewan town of Tompkins.
With the replacement tire coming on a repair truck from Medicine Hat, the Mavericks walked into the town with a population of 152 and stopped at a roadside eatery, the 1 Scoop Ice Cream Shoppe.
Mavericks head coach Tyler Jeske said they made the best of the moment on the side of the road and that there were no complaints from the players. When he was sitting waiting for his fully loaded burger, he took in the other customers at the shop.
“There was a woman with her granddaughter and then another gentleman showed up with his grandson and they sat there visiting for a while and they’re talking to the owner. I was sitting there thinking, this was a part of Saskatchewan I was not planning on seeing,” Jeske said.
Janis Entem, who owns 1 Scoop, said Friday was a busy enough day due to the hot weather before the Mavericks arrived. She said they were all good customers and it would be a strong memory for her.
“I’m originally from Medicine Hat, I just moved out here about six years ago when I bought this shop, so I’m a Mavericks fan,” Entem said.
She said she bought the business six years ago when she heard it was available because she wanted something new. The ice cream shop is open from May to September and Entem says she loves running it because she can meet people from all over the world and they’re all happy because they’re coming to her for ice cream.
Jeske left happy and full after getting a fully loaded burger and two “very generous” scoops of banana fudge. He rated both the burger and ice cream, as well as the shop’s fried pickles, very high.
“It was a good burger, I would give it a nine out of 10, it had a nice home cooked feel to it, it was fresh,” Jeske said. “The fried pickles were outstanding, it was a big, juicy pickle, where the bread to pickle ratio was high up there on the hierarchy of fried pickles.”
Jeske was impressed with what he said was the natural tasting flavour of the banana fudge ice cream. Entem said she gets all of her ice cream from Foothills Creamery.
“It was definitely real bananas, it did not have the artificial banana flavour which then automatically made it stand out and the chunks of fudge were plenty,” Jeske said. “It’s going on my list of hidden gems in Saskatchewan.”
Mavericks catcher Zach Stark brought out the team’s portable speaker to go along with their roadside treats. The Medicine Hat product ordered bubblegum ice cream, “a nine out of 10,” and fried pickles, “those were 10 out of 10, fresh, homemade pickles,” Stark said.
Stark said it was even better that the Mavericks were able to pull off a win that night, beating the Swift Current 57s 10-9.
“It’s like the saying, embrace the chaos. You’re making the best of a bad situation, so you show up and nothing changes depending if you showed up three hours for the game or you only show up about 40 minutes for the game,” Stark said. “You just kind of figure out a way to make it happen and make it work.”
Entem said she hopes the WCBL club has a great season and said she won’t forget that afternoon.
“I was so happy to have them stop by and I just wish them all the best of luck this season and I hope they go far in the playoffs.”
