Tigers get set for training camp ahead of 2022-23 season

By JAMES TUBB on September 1, 2022.

jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb

The 2022-’23 Western Hockey League season is just around the corner as clubs begin training camps across Western Canada and the U.S.

The Medicine Hat Tigers get preseason efforts underway Friday for the first of three days of training camp action. Tigers head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins said it’s a time of year he always looks forward to.

“It gives you a chance to see guys, see how they’ve done and you’re always excited, you always hope players have done stuff in the offseason, so you’re excited to see them just to see what they’ve accomplished,” Desjardins said.

He said there isn’t one particular player he is looking forward to seeing the most and says they all have things to prove. The Tigers enter camp coming off a franchise worst season, finishing the 2021-22 year with a record of 11-53-3-1, putting them in last place of the entire Canadian Hockey League.

Desjardins said one of their goals is to prove they can get back on track and said that starts with training camp.

“This is a great organization, it has a great history and lots of good things,” Desjardins said. “It is a challenge, it’s tough because we have a young group so our challenge is to make sure even though we’re young, to be good.”

There are 48 players listed on the Tigers’ training camp roster, which includes players from last season, 2021 and 2022 draft picks and six free-agent invitees.

The Tigers will have four overage forwards in camp, with Noah Danielson and Brendan Lee returning, 2020 import draft pick Oskari Kuntonen and invitee Dallon Melin, who played in Red Deer for the Rebels last season. With goaltender Garin Bjorklund likely playing pro hockey for his age-20 season, that leaves the four players vying for three spots.

“We want to go with the best guys and there’s different things that go into picking guys, it’s not all just on-ice performance,” Desjardins said. “It’s leadership, filling different roles, maybe you need a scorer, maybe you need a defender. It’s not always just the best guy, it’s the guy that you need most for your team.”

A lot of eyes will be on Tigers’ 2022 first overall pick Gavin McKenna, who will don the orange and black for the first time since being selected by the club in mid-May, something Desjardins is looking forward to.

“He’s a pretty special player. He’s a guy that always got pressure, everybody always expects so much from him but he is a really good, young player,” Desjardins said.

The 48 players are divided into team black and team orange for practices and workouts, and will play a scrimmage on both Friday and Saturday evening. The scrimmages get underway both nights at 7 p.m. Sunday is the final day of camp and has an intra-squad game from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Desjardins said camp is an exciting time and is the first step in the Tigers’ path to success.

“It’s up for us to make it make it good. There are always challenges in life to get where you want to go but our big thing is to build the culture we want,” Desjardins said. “We want to build a team that’s going to win a championship down the road, and that starts this year.”

Tigers sign Harsanyi

The Tigers announced the signing of 2022 first-round pick Hayden Harsanyi Wednesday afternoon. The 16th pick in the mid-May draft appeared in 25 games with the CSSHL’s Northern Alberta Xtreme U15 Prep team during the 2021-22 season, registering 31 goals and 36 assists. He also tallied one goal and eight assists in four playoff games.

Harsanyi is the fourth player the Tigers have signed from their 2022 draft class, joining first overall pick McKenna, Kadon McCann (23rd) and Matthew Paranych (45th).

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