NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers prospect Gavin McKenna carries a puck during a drill in the second practice session of the Tigers first day of training camp Friday at Co-op Place.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers don’t want to simply forget about their 2021-22 season, they’re ready to make sure it never happens again. The first steps in ensuring that were taken before training camp got underway Friday.
“We had a great meeting last night and we talked about how last year is unacceptable and we have to get back to who we are as an organization,” Tigers associate coach Joe Frazer said Friday after practice. “We’ve prided ourselves for years (on) being the hardest working team and the fastest team in the league. Those are two points of emphasis heading camp here. Obviously the compete level stemmed from that, too. Those three things have been hit on pretty hard the last couple days.”
The Tigers welcomed 48 players to Co-op Place on Friday for the first of three days of training camp action, with players from last season, 2021 and 2022 draft picks and six free-agent invitees all working through drills and showcasing their skills.
Frazer said he thought the pace of the first practices was good and said they will learn more from the scrimmages Friday and Saturday nights.
The 48 players are divided into team black and team orange for practices/workouts and will play a scrimmage Saturday evening. The scrimmage gets underway at 7 p.m. Sunday, the final day of camp, and has an intra-squad game from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., all at Co-op Place.
A focus in camp is the Tigers’ top prospect, 2022 first overall pick Gavin McKenna. The Whitehorse product made his first appearance as a Medicine Hat Tiger since being drafted by the club in May. He said he enjoyed the first day of competition and donning the Tigers logo on the ice.
“It’s very high-paced practices, lots of competition, making me work hard so I like it,” McKenna said. “They had everything set off for me. It was awesome coming in here, seeing my name tag up on the stalls, it was pretty cool.”
Frazer spoke highly about McKenna’s ability on and off the puck.
“He’s one of those guys who just makes everyone around him better,” Frazer said. “His vision is outstanding and he’s one of those guys who plays with pace and he has the elite skill but can make skilled plays at full speed and not a lot of guys can do that. We see what all the hype is about, he’s a great player.”
McKenna is part of a strong draft class for the Tigers, featuring four picks in the first three rounds of the 2022 WHL draft. All four picks, McKenna, Hayden Harsanyi (16th), Kadon McCann (23rd) and Matthew Paranych (45th) have signed their player agreements with the Tigers.
Harsanyi signed his deal Wednesday ahead of camp and said he was excited to get the deal done because he appreciated how much the Tigers staff believes in him.
“I’m excited to be here for the next few years, and I was really excited to get that done and it wasn’t a hard decision, this is the place I want to be,” Harsanyi said.
Returning Tiger Rhett Parsons said it was good to get back at the rink and see everyone’s face after a summer of training. He said he enjoyed skating alongside and watching the Tigers’ prospects, his future teammates.
“There’s definitely some big talent there, McKenna, Harsanyi are quick guys with skills, it’s exciting watch,” Parsons said.
The third-year defenceman mirrored Frazer saying last season wasn’t what anyone on the team wanted and said they have to learn from that and are hungry to do so. He said he’s looking forward to bringing everything he can this year as they look to bounce back from the tough season.
“Just kind of play hard, play my game,” Parsons said as his individual goal for this season. “As a team goal, I think we want to obviously make playoffs. We obviously have the pieces for that and we’re going to do everything we can to do that. Everyone’s excited to do that and put last year behind us and just ready to go.”
