NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers top prospect Gavin McKenna skates out for his introduction ahead of the Tigers 9-1 season opening win Saturday night at Co-op Place against the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Gavin McKenna era in Medicine Hat got underway Saturday in a big way.
The Medicine Hat Tigers’ top prospect had four assists in his Western Hockey League debut as the Tigers beat up the Lethbridge Hurricanes 9-1 at Co-op Place.
McKenna said getting four points in his debut was a confidence booster but the 14-year-old, who is tied for 10th among league scoring, said he wanted to get his first goal but knew he had to be responsible on the ice.
“I wanted it but you have to play the game right, so I wasn’t chasing the goal, but it would have been nice,” McKenna said.
The Whitehorse, Yukon product had extra support in attendance Saturday, as his family made the roughly 27-hour drive to watch his debut in person. McKenna appreciated their support and said he went out for dinner with his family and friends after the game.
“It was awesome knowing I had so many people come down and support me,” McKenna said. “I think they’re all going to be pretty excited (at dinner).”
Tigers head coach Willie Desjardins said he doesn’t know what to expect out of McKenna on the ice and said the young Tiger had a well deserved start to his career.
“He’s a good, young player. There are a lot of parts of his game he can still work on but he makes plays out of nothing and he’s so creative, he just has such great vision,” Desjardins said. “It was great for him, well deserved and that’s a pretty good start to your career. It’s kind of tough to follow up on that one.”
McKenna said he was just happy to be part of a big team win like the Tigers had.
“Obviously a pretty good first game coming off a 9-1 win,” McKenna said. “Hopefully we can keep that going all year, I think that’s really good to see.”
The Tigers fell behind the Hurricanes 1-0 in the first three minutes, a common occurrence in their 11-win 2021-22 season. But unlike last season, the team rallied and scored four goals in the first period, part of nine unanswered markers in the win.
Desjardins thinks the Hurricanes weren’t ready for the Tigers’ tempo.
“We surprised them a little bit with it but they’ll be ready next game,” Desjardins said. “They’re a good team, they’re a well coached team, so we’ll have to be ready. I just think our guys were ready. We worked hard all week, we’ve got some new guys in here and we brought lots of energy.”
Forward Oasiz Wiesblatt had the tying goal in the first period and added another goal in the second. Defenceman Reid Andresen had the game winner off the stick of McKenna for his first of four assists in the game.
The rest of the Tigers’ offensive onslaught came from: forwards Owen MacNeil, Brendan Lee, Tyler Mackenzie and defenceman Bogdans Hodass each had a goal. D-man Rhett Parsons and forward Andrew Basha each had a goal and two assists.
Basha said the comeback effort shows how much stronger their mental game has gotten from last season.
“Obviously you never want to start a game off like that but that just speaks a lot to our mental game,” Basha said. “That circles back to everything that went on last year. I think we’re just mentally stronger and that really helps in that situation.”
Forward Alex Drover, who joined the Tigers ahead of training camp this season from the QMJHL, had the second assist on MacKenzie’s goal, giving the 20-year-old his first WHL point.
After allowing the first goal of the game, Tigers net minder Beckett Langkow more than held his own and picked up the 25-save victory, his first as the Tabbies’ No. 1 goalie.
Langkow said it was a great game by everyone in their lineup and he enjoyed his front-row seat to the team’s offence.
“I don’t remember the last time we scored nine goals, it certainly wasn’t last year. Have to go back to pee wee a few years ago,” Langkow said. “It was just fun to watch, especially in the second period, the first 10 minutes, putting four in. I was just waiting for it to stop almost.
“It just shows how hard everybody worked this summer and how this is a new group and last year is behind us.”
