Medicine Hat Tigers forward Owen MacNeil celebrates his first period goal in the Tigers 9-1 season-opening win against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Sept. 24 at Co-op Place. - NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
They are only one game into their season, but the Medicine Hat Tigers have already flipped the script from last year.
The Tigers trailed 2:18 into their home/season opener on Saturday against the Lethbridge Hurricanes at Co-op Place before they scored nine unanswered goals to win 9-1 and open the 2022-23 season with a victory.
Last season, 43 of Medicine Hat’s 53 losses last season came after they gave up the first goal of the game. Medicine Hat only had one win in a game where their opponent scored first. That lone victory came on Oct. 19, 2021, a 5-4 overtime win at Co-op Place against the Swift Current Broncos.
Tigers forward Owen MacNeil scored the tying goal in that 2021 contest against the Broncos and also found the back of the net against the Hurricanes last weekend. He said the difference with this group was their compete and energy levels heading into the game.
“We were just way more excited to be out there and I think this year we’re looking forward to coming back to being a winning culture, a winning team and we really wanted to show that to the fans and to prove it to ourselves,” MacNeil said. “We came out flying and we were super hungry for this year. Our compete level was the biggest difference and it will be as well moving forward.”
Tigers associate coach Joe Frazer said it was a positive to see the team push through the deficit and stick to the process for success. He said as a team they want to be better mentally all season.
“I think last year, adversity would hit and we weren’t great at responding to it,” Frazer said. “Throughout the preseason and the first game, there’s been adversity and I think the leadership group has been way more on top of it, way better at ‘whatever happens, happens’ and ‘just go worry about the next shift’. The shift-to-shift mindset has been way better.”
The 19-year-old MacNeil was a new body on the Tigers last season, joining the club ahead of the preseason in a trade with the Spokane Chiefs. This year he said he’s enjoyed being the returning player and welcoming the next wave of Tabbies.
“We have a lot of young talent, some pretty exceptional players,” MacNeil said. “All of us as the older guys are trying to bring them in as easily as we can and make them feel comfortable right away, just like they did to me last year. We’re trying to show them the way and they’re doing a great job so far.”
The Tigers have a couple of days practice before they head to Lethbridge on Friday for a rematch of the season opener, then hosting the Winnipeg Ice at Co-op Place on Saturday. Frazer said the focus for the week has been ensuring they’re ready to play come puck drop.
“Lethbridge is going to come out hard Friday. We know they’re having a tough week of practice, their crowd’s going to be into it, it’s going to be loud in that building and they’re going to want some payback for Saturday night,” Frazer said. “The message all week’s going to be we have to make sure we’re ready to go in the first five minutes of Friday night’s game because they’re going to come out hard, and we have to make sure we’re ready to start on time.
“That’s been a big point of emphasis, just making sure in our practices that we’re starting on time right from the first drill. We’re dialed in, we’re focused, we’re moving our feet, handling the puck, catching passes, so that Friday when the game starts, we’re not playing catch-up.”
