NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Kurtis Smythe carries the puck out of his defensive end in the first period of the Tigers 5-1 win Saturday night against the Brandon Wheat Kings at Co-op Place.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Joining a new team is never easy – luckily for the newest Medicine Hat Tiger Kurtis Smythe, it came in a win.
The 20-year-old forward/defenceman donned the orange and black for the first time since being acquired by trade Oct. 19 from the Portland Winterhawks. He made his debut Saturday, a 5-1 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings at Co-op Place.
He says it was good way to join the team and is already excited to be a Tiger.
“All of the guys here are brilliant and I’ve had a lot of fun so far,” Smythe said after Saturday’s win. “I’m just getting to know the systems and getting a little more comfortable to just be myself, that’s all I want to do when I’m here. And to help out any way I can.”
Smythe was in attendance for the Tigers’ 4-2 loss Friday night against the undefeated Red Deer Rebels, who pushed their streak to 10 games with another win Saturday.
Tigers associate coach Joe Frazer says the team’s Saturday is how they want to follow up a loss.
“Being at home we knew we needed to respond (Friday) night, we played great in the first and we let that one slip away,” Frazer said. “The guys were hungry (Saturday), they knew how big this game was and it was great to see us come out with that type of effort.”
Reid Andresen, Owen MacNeil and Pasah Bocharov each scored in the first period for the Tigers, MacNeil’s coming on the power play and Bocharov’s while shorthanded. Brendan Lee and Bradyen Boehm found the back of the net late in the third to cement the win.
Smythe had two shots on net, each close to giving him his first goal as a Tiger.
In 121 WHL’s games, all with Portland, the Cloverdale, B.C. product had two goals and 31 points. He says he can play either position and will leave that up to the Tigers coaching staff on any given night.
“Wherever the coach needs, whatever the team needs from me, I’ll play and I’m happy to,” Smythe said.
He says the Tigers have been a welcoming group and is looking forward to bringing leadership to the young group.
“Getting traded you have a little nerves coming into anywhere you go, being a new guy, I don’t know anyone on the team but so far they’ve been awesome,” Smythe said. “I want to help younger guys and just pass on as much knowledge as I can, since I’ve been in the league for four years now. Also just play my game and help the team win every night.”
Frazer says Smythe was great in his debut and brought exactly what the Tigers needed in their lineup.
“He brought leadership, he’s a great skater with a really good stick and I thought that line was really good with (Tyler) McKenzie and (Brayden) Boehm,” Frazer said. “All three guys can skate, all three guys are tenacious on the puck, so I thought that was a really good line.”
Saturday’s win was a special occasion for Tigers net minder Beckett Langkow, who has started all 10 of the Tigers games to start the year. Picking up the victory between the pipes against Brandon gave Langkow four wins on the year, surpassing his 2021-22 season totals in 15 fewer games.
“It shows how different this year is from last year,” Langkow said. “It’s game 10 of the season and I already have more than last year. So it’s good but I can’t think too much into it, I just have to keep rolling.”
The Tigers have a week of practice before they host the Saskatoon Blades on Friday. Then the Victoria Royals and former Tiger Teague Patton come to Co-op Place on Saturday, marking the first Western Conference opponent in the Hat since the 2019-20 season.
Until then, the Tigers are hosting their ‘Skate with the Tigers night’ tonight from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at Co-op Place.
Interested skaters are required to have a helmet and skates and are to arrive at the rental entrance at the back of Co-op Place, which will open at 6 p.m.
