NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Dallon Melin stretches ahead of a 6-1 win over the Edmonton Oil Kings on Nov. 23 at Co-op Place.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Dallon Melin doesn’t get too high and he doesn’t get too low, and that helps keep a young Medicine Hat Tigers team regulated.
The 20-year-old forward joined the Tigers after being claimed off waivers ahead of training camp from the Red Deer Rebels and was one of four overage players competing for a spot.
A little over halfway through the season and Melin has made his impact on the ice, on the bench and in the Tigers’ dressing room. The Czar, Alta. product was singled out by teammates and head coach Willie Desjardins for bringing forward a three-game approach to a team battling through a lengthy playoff push as a way to combat thinking too far ahead.
“We were talking about as a leadership group about 10 games ago, looking at the next 30 games and what we need to do and I said it’ll be easier if we look at it a little bit smaller, break it down a little bit,” Melin said. “We broke it into these three-games segments here and then every time we win two games, that’s a series. It just makes it a little smaller and makes these goals a little more attainable, just taking it one to three games at a time.”
The assistant captain says being that leader is something that comes naturally to him and is a role he embraces as the team’s leader in games played with 234. He says he even breaks games down into five-minute segments and takes a lot of pride in being vocal on the bench.
“If the other team scores a goal it doesn’t matter, we know who we are, we know that we have to play. We’re not a team that has to wait and watch what other teams are going to do, we can dictate the play,” Melin said. “It’s just reminding guys of that and it starts a little bit of belief. It’s also about keeping certain guys in the game if they’re not playing as much. It’s just my job to do that.”
Desjardins has been impressed but not surprised by Melin stepping up as he has all season.
“He’s been really good for us, his leadership is outstanding and he doesn’t get too high or too low and his plays been great,” Desjardins said. “He’s led us, in the last six games he’s probably been one of our best three players, which is pretty good. He had that ankle injury early that hurt him but he’s been good for us on and off the ice. He plays with (Cayden) Lindstrom and Lindstrom is a guy we think is going to be a good player for us, and Dallon is his mentor a little bit to help him out.”
Melin suffered a high ankle sprain during the Tigers’ U.S. road trip in October and it nagged him for roughly 20 games. Desjardins joked he thought it healed sooner than it did because the 6-foot-4 forward never complained.
“I thought his ankle was OK, I just thought he wasn’t that quick and thought he was just faster earlier,” Desjardins joked. “Because he never said anything and then all of a sudden one day he had a good game and I said, ‘you’re playing good,’ and he said, ‘yeah, my ankle’s feeling good.’ I didn’t know it had been bothering him all that long.”
Melin says he didn’t feel like himself when his ankle was hurt and felt good heading into the Christmas break and even better afterwards.
“Not necessarily playing bad, but I didn’t have that step,” Melin said. “I feel like I’ve regained that and it just feels better to be contributing, and getting these wins is the biggest thing.”
He’s set a career high in points with the Tigers, putting up 12 goals and 31 points in 47 games and has only missed one contest, due to that ankle injury. His line of Lindstrom and Hunter St. Martin has led the Tigers at times throughout the second half of the season.
Lindstrom, who is also 6-foot-4, says he’s learned a lot from his veteran winger and the effort he brings every night.
“It’s really nice having a 20-year-old who’s been here for a while and knows what he’s doing. He works hard,” Lindstrom said. “He’s been working hard and battling for us and we’ve been producing pretty well.
“He’s just one of our best leaders and he just really wants to win, he really wants to be out there and provide for his team.”
Whenever the trio finishes a shift Melin is quick to offer suggestions or words of encouragement to his younger linemates. St. Martin says it helps keep them accountable while also giving them energy throughout a game.
“He’s played over 200 games and he just brings that veteran presence, and it’s great with all our young guys including myself just having those veterans who have been through it,” St. Martin said. “It just gives you that confidence, you know what you are going to get out of him. And if you’re not doing your job, he’s going to let you know. It’s friendly and you’re keeping each other accountable and just making each other better.”
