NEWS FILE PHOTO
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Tyler MacKenzie was named the 40th captain in franchise history Thursday morning ahead of the 2023-24 WHL season.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers have put their leaders in place with the WHL season getting underway tonight.
The Tigers named forward Tyler MacKenzie as the 40th captain in franchise history Thursday morning. The assistants are 20-year-old defencemen Rhett Parsons and Dru Krebs, with a third assistant captain to be named at a later date.
MacKenzie says it’s an honour and privilege to don the ‘C’.
“I’ve had lots of great leaders while I’ve been here who have shown me the ropes and shown me the way, so being able to fill in for them, it’s definitely a big honour,” MacKenzie said. “It’s a big role, it’s not something every guy gets to do, and in saying that, every guy in our room is a leader and we all take accountability. We’re all pushing each other every day, so every single guy has a part in it.”
All of the Tigers voted on who they wanted as their leadership group, resulting in MacKenzie as captain. The announcement was made to the team in a video from former captain and Tiger alumni Steve Marr.
“The Tigers have a tremendous history with winning when it comes to being the best in the league, a championship leader is fearless and I’m very excited to announce that the 2023-24 fearless leader is Tyler MacKenzie,” Marr said in the video on Tigers’ social media.
MacKenzie was drafted 122nd overall by the Tigers in the 2019 draft and is entering his fourth season in the orange and black. Associate coach Joe Frazer has been impressed with how much the new captain has grown over the last two seasons and the level he competes at every day.
“When you watch our team, it’s pretty evident he’s always one of the most competitive guys,” Frazer said. “The stick battles, the track and back, stopping and starting, he just does everything right. If you want to know what a Tiger looks like, you just have to watch him. That’s how we want to play, fast, competitive, doing the little things right all the time. So it’s just a great honour for him but it’s a deserved one.”
MacKenzie takes the captain reins from 20-year-old Owen MacNeil who was named into the role last season but was released during the preseason this year. Mackenzie says he’s looking to carry the torch like MacNeil did.
“Neiler was a phenomenal leader, it comes at a great cost, it’s tough. What happened, happened, but to fill his shoes is pretty cool, it’s pretty special,” MacKenzie said. “He was a great leader and being able to carry on what he brought is definitely something special.”
Both Krebs and Parsons were happy to see MacKenzie named captain and are looking forward to continuing their roles in the group.
“Every guy leads in their own way, and obviously for myself, it’s an honour and I just try to help the team every night, to do what I can to help the team win, and that’s kind of my mindset going into every game,” Parsons said.
“Tyler will be a really good captain for us, he has a really good connection with the younger guys and it’s really good being able to be in this leadership role for another year,” Krebs said.
The last couple of seasons saw the Tigers wait to name a captain. MacNeil received the honours in late October 2022, and Daniel Baker was named captain in December 2021. This year, Frazer says the maturation and familiarity with players allowed them to make the decision sooner.
“We’ve been with these guys now for a number of years and we’ve seen them grow as people and as leaders, so we’re real comfortable with the group we have and we’re excited because we know they’re great leaders, great people and they’re going to do a really good job leading this team,” Frazer said.
MacKenzie has played with four previous captains while with the Tigers – MacNeil, Baker, Ryan Chyzowski and James Hamblin. He says he’s taken something from all of them and the impact they had as Tigers. He served as an assistant full time last season and says being named captain won’t change the way he leads on and off the ice.
“Just being there for the guys, every day coming into the rink and working as hard as I can, just leading by example is definitely important,” MacKenzie said. “Then in the room, always being there for guys, bring that good energy. And we have so many other guys in the room who are going to do the exact same thing.”
