NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers athletic therapist and equipment manager Mikki Lanuk watches on while putting on gloves during the second period of the Tigers' 5-3 win Saturday at Co-op Place against the Calgary Hitmen. The contest was the Tigers' home opener and was Lanuk's 1,500 WHL game.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Mikki Lanuk has sharpened a lot of skates and has tended to even more bruises in his career.
The 48-year-old athletic therapist and equipment manager reached the 1,500-game plateau in the Western Hockey League on Saturday, during the Medicine Hat Tigers; 5-3 win at Co-op Place over the Calgary Hitmen.
Lanuk, who is entering season 19 with the Tigers and his 23rd in the WHL, can’t believe where the time has gone.
“You just look at 1,500 and go, ‘Woah, that is a big number. And where did all those seasons accumulate? All the guys that you’ve worked with throughout the years, it just kind of flies by and flashes by your eyes,” Lanuk said. “It’s amazing to see how many really quality people touch your life over that length of time and all those good people, where they end up and who you’ve touched.”
Lanuk started his WHL career in the 2001-02 season with the Kamloops Blazers as an athletic therapist. He was on their staff until the start of the 2005-06 season when he joined the Tigers organization as athletic therapist and equipment manager.
He knew of the milestone heading into the season after it was pointed out by The Professional Hockey Athletic Trainers Society, which tracks trainers’ games worked. Lanuk knew the memorable game would fall on the Tigers’ home opener and was honoured they recognized it.
“I thought, we can do something after it, the home opener is the most important night of the year on the team perspective, but I’m really appreciative the Tigers organization and the players made that a point of achievement that night, too. I was really, really happy about that,” Lanuk said.
Head coach Willie Desjardins, who’s worked alongside Lanuk during his two stints as bench boss, says he makes the coaches’ jobs easier and helps the players in many ways.
“A lot of players have gone through and worked with Mikk and there’s lots of things that go into that,” Desjardins said. “Mikk is both a trainer and equipment guy so he does both jobs, so a lot of things will happen in that trainer’s room, or guys will talk and you have to have the right trainer in there because they feel safe. They know they can say whatever and he’s not going to come and tell the coaches. So it has been really good and it’s not surprising, when you’re that good, you’re going to stay around for a while.”
Lanuk says his phone was working overtime over the weekend hearing from former players and staff who were congratulating him over text or in phone calls. He was honoured, not only because of the compliments, but because it gave him the opportunity to reconnect with players whom he spent years with.
“To know that you made an impact on their lives and they’re reaching back to say thank you, that part makes the 1,500 that much more special,” Lanuk said.
One former player he had also remains on the Tigers coaching staff in associate coach Joe Frazer. He played two seasons with the Tigers and has worked with Lanuk ever since. Frazer was happy they could pull out the win on his big night.
“We’ve got a pretty special bond, I’ve been here 16 years, so it’s pretty incredible, that’s a lot of games,” Frazer said. “It’s a lot to deal with from the players, I know when I was a player how much stuff he had to do for us, and it’s the same with these guys. But he’s somebody you can talk to when things aren’t going great, you don’t want to talk to the coaches, you can talk to him. He’s been around the league a long time, so he knows it all.”
Lanuk has worked for Team Canada during his career as well, being on the bench for the 2018 U18 World Championships and winning gold with Canada at the 2007 IIHF World Junior Championship. His favourite memory while working in the WHL comes back to Medicine Hat, getting to know and work with Bob Ridley and getting the playoff experiences Medicine Hat has had.
It allowed him to share a special moment with his late father Morris, who was on the Tigers staff as a dressing room attendant during the team’s 2006-07 championship run. Morris died in May 2022 and that season working together and being able to share that is something Lanuk says he will never forget.
“That Mem Cup run was amazing, not just winning the WHL championship and then going to the Memorial Cup but being able to bring in my dad and spend some time with him was really amazing,” Lanuk said.
“That’s the tough part, he loved hockey, he loved to be around the guys and I think that kind of rubbed off on me.”
There is no end in sight for Lanuk on the Tigers’ bench as he still shares the same passion he had for the job when he started. Having reached the 1,500-game plateau, Lanuk still has a way to go to reach the infamous 4,022 games worked on the mic by Ridley. It’s a number he’s thought of reaching but will just focus on and see where time takes him.
“I’ll just take it in segments of 500 and see where I can get close to him,” Lanuk said. “I’ll take some words of wisdom from him on how to complete that year in and year out.”
