NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Shane Smith lines up for a face off in the first period of the Tigers' 3-2 overtime loss against the Saskatoon Blades on Sept. 30 at Co-op Place.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Just under three weeks from their last home game, the Medicine Hat Tigers are ready to put on a show once again at Co-op Place.
The Tigers open a five-game home slate tonight when they host the Edmonton Oil Kings, marking their first appearance at Co-op Place since a 4-3 loss to the Moose Jaw Warriors on Oct. 7. Coming off their five-game road trip through B.C. with a 3-2 record, forward Shane Smith summed it up clearly – it’s good to be home.
“We’re all excited, B.C. was fun and it was a great road trip, great to be around the guys, but it’s always nice to be home to play in our rink in front of our fans,” Smith said. “We know Edmonton is going to come in and give us a hard game, and Seattle’s been playing really well recently so we have two hard tests. Being back in the rink means a lot to the guys and we’re pretty excited to play.”
The Tigers host the defending WHL champion Seattle Thunderbirds on Saturday. The five-game schedule also has the Portland Winterhawks and local product Ryan Miller at Co-op Place on Wednesday before the Tigers kick off a three-game weekend by hosting the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Everett Silvertips on Nov. 3 and 4.
Medicine Hat beat Edmonton in all six of their matchups last year as the Oil Kings experienced a down season of 10 wins coming off a 2022 WHL championship. They already have three victories this season, showing a resurgence familiar to the Tigers of last season, bouncing back from their 11-win campaign in 2021-22.
“We know what they feel, we’ve been there, so you can never take a team lately,” captain Tyler MacKenzie said. “They built a lot over the offseason, they were a good team last year, they got a lot better this year and they’re looking for something to prove. We have to make sure we don’t take them lightly, just play our game and we should be good.”
More than a full season removed from their own dismal performance, the Tigers have a new energy when it comes to their approach to games. During that 11-win season the Tigers had a feeling of trying not to lose. Last season, it was a hope they could play well. This year, according to associate coach Joe Frazer, they expect to compete for wins every night.
“For the most part we have, and we’ve put ourselves in positions to win hockey games,” Frazer said. “Inside those games we’ve played well, or we’ve had some learning experiences. The mindset is we’re showing up to the rink and we expect to play well, and it’s no different moving forward. But we do still have to keep getting better and we’ll keep working.”
The Tigers will be without one of their main penalty killers and lineup staple Brayden Boehm, who was marked as week to week with a lower body injury. Head coach Willie Desjardins says Boehm has played a big role this season and says his absence will leave room for players to get more time to prove themselves.
“Other guys will have to step up, (Hayden) Harsanyi’s probably looking for opportunities, (Brett) Calhoon, there’s lots of guys who want more opportunity,” Desjardins said. “Vasyl Spilka will be coming back into our roster, too, so it’ll be good to get some guys in, and some other guys will get a chance.”
Spilka, who has yet to play this season due to a shoulder injury in the offseason, will be in the lineup tonight.
He could slot in alongside Smith and Hunter St. Martin, who played with Boehm and was a go-to line for Desjardins to match up against other teams’ top lines and to start periods.
That ability to match up against the other team’s best – plus a hot start of 10 goals and 14 points – put Smith on NHL Central Scouting’s radar, which listed him as a player to watch for the 2024 draft. Smith, one of five Tigers on the list, was honoured to see his name but says it doesn’t matter until draft day.
“It means a lot to me, even though that list isn’t anything that really means too much, it’s just a testament to all the work I put in during the summer, and I’m proud of myself,” Smith said. “I’m happy I could represent the Tigers and my family in such an amazing way, so I’m pretty happy about that. There’s a lot of room to improve and I hope to just continue to get better and hopefully move up the list.”
Smith was first draft eligible last season coming off a 19- goal, 32-point campaign that saw him rise to the Tigers’ first penalty kill and on the second power play. The Cessford product doesn’t lack motivation or drive but he says it just adds another log to his fire.
