Tigers left reeling from first-round loss

By JAMES TUBB on April 9, 2024.

jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb

Summer has come far sooner than the Medicine Hat Tigers expected.

The Tigers’ 2023-24 season came to a close Friday with a 5-2 Game 5 loss to the Red Deer Rebels, falling 4-1 in their first-round series.

It was a series tied up at 1-1 heading to Red Deer before the Rebels capitalized on two one-goal games, returning to Medicine Hat with the Tigers on brink of elimination. Two quick goals in the first period of Game 5 unravelled any home-ice momentum as time wound down on their last chance and, ultimately, on the season.

While Red Deer seemed to have bounces go their way, head coach Willie Desjardins says teams make their own breaks and believed they were close but unable to finish.

“We just had to find ways to make those breaks and we didn’t and it’s a tough one,” Desjardins said postgame. “I thought we had a really good effort, I thought Game 3 was outstanding for us, Game 4 I thought we battled, we were tired, didn’t have our best game, but I thought we really battled. Then tonight (Friday), things just kind of unravelled on us early and it was hard to get back.”

The Tigers were outscored 18-14 in the series and were held to one power play goal on 20 opportunities, surrendering two shorthanded goals in the process. Their stoic penalty kill in the regular season only operated at 77.3 per cent in their five postseason games.

They lost in a series that offers perplexing numbers for stats lovers. In all five games, whichever team led the game in shots lost that contest and in all but Game 5, whichever team controlled the face-off totals was the losing team.

Numbers that would normally break toward a winning team fell the other way and left the Tigers setting up summer plans and looking back on what will become another lesson for a young group.

“What happened this year, we wanted a lot more and we’re left with a sour taste in our mouth,” forward Hunter St. Martin said. “We just learned it does take a lot to win and you can’t take it for granted, you have to show up every moment, every shift and you have to battle because whether you’re up 4-0, or whether you’re losing, it doesn’t matter quite frankly. You have to play the full 65 minutes, day in and day out and buy into the structure because that’s how you’re going to win.

“You can’t win with a bunch of individuals, you have to win as a team.”

The Tigers were able to bounce back from their blown four-goal lead in the Game 1 loss by taking Game 2. But it was a loss that had an immediate impact on the series, casted some doubts and left them with a lesson of controlling the game in front of them.

“One thing we could also work on just as a group is focusing on the present,” forward Gavin McKenna said. “We worried a little bit too much about the past, we worried a bit too much about that first game and let that get to us. If we just focus on every single game, take it one game at a time, that series could have been a different story.”

McKenna led the Tigers in playoff scoring with two goals and six points in their five games. Andrew Basha was the leading goalscorer, with three goals and five points. St. Martin was the lone other point-per-game player in the series, with a goal and four assists.

As the Rebels are focusing on their second-round series with the Saskatoon Blades, the Tigers are heading into another long offseason for a third year in a row, left only with their lessons. It’s a summer ahead that associate coach Joe Frazer says has to be their last of this length and he says that starts with understanding where they fell short against Red Deer.

“In exit meetings with guys, we thought we could win that series, give full credit to Red Deer but hopefully this stings a lot because it does, because the long summer, it just doesn’t feel right that we’re done right now,” Frazer said. “Talking to the guys and they’re all pretty sore and banged up, it’s like, there’s three more rounds. There’s a lot of hockey to be played, so we have to learn and it should drive us this summer to push really hard to make sure we’re ready to go next year.”

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