Tigers look to carry momentum into weekend series with Broncos

By JAMES TUBB on January 3, 2025.

jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb

After five straight games within the Central division, the Medicine Hat Tigers get a crack at a familiar foe in the WHL East.

The Tigers open a home-and-home series with the Swift Current Broncos tonight at Speedy Creek, before hosting their green and blue rival on Saturday at Co-op Place. The two teams have faced off once this season on Dec. 4, a 4-3 Tigers’ road win off the stick of Gavin McKenna with 16 seconds left in the game.

“They’re a good team, they play hard at home and they’re really tough at home,” head coach Willie Desjardins said about the matchup. “They have some high-end forwards, their forwards can score and they have one big line. So you have to make sure you’re ready to shut that line down, but we’ll have to work hard as a group.”

Swift Current’s top line of Luke Mistelbacher (19), Clarke Caswell (18) and Brady Birnie (19) lead the way for the Broncos. Mistelbacher has 23 goals and 53 points, Caswell just behind with 13 goals and 48 points and Birnie has tallied 17 goals and 47 points. As a team, the Broncos have scored the seventh-most goals in the WHL (131).

Tigers’ forward Ryder Ritchie says a continuation of their effort shown last weekend will help them against an offensive team like Swift Current.

“They’re skilled and they’re fast, but we just have to play our way and play the way we played this past weekend,” Ritchie said. “Just keep working, that was the biggest thing. We outworked Lethbridge and Calgary and that’s what brought us success. So we just keep working.”

The Tigers picked up five of a possible six points last weekend with a shorthanded lineup – a scenario that has become the norm for the orange and black this season, and a scenario that will continue. Forward Andrew Basha missed play Sunday and Monday, and forward Carter Cunningham was knocked out of the game Sunday, also missing Monday. Desjardins doesn’t expect either to play this weekend.

Despite the lineup shortage, it was a mix of Tigers stepping on the path to success, with Ritchie making an impact. The 18-year-old Kelowna product had six points over the weekend, with two goals in the 4-3 overtime loss Sunday at Calgary, adding two assists in both the 4-0 win over Lethbridge on Saturday and the 5-2 win Monday over the Hitmen.

“I took the time on our holidays to kind of refocus and refresh a bit, and I felt good this past weekend,” Ritchie said. “I’m just looking to build on it, keep going and have a big second half.”

The Minnesota Wild prospect was also able to return to norm following the holidays moving on from the protective bubble over his face he’s worn since Nov. 15. Ritchie donned it after undergoing a surgical procedure to repair damage done by an errant skate to the face on Oct. 9.

He feels more comfortable with the half-face visor, even after taking a stick to the face in the first period of Monday’s game. He grew up wearing a cage, like most minor hockey players, but says if he ever has to again it’ll be back to the bubble.

“I’ll always go bubble over a cage, but hopefully I don’t have to,” Ritchie said.

His six-point weekend puts him at nine goals and 22 points in 22 games this season. With a first half impacted by injury and a slow start by his own terms, Ritchie is looking to take control of the second half of the season and leave his mark.

“I just want to do whatever it takes to help the team win and have a good second half for myself as well,” Ritchie said. “The first half was kind a mess a little bit with the slow start and my injury, but it’s kind of a clean slate in the next 31 games. That’s all I’m looking forward to.”

Calgary acquires Hauser from Wenatchee

The Calgary Hitmen bolstered their goaltending Thursday afternoon.

A week before the WHL’s trade deadline, the Hitmen acquired 20-year-old goaltender Daniel Hauser from the Wenatchee Wild in exchange for 20-year-old forward Maxim Muranov, the rights to 17-year-old forward Mason Moe and 15-year-old net minder Mark Djomo, a third-round pick in 2026 and second-rounder in 2027.

This season, Hauser is 8-9-2-1 with a 3.29 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage. He leads all WHL net minders in wins, backstopping the former Winnipeg Ice to the Eastern conference championship in 2022 and the WHL finals in 2023.

There was a second trade Thursday, with the Victoria Royals acquiring 20-year-old Brandon Lisowsky and a 2028 fifth from the Saskatoon Blades in exchange for overage forward Tanner Scott and second-round picks in 2025 and 2026.

Lisowsky has 22 goals and 43 points in 29 games this season. The Royals previously acquired 20-year-old scorer Kenta Isogai from Wenatchee on Wednesday. He led the Wild with 15 goals and 38 points in 28 games.

The WHL trade deadline is set for Thursday, Dec. 9 at 6 p.m. MST. Desjardins, mum on the topic, says they always look to see if they can add.

“If you think it’s smart to add then we will,” Desjardins said. “We’re always in the spot where you know you’re looking. We have a good group, and if there’s something that makes sense for us to add, we will.”

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