NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
The Medicine Hat Tigers celebrate with the section of fans who travelled to Calgary on Sunday, in attendance for the Tigers' 5-2 win over the Hitmen.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers were in second place of the Central division and Eastern conference on Nov. 19 before climbing back atop the East with a win on Nov. 20.
They did not relinquish the conference again, claiming their first regular season conference title since the 2006-07 season.
With the pair of weekend wins, winning 10-1 Saturday at home over the Lethbridge Hurricanes before topping the Calgary Hitmen 5-2 on the road, the team secured the conference and Central division title. It’s the first division title for the Tigers since the 2017-18 season.
“This group has been unbelievable,” head coach Willie Desjardins said. “You look at their run that started in January, it’s been really incredible. We won some games when we had a really, really beatup lineup early, how the group came together and played was great to see.
“I have a lot of respect for this group, even (Sunday) night going in, that’s a tough building, that’s a really, really good hockey team. Yet the guys found a way.”
Finding a way has been the recipe for the Tigers this season as they’ve navigated through countless injuries, missing Andrew Basha for all of the second half, seeing both Bryce Pickford and Jonas Woo fall to injury.
Despite the injuries, the Tigers have lost just five times in 2025 and fell only twice in their last 25 games. It’s a stretch of games and an identity of stepping up, which Desjardins says is the reason he got into coaching.
“I love seeing people do things that nobody thinks they can do or growing, and this group, what they did was unbelievable,” Desjardins said. “When we lost Woo and Pickford, it was such a big blow to our group, and Pacheco goes back and plays defence. Not only does he play defence, he’s unbelievable at it. It was just great to see guys step up all the way around. You look at how (Gavin) McKenna finished, that’s unbelievable. And everybody, throughout the group, how much they care, it’s a good group. They care for each other, they play for each other and I like to see that.”
The Tigers had six goal scorers in Saturday’s blowout win, in front of a sell-out crowd of 6,246 at Co-op Place. McKenna tallied two goals and three assists. Liam Ruck and Hunter St. Martin each had a pair of goals and an assist, Mat Ward scored twice, Veeti Väisänen had a goal and two helpers, and Ryder Ritchie scored.
In Sunday’s victory, McKenna scored twice with an assist, Ethan Nuetens, Tanner Molendyk and Väisänen each scored.
Harrison Meneghin picked up the wins in both games, with 18 stops Saturday and 35 saves Sunday, 18 coming in the third period. Calgary was without starter Daniel Hauser who missed the game with a lower-body injury.
“Meneghin was outstanding in net, that was the big difference,” Desjardins said. “He was the difference in that game and that’s why we traded for him, that’s why we made the moves we did is because we felt he could be a difference maker in big games, and he was.
“It was great for the team, a good accomplishment but now we have a new season and that’s exciting.”
McKenna finishes the season with a 40-game point streak, tallying 32 goals and 68 assists on that run, finishing with 41 goals and 129 points in 56 games total.
The Tigers will face the Swift Current Broncos in the first round of the WHL playoffs, hosting Games 1 and 2 at Co-op Place on Friday and Saturday. It’s the first meeting of the two teams in the playoffs since 2014 when the Tigers topped the Broncos in six games.
The season series between the clubs was tied 2-2 with Swift Current winning the most recent matchup, a 5-3 victory on Feb. 7 at Co-op Place. It’s a matchup Desjardins says the Broncos want and one they’ll have to be ready for.
“If they could pick the team, they’d pick us, because that’s who Swift wants to play,” Desjardins said. “They were good here in our building the last game, so they’re a tough team and they’ll play hard, they have lots to prove. They’ll be a really, really hard team. So the rest is over and we have lots to work on.”
What will help the Tigers is the fan support they’ve received the last few months, capitalized by the sell-out crowd on Saturday and the two fan buses that made their way to Calgary on Sunday, taking up an entire section of the Scotiabank Saddledome. Desjardins, who doesn’t hear anything during games – including the Tigers’ new goal song – says he heard the Tigers faithful chant ‘we’re number one’ loud and proud at the end of the game.
“I got to enjoy the very end of the game and you could hear the Tigers fans,” Desjardins said. “It’s probably with about 30 seconds left, I could hear a little bit going on, but I could hear them and that was pretty special. To be in the other team’s rink with a full building, it was pretty special.”
