NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Rally towels lay atop the seats in the lower bowl of Co-op Place while the Medicine Hat Tigers get morning skate underway ahead of Game 1 Firday in the first-round series with the Swift Current Broncos.
The rally towels are out, morning skates all wrapped up and the stage is set for Game 1 tonight at Co-op Place between the Medicine Hat Tigers and Swift Current Broncos.
It’s the first meeting of the two former Central division rivals since the 2014 playoffs, a 4-2 series with for Medicine Hat. The Tigers enter the contest as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern conference after clinching their first regular season conference title since 2006-07 and first Central division title since 2017-18.
“It’s really exciting, this is what you work towards all year,” associate coach Joe Frazer said after morning skate Friday. “Now it’s time to get going, the guys are excited.”
Swift Current finished the WHL regular season in the eighth seed in their second year in the East division. They enter as the underdog only in name forward Rylan Gould says. He’s looking forward to facing former Bronco Mat Ward and setting the tone for what they hope is a first-round upset.
“It’s really exciting for us, having Mat over there after leaving us in the off season, it was a good opportunity for him, but for us, it’s just a mindset of enjoying the moment and it’s an exciting time,” Gould said. “They’re a good team, we’re a good team and we don’t see it as a one verse eight at all. It’s one of those things where it’s going to be a really, really close series and we’re really excited about it.”
The Tigers and Broncs faced off four times in the regular season, splitting the slate 2-2 with both teams winning in each other’s rinks. The last matchup went the way of the Broncos, who won 5-2 at Co-op Place on Feb. 7. The regular season success against Medicine Hat doesn’t mean a lot to Broncos head coach Taras McEwen who says they have to focus on their game if they want success.
“Our players enjoy playing this team, one thing about Medicine Hat is they want to get into a track meet, so their offensive players usually get a few more chances or some good looks, which gets them into the game early,” McEwen said. “Our top six has done a real good job of creating offense for our team all season, so matchup wise, it’s one where they feel comfortable they can create enough and try and get into the inside enough, especially if they play disciplined.
“They can create chances off of the rush and off the turnover. So they’re excited about the matchup, they understand that it’s not going to be an easy one by any means but they’re excited.”
After winning the Central division title last season the Broncos made it to the second round with a four-game sweep over the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the opening round of the WHL playoffs. For the Tigers, they’re looking for the first playoff series win since 2016-17. They’ll look to set the tone tonight and channel energy what should be a near-capacity rink.
“Game 1 is always important, you want to come out and establish your game right away and that’ll be important,” Frazer said. “Both teams are going to have a fast start, so we just have to make sure we’re we’re getting the puck in right away and being relentless.
“The fans have been great all year for us and we really feed off their energy. Tonight they’re going to give us a ton of energy. So we want to thank them and let them know how much we appreciate the support they give us.”
Puck drop for Game 1 is slated for 7 p.m., tickets are available here.
