NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers rookie forward Liam Ruck (middle) celebrates his power play goal in the second period of Game 2 on April 26 in the Eastern Conference Championship series against the Lethbridge Hurricanes at Co-op Place.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers’ rookies are looking to get more than an experience from the WHL Championship series.
Medicine Hat’s first-year trio of Markus and Liam Ruck and Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll have been relied upon all season long, stepping in as 16-year-olds, Gordon-Carroll starting the year at 15, running the Tigers’ fourth line in name only.
They’ve contributed in the playoffs and as the Tigers embark on the WHL Finals against the Spokane Chiefs, look to continue their impact.
“It’s what we’ve been putting all the work in for,” Gordon-Carroll said. “So everybody is excited and it’s going to be a tough battle. So we just have to keep our heads up and stay positive.”
Both Gordon-Carroll and Liam Ruck sit in the top 12 in rookie playoff scoring, with the Salt Lake City, Utah product tallying two goals and four points in 13 games to sit 12th. The younger Ruck is seventh among rookies in the postseason with four goals and eight points in 13 games. His three power play goals are tied with Everett Silvertips’ blue liner Landon DuPont for the most among rookies.
Markus has a goal and three points in his 13 playoff games, scoring in the decisive Game 5 of the first-round series with the Swift Current Broncos. He’s enjoyed the playoff experience and is looking forward to the Finals opportunity.
“Just one more round to go, it’s been so fun to do it with this group, and we’ve all bought in, so it’s going to be exciting,” Markus said.
Liam found his own success in the Eastern Conference Championship series, scoring in Games 2 and 3 as Medicine Hat swept the Lethbridge Hurricanes. He did so with a unique look, donning a half visor, half cage after taking a puck to the face in warmups ahead of Game 2.
He was just following his normal warmup routine, as he has for countless games in his young career, when he took the puck to the mouth. Ruck says he immediately felt some shock, skating off while bleeding into his glove with no tooth. Luckily for him, older twin brother Markus recorded yet another assist, finding the dislodged tooth on the ice getting it to the Tiger staff to reattach it.
“I got it back in within 10 minutes, so it’s good to go,” Liam said.
He did not entertain the idea of embracing a stereotypical hockey look with the missing front tooth.
“I was happy to get it back in, look a little normal,” Ruck said.
All three have played in big games before jumping into the WHL. The Rucks represented Canada at the 2024 Youth Olympics and again donned the red and white at the U17 Hockey Challenge that same fall, winning gold in that tournament. Gordon-Carroll won gold for the U.S. at those Youth Olympics in Gangwon Province, South Korea. Playing in those big games, with championships and legacy on the line, is a privilege, Markus says.
“It’s great feeling little bit of pressure, it’s like a higher league so you can feel some more eyes on you, but it’s just a hockey game,” Markus said. “Just go out there, play as a team and it’ll been good.”
The trio also share connections in the series, the Rucks played alongside Spokane rookie Mathis Preston for six years, from their time with the BC junior Canucks, the Okanagan Hockey Academy, team B.C. and with Hockey Canada. They’ve watched their former line mate as much as they could throughout their rookie seasons but both agree, they won’t celebrate his success until the summer.
“It’s pretty special anytime we get to be on the ice with him, it’s always a good time,” Liam said. “But we gotta do business and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Gordon-Carroll also knows Spokane forward Brody Gillespie sharing the same sentiment as the Rucks of being happy his buddy made it to the finals, but that’ll be it until the season ends. He also has a connection with Spokane, getting his first look at the WHL as a child while attending Chiefs’ games.
He’s focused on the first two games of the series, Games 1 and 2 in Medicine Hat tonight and Sunday, but he is looking forward to when the series heads to Spokane and the Memorial Arena. It’s a chance to play a playoff game and hopefully, win a title in the rink that left an impression on him many years ago.
“I’ll be nostalgic, the first WHL rink I ever saw was that rink, it’s where it started,” Gordon-Carroll said. “So maybe we can get a championship there.”
