NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman Bryce Pickford lifts the Ed Chynoweth Cup for the second time in his WHL career, winning the championship with the Medicine Hat Tigers on May 16 at Spokane after a 4-2 win over the Chiefs.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The arrival of the NHL Draft brings excitement, anticipation and a weekend of checking phones for a handful of Medicine Hat Tigers.
The Tigers enter the NHL Draft tonight in Los Angeles with four players ranked by NHL Central Scouting, putting them on the track to be among the 224 players selected across the two-day draft.
In those final rankings in April, among North American skaters, Tigers’ defencemen Bryce Pickford (100), Jonas Woo (156) and forward Kadon McCann (116) maintained a spot on the rankings.
Goaltender Jordan Switzer jumped into the rankings, tabbed at 25th among North American goaltenders.
Now that the NHL Draft weekend is here, Pickford says there’s excitement, also acknowledging he couldn’t have made it to this point without some help.
“I never really knew that it was going to come to this point, I always kind of knew that I had the skill that I showed this year, but this year is kind of a breakout year for me,” Pickford said. “I couldn’t have done it without the skills, all the practices and the coaching staff. For it to go this far and for me to be where I am now, I’m pretty thankful.”
Pickford finished his regular season with 20 goals and 47 points in 48 games, scoring 13 goals and 24 points in 18 playoff games en route to his second WHL championship, carrying an eight-game goal streak in the post season. He also scored twice in the Memorial Cup. The Chauvin, Alta. product was eligible for the draft last season, going unselected but earning a rookie camp invite from the Colorado Avalanche that he could not attend due to illness.
Pickford says the season he put together has him proud and he hopes it showed teams what they missed.
“I give myself some credit for the amount of hours constantly shooting and working out in the gym, I take pride in my work ethic on and off the ice, that’s how I was raised by my dad and mom,” Pickford said. “I’m obviously proud of myself and what I’ve shown teams that didn’t take me last year in the draft. So it kind of feels good to kind of make them regret it in a way.”
It’s McCann’s first year of draft eligibility, coming off his sophomore season in the WHL. He had his ironman streak, dating back to his minor hockey days, snapped during the year. He still finished with 64 games played, with 11 goals and 18 points.
He admits it’s not the offensive year he wanted but he likes the steps he took defensively, giving credit to his linemates Misha Volotovskii and Ethan Neutens.
“Two guys we brought in halfway through the year and those two are so easy to pick their brains,” McCann said. “Misha has played on the defensive side his whole career in Saskatoon, so I could learn the defensive side of the game because that’s something I didn’t really look into as much when I was coming up throughout the years.”
McCann says he’ll have his fingers and toes crossed on Saturday awaiting the chance to be selected, also knowing that if he isn’t drafted it’s not the end of the line. He’s just as excited by the idea of getting a development or rookie camp invite and showcasing his talents there.
Beyond the NHL Dream, there’s also a sense of potential pride for McCann if he was drafted, getting to represent his hometown of Cochrane. Only six players have ever been drafted out of the Alberta city, becoming the seventh would be a dream come true he says.
“It means everything to represent Cochrane, there’s not many people who have had this opportunity through Cochrane, but I’m sure there’s lots coming up,” McCann said.
Switzer is approaching the weekend with a simple mindset, it will either bring a moment of excitement for himself and family or be another log of motivation on an already blazing internal fire to be the best.
The 18-year-old went unranked for a majority of the season before being tabbed at 25th among NA goalies. He had a 23-6-2 record in his rookie season, with a .901 save percentage and a 2.65 goals against average, recording four shutouts along the way. He also recorded two playoff wins, starting Games 1 and 2 of the Tigers’ second round series with the Prince Albert Raiders.
He says the expectations are getting a camp invite following the draft and then working next season as the Tigers’ main starter with the graduation of Harrison Meneghin.
“But you never know what can happen come Draft Day, so just being optimistic and knowing that I’ll keep up the hard work this off season,” Switzer said.
He says the experience of talking with NHL teams has been better than he expected when he was a young kid in hockey.
“Sometimes I find myself taking a step back and just really realizing that that little kid in me is super excited to kind of have those conversations with those NHL teams,” Switzer said.
Woo played in 57 games for the Tigers, notching 11 goals and 43 points and has added 11 assists in 18 postseason games. He had two more helpers at the Memorial Cup.
It’s the first year of NHL Draft eligibility for the late birthday 18-year-old. Woo was not available when requested for an interview.
