Tigers gear up for first home preseason action

By JAMES TUBB on September 6, 2025.

Medicine Hat Tigers fans will get their lone look at the preseason roster this weekend.

The Tigers host the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday, the only home game of the preseason calendar. They’ll finish the exhibition season next weekend in Whitehorse, Yuk. with a two-game set against the Kelowna Rockets as part of the Whitehorse Showcase.

The Tigers beat the Hurricanes 7-4 on Tuesday in Lethbridge with a young lineup. Just one returning regular played, forward Kadon McCann, who had a hat trick as part of a four-point night.

Associate coach Joe Frazer says they’ll ice a more veteran lineup Saturday, one that likely won’t see all six of their NHL camp invited players suit up to keep them healthy.

The Tigers are sending six players to NHL camps next week. The three drafted defencemen, Bryce Pickford (Montreal), Veeti Vaisanen (Utah) and Niilopekka Muhonen (Dallas) will all attend their respective club’s camps.

Three others have earned invites, goaltender Jordan Switzer and forward Kadon McCann will attend the Calgary Flames rookie camp. Defenceman Jonas Woo will attend the Carolina Hurricanes’ rookie camp.

“Those guys have earned it, they worked hard but that’s what winning does,” Frazer said. “From that championship team last year, 13 guys went to development camps. So at every level you want to find guys who can win, and when you have a team that wins, usually a lot of guys end up getting looked at by the next level.

“So you have team success, a lot of individuals have success and you can’t have team success without individual success. So it goes hand in hand.”

Frazer also attended an NHL development camp this summer, heading to Dallas alongside Muhonen. He enjoyed the opportunity and says it reaffirmed how the Tigers run their organization.

“It’s really similar to how the NHL teams run there, whether it’s their development or their practices, so that was exciting to see that,” Frazer said. “Obviously Willie was in the NHL for a long time, so we’ve tried to emulate the NHL. That’s where we wanted guys to get to, it was exciting to see how they run things and that we’re doing it the right way.”

Desjardins was an assistant coach with the Stars from 2010-12 before two years as the head coach of the AHL’s Texas Stars, winning the Calder Cup in 2014.

Two Tigers have held scrimmages throughout the week following Tuesday’s preseason contest, putting players in game situations as they continue to evaluate roster choices. Two forwards, Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll and Noah Davidson haven’t participated in the scrimmages.

Davidson took a puck to the face in the first scrimmage of training camp and had to receive stitches, wearing a bubble in his time on ice since. Gordon-Carroll hasn’t been a full participant since winning gold with the United States at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup.

Frazer says they’re at a time of the season where they can take things slow, he sees no concern for either skater’s opening night availability.

“Just making sure that it’s totally 100 per cent before you see them in game action, we have the Whitehorse trip coming up so they’re looking like they should be ready for that,” Frazer said. “There’s no reason to rush them.”

The Tigers open the 2025-26 season on Sept. 20 at Co-op Place against the Regina Pats.