NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Liam Ruck lines up for a face-off in the first period of the second game of the CHL USA Prospects Challenge on Wednesday in Lethbridge. Team CHL won the game 4-3 to even up the two-game series before falling in a decisive overtime to the U.S. NTDP.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The CHL USA Prospects Challenge provided NHL scouts an opportunity to learn more about the CHL’s top draft-eligible players. It also gave those players an opportunity to pick up some lessons of their own.
The second rendition of the two-game series saw the U.S. NTDP capture the challenge crown for the first time, winning the first game Tuesday in Calgary 4-2 before the CHL tied the series up with a 4-3 win Wednesday in Lethbridge.
The CHL win forced a “super overtime,” three-on-three sudden death OT that saw the NTDP’s Victor Plante score 5:53 into the extra frame to win the series.
It wasn’t the result Willie Desjardins hoped for as head coach of Team CHL. After seeing the loss Tuesday, he says he expected the overtime. He commends his players for their effort over the series and the U.S. for their play and sportsmanship.
“They were outstanding, it’s a really tough two days for them,” Desjardins said. “They want so much to impress the scouts, every guy wants the opportunity and it’s really hard if you don’t get that opportunity. But there was such good character on the bench, the guys did not complain. That was really impressive.
“I’d also like to compliment the U.S. team. I thought they played really well, they were really classy, too. We had jerseys problems in the first game and they went in and changed their jerseys before the start of the game and didn’t complain. So that took a lot of class, because that’s something you could have complained about … and they played hard.”
Desjardins says they had some difficulty due to not having systems in place, meeting as a team Sunday with a practice skate Monday before the game Tuesday. He also credits the U.S. for their pace of play.
“You rely on somebody to be in a certain place and if they’re not there, then you have to hesitate, so it’s hard, it is hard structure wise,” Desjardins said. “The U.S. was really fast, they put lots of pressure on us. They deserved it, but it is a challenge when you come together right away, just to get that structure in place.”
Tigers’ forward Liam Ruck recorded an assist on the CHL’s opening goal Wednesday, helping set up JP Hurlbert’s marker 34 seconds into the eventual win. Ruck was a late add to the CHL team, replacing the injured Brooks Rogowski of the Oshawa Generals.
“It was a great experience, obviously a lot to learn,” Ruck said. “We played pretty good today, got the win, but overtime can go either way, so the bounces didn’t go our way there.
“I think (I) was pretty good. I obviously didn’t get on the score sheet a whole lot, but I think I was able to play a pretty solid 200-foot game.”
The 17-year-old Osoyoos, B.C. product was on the CHL’s first power play unit in the first game and then was utilized on their first penalty kill pairing in the second game. His effort was noticed by Desjardins who says they had players step into new roles across the series.
“Liam Ruck did a great job, too, killing penalties and things, we had lots of guys that took advantage of this situation because all of them are offensive guys and they had to play defence here and the scouts didn’t know how good they could play defence,” Desjardins said. “I thought they had an opportunity to showcase that as well.”
The youngest Ruck twin had support in the stands throughout the series, with older bother Markus and dad Derek following the series along. A group of Tigers made the trip Wednesday to Lethbridge, with a few making it on the jumbo tron during stoppages sporting as many Ruck jerseys as his dad could bring to the game.
“It was awesome, we’re all really happy for him and we just wanted to show him that we were there to support him,” captain Bryce Pickford said. “It was fun watching him out there. There’s a lot of good players and it was a good game to watch.”
Tigers’ video coach Jayce Desjardins and athletic therapist and equipment manager Mikki Lanuk also represented the CHL at the series.
Desjardins says the group was impressive to work with, seeing how much they cared and how hard they tried. He says the CHL is in good hands with the group he looks forward to following for the rest of their careers.
“These guys are going to have great careers, hopefully they take stuff away from this tournament, because it is a step up, it’s a step up for our league,” Desjardins said. “There’s a lot more pressure on it, you can’t take penalties, you have to do things. They’ll take out how hard it is and just how important it is to win. Losing really sucks, and hopefully that bothers them so they don’t lose again.”
