NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Luke Cozens skates to the bench after scoring his first goal as a Tiger, finding the back of the net in the third period of a 7-4 win Saturday at Co-op Place over the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers swept yet another weekend of games.
This weekend’s wins put them in a position to rewrite the franchise’s history books.
An 8-3 win Friday over the Seattle Thunderbirds and a 7-4 victory Saturday over the Lethbridge Hurricanes, both at Co-op Place, extends their win streak to 17 games – tying the franchise record streak set in the 2006-07 season.
“It’s always great to win, in this league anybody can beat you on any given night, a lot of things have to go your way to win that many games,” head coach Willie Desjardins said. “Our entire group plays pretty hard, our leadership group has done a great job. Everybody comes in and works, and when you work, you always have a chance to win.”
They’ll look to set a new record Wednesday when they are in Edmonton, taking on the Oil Kings who sit one point back of the Tabbies (29-6-3-2) for the Eastern conference lead. Defenceman Jonas Woo, who had six points over the weekend, says they can’t even think about the record entering that game.
“Edmonton is a great team, so we’re going to have to play a good hockey game, we’re just excited,” Woo said.
Captain Bryce Pickford tallied his second hat trick of the season, a four-point effort in the comeback win over Seattle. He had a goal and an assist on Saturday, giving him a league-leading 32 goals on the season.
That marker has him tied with Kris Russell for the franchise record for goals by a defenceman in a single season, also set in 2006-07.
“Getting 32 goals isn’t easy, it’s a record I’m going to remember forever and hopefully I can break it, but we’ll see,” Pickford said.
He’s also tied the WHL internet era record for most goals in a single season by a defenceman, joining Russell, Olen Zellweger (2023) and Ian White (2002). The Montreal Canadiens’ prospect, who is also running a 15-game point streak, leads all CHL defenders in goals and points with 60.
The WHL record for goals by a defenceman in a single season is 50, set by Larry Sacharuk with the Saskatoon Blades in 1971-72.
Desjardins was behind the bench when Russell set the record and when the Tigers set their win streak record. It’s been a flashback for the franchise’s wininngest coach.
“Russ is such a great player, he was one of a kind back there, he’s a true Tiger,” Desjardins said. “He loved to win, he’d play hard and it’s fitting a guy like Pickford would tie him.
“Pickford is another guy who plays hard for the team. It’s all about the team and it was all about the team for Russ. So it’s fitting somebody like that would end up tying him.”
The Tigers had two very different wins over the weekend to reach 17 straight. They surrendered three first-period markers Friday to Seattle before tallying eight unanswered to get the win. On Saturday, Kade Stengrim scored seven seconds into the game and the Tigers led 3-1 after 20. They made it a 6-2 lead after 40 minutes, and former Hurricane Luke Cozens scored the lone Tiger goal in the third period.
A whirlwind week for Cozens finished against his former club, seeing his former colours on the opposite side of the ice.
“It was obviously really weird, a lot of good memories over there,” Cozens said.
“You’re thinking about getting the first one with the new team, you can’t think about it too much, but it was in the back of my mind. Rucker made a good play, and it just snuck in. I couldn’t be happier.”
Woo had a goal and three assists Saturday, part of the six-point weekend for the 19-year-old defenceman. Andrew Basha scored and had two assists against Lethbridge, giving him points in his first four games back with the Tigers. Liam Ruck, Dayton Reschny and Stengrim all had a goal and an assist in Saturday’s win.
Jordan Switzer made 17 saves Saturday, recording the win in both games to give him a league-leading 19 victories.
The Tigers were without defenceman Veeti Väisänen for a majority of the weekend. He played Friday, his first game back from the World Juniors, but was knocked out of the game after being hit up high in the first period.
He did not play Saturday and was not at the rink.
They also played against Lethbridge without forward Yaroslav Bryzgalov who received a checking to the head major penalty and game misconduct late in the third period of Friday’s game. He was assessed a four-game suspension by the WHL on Monday, making him ineligible for the Tigers three games this week.
After playing in Edmonton Wednesday, the Tigers host the Oil Kings Friday before the East division-leading Prince Albert Raiders roll into Co-op Place on Saturday.
“They are some good teams coming up, but we just have to keep playing our game,” Cozens said. “We can’t worry about the opponent too much. Just play our game and I think we’ll be fine.”
