NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers defenseman Rhett Parsons squares up for a fight against Calgary Hitmen Zac Funk in the first period of the Tigers 6-5 loss to the Hitmen on Jan. 29
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers haven’t shied away from dropping the gloves this season.
Gloves have hit the ice in four of the last five Tigers games, with two fisticuffs coming in a 5-2 loss to the Moose Jaw Warriors last Saturday.
Tigers defensemen Rhett Parsons, who has fought twice in that span, said it comes with his physical style of play.
“I think I just play physical, so when you play that way you have to answer to some fights,” Parsons said. “I just do whatever it takes, whether it’s a fight, a hit, a block, whatever.”
One of his bouts came after veteran forward Carter Chorney was hit from behind by Red Deer’s Jayden Gurbble in the Tigers Jan. 30 3-2 win against the Rebels.
Chorney said he gave Parsons a hug after that and said it was unbelievable seeing another guy step up for him in that moment. Parsons said it just felt like the right thing to do at the time.
“Whenever someone is in a vulnerable position like that and gets hit, I just try to stand up for my teammates,” Parsons said. “I felt the right thing to do was to drop the gloves with the guy.”
Teague Patton shares the same mindset of standing up for his teammates.
“I think it’s big for our team as well, shows that guys can step up to that table and fight for us, fight for the team and fight for themselves,” Patton said. “I think it helps us get some momentum in some games as well.”
He fought in the late stages of the Tigers’ 6-3 loss to the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Jan. 15 and has a two-inch scar on his lip to prove it. He said it’s a good battle wound but he hopes it heals up well.
Like Parsons, he said he is willing to do whatever the team needs him to do on the ice. He’s one of four Tigers besides Parsons that aren’t regarded for fighting that have dropped the gloves since the calendar flipped to 2022.
Forward Oasiz Wiesblatt has two fighting majors, rookie Steven Arp picked up his first fisticuff last Saturday and defenseman Pasha Bocharov fought in the same game as Patton.
Wiesblatt and Bocharov aren’t prototypical fighters and Tigers assistant coach Josh Maser said he likes seeing guys like them standing up for themselves but doesn’t want them to do it too often.
“It sends that message that we won’t back down, we won’t quit,” Maser said. “It’s been good, we don’t want those guys fighting all of the time but the fact that they stood up for themselves and we don’t back down, that’s really important.”
Bocharov said he’s not afraid to answer the bell and said, like Parsons, it comes with a physical game he likes to bring.
His fight was actually with then Lethbridge Hurricane, now Tigers veteran Logan Barlage.
Bocharov said he thought he hung in pretty good with Barlage and said it was something the two laughed about when the former Hurricane was traded to Medicine Hat two days later.
“It was pretty funny because I fought him and then two days later I’m helping him unpack his stuff at his billet and being buddy-buddy with him,” Bocharov said. “But it wasn’t anything crazy, we thought it was pretty funny.”
When asked what he thinks when he sees a teammate like Wiesblatt drop the gloves, the Escondido, Calif. product said having guys who aren’t usually fighters step up shows a lot of character on the team.
“It’s not easy to go up against guys that are much bigger than you,” Bocharov said. “Like Oasiz, he’s going to go up against guys who are twice his size sometimes. So it’s good to see us not shy away from that style of play and to stand up for one another and themselves.”
