Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman Dru Krebs carries the puck out of his team's end in the first period of a 5-2 win over the Prince George Cougars on Jan. 17 at Co-op Place.--NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Dru Krebs is enjoying the Medicine Hat Tigers’ push for the playoffs.
The defenceman is one of the elder statesmen on the team at 19 years old, but like all but two players (Dallon Melin, Kurtis Smythe), has yet to experience the WHL playoffs. Krebs says every game matters in a run for the playoffs but he is enjoying their approach to the task at hand.
“Coming into this last stretch we’ve separated it into three-game segments and we’re treating every game like it’s a playoff game,” Krebs said. “It’s a lot of fun knowing that we have an opportunity to make the playoffs, there’s nothing more exciting than that and it’s going to be a good stretch.”
Krebs says the team approach of three-game segments hasn’t changed his outlook because he’s always looked at a season on a game-by-game basis.
“If you get too ahead of yourself then you can be overwhelmed by the whole situation,” Krebs said. “Separating as a team in three-game segments is huge because then we don’t think of it as the large scheme of how many points we need, more of a short-term goal.”
Krebs started the season playing alongside Pasha Bocharov as the Tigers’ defensive pairings were solidified from training camp. When Bogdans Hodass went down with injury and then went to represent Latvia at the World Juniors, Smythe stepped in to fill the absence.
Now as forwards Tyler MacKenzie and Brendan Lee have missed substantial time due to injury, Bocharov has stepped up to forward and Krebs has slotted alongside fellow 19-year-old Rhett Parsons, or as the Okotoks product says, “Steady Eddy.”
“He makes simple plays and he’s hard to play against for the other guys and really makes it easy for me to be along with him,” Krebs said. “He’s a good guy in the dressing room, too, so it’s always good to chat with him and be on the ice with him.”
Whether he’s lining up alongside Bocharov or Parsons, Krebs has been an uptick in offence this season that has come with more ice time. In 45 games Krebs has five goals and 24 assists for 29 points. He’s fired off 83 shots on net this year, just 10 shy of his 66-game total from the 2021-22 season. He says the increase in offence and production just comes from confidence while defending.
“Just playing better defensively and then making plays, and eventually the points would come but that’s not the goal,” Krebs said. “The situation is points are more just about helping the team win and that’s another byproduct of us playing better as a team.”
Having been drafted by the Washington Capitals 176th overall in the 2020 NHL draft, this season is a contract year for Krebs before he would become a free agent who any interested NHL club could sign.
Besides helping the Tigers win and make the playoffs, Krebs wants to show he should be putting pen to paper.
“I feel like I’ve made a steady incline this entire season and have given myself a chance to prove myself to the organization and Washington as a whole to earn myself a contract,” Krebs said. “But it’s still a lot to come and still have a lot to prove, it’s a constant process.”
