By JAMES TUBB on February 18, 2023.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb After a busy week in the community the Medicine Hat Tigers are ready to continue their playoff push. The Tigers took part in multiple community events during a rare week without any games until the weekend ahead of their home-and-home with the Red Deer Rebels. They host the Rebels on Saturday at Co-op Place before heading to Red Deer on Monday for a 2 p.m. contest. Head coach Willie Desjardins says the Rebels play hard and will be a handful. “They’re a good team, they’ve built themselves for the playoffs,” Desjardins said. “They were without Ben King earlier in the year, so getting him back changes the club a little bit.” Heading into the weekend the Tigers sit in ninth place in the Eastern conference, one point behind the Calgary Hitmen who sit in the last playoff spot. There is only a separation of one point from the Regina Pats in sixth place to the Tigers in ninth. Desjardins says he tries not to scoreboard watch during the year and keeps the focus on his team. “I do it more now that we’re closer to the playoffs but with us it’s more just about us,” Desjardins said. “That’s the only game we can control is our game. So what happened in the other one happens for sure, you always want good things, but we just have to control our games.” 9