NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Andrew Basha celebrates his third of four goals in the Tigers 6-1 win over the Brandon Wheat Kings at Co-op Place on Nov. 25.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers are looking to buck a trend as they find themselves ranked with the CHL’s best once again.
The Tigers were ranked seventh in the CHL for Week 9 of the season after two straight wins where they outscored their opponents 14-1 – 8-0 against the Regina Pats on Nov. 22 and 6-1 over the Brandon Wheat Kings on Nov. 25.
They’ve won seven of their last eight games and sit in second place of the WHL, two points behind the Prince George Cougars who were ranked No. 1 in the CHL.
Medicine Hat slotted in at ninth in the Week 7 rankings but fell out of the top-10 in Week 8 after a 6-3 loss to the Swift Current Broncos on Nov. 14. That marked the second time this season the Tigers have been in the CHL rankings and then immediately lost their next contest. They opened the season at No. 10 in the rankings and then lost 4-2 at Regina on Oct. 4.
Associate coach Joe Frazer says they’ve talked as a team about having success and not changing efforts or approaches as they look to change the trend.
“Just staying focused, keeping the same mindset because it’s nice to be recognized but it means nothing, we’re still in November,” Frazer said. “It’s nice to be recognized, but it has no bearing on what happens this season. We have a real tough opponent (tonight) in Swift who’s come out really hard.
“The first two games we played, their starts have been way better than ours in their rink, so we have to make sure we’re focused on us, not really on the outside noise – we just have to keep getting better.”
Captain Tyler Mackenzie says they have embraced the mindset of having a goldfish memory, reflecting an old tale that the house pet had a dramatic short-term memory. While they appreciate the recognition, he says they’re not satisfied unless the result of their next game is a win.
“Every day is a new day,” MacKenzie said.
The Tigers are at Swift Current tonight taking on the Broncos for the third time this season, all at the InnovationPlex. Medicine Hat won the first contest, an 8-7 overtime win where they overcame two separate three-goal deficits. Their next contest against the Central division rivals was that Nov. 14 loss.
As the Tigers look to have a better result and start against the Broncos, Frazer says they’re not looking to change anything about their approach but be more ready for their speed.
“They do a great job with their transition, their forwards push out quick, it’s a combination, we’ve just got to make sure we’re aggressive and we’re smart as well,” Frazer said. “It’s just the puck management and making sure if there’s turnovers, we’re making sure we’re getting above the puck. We’re not changing anything, we just have to make sure we’re on top of our game.”
The Tigers remain atop the WHL’s Eastern conference entering Tuesday with a record of 16-6-2, sitting one point ahead of Saskatoon who has played one more game and was in late action Tuesday at Tri-City against the Americans.
Medicine Hat has the league’s best goal differential at +35, the second most effective power play (29.7 per cent) and sixth best penalty kill (82.4). There’s been a lot of early success for a team, who in the past two seasons had to endure a lot of losing or grind through games to come away with two points.
Handling that early success and not getting too complacent is an everyday focus, MacKenzie says.
“The one thing we really try to work on is keeping good habits,” MacKenzie said. “Even when we get up in games, we’ve started to talk about checklists and what we want to do to stay in those games. It’s not about cheating ourselves, we have to play the right way. That’s stops and starts, discipline, you can’t be cheating for offence, even at practice. We’re working on getting those habits so we can fall back on them.”
The Tigers could see a return of forward Vasyl Spilka to the lineup this week, as the Czechia forward skated in a normal black jersey at practice Tuesday. Spilka has been out of the lineup since Nov. 10 when he suffered a lower body injury in a 2-1 shootout win over the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Frazer says the 17-year-old is being treated as day to day. After the game against Swift Current, the Tigers host the Calgary Hitmen on Friday and get their first look at the Prince Albert Raiders on Saturday when the East division opponent rolls into town for the Medicine Hat News Teddy Bear Toss game.
Frazer says it sets up for an exciting week and an important test for the Tigers moving forward.
“If you look at all the games until Christmas, they’re all big, they’re all conference games,” Frazer said. “We just have to take one day at a time and enjoy it. Keep getting better, you look at the scores around the league and anyone can beat anyone on any night which is fun. That’s how it should be, there’s a lot of parity in the league and it’s what makes the games exciting. So it’s about taking it day by day and making sure we’re focused on the task at hand each day.”
