NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers goaltender Ethan McCallum stares at a shot in the first period of the Tigers' 4-3 loss to the Red Deer Rebels at Co-op Place on Sept. 21.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers head down the Trans Can for a rematch to open the weekend.
The Tigers are at Red Deer tonight taking on the Rebels, coming off a two-game losing weekend against the same team last weekend.
Head coach Willie Desjardins says they have a hard weekend ahead.
“Red Deer is good, they’re going to play us hard,” Desjardins said. “We still have a little bit of building to do. I like our group, though, you know, I know, I know where we’re at but it will be a hard weekend.”
They received some reinforcements in the week, with forward Hunter St. Martin returning from Florida Panthers camp and defenceman Veeti Väisänen back from the Utah Hockey Club. The Finnish d-man’s arrival comes at the right time for the Tigers, with 19-year-old Josh Van Mulligen sidelined week-to-week with an upper body injury after a fight on Sept. 21.
His absence as the elder statesman on the backend leaves Medicine Hat with five 18-year-old d-men (Jonas Woo, Bryce Pickford, Niilopekka Muhonen and Väisänen) and two 17 year olds in Matt Paranych and Jack Kachkowski.
Desjardins says all seven can chip in and will have to while Van Mulligen is on the shelf.
“Even the guys who haven’t been in are good players too,” Desjardins said. “We’ll be fine back there, we’ll miss Josh, for sure, he’s a big part of us. But we have the guys that are capable.”
Desjardins had no firm update on goaltender Zach Zahara’s status for the weekend. The 19-year-old is marked as day-to-day with an upper body injury and is working out but not skating.
The Tigers are in action tonight against Red Deer tonight and Saturday at Co-op Place hosting the defending WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors. They’ll have one of Ethan McCallum, who was pulled halfway through the 4-3 loss to Red Deer on Sept. 21 or Jordan Switzer between the pipes.
“We have to have somebody step up and play well, so we’ll see where we’re at,” Desjardins said.
