NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman Jonas Woo squares up to stop a rush chance in the first period of a 4-2 win over the Calgary Hitmen on Wednesday at Co-op Place.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers are getting wins in any fashion they can.
The Tigers beat the Calgary Hitmen 4-2 Wednesday night, recording a fifth win in the club’s last six games, a rebound from the 1-4 start to the season.
Looking at the win Wednesday, associate coach Joe Frazer liked their response in the third period.
“It was tied up going in to the final period and we came out better in the third,” Frazer said. “There’s some things we have to clean up, for sure the first two periods. But I thought it was a great way of just sticking with it and finding a way to get the two points.”
Offensively the Tigers were led by a three-point night from Gavin McKenna. The 16-year-old recorded a pair of goals and appeared to have the hat trick on a point shot from Bryce Pickford, but it was the defenceman who recorded his third on the year. McKenna still had the assist on the goal and finished the night tied with four other skaters for second in WHL scoring with five goals and 18 points.
“My line has been playing pretty well, I’ve played with them for last year now, so we’ve built some good chemistry and we just have to keep it rolling,” McKenna said.
Hunter St. Martin scored the game winner for his seventh goal on the year. He added an assist on the night for eight points through eight games.
Harrison Meneghin made 20 saves for his fourth win in the orange and black and 50th career WHL win. Wednesday’s win also put the Tigers over the .500 mark for the first time since starting the season 1-0, a hump he says they needed to get over.
“Getting over that .500 marker, it’s important for us to see,” Meneghin said. “We have such good third periods, we just need to apply that same energy to the first and second.”
With two games on the slate this weekend, tonight at Red Deer against the Rebels and Saturday at home against the Regina Pats, Frazer is looking for more of the effort they saw at Moose Jaw on Oct. 18 – a 6-3 win over the Warriors.
“We we’re relentless, playing the way we want to with that half ice game,” Frazer said. “To give Calgary a ton of credit, they were fast last night, they worked hard. So for us, it’s just making sure we’re on top of our game more consistently.”
Before play Wednesday, two Tigers, forward Kadon McCann and defenceman Jonas Woo, were named on the NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary players to watch list for the 2025 NHL Draft.
The 17-year-old McCann received a ‘C’ ranking, a 4-5th round projection. McCann has a goal and two points in 11 games. The Cochrane product says it was an honour to be named.
“It’s still early in the season but it’s pretty cool to get that recognition,” McCann said. “It obviously brings a spotlight, but at the same time you still play your game, and my focus is on the team winning right now. Obviously it’s pretty cool, but at the same time, there’s a long way to go.”
The 17-year-old Woo received a ‘W’ rating, for a 6-7th round candidate. Woo has a late birthday, turning 18 on Nov. 19. In 10 games this season he has two goals and seven points.
“It’s something you look forward to, the NHL draft, but it’s something you try not to focus on,” Woo said. “It’s early in the year and you always want to get better, so it’s something I kind of put behind me and if anything, use as motivation.”
Desjardins was happy to see the two players get recognized.
“It’s great for those two guys, it’s well deserved,” Desjardins said. “But we have other guys, (Jack) Kachkowski, (Hayden) Harsanyi, (Matt) Paranych are all guys who could get a look as well. So it’s great when guys get it, but I know those other guys are going to play well and hopefully they’ll get on as time goes on.”
Tigers sign forward Carter Cunningham
Medicine Hat put pen to paper with 18-year-old forward Carter Cunningham on Thursday.
The Sucker Creek First Nation product started this fall with the AJHL Calgary Canucks, notching four goals and 15 points in 13 games.
Cunningham was undrafted in the WHL, getting listed by Medicine Hat.
The 6-foot-3 forward played in Medicine Hat last season, suiting up for the South Alberta Hockey Academy. He had 16 goals and 36 points in 30 games at the CSSHL U18 level. He added two goals and three points in three playoff games.
“He’s a bigger player, he’s got some good skill,” Desjardins said. “He’s a guy that we’ll bring him in to have a look, see where he’s at and if he’s not there when we get healthy, he’ll go back to the Canucks. But it’s a good chance for him, and I think that he’s got the skill and he’ll take advantage of it.”
