“I wanted us to be better”: Desjardins on Tigers’ first half

By JAMES TUBB on December 21, 2024.

jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb

The Medicine Hat Tigers come out of the first half of the 2024-25 WHL season in first place of both the Eastern conference and Central division, and still have a lot more to give in the second half.

The Tigers rode ups and downs through the first 34 games of their 55th Western Hockey League season, battling shorthanded lineups and the busiest schedule in the league, hitting the Holiday break atop the East, fifth in the WHL.

They’re the only team with 34 games played, the next closest the league-leading Everett Silvertips and second-place Spokane Chiefs, each with 33 games played. The next closest Eastern conference team is the Red Deer Rebels (32GP).

It’s a start of the season, paired with the number of injuries they endured, which head coach Willie Desjardins says caught up to them in the last week of the season, where they finished 3-1 with the lone loss a 4-1 defeat at Lethbridge to the Hurricanes on Dec. 15.

“Those couple extra games, you wouldn’t think they made a difference, but a guy like (Hunter) St Martin, we were taking quite a few penalties and he was running penalty kill and power play,” Desjardins said. “We’re short staffed and he just wore down as we went on. So the break comes at a good time for us, we get re-energized and we’re not going to be totally healthy after the break.”

The Tigers have three players on the shelf with week-to-week injuries, forwards Hayden Harsanyi (lower-body) and Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll (lower body) and goaltender Harrison Meneghin (lower-body). Desjardins hoped they would be available right after the Holiday break but he says they should be back within two weeks of it.

They also continue to be without forward Cayden Lindstrom, who remains rehabbing with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The 18-year-old underwent a procedure on Nov. 19, holding him to limited activity for a month before he could begin ramping up to return to play this season.

Lindstrom has played four games in the last 12 months, suiting up in all but one game in the Tigers’ first-round playoff series against the Rebels last year, a series where he was not close to 100 per cent. He injured his hand in their first skate back from the 2023 Holiday break and has since been dealing with the recovery of his back injury.

Desjardins says Lindstrom has started working out again but he has no update on when he could return to Medicine Hat.

“Do I think people want him to play, 100 per cent. I think Lindy is tired of sitting, he wants to play,” Desjardins said. “Columbus would love to see him playing. So it’s just a matter of how he recovers, if he’s ready to go, then for sure we’ll see him.”

The injuries throughout the lineup have allowed for the Tigers early perceived depth to take a bigger role and gain more experience. Rookies Markus and Liam Ruck, Carter Cunningham as well as Gordon-Carroll were relied upon to fill more meaningful minutes and took the reins.

Sophomore star Gavin McKenna has taken over as the premier prospect in North America, leading the CHL in scoring with 19 goals and 60 points in 30 games before he left for the World Juniors. Defenceman Bryce Pickford sits atop WHL defencemen goal scoring with 13 goals, also tailing 33 points in 28 games.

There’s been a lot to like for the Tigers in the first half when it comes to gaining experience and opportunity, the individual showcases, but there’s more to be desired Desjardins says.

“I’m probably a little bit like the fans, I wanted us to be better,” Desjardins said. “I wanted us to produce a little bit more and we just didn’t have that right now. So that’s, that’s the way it is, but we have to make sure in the second half, we’re ready.”

The Tabbies have had success at home, 12-5-1, and struggled on the road, 7-9. They’ve surrendered leads in games, the worst coming on Nov. 6, dropping a three-goal lead to fall 7-6 on the road to the Hurricanes.

The Tigers have scored the second-most goals in the WHL (135), Everett leads the way with 151. On the flip side, they’ve allowed the ninth-most goals against, 135. They’ve taken care of business against the East division, with a 10-3-1 record, three losses to the Saskatoon Blades and one to the pre sell-off Moose Jaw Warriors.

They’ve struggled in the division, with a 7-10 record against Central opponents. It’s a record that could prove troubling in the second-half with 15 of the Tigers’ 34 remaining games coming in-division.

“I do believe there’s part of you that if you’re wired the right way, you find a way to win whatever there is, and we haven’t done that,” Desjardins said. “We’ve had games we could win that we haven’t, so that’s something we have to develop. I do believe winning, you build momentum as you go. I remember former years as we’re coming down the stretch, we started to win and it carried into the playoffs. That’s what has to happen this year as well, we have to keep getting better.”

Desjardins says they lead the league in offensive zone time, but they are not capitalizing enough on that on both sides of the puck, relying on offensive skill instead of building defensive skill.

“To say, you’re a better team because you have more offensive skill, that’s not necessarily true,” Desjardins said. “Defensive skill wins games for you as well. So we have the offensive side, we have to get the defensive side.”

How that comes to be for his team, it’s a choice to be made Desjardins says. He remembers watching Steve Yzerman and Guy Carbonneau late in their careers, make the decision to become shutdown centre men, both winning three Stanley Cups with their respective teams.

“I believe that if you’re smart offensively and you can read things defensively, it’s just hard work,” Desjardins said. “So we’ve got the guys that are smart offensively, to me, it’s just hard work.”

Desjardins’ look at the WHL trade deadline on Jan. 9 and the second-half of the season to come in a later edition of the News.

25
-24