Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman Josh Van Mulligen reaches out for the puck in the first period of a 3-1 round-robin win over the London Knights on Tuesday at the 2025 Memorial Cup hosted in Rimouski, Que.--NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
RIMOUSKI, QUE.
Josh Van Mulligen helped bring one championship back to his hometown and he’s looking forward to the chance to double up.
The Medicine Hat product and the Tigers are one win away from capturing the franchise’s third Memorial Cup title and first since 1988. They’re making their first appearance in the Memorial Cup finals since 2007 when he would have been a toddler.
The 19-year-old spoke with the News and other media in Rimouski, Que., ahead of the Tigers’ 3-1 round-robin win Tuesday over the London Knights to punch their ticket to Sunday’s Memorial Cup final. That game was the second half of a back-to-back for the Tigers after a 3-1 win Monday over the Moncton Wildcats.
“A lot of work over the year has been put in to get us to this point,” Van Mulligen said. “So I think the bag skates and the extra workouts have obviously helped us get to this point.”
His parents, Jason and Leanna, as well as his siblings, have been part of the faithful in Rimouski cheering on the Tigers, bringing a sea (lake?) of orange from afar. He says he hasn’t heard them directly from the ice but says they’ve felt the impact of having that support.
“It’s awesome, we appreciate the support, lots of family came in to support us, so it’s a lot of fun playing in front of them,” Van Mulligen said.
They’ve continued the tradition of banging their sticks on the glass in front of the fans after a win, though what had been a full lap around the rink at Co-op Place is a more focused show of support in Rimouski’s Sun Life Coliseum. Van Mulligen says he and forward Mat Ward sparked the move.
“Wardo and I said, let’s go tap the boards there, and fire them up after a win,” Van Mulligen said. “Everyone followed and we just kind of stuck with it. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Van Mulligen has come full circle with the Tigers, serving as the stick boy for three seasons – one being 2016-17 where the Tigers lost in Game 7 overtime to the Lethbridge Hurricanes. He says he was able to build relationships with trainer Mikki Lank and now associate coach Joe Frazer before being drafted 39th overall by his childhood club in 2020.
“It was cool just interacting with the players and obviously coaches and other staff,” Van Mulligen said. “It’s just building those relationships, and obviously I have a good relationship with Mikki, and Joe was there and just some old players, too. It’s just cool being around all them.”
He’s been able to share the same relationship now with the Tigers’ stick boys across his four years in the Western Hockey League. Van Mulligen wasn’t in the stick boy role when head coach Willie Desjardins returned to Medicine Hat in 2019, instead playing for the South East Athletic Club Tigers at the time.
Desjardins says he likes having the stick boys around as it gives them, as it did for Van Mulligen, a look at the dream.
“I really think it’s great for young people to be stick boys, so you get to see what the players like,” Desjardins said. “I always want them to get the dream. I want them to get the dream that, ‘I want to be there someday. I want to do this. I want to be one of those pictures up in the wall.’ So it’s great that he did that.”
Desjardins says they focused on Van Mulligen’s role in the city throughout the playoffs, talking about what it means to play in Medicine Hat and this season, win the sixth WHL championship for the city. While they’ve achieved the ultimate league goal for a season, there’s one more moment to pursue Sunday.
“I’s hard to kind of explain, it’s been awesome my time here, and obviously being a WHL champion,” Van Mulligen said. “But one more to go here.”
