Tigers vs. Raiders series will always be special to me

Good strides made by me away from game

Yours truly up in the press box at Co-op Place on April 13.

It is amazing what type of journey can happen when you are linked with two teams that get there are things bigger than hockey and sports.

It becomes extra special when fans of both teams pick up on that too.

The WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Medicine Hat Tigers and Prince Albert Raiders has been done for over a week. The WHL record books will show the Tigers, who were second overall in the regular season standings at 47-17-3-1, swept the Raiders, who were eighth overall at 39-23-5-1, in the best-of-seven set 4-0. The Tigers finished off the sweep with a 3-0 victory in Game 4 at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre on April 17.

In a few hours, the Tigers will open the best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series against the Lethbridge Hurricanes, who finished sixth overall at 42-21-3-2. The two sides go at it on Game 1 at 7 p.m. local time at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat.

The best-of-seven Western Conference Championship Series will also get going in a few hours between the Spokane Chiefs, who finished fourth overall at 45-20-1-2, and the Portland Winterhawks, who were 12^th overall at 36-28-3-1. Those sides go at it in Game 1 at 7 p.m. local time at the Spokane Veteran Memorial Arena in Spokane, Wash.

The Raiders and Tigers faceoff on April 12 at Co-op Place.

Back on April 11 or one day before Game 1 of the series between the Tigers and Raiders took place at Co-op Place, I arrived in Medicine Hat for the first time since July of 2019. 

That day I put together a fairly emotional post about being back in “the Gas City” for the first time since what is known as the summer of the suicides in that centre. Those all occurred during all the restrictions that were in place due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The suicides made national news, and I remember seeing names of six to seven men come up who took their lives, and I pretty much new them all. 

A lot were alums of the Medicine Hat Junior B Cubs Hockey Team. The pressures of that time in the pandemic played a part in what happened.

Out of the suicides in 2020 in Medicine Hat, Mitch Serr and Mike Engel were two that I built tight friendships with when I lived in the Hat from 2004 to 2014. We shared lots about our personal lives with each other.

Myself, centre, hanging with Emma Bennett, left, and Collin Gallant.

When I put together that column on April 11, I needed to get what I was feeling out there, because it was affecting me. 

I also know how passionate the fans of both the Tigers and Raiders can be, and I was in a place where I didn’t really want to deal with fan beaks.

Actually, the fans on both sides were outstanding. I found when I went to Co-op Place and the Art Hauser Centre they knew what the deal was for me. 

I had friends at Co-op Place come visit me and pass on a thank you for writing that column, because it helped them in their journeys dealing with the suicides in the summer of 2020.

At the Hauser, the fans and friends that I talked to were really understanding. They were open to listening more, if I needed to talk more.

All of that right there is the bigger than hockey and sports thing.

Harrison Meneghin plays the puck for the Tigers on April 16.

The folks with the Raiders and Tigers were outstanding. 

I was actually hoping to get out to Medicine Hat earlier to deal with the emotional front, and my original plan was to work a Tigers game where the Raiders weren’t involved. I was concerned about dragging them into my emotional side thing.

Now that the series is done, I feel it was a blessing that the Raiders were there on my first trip back to the Hat. 

Over the course of the series, I had so many good visits with general manager Curtis Hunt, interim head coach Ryan McDonald, assistant coach Mark Odnokon and athletic therapist Duane “Puff” Bartley. They were all a huge help.

On the Tigers side, I have great visits with Dr. Bill Ruzycki, owner Darrell Maser, iconic retired play-by-play voice Bob Ridley, head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins, associate coach Joe Frazer, assistant coach Josh Maser, athletic therapist and equipment manager Mikki Lanuk, staffer Scott Goldade and office staffer Val Welling. They were all a huge help.

On the more humorous side, it was cool to visit with video coach Jayce Desjardins now that he is all grown up. I mentioned my memories of him were being a little guy and getting into mischief at the Tigers old long time legendary home rink in The Arena.

Max Hildebrand protects the net for the Raiders on April 16.

While in the Hat, I was also able to visit a number of long time friends including Randy Noble, Colin Gallant and Emma Bennett. Noble is battling cancer, and I stopped by to visit him in hospital twice. He was in really good spirits in the second visit, so that was great to see.

Gallant, Bennett and I were the crew from the Medicine Hat News that were dispatched to Vancouver in 2007 to cover the Tigers playing in that year’s Memorial Cup. 

Gallant, who still works for the News, recalled we filled four broadsheets for about 10 straight days. It was so cool we got to have a reunion.

As for the series on ice, I think the one game that really hurt the Raiders was not being able to take Game 2 at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat on April 13. 

The Tigers claimed that contest 5-4 in overtime with super-rookie right-winger Liam Ruck tipping in the winner on the power play at the 8:50 mark of the extra session. Ruck deflected home a point shot from offensive-defenceman Bryce Pickford.

Games 3 and 4 in Medicine Hat saw emotion kind of speed up the Tigers. Tigers 20-year-old star netminder Harrison Meneghin attended the funeral for his father, Derek, on April 10 just two day before the series with the Raiders began. Meneghin’s first two starts were against the Raiders in Games 3 and 4.

Harrison Meneghin, left, and Max Hildebrand embrace on April 17.

Talking to a few long time Raiders fans at the Hauser, they said you could tell Meneghin was playing for his father, and the Tigers players were playing for their goalie. The Tigers posted a 6-1 victory in Game 3 and the 3-0 win in Game 4.

In Game 4, Raiders 20-year-old star netminder Max Hildebrand made 54 saves to keep his team in the game. 

He had one of the best single game performances I have seen in 26 seasons covering the WHL. 

You saw why he was a nominee for the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the WHL player of the year, the Del Wilson Memorial Trophy as WHL goaltender of the year and the Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s humanitarian of the year.

While the Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Tigers and Raiders will likely be another set in the mass amount of post-season series that have been played in the WHL since the circuit began in 1966-67, it will always have a special place in my heart for the happenings away from the game.

I have to pass on a big thanks to everyone who helped as I navigated life away from the game and got to a more healed up place. I still miss my buds who have passed away.

Yours truly at the Art Hauser Centre on April 17.

They will always be part of my memories in the Hat, and wherever I go in that centre, good ones pop up about them along with many others.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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COVID-19 pandemic pushes people’s limits

Ultimate test in being comfortable with being uncomfortable

Looking into downtown Saskatoon back on March 22.

    The cliché “learning to be comfortable with being uncomfortable” has been stretched to the limit in the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
    Over social media lines, the battleground of people confronting each other regarding how the pandemic is being handled gets so toxic at times that I am almost afraid to write a column on the subject. You begin to wonder if it is even worth sharing your feelings or opinions regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

    It seems if you do, you have to be prepared to fight someone physically in a UFC octagon ring.

    The whole shutdown of all non-essential services and activities across most of the world is something the world has never seen before in its history, and a number of other pandemics have ripped through the world in its history. In North American, we have been facing this reality since shutdowns started to occur on March 11.

    Sweden and Brazil are just two places that haven’t observed lockdown measures so far.

    Even as I write this piece, I wonder if I should be putting out how I feel. I am not even sure it will help in the discussion.

    I have taken to the idea that the COVID-19 pandemic is a traumatic event, and everyone will deal with how they react to this event differently. The only thing I can equate the pandemic too is a death in the family, where everyone in the family reacts to the death in their own way.
    There are people out there who believe the world’s reaction to the pandemic is a complete overreaction. There are others that believe we all need to stay locked up in our homes and avoid interacting with all other humans for the next four years.

    You have predictions from some we should be over this in six weeks or two months, and that includes a handful of medical professionals who say we should start getting back to normal.
    You have other health officials, who seem to be in the main seats of influence, at first saying at the start of the pandemic this will go on for 18 months to two years. 

Merlis Belsher Place functions as field hospital in waiting.

    Now, it seems those same people are saying this could go on for three to four years, and they seem to have a total disregard for the economy and a whole host of other spinoff health problems that will result if we live in shutdowns for that long.

    It feels like the there is a major battle going on between the health officials and the economists. At the moment, it feels like World Health Organization as a body rules most of the world and has free reign to dictate what the world does.

    No matter what happens, the reality for myself and likely most who read this piece is we do not control the strings of power. All we can do is roll with the punches and do our best on a day-to-day basis to make our way in this crazy world.

    You just try to put your head down and stay in your lane as best you can while the world sorts itself out.
    That was the truth before the pandemic. That is a more pronounced truth now.

    While I myself have no power to influence anything, I still believe there needs to be accountability in every facet of life. Of course, people and organizations do earn leeway when they conduct themselves in a responsible matter over a period of time.

    That includes health officials and people in political power that make decisions.

    I should give background about why I say health officials just so it is out front that what I write may be coloured.

    As I grew up, my experiences with family doctors weren’t the greatest. It seemed from the time I was born up through my university years, I would often get sick often due to bronchitis, and all the family doctors would do is give me prescriptions that didn’t work.

    It felt like I often had to fight off any illness on my own. Over my life, I have made friends here and there, who have admitted to basically firing their family doctor after experiencing the same sort of thing.

    That all changed when I moved to Medicine Hat, Alta., when Bill Ruzycki became my family doctor. Ruzycki was also the team doctor for the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers, who were the WHL team I was covering as a beat writer for the Medicine Hat News.
    Any time I needed a prescription or wasn’t well when I lived in Medicine Hat from 2004 to 2014, everything Ruzycki prescribed to me worked. I also didn’t get sick with a physical illness that often during my time in the Hat too.

Signs like this are visible at Saskatoon facilities.

    The thought crossed my mind, “Why is he so much better than any other medical doctor I’ve ever had?”

    I just hoped he would never retire.

    Since moving to Saskatoon in the summer of 2014, the doctor I have seen at one specific medical clinic has been fine. I haven’t had to see him for anything serious.

    Still, I have kind of kept in the back of my mind which doctors I would see in Saskatoon if I “really” got sick. Those doctors also happen to work as doctors for sports teams I have covered.

    I also have had some family members who have felt the pitfall of “mistakes” from the medical system where no one was held accountable. Because doctors get cleared of some mishaps doesn’t mean the mishap never happened.

    Unfortunately, that has coloured my view of the medical system.

    No matter what arguments are presented to me about why we need to do what we do in this COVID-19 pandemic, I am still always asking in my head, “Are we doing the right thing?”

    For one, I always think any new data that might have been collected on this thing over the last two months isn’t being used. It feels like the first apocalyptic models are viewed as the only correct way to interpret things.

    It also feels like anyone that raises a different view from the medical profession gets discredited right away. When that happens, I draw parallels to dealing with the “mistakes” that have occurred to members of my family who were in the medical system dealing with an ailment.
    Did a mistake happen somewhere regarding COVID-19?

    It is also human nature that once people obtain power they don’t want to give it up, and I believe that could include people calling the shots in the medical community. It seems fear about how easily COVID-19 can be transmitted is being weaponized for political motives.

    I should also note I don’t have any trust for United States President Donald Trump either. It seems like anyone even thinks about questioning the direction we are headed in is automatically slated as a Trump supporter.

    It is possible to question both and wonder if both are doing bad jobs.

    To me, it feels like the whole story with this COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t come out yet. I believe it is a threat. Where it fits in with other threats, the true information on that front may never come out.

    As we deal with this chronic stress situation that has no end date, it feels like there are people out there that believe once the pandemic passes life with return in North America to what it was on March 10. Due to the fact the world has gone into a self-imposed recession that might already be a depression, we won’t see that world from March 10 for a very long time.

    Also, it seems like people believe governments will just take care of society as we sit in our homes and wait for this to pass. I almost laugh at that thought.
    When this is over, the tax rates are going to go through the roof at least with all the bailout programs rolled out in Canada.

Malls reopened in Saskatoon this week including Midtown Plaze seen here.

    For those starting out in the current world, you need to be a police officer, firefighter or health care worked to be ensured of always having a job with a reliable steady income.

    This whole situation is not easy and is uncomfortable.

     It will be interesting to see how the world looks back on this period of time two or three years down the road.

    Since almost all of us are not in position to call the shots, all we can do is look after our mental well-being on a day-to-day basis and remain in the present as much as possible.

    Along the way, we should try our best to be nicer to each other too including to those that see things from a different viewpoint.

Chiefs’ Beckman takes WHL player of the year honours

    After going on that long winded diatribe, it is time for a quick tidbit on the sports front.

    On Thursday, Saskatoon product Adam Beckman was named the winner of the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the WHL player of the year. The left-winger, who played through his 18-year-old season with the Spokane Chiefs, topped the WHL in goals (48) and points (107) appearing in 63 regular season games. He had a plus-44 rating to go along with his point totals.

    Last year, Beckman, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 174 pounds, was selected in the third and 75^th overall by the Minnesota Wild in the NHL Entry Draft, and he has signed an NHL entry-level contract with the Wild.

    During his career in the WHL spent entirely with the Chiefs, Beckman has appeared in 132 regular season games posting 80 goals, 89 assists and a plus-63 rating.

    The WHL had been rolling out its league awards via an online format, and Beckman’s player of the year award win concluded that rollout.

    For Saskatoon Minor Hockey, it has to be cool to see one of their products take the WHL’s top individual honour.

    Beckman’s Chiefs had a 41-18-4-1 record before the last bit of the WHL regular season and the entire major junior post-season was nixed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The asshole stats and final thought

    The next part of this post will be what I call are “I’m an asshole” statistics.

    I believe I will be viewed as an asshole by a number of people for reporting these statistics.

    I just hope in the future the source these statistics come from doesn’t get shut down. If it does, mainstream outlets will be hooped too, because I believe this is the source they draw COVID-19 numbers from.

• Since I have typed what will be viewed as a mainly unpopular post, here are some statistics compiled by the Worldometer, which seems to be extremely accurate in counting deaths in real time around the world. At the time this post went live, there were 344,019 deaths due to COVID-19 this year. Also so far this year, Worldometer report there have been 3,239,260 deaths by cancer, 1,971,663 deaths caused by smoking, 986,459 deaths caused by alcohol, 663,030 deaths by HIV/AIDS,  422,947 deaths by suicide, 386,872 deaths by malaria, 192,051 deaths by seasonal flu and 121,909 deaths from mothers giving birth. Just putting that out there.
• One crazy statistic Worldometer reports in there has been over US$157,691,000,000 spent this year on illegal drugs in the world. Just putting that out there.
• At the time this post went live, there were six hospitalizations in the province of Saskatchewan due to COVID-19. In Saskatoon, there are 1,266 hospital bed set aside for COVID-19 patients including 250 beds in the field hospital in waiting at Merlis Belsher Place. Just putting that out there.
• For what it is worth, I like the reopening plan the Government of Saskatchewan has laid out and is following. With all the items I have written in this post that will be disliked, I think Saskatchewan Scott Moe and Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab are doing a good job navigating this whole COVID-19 pandemic. To me, they seem to be the most real out of any of the leaders dealing with this. Of course, not every decision that is made will be the greatest, but I feel fortunate I am living in Saskatchewan through this. Even with what I just wrote, I suspect there will be people that don’t like the fact I wrote this point.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.