It just feels right – Tigers, Desjardins together again

Willie Desjardins pictured in the 2007 Memorial Cup game program.

    Would the Lethbridge Hurricanes ever try to get a Tim Hortons built next to the Canalta Centre in an attempt to make Willie Desjardins late for a practice or a game?

    The Hurricanes might not have put in that type of work to disrupt a rival, because the Tim Hortons pitfall is naturally present due to the lay of the land.

    A Tim Hortons sits on the east side of the Canalta Centre in the northern tip of Medicine Hat in the community of Crescent Heights. You can’t miss it when driving to the rink via that route.

    If you approach the Canalta Centre from the west via Redcliff, there is a Tim Hortons in your path. The famed donut and coffee chain has Desjardins boxed in.

    All joking aside, the Medicine Hat Tigers officially announced on Friday that Desjardins has returned to the team to become the club’s head coach and general manager once again.

    The Tigers parted ways with their former long time head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston on Thursday.
    Desjardins was the Tigers head coach from 2002 to 2010 and also held the role of general manager from 2005 to 2010. During that time, he compiled a 323-176-60 regular season record as Tigers head coach, and he guided the club to WHL titles in 2004 and 2007.

    When you saw the video of Desjardins during his introductory press conference on Friday, it felt right. It feels like Medicine Hat is the place he is meant to be in, and the Tigers are the team he is supposed to lead.

Pictures from the Tigers glory times under Willie Desjardins.

    The Tim Hortons joke actually comes from an episode during the 2005-06 season. The Tigers were in preparations leading up to a key regular season game with the Calgary Hitmen. The two clubs were battling for first place in the overall WHL standings.

    During a practice session at The Arena, Desjardins called a special team meeting for 2 p.m. the next day regarding this important game. No one knew about this meeting until Desjardins announced it.

    At the time, the Tigers usually arrived at The Arena for practice between 2:30 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. At 2:45 p.m. they would have a meeting that lasted about 15 minutes and the team hits the ice at 3 p.m.

    Anyways, the Tigers players and coaches arrive for this 2 p.m. meeting, and Desjardins is missing. Around 2:15 p.m., overage forward Tommy Maxwell calls Desjardins on his cell phone.
    Desjardins picks up right away and the two have a chat for 45 seconds. Maxwell asks Desjardins what he was up to.

    Desjardins said he was in line at the Tim Hortons located two blocks from The Arena buying a sandwich. Desjardins asked Maxwell what he was up to.

    Maxwell said he was in the Tigers dressing room with the team, and they were ready for this special 2 p.m. meeting and that everyone was waiting for him.

    A moment of silence passes. Desjardins lets loose with an explanative and said he would be right there.

    The Tigers team that season was full of great players who were characters that had character in captain Kris Russell, Derek Dorsett, Maxwell, Cam Barker, Matt Keetley, Jerrid Sauer, Kevin Undershute, Kieran Block, Daine Todd, Roman Psurny, Brett Robertson, David Schlemko, Gord Baldwin, Brennan Bosch and Tyler Ennis to name a few. For the next two weeks, you can envision them giving Desjardins the gears saying it was important to be on time in a humourous way.

Picture of another highlight from Willie Desjardins time with the Tigers.

    Anytime Desjardins would walk into a room, you could almost hear, “Hey, coach is late. That’s a fine.”

    Darren Helm of today’s age would engage in those jabs too, but he was more of a quiet type back then.

    Anyways, that episode with the Tim Hortons near The Arena seems to grow into a taller tale as the years pass. Desjardins was late for a special team meeting he called, because he made a Tim Hortons stop.

    Desjardins will dispute the amount of minutes he was actually late, but I think the union is there to agree it was at least 15 minutes. It is possible other details from that episode get exaggerated as time passes.
    Even in that small humourous spot in time, it was easy to see some of the factors that made Desjardins so successful.

    One is the fact the 62-year-old product of Climax, Sask., is able to get information across to his players. They did realize it was important to be on time for meetings or on the ice to be in spots at the right time when plays develop.

    Another thing it shows is Desjardins has humility. He recognizes he makes mistakes too, and all you can do is correct them and move forward.

    Desjardins knows when to allow the players to be themselves and when it is time to focus on work. He was comfortable enough to let players give him some light-hearted jabs and create some fun around the facility.

    He wasn’t one of those coaches that took himself so seriously that something like this wouldn’t be allowed.

    Still when it was time to focus on the task at hand, he was able to get that message across and everyone went to work.

A picture of another Tigers memory of Willie Desjardins’ era with the team.

    Above all, he always tried to ensure the rink was the best place to be. That atmosphere was one of the reasons everyone was on time for that special meeting but him. It just slipped his mind that day.
    The Tigers won a lot during Desjardins first run with the team.
    What made the journey so special during those years was the fact it was filled with so many of those fun stories. Everyone enjoyed the journey, and if they could have lived at The Arena, they would have.

    During that run, he became revered as the greatest coach the Tigers ever had. Desjardins was a great coach, but he was even a better human.

    He is a first rate person who had compassion and could help people in their toughest circumstances. Back in the 2009-10 season, the Tigers acquired power forward Cole Grbavac in a trade with the Kamloops Blazers.

    Grbavac was going through some troubles, and he needed to spend time away from the team. When he rejoined the club, he went forward at full speed.

    Grbavac never said what he was going through but said he was thankful Desjardins was present at that point in his life and he owed him so much. Grbavac would be the Tigers captain in his final season of major junior eligibility in 2011-12.

    In July of 2010, Desjardins left the Tigers to be an associate coach with the NHL’s Dallas Stars. A lot of thought went into the decision including the notion of staying with the Tigers and possibly having the longevity Brian Kilrea had in coaching the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s.

    Desjardins knew there was great value to remaining in junior and making a positive impact on players aged 16 to 20 making their way in life.

    It was these types of things that made Desjardins enduring to the community of Medicine Hat.

    It was those things that made people miss him and always created this longing that he would return.

Willie Desjardins pictured in the Medicine Hat News.

    When I was last in Medicine Hat in late March, it caught me off guard how many of my friends were out of work due to the energy sector economy being down. When you talked hockey, you could tell people there wanted him to come back and be the head coach and general manager of the Tigers.

    It was like Desjardins return would be this beacon of light and hope that better days were coming. People remembered that genuine and special type of humanity Desjardins possessed that most don’t have.

    It is easy to see on social media lines the fans in Medicine Hat received what they wanted. Desjardins is back.

    By the sounds of it, people who are just scraping by are now going to do what they can to put together money to buy tickets for Tigers games. Last season, the Tigers averaged 3,121 fans at the Canalta Centre, which seats 6,016 spectators.
    For many years, the Tigers soldout their old home rink The Arena at 4,006 spectators.

    As the Tigers enter their 50^th season, Desjardins return provides hope. The dreams of brighter days and endless possibilities have returned to Medicine Hat.

Clouston had great run with Tigers facing difficult odds

Shaun Clouston is the Tigers all time leader in coaching victories.

    I still chuckle at the humours jabs sent my way from media colleagues on the WHL trail that I hired Shaun Clouston as the Medicine Hat Tigers head coach.

    The same goes for Brad McEwen, when he was hired to be the team’s general manager. Just to be clear, team owners Darrell and Brent Maser did in fact make those hires.

    In July of 2010, Willie Desjardins stepped down from holding both of those positions to become an associate coach with the NHL’s Dallas Stars.

    I thought back to those days, when Clouston parted ways with the Tigers on Thursday leaving behind the roles of head coach and general manager. McEwen left the team back in August of 2014.

    On Friday, Desjardins returned to the Tigers to be the team’s head coach and general manager once again.

    Desjardins vaulted to legendary status in Medicine Hat having guided the Tigers to WHL titles in 2004 and 2007. With the success Desjardins had back then, you always wondered when a sound opportunity would arise that he would make the jump to the NHL.

    When that day came, the Tigers were in position to fill the void. Clouston had joined the team before the start of the 2003-04 campaign as an assistant coach, and he was promoted to associate coach before the start of the 2005-06 season.

    He was set to take on the head coaching duties.
    McEwen was a Tigers head scout and had a successful track record as a WHL general manager. He was ready to fill that spot.

    After Desjardins stepped down, Clouston and McEwen took on the respective roles of head coach and general manager about three days later. I had known both for a lengthy stretch of time before they assumed those positions.
    At the time, I was the beat writer for the Medicine Hat News who covered the Tigers. Many media colleagues covering the WHL would joke saying I made those hires so I wouldn’t have to get used to someone new holding those roles that might not be media friendly.
    My media colleagues also joked that I wanted to ensure I kept covering playoff action in April. The presence of Clouston and McEwen would ensure the Tigers kept winning.

Shaun Clouston explains a point on the Tigers bench.

    Both were great guys, and I admit I wanted them to succeed. Good feelings aside, I was aware they were stepping into a tough situation following Desjardins.

    While it is a tough job to take a struggling team and make that club a winner, I believe it is even tougher to take over a winning program and keep the success coming.

    When you take over a winner, fans have a built in expectation that they want to see success now. In order to come out on even footing, Clouston and McEwen would have to guide the Tigers to a WHL championship and a Memorial Cup title.

    Anything short of that would be viewed as a disappointment.

    In following Desjardins, their position was similar to that of Steve Young when he had to succeed Joe Montana as quarterback of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, or Danny White when he had to follow Roger Staubach as quarterback of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
    The expectations for the successors in all cases were always going to be unfair to some degree.

    In August of 2012, Clouston added the duties as general manager to go with his duties as head coach. McEwen moved to the role of assistant general manager and took on duties as the club’s head scout. In August of 2014, McEwen left the Tigers to become a scout with the NHL’s Calgary Flames.

    Looking back to July of 2010, I was aware of what Clouston and McEwen could be in for. From my end, I wanted to ensure they received a fair chance.

    I wanted to make note of the noise when things didn’t go right but try not to let it affect how I graded the team’s performance.

    Of course, Clouston held the head coach role for nine seasons and was also the general manager for the last seven of those campaigns. In the NFL analogy, he mirrored what White did with the Cowboys by winning but not winning enough.

    White quarterbacked the Cowboys to three straight appearances in the NFC title game from 1980 to 1982, but the Cowboys were unable to advance to the Super Bowl negating any chance to win it.

    Clouston became the all-time leader in regular season head coaching wins with the Tigers. The 51-year-old product of Viking, Alta., put together a stellar 375-241-46 regular season coaching record.

Shaun Clouston tracks play in the defensive zone.

    Under his guidance, the Tigers advanced to the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship series in 2011 and 2014, but the squad wasn’t able to earn a berth in the WHL final.

    I thought the Tigers had a great shot to potentially win the WHL title and advance to the Memorial Cup in 2010-11, which was the first campaign after Desjardins departed.

    The Tigers were plagued by injuries that season. In the 20 seasons I’ve covered the WHL, I had never seen a team deal with as many injuries as the Tigers did in 2010-11.
    I believe there were only three occasions, when they hit the ice with everyone on the roster being available to play. Some days it felt like Clouston came to the rink, asked Tigers athletic therapist Mikki Lanuk who was healthy and proceeded to make out the lines for that day.

    That campaign was one of Clouston’s best coaching performances as the Tigers managed to post the fifth best record in the WHL’s regular season at 46-18-4-4 despite all the injuries. Medicine Hat advanced to the Eastern Conference Championship series before being swept by the Kootenay Ice.

    The Tigers were in a great position to contend for the WHL title again in the 2016-17 campaign, when the club posted the second best regular season record in the league at 51-20-1.

    In the second round of the playoffs, the Tigers fell in a series-deciding Game 7 to their archrivals the Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-4 in overtime. Hurricanes captain Tyler Wong scoring the winner in extra time.

    Had the Tigers won that game, it might have given them a momentum shot to ultimately win the league title.

    As the years progressed, the vocal critics of Clouston came out of the woodworks in Medicine Hat because the Tigers didn’t win enough. With that said, there are a lot of teams in the WHL that wish they had the record the Tigers did with Clouston as head coach.

    It seemed the critics would harp heavily any time a player came up with a trade request for not getting enough ice time. Clouston handled all of those situations honestly saying exactly how they came up.
    The critics were silent when a large host of former players and current players congratulated Clouston when he became the Tigers all-time leader in regular season coaching victories. The number of players passing on congrats made the number of players looking for a trade look really small.

Shaun Clouston tracks play in the centre ice zone.

    Even when Clouston parted ways with the Tigers on Thursday, he received well wishes over social media lines from a number of former players.
    He cared about the players he coached and hoped he could help them become better people. I remember how tough it was when he traded Boston Leier in his overage year in 2013-14, which was the correct move to make at the time regarding roster composition.

    Leier was a favourite in the dressing room and amongst the team coaches and staffers, and I recall Clouston saying he didn’t feel good making that deal.

    Away from the rink, Clouston is a star father to his children. He cherishes time he could spend with them.

    If you couldn’t call him in the evenings due to his mobile phone being off, he was ensuring he set a boundary so he could focus on being dad.

    Clouston is a great hockey coach. The concept of being a unit of five in all three zones is something that is stuck in my head, because it was something he always went over with his players. A lot of his former players will recall various success factors or goals the team aimed to achieve game in and game out to pile up wins.

    He is also one of the most genuine persons I’ve come across in this world. We had some real good visits at Starbucks talking about all sorts of things in life.

    As for a bonus point, he was the head coach of the Tri-City Americans when they brought Shannon Szabados to training camp before the start of the 2002-03 campaign. I think it would be safe to say most WHL head coaches at that time would view bringing a female player to training camp as unthinkable.

    Szabados was in camp because she deserved to be there. Clouston was able to joke he was doing pretty good in goal one game due to the fact Carey Price and Szabados were his netminders.

    When the Tigers staffing changes were made during Desjardins departure in 2010, McEwen told me how coaches and managers do have expiry dates with teams even when they are successful.
    The Tigers put up a solid 35-27-4-2 record last season despite suffering some key injuries down the stretch. They fell 4-2 in a best-of-seven first round playoff series to the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Shaun Clouston, middle, oversees the Tigers bench in the 2017 playoffs.

    Desjardins was a left a good hand to take the Tigers into their 50^th anniversary season.

    After 16 seasons with the Tigers, Clouston hit his expiry date with the club. In this day and age in sports, to stay with one team for 16 seasons is an eternity.

    This door closed for Clouston, but you can bet others will open. He is too good of a coach and a person to stay out of the sport for long.

    If he wants to continue working in hockey, you can be sure something will materialize for him.

    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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Blades’ Dach embraces playoff grind, all set for villain treatment in Prince Albert

Kirby Dach is enjoying his first foray into the WHL playoffs.

    Kirby Dach will never forget his first highlight reel moment in the WHL playoffs, and he hopes to create a few more with the Saskatoon Blades.

    When the Blades eliminated the Warriors in Moose Jaw 4-3 in overtime on March 27, Dach scored a sick coast-to-coast short-handed goal with 4:25 remaining in the third period. The tally put the Blades ahead 3-2 for a short time.

    That play is ingrained in the star centre’s memory.

    “It was pretty exciting obviously,” said Dach, who turned 18-years-old in January. “The game was tied 2-2, and they were on the power play.

    “I was out there to do a job on the penalty kill. I saw my opening, and I kind of just chipped it along the wall a couple of times and just took off. The goalie was kind of caught in a spot, where he didn’t know if he was going to come out and play the puck, or if he was just going to stay in his net and wait for me to come.

Kirby Dach is a highly touted prospect for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.

    “I kind of had that advantage on him kind of second guessing his choice that he made. I just made a move around the goalie. Obviously, it didn’t end up being the game winner, but we got to overtime and got the job done.”
    What Dach failed to mention was who he went around from the Warriors on the play.

    On his coast-to-coast effort, Dach passed the puck to himself around first Warriors star captain and defenceman Josh Brook and another Warriors star defenceman in Jett Woo to spring himself on a breakaway. Dach tucked home his third of the playoffs on a smart deke move past Moose Jaw netminder Adam Evanoff to give the Blades the lead.

    After the Warriors scored to force overtime, Blades Norwegian import winger Kristian Roykas-Marthinsen had the honours of scoring the series winner at the 4:36 mark of the extra session to give Saskatoon the win and a 4-0 series sweep.

Kirby Dach can battle in the tough areas on the ice.

    With the Blades taking part in the playoffs for the first time since 2013, Dach said his team enjoyed the fact they were able to create a few memorable moments in their first round sweep of the Warriors.

    He said his team wants to make more great memories in the second round. In a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series, the Blades will face their archrivals the Prince Albert Raiders in a heavyweight tilt. The Raiders topped the WHL regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2 record, while the Blades finished fourth overall with a 45-15-8 mark.
    The Raiders were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings, while the Blades were an honourable mention.

    “Obviously, we have a big task ahead of us with Prince Albert in the second round,” said Dach, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 195 pounds. “We’re excited for it, and we’re ready to go to battle.”

    Game 1 of the series is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert. Game 2 will be held Sunday at 6 p.m. at Art Hauser.

    The series switches to Saskatoon for Game 3, which will be held Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Kirby Dach had 73 points in 62 regular season games with the Blades.

    Due to being a highly touted prospect to be selected in the first round of the upcoming NHL Entry Draft, Dach is expecting to receive full out villain treatment when he steps into P.A. In his sophomore season, Dach finished third in team scoring posting 25 goals and 48 assists for 73 points in 62 regular season games.

    He knows he will be a target of boos and fan heckles in Prince Albert along with his linemate in left-winger Riley McKay, who likes to stir the pot on the ice with his feisty style of play.

    “Obviously, they have a pretty good fanbase up there,” said Dach. “They are pretty loud and rowdy, and they get in your face, because that rink is so small.

    “They are almost on top of you, when you are playing the game. As a player and as a competitor, those are the games you want to be in at this time of the year, because you are trying to prove to yourself and to your teammates and to the people in the stands that you deserve to be there that it is not going to be a cakewalk for P.A. They kind of have to come through us.”
    With that said, Dach said his team has a big challenge in taking on the Raiders.
    “They won the Scotty Munro this year, and they’ve been the greatest team this year in the Western Hockey League,” said Dach, who was named an assistant captain with the Blades in January. “We have a tough task ahead of us.

Kirby Dach, left, can slip past the WHL’s best blue-liners like Jett Woo.

    “We have to go through them to get to the third round, so it is going to be a good series. I am excited to play in it.”

    Blades head coach Mitch Love has enjoyed working with Dach this season and has been impressed with how well Dach has handled the attention that comes with being a top NHL prospect.

    “He is a mature kid,” said Love. “You can see he has been well raised in terms of handling such a spotlight for a young man, which isn’t an easy thing.

    “In terms of the hockey side of things, he has been a true pro. He comes to the rink wanting to get better whether it is in the gym or on the ice or in practice. He has been very coachable.
    “He is on a mission. He knows what he needs to try to get done.”

    Love said Dach’s compete level is always high in games regardless of who the Blades are playing.

    “You can never do things no matter how skilled you are without a little bit of compete in your game,” said Love. “We stressed that as a team all the time.

    “He brings a high level of that. He goes to the greasy areas. He goes to the hard areas to score goals and try to get pucks back.

    “Not every kid wants to do that. He has done a real good job of that. It is actually been something I’ve watched increase as the year has went on.”

Kirby Dach (#77) mans his spot to congratulate teammates after wins.

    Dach said the Blades have had a lot of fun so far in the playoffs, and they are looking forward to the rest of the post-season with a lot of optimism and excited anticipation. He can’t wait to continue the post-season journey with his team in P.A. on Friday.

    “It just adds that much more intensity and compete to your game,” said Dach. “You’re do or die every night. You’re trying to win.

    “You are doing it for everybody in that dressing room. You’re doing it for the guy beside you, and the guy across from you. You are one big family in there, and you are fighting for your lives.

    “It is a lot of fun so far, and we’re not done yet.”

Raiders/Blades series to air on Sportsnet

Raiders D Brayden Pachal (#8) scrums it up with Blade D Dawson Davidson.

    The first three games of the best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Prince Albert Raiders and the Saskatoon Blades will be shown live national on Sportsnet’s network of channels.

    The WHL and Sportsnet made the announcement about the television schedule on Wednesday. Game 1 of the series from the Art Hauser Centre will be shown on Sportsnet 360 on Friday at 7 p.m. Saskatchewan time.

    Game 2 will air on Sportsnet from Art Hauser on Sunday at 6 p.m. Saskatchewan time. Game 3 will be shown from the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Saskatchewan time.

    This has to be viewed as a big thing for the WHL, because two of its best teams will gain more exposure playing against each other nationally. A national audience should see some pretty outstanding action.

    The Raiders finished first overall in the WHL regular season standings at 54-10-2-2. The Blades finished fourth overall in the WHL regular season standings with a 45-15-8 record.

Back in the Express with Gerlach

Max Gerlach scored 42 goals in the regular season for the Blades.

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this week with a feature on Blades overage star right-winger Max Gerlach.

    Gerlach is nicknamed the “Texan Sniper” due to his outstanding shot and for being from Flower Mound, Texas. 
    In each of his four compete seasons in the WHL, Gerlach has netted 30-or-more goals in each of those campaigns.

    This season Gerlach hit career highs in goals (42) and points (74). He hit the 40-goal plateau or the first time in his WHL career this season.

    He is well known in the Blades for a joke he often pulls in media scrums.

    The story on Gerlach can be found by clicking right here.

Officials nail review calls in Tigers versus Oil Kings

Linesman Chad Huseby, right, and his crew had a good night last Sunday.

    Noting how fans like to get on the officials in the WHL, the crew that worked Game 6 of the first round playoff series between the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings and Medicine Hat Tigers had a great night last Sunday.

    The crew included referees Adam Byblow and Kyle Kowalski and linesmen Deion Foster and Chad Huseby with Curtis Scherger manning the video goal judge spot. Former veteran referee Devin Klein was in the house as the supervisor for the officials.

    Before 2,872 spectators at the Canalta Centre, the officiating crew faced three different goal video review situations, and they got each of those calls right.

    The first came on the first Tigers goal of the second period, which gave the host side a 2-1 edge. On the play, Tigers captain James Hamblin and Oil Kings netminder Todd Scott bumped into each other behind the Edmonton net, when Scott was trying to play the puck.

    The two raced around opposite sides of the goal to get in front of the net, and Hamblin tipped home a tally. Scott went down on his own slipping on the ice as the goal went in.

    The officials tried to determine if there was incidental contact on the play that could nullify the tally. As Hamblin and Scott bumped behind the net and had adequate time to set up in front of the goal, the officials correctly ruled the goal should stand.

Conner McDonald’s point shot was correctly called a goal.

    After the Oil Kings fell behind 3-1, they scored in the second to cut the Tigers lead to 3-2, and that tally was reviewed. On the review, the officials tried to determine if Oil Kings overage centre Andrew Fyten knocked the puck in with a high stick.

    Following the review, the officials correctly ruled that the point shot from Oil Kings defenceman Wyatt McLeod did go straight in and the goal stood up.

    The Oil Kings equalizer scored by defenceman Conner McDonald just 31 seconds into the third period to tie things up at 3-3 was also reviewed. McDonald’s shot hit the post of the Tigers net, bounced off the pad of Tigers import netminder Mads Sogaard and just trickled across the goal-line of the Medicine Hat.

    The officials went to video review to check of the puck crossed the goal-line and correctly ruled that it did allowing the goal to stand.

    Edmonton ultimately won the contest 4-3 in overtime and claimed the best-of-seven series 4-2.

    It was nice to see the officials have a good game, and in particular, it was nice to see Byblow have a good game. Not sure if I was bad luck for Byblow, who is a veteran official, but it seemed like he struggled about the last five times I saw him officiate a game and the fans were really getting on him.

    He is a good guy, and I was hoping to see him have a game, where he wasn’t noticed. Like players, officials can go through funks where they struggle too.

    When the first goal went to a review, there was worry on my part the crew that night would get the call wrong.

    Normally, officials don’t have to go to video review on three different goals in one night. The fact they got all of those calls correct was sweet to see.

    Due to reviews, Byblow was noticed but in a good way.

    While some WHL fans might not want to believe it, Byblow had a good game that night, so hopefully that gives him some good positive momentum for the rest of the playoffs.

    On another side note, Klein is well respected in Medicine Hat for his ability to coach officials.

Canalta Centre is a beautiful place

The Tigers salute their fans after their playoff elimination on Sunday.

    Any time I step into the Canalta Centre I get the feeling it can be a special place one day for the Medicine Hat Tigers.

    The Tigers moved into their beautiful new home rink that seats 6,016 spectators before the start of the 2015-16 campaign. While the team has played four complete seasons out of that facility, fans in Medicine Hat are still nostalgic for the club’s old home facility in The Arena.

    The Tigers played in The Arena from their inception in the 1970-71 season through to the 2014-15 campaign spanning a total of 45 seasons. Over that time, the Tigers won five WHL championships and two Memorial Cup titles playing out of that building.

    The Arena contains a tonne of memories including Brennan Bosch scoring arguably the most famous tally in the history of the WHL with his double overtime winner in the fog to give the Tigers a 3-2 victory in Game 7 of the 2007 WHL Championship series.

    Of course, the team’s new rink doesn’t have the memories the old facility has.
    With that said, it feel special to see the storied Tigers playing in a modern facility. While only 2,872 spectators watched the Tigers bow out of the WHL post-season with a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 6 of their first round series with the Edmonton Oil Kings last Sunday, you got the feeling the Canalta Centre could be an intimidating place to play in as the visitor when full.

The fans at the Canalta Centre give the Tigers a final salute on Sunday.

    There isn’t a bad seat in the house, and the inside feels super bright. It also has some unique concession stands like a Swirls ice cream booth. Ice cream from Swirls is known for being outstanding in the Hat.

    Even the press box seating is sweet. You feel like you are on top of the action, and you can get some great photos from press row. Medicine Hat News sports reporter Ryan McCracken has taken some outstanding photos from that vantage point over the years.

    Had the Tigers made it to the WHL Eastern Conference final in 2017 after finishing second overall in the regular season with a 51-20-1 record, fans in the Hat would have had their first long playoff run in the new building to reflect on and begin creating memories that mirrored those from The Arena.

    I admit I too miss The Arena. Having covered the Tigers as a beat writer for the Medicine Hat News from 2004 to 2014, the team’s old rink will always be special to me.

    Still, believe there will be bright days for the team playing inside the Canalta Centre.

Off to P.A. on Thursday

    Check back here to Stanks’ Sermon on Thursday.

    I will be heading to Prince Albert to check in with the Raiders before their second round WHL playoffs series with the Saskatoon Blades. A post will be coming that day.

    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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Future bright for Sillinger with WHL’s Tigers

Medicine Hat still eliminated from playoffs in OT heartbreaker

Cole Sillinger turned heads in the WHL playoffs with the Tigers.

    MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – The month of March has been a whirlwind to say the least for Cole Sillinger.

    The 15-year-old Regina, Sask., product started the month trying to help his hometown Regina Pats Canadians win the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League championship after topping the circuit with a 33-7-2-2 record in the regular season. 

    In helping the Pats earn a first place finish, Sillinger, who is a skilled forward, led the SMAAAHL in scoring with 31 goals and 45 assists for 76 points in 39 regular season appearances.

    The Pat Canadians were eliminated in a best-of-five SMAAAHL semifinal series dropping a 5-2 decision in a series deciding Game 5 at home on March 20 to the Notre Dame Hounds. The Hounds moved on to with the SMAAAHL title for a second straight year.

Cole Sillinger (#44) drives a shot on goal for the Tigers.

    After the Pat Canadians season game to an end, Sillinger was called up to play for the Medicine Hat Tigers in the WHL playoffs. He joined the Tigers on March 23 helping them earn a 2-1 victory in Game 1 of their best-of-seven first round series with the Edmonton Oil Kings in the Alberta capital.

    On Sunday, the Tigers season came to an end as they dropped a heartbreaking 4-3 decision in overtime before 2,872 spectators at the Canalta Centre to the visiting Oil Kings.

    Edmonton netted the winner at the 2:43 mark of the extra session when captain Trey Fix-Wolansky fed linemate Vince Loschiavo with a perfect pass on a two-on-one break and Loschiavo buried the game and series winner.

    While the ending of Sunday’s contest was obviously tough to take for Sillinger, he was thankful he played in all six of the Tigers post-season games. 

Cole Sillinger scored his first goal with the Tigers in the playoffs.

    He believes he can hit the ground running, when he joins the team next season as a 16-year-old rookie.

    “I can kind of get into a routine,” said Sillinger, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 173 pounds. “I can just come in here with lots of confidence and just know that I can play. That will be huge for me.”

    Sillinger comes to the Tigers as a highly touted prospect. The Tigers selected him in the first round and 11^th overall in last year’s WHL Bantam Draft.

    Of course, Sillinger’s father, Mike, played 17 seasons in the NHL from 1990-91 to 2008-09 with 12 different teams.

    As he wasn’t eligible to play full time in the WHL, Sillinger continued to lift his status with how he performed with the Pat Canadians. In leading the SMAAAHL in scoring, Sillinger collected a host of league awards.

Cole Sillinger, left, cuts to the net on an offensive rush for the Tigers.

    He was named the circuit’s most valuable player, rookie of the year, top forward and a first team all-star.

    In the final contest of the SMAAAHL regular season on Feb. 27, Sillinger score a short-handed overtime winning goal to give the Pat Canadians a 3-2 victory over the Blazers in Saskatoon to lock up first place in the league.

    While he played with the Pat Canadians, Sillinger was called up to play four regular season games with the Tigers, where he collected two assists.

Cole Sillinger jets up ice for the Tigers.

    In the WHL playoffs, Sillinger scored his first career goal netting the Tigers first tally in their 5-0 victory in Game 3 of their series with the Oil Kings last Tuesday in Medicine Hat.

    “It was just a huge goal for me, and I will remember it forever,” said Sillinger.

    Sillinger played significant minutes for the Tigers in the post-season, and Tigers head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston was pleased with how well Sillinger fit in.

    “He is a great player,” said Clouston. “He is a great kid.

    “He works hard. He is smart. He plays with confidence with the puck.

    “He understands how the game needs to be played. He was good for us in the games that we called him up.”

    Clouston was comfortable enough to call up Sillinger for a key regular season game at the Canalta Centre on March 9 against the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings. Sillinger finished that contest with a plus-one rating in the plus-minus department helping the Tigers pull out a 4-2 victory that really helped them get a lot closer to eventually clinching a playoff berth.  

Vince Loschiavo scored the OT winner for the Oil Kings.

    “It was great to see him score his first goal in the post-season,” said Clouston. “He has a bright future.”

    Sillinger said one of his biggest early hurdles in joining the Tigers for the WHL post-season was getting over the disappointment of the fact the Pat Canadians were eliminated from the SMAAAHL playoffs.

    “I was in the (Tigers) lineup, so I think I had to get that out of my head really quick,” said Sillinger. “I can’t sit on that loss (with the Pat Canadians).

    “I can’t wish that I was going to win a national championship with my midget team. I think that was just the biggest thing. I had to just get that out of my head and then just have the chance to extend my season with the Tigers and do something special with the guys.”

Captain James Hamblin scored a pair of goals for the Tigers.

    Sillinger believes he did a good job of quickly moving on to focus on what he needed to do to help the Tigers. He said he hasn’t even reflected on what it was like to win all the major individual awards he did with the SMAAAHL.

    “I can’t thank my teammates enough for those,” said Sillinger. “I haven’t really been thinking of those.

    “It has been all Tigers and all WHL and focusing on the Edmonton Oil Kings and focusing on what we have to do to win the series.”

    As for Sunday’s game, the Tigers fell behind 1-0 at the 4:09 mark of the first period, when Fix-Wolansky scored a short-handed goal with a backhand shot on a breakaway.

Captain Trey Fix-Wolansky celebrates his first period goal for the Oil Kings.

    Just 1:45 later, the Tigers evened things up at 1-1 on a goal from 17-year-old rookie left-winger Corson Hopwo.

    Early in the second, Tigers captain James Hamblin scored two goals 27 seconds apart from each other to put the hosts up 3-1.

    Just 25 seconds after that surge, Oil Kings defenceman Wyatt McLeod scored to cut the Tigers edge to 3-2.

    Offensive defenceman Conner McDonald netted the equalizer for the Oil Kings to force a 3-3 tie 31 seconds into the third period. That set the stage for Loschiavo to net the winner in overtime.

    Mads Sogaard made 33 saves to take the setback in goal for the Tigers. Todd Scott turned away 26 shots to pick up the win in net for the Oil Kings.

The fans at the Canalta Centre salute the Tigers.

    The result of Sunday’s game brought an end to the WHL careers of the Tigers overage players in Ryan Jevne, Dylan MacPherson and Linus Nassen.

    The Oil Kings finished first in the Central Division with a 42-18-4-4 record and were favoured to beat the Tigers, who placed fourth in the Central with a 35-27-4-2 mark.

    “I guess when you don’t win it is disappointing,” said Clouston. “I think we battled.

    “I think there were times where it looked like Edmonton was going to take the series right over early, but they didn’t. We were able to continue to battle. I’m proud of our effort and disappointed in the final outcome.”

The Tigers and Oil Kings engage in post-series handshakes.

    Sillinger said he learned how important it is to keep battling in the WHL playoffs no matter what was happening to his team.

    “One thing I am going to take away from it is just never give up,” said Sillinger. “That is one thing we did all series.

    “You can’t get too high with your emotions. You can’t get too low, when you are down. I think that is something that we did tonight.

    “I think that will be the biggest thing I’ll take away from the experience of playoffs.”

The Oil Kings celebrate their OT victory and first round series win.

    Edmonton advances to a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series to play the winner of the first round series between the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Calgary Hitmen. 

    The series between the Hurricanes and Hitmen is tied 3-3 and will require a series-deciding Game 7 to be held on Tuesday in Lethbridge.

    Next season will be the Tigers 50^th anniversary campaign in the WHL, and Sillinger can’t wait to hit the ice for that unique season.

    “That will be something special,” said Sillinger. “We’ll for sure have high goals for that.

    “We’ll have lots of these guys back. We’ll be really hungry.”

Ridley could reach 4,000 games next season

Bob Ridley called his 3,935th game as the Tigers play-by-play voice.

    When the Medicine Hat Tigers play through their 50^th anniversary season in 2019-20, one of the biggest celebrations might revolve around Bob Ridley, who is the only play-by-play voice the team has ever had.

    Ridley, who will be 75-years-old during the 2019-20 campaign, is in position to call his 4,000^th game as the Tigers play-by-play voice next season.

    In the 49 campaigns the Tigers have played, Ridley has called 3,935 of the club’s 3,936 games. That tally includes action in the regular season, standings tiebreaker games, WHL playoffs and the Memorial Cup tournament.

    Ridley has called 3,503 of the Tigers 3,504 regular season games, the one standings tiebreaker game the club has appeared in, all of their 411 games in the WHL playoffs and all 20 of their contests in the Memorial Cup.

    At the moment, the Tigers 65^th game in the upcoming regular season would be Ridley’s 4,000^th game.

    Of course, Ridley drove the Tigers team bus for most of that stretch.

    No one has called more games as the play-by-play voice of one hockey team at any level as Ridley has.

    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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Ridley set to call 3,900th game for Tigers

Bob Ridley has called 3,899 games for the Tigers.

    Bob Ridley is “the Dean” of major junior hockey broadcasters, and the iconic play-by-play voice of the Medicine Hat Tigers is on the verge of another longevity milestone.

    On Wednesday when the Tigers host the Vancouver Giants at 7 p.m. local time at the Canalta Centre, Ridley will call his 3,900^th game as the play-by-play voice of the Tigers. The 74-year-old is the only play-by-play voice in the history of the WHL’s Tigers, who are playing through their 49th season of existence.

    No one is close to his mark for games called as the play-by-play voice of one hockey team at any level.

    To date, Ridley has called 3,473 of the Tigers 3,474 regular season games. His total also includes the one standings tiebreaker game the club appeared in, all of the Tigers 405 games in the WHL playoffs and all 20 of their contests in the Memorial Cup tournament.

    The Tigers have appeared in the Memorial Cup in 1973, 1987, 1988, 2004 and 2007 and won the event in 1987 and 1988.

    As it stands already, someone could call 80 games on average between the regular season and playoffs each season for 48 seasons and still fall short of Ridley’s current total of 3,899 games called.

Bob Ridley, right, calls a game at the 2007 Memorial Cup.

    For most of his broadcasting career, Ridley drove the team bus as well. He gave up those duties about four years back.
    Of course, a number of WHL followers are watching to see if Ridley will reach 4,000 games called as the Tigers play-by-play voice. If the Tigers make the WHL playoffs this season, Ridley would be targeted to reach that milestone sometime near the end of the 2019-20 campaign, which would be the Tigers 50^th anniversary season.

    At present, 3,900 is an impressive number to hit and is a moment to be observed and celebrated.

    The Tigers have won their last three straight games to improve to 20-15-1-2. In their last outing on Sunday which was Ridley’s 3,899^th game, the Tigers rallied from a 4-2 third period deficit to down the Hurricanes in Lethbridge 5-4 after a tiebreaking shootout before 4,186 spectators at the Enmax Centre.

Ryan Jevne scored in regulation and the tiebreaking shootout for the Tigers.

    In regulation, Joel Craven scored twice for the Tigers, while Ryan Jevne and Elijah Brown has singles. Brown scored the equalizer that forced overtime with 2:02 remaining in the third period.
    Justin Hall, Nick Henry, Dylan Cozens and Jake Leschyshyn replied with singles for the Hurricanes.

    The Tigers claimed the tiebreaking shootout 2-1 after four rounds. Josh Williams and Jevne scored for the Tigers, while captain Jordy Bellerive replied for the Hurricanes.

    Jordan Hollett turned away 36 shots through 65 minutes of play and three shooters in the shootout to earn the win in goal for the Tigers. Reece Klassen stopped 31 shots over 65 minutes and two shooters in the shootout for Lethbridge as the Hurricanes record moved to 19-10-4-3.

Raiders undefeated home record comes to an end

Noah Gregor scored for the Raiders on Sunday.

    The Prince Albert Raiders saw their undefeated record at home come to an end at the hands of a hot goalie.

    On Sunday before a standing room crowd of 2,633 spectators at the 2,580 seat Art Hauser Centre, the Raiders fell 2-1 to the Regina Pats despite holding a 44-13 edge in shots on goal. The Raiders threw everything including the kitchen sink at Pats netminder Dean McNabb, but the Davidson, Sask., product made 43 saves to steal the win for the visitors.

    The Raiders, who had won five straight overall, were 17-0 at home heading into that contest, and their home record fell to 17-1 with the setback. Prince Albert still leads the entire WHL with a 33-3-0-1 record.

    Logan Nijhoff and overage defenceman Liam Schioler pushed the Pats out to a 2-0 lead at the 8:01 mark of the first period.

    Raiders overage star centre Noah Gregor netted his 24^th goal of the season at the 12:37 mark of the first period to cut the Pats lead to 2-1. Prince Albert couldn’t net the equalizer after that.

    Donovan Buskey made 11 saves to take the setback in goal for the Raiders.

    The Raiders were 0-for-7 on the power play, while the Pats failed to score on two power-play chances.

    The Pats, who are going through a major rebuild after hosting last season’s Memorial Cup and earning a berth in the 2017 WHL Championship series, have won three straight to improve to 12-24-0-1.

    On Monday, Gregor was named the WHL player of the week for the week ending Dec. 30. In three games, he had five goals, two assists and a plus-seven rating in the plus-minus department. He has points in his last six straight games recording 10 goals and 4 assists over that stretch.

    McNabb took WHL goaltender of the week honours for his effort against the Raiders, which was his lone appearance over the past week.

    The Raiders and Pats go at it again on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at the Brandt Centre in Regina.

Dach breaks slump in Blades romp

Kirby Dach broke out of a scoring slump for the Blades.

    Saskatoon Blades star centre Kirby Dach put the boots to a scoring slump.

    On Sunday, Dach had a goal and two assists as the Blades thumped the Broncos 9-3 before 2,400 spectators at the Innovation Credit Union i-Plex in Swift Current. With that outburst, Dach ended a string of where he went seven straight games without scoring a point.

    Before Sunday’s win over the Broncos, Dach’s last point came on Dec.7, when he recorded an assist in a 3-2 home ice loss at the SaskTel Centre to the visiting Moose Jaw Warriors.

    Dach leads the Blades in scoring piling up 15 goals and 30 assists appearing in all of the club’s 38 regular season games to date. During his seven-game stretch of not recording a point, Dach was still playing with a lot of energy and with more of a physical edge to counter the extra attention he receives from opponents. He wasn’t rewarded for his efforts on the scoresheet.
    In 109 career regular season games, Dach has 28 goals and 73 assists for 101 points for the Blades.

    Defenceman Nolan Kneen netted and a goal and three assists, while captain Chase Wouters had a goal and two assists for the Blades. Kristian Roykas-Marthinsen, Max Gerlach, Majid Kaddoura, Riley McKay, Zach Huber and Josh Paterson all recorded singles for the Blades.

    Kaddoura’s goal was the first of his WHL career. The Chestermere, Alta., product is a 17-year-old rookie defenceman.

    Billy Sowa, Matthew Culling and Joona Kiviniemi replied with singles for the Broncos. Sowa’s tally was the first goal of his WHL career. The Calgary, Alta., product is a 16-year-old rookie defenceman.

    Nolan Maier made 12 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Blades (22-11-5). Isaac Poulter turned away 38 shots to take the setback in goal for the majorly rebuilding Broncos (7-26-2-1).

    The two teams go at it again on Tuesday at 2 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    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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