COVID-19 puts Rockets on shelf

The Rockets have had their season halted by COVID-19.

COVID-19 has forced the Kelowna Rockets and the WHL to execute some audibles.

On Tuesday, the WHL announced there was a positive COVID-19 test to a hockey staff member of the Kelowna Rockets’ team cohort. As a result of this positive test, all team activities were suspended.

On Wednesday, more test results came in and six more members of the Rockets tested positive for COVID-19 including two hockey staff members and four players. The WHL also announced there were no other positive tests coming from the four other teams in the B.C. Division that are playing in the hub centres of Kelowna and Kamloops.

All team activities for the Rockets have been suspended for 14 days through to April 14.

After the first positive test came up on Tuesday, the Rockets players and hockey staff were immediately isolated and tested. That testing resulted in the positive tests that came out on Wednesday.

All close contacts have been instructed to self-quarantine and monitor for COVID-19 symptoms for 14 days.

Due to the Rockets having team activities suspended, the WHL postponed nine contests involving the Rockets along with Wednesday’s game between the Vancouver Giants and Prince George Cougars in Kamloops.

The WHL said the clash between the Giants and Cougars was postponed due to an abundance of caution.

The Rockets last game was on Sunday, when they were blanked by the Giants 6-0 in Kamloops. At the moment, the Rockets are next slated to play on April 17 against the Prince George Cougars in Kamloops.

On Thursday, the WHL announced another couple of schedule changes due to the fallout of the positive tests for the Rockets.

The WHL postponed an originally scheduled game between the Victoria Royals and Kamloops Blazers to be played in Kelowna. Instead, a clash between the Blazers and Cougars originally scheduled for Easter Sunday was rescheduled to be played Thursday in Kamloops.

Kaedan Korczak in action for the Rockets in 2019.

The Blazers downed the Cougars 6-1 in that contest.

The Rockets had played the Royals last Friday in Kelowna posting a 5-0 victory.

Back on March 18, the WHL announced there was a positive COVID-19 test in the Rockets team cohort during the initial return to play testing phase before the Rockets began their shortened 24-game regular season that is being held for developmental purposes.

The individual who tested positive and a close contact in the Rockets cohort entered into self-isolation. Due to the fact that positive test was discovered in initial testing, the rest of the Rockets team cohort were allowed to continue on in following the team’s return to play schedule and no games had to be postponed.

With the world still stuck in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the fact the WHL couldn’t avoid a positive test at some point doesn’t come as a surprise.

The bubble the B.C. Division teams are playing in isn’t exactly like the bubble the WHL’s East Division clubs are competing in at the Brandt Centre in Regina.

The seven teams in Regina are cut off from the public rooming in dorms at the University of Regina and Luther College.

In the B.C. Division bubble, the Rockets and Blazers players are staying with billet families. The Royals are cut off from the public staying at a hotel in Kelowna, and the Cougars and Giants are also cut off from the public staying in a hotel in Kamloops.

Even just the fact the Rockets weren’t totally cut off from the public increased the odds of a positive COVID-19 test, especially with more transmissible COVID-19 variants becoming a problem in Canada.

Props have to be given to the WHL and the Rockets for being as transparent as they have been with the positive tests.

It is safe to assume everyone associated with the Rockets were doing their best to try and avoid COVID-19. The positive tests were just one of those unfortunate things that happened.

WHL places 10 on Canada’s under-18 team for worlds

Nolan Allan in action for the Raiders in 2019.

It appears the International Ice Hockey Federation’s under-18 men’s world championship is a go.

Nixed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the under-18 worlds are slated to run this year from April 26 to May 6 in Frisco and Plano, Texas.

On Thursday, Hockey Canada announced its 25-player roster for its under-18 team, which includes 10 players from the WHL.

Heading the list of WHL representatives is Regina Pats phenom centre Connor Bedard, who is the only player to be granted exceptional status to play in the WHL full-time at age 15. Bedard has points in all 11 regular season games he has played with the Pats posting eight goals, 12 assists and a plus-six rating in the plus-minus department.

Bedard had an assist on Thursday as the Pats fell 7-2 to the Brandon Wheat Kings playing in a bubble environment at the Brandt Centre in Regina. He will play his last game with the Pats on April 9 against the Wheat Kings.

Also cracking the Canadian roster is 17-year-old centre and Regina product Cole Sillinger. Sillinger is a member of the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers, but he was loaned to the Sioux Falls Stampede in the USHL.

That decision was made due to the uncertainty earlier in the 2020-21 campaign about the WHL playing a season. In 27 games with the Stampede, Sillinger has 21 goals, 20 assists and a plus-six rating. The Stampede is based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The Canadian roster also includes Prince Albert Raiders 17-year-old defenceman Nolan Allan, who is from Davidson, Sask.

Allan has played in all of the Raiders 10 games collecting one assist.

Prior to traveling to Frisco on April 17, players and staff will self-isolate at home starting on April 12 and will be tested for COVID-19 three times.

Upon arrival in Texas, all team personnel will quarantine for four days at a hotel before starting a pre-tournament camp on April 21. Canada will on take part in one pre-tournament contests slated for April 24 against Finland.

Canada opens its preliminary round schedule on April 27 taking on Sweden in Plano, Texas.

It should be noted that it probably doesn’t come as a surprise that this event is being played in Texas, because that state arguably operates with the loosest COVID-19 restrictions in the world.

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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Not all backburner items done in pandemic times

A Roughriders scoreboard clock that has never been used.

Maybe my Saskatchewan Roughriders scoreboard clock needs to be more out of sight out of mind.

Every time I open my closet, I look up to the top shelf, and it just seems to stare down at me. The scoreboard clock was a Christmas gift I received around 2010, when I was still living in Medicine Hat, Alta, working as a sports reporter for the Medicine Hat News.

Back at my old home in Medicine Hat, it sat in its box in my closet unused. I always vowed I was going to hang it up somewhere, but that never seemed to happen with my busy schedule in “the Gas City.”

In the summer of 2014, I moved to Saskatoon to be closer to family. That scoreboard clock has sat on the top shelf of my bedroom closet of my Saskatoon home since that time.

I actually don’t have a place in Saskatoon to hang it. As a result, my plans for the scoreboard clock changed.

One day, I was going to take the time to actually plug it in to see if it still worked. If it still worked, I was going to put it for sale on Facebook Marketplace or eBay.

I figured it would be worth $20 to someone.

Before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hit, I was visiting a sports memorabilia store at Market Mall in Saskatoon. I was talking with the store owner, when he answered a phone call.

The phone call was a quick one, where the store owner told the person on the other end of the line he didn’t have what that person was looking for. After hanging up the phone, the store owner told me the caller was looking for a Saskatchewan Roughriders scoreboard clock.

My old basement fun room in Regina back in 2000.

If the store owner took that person’s name and number, I could have sold that person the one I had.

When the restrictions for the COVID-19 pandemic started to increase in intensity in March of 2020, I made a list of things I wanted to do in my head as my schedule got lighter.

The list in my head including a number of backburner projects along with revisiting some old fun pastimes I haven’t engaged in for years.

I have been able to tackle some backburner projects and revisit some old fun pastimes.

With that said, I have been able to keep busy during the COVID-19 pandemic with my work as the communications coordinator with the Gordie Howe Sports Complex and writing stories and columns for this blog.

Sports related freelance reporting opportunities still pops up here and there too.

Before the pandemic hit, I would say I was at a state where I was life-consumed busy.

These days, I am comfortably busy, which does allow me to have free time.

Even with the free time, I haven’t had a chance to tackle all the backburner projects or old fun pastimes.

One backburner project is dealing with the Roughriders scoreboard clock. Actually looking in my basement, I have a whole bunch of old sports collectables I really should clear out.

Some of the collectables are old posters and pictures that used to line the walls of my basement fun room, when I lived in Regina and went to school at the University of Regina.

Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby in collectable form.

One of the posters is like a wall sized one of Joe Montana from the 1980s, when he played for the NFL’s San Francisco 49ERS. That hasn’t seen the light of day in two decades.

Other collectables I need to find a new home for include an extra Mario Lemieux bobblehead doll from when Canada’s men’s hockey team won gold at the 2002 Winter Olympics, an extra McFarlane figure of Sidney Crosby celebrating his golden goal for Canada’s men’s hockey team at the 2010 Winter Olympics and extra Roughriders gear from their Grey Cup wins in 2007 and 2013 as CFL champions.

I have a handful of old toys I should try and clear out too.

Of course, the Transformers I have from the 1980s stay.

I should make time and set up posts for one or two items just to get started.

When the pandemic ends, it is possible some of those items could be donated to be used as silent auction items for sports fundraisers.

If I had to, I know of stores in Saskatoon that could resell those collectables. The worry is always there about dealing with a move all of a sudden, which would mean selling those items off at 10-cents on the dollar.

I understand business. Those stores have to cover overhead somewhere. Best part is they are run by good people.

On the fun pastime side, I still haven’t fired up the old Sega Genesis to play NHL 94. I even have the adapter to allow four players to play the game at once, when the Public Health Orders change to allow friends to gather inside homes again.

An NHL 94 cartridge.

I actually have two cartridges for NHL 94, because I fried the memory on my original due to playing it so much back in the day.

Of course, Teemu Selanne is in that game and his attributes were based fresh of his NHL record 76-goal rookie season with the Winnipeg Jets. Of course, I would use the Jets.

When I want to beat friends, I would usually use the Montreal Canadiens. While that game was made fresh off the Canadiens winning the 1993 Stanley Cup, they weren’t the most talented team in the game outside of the fact Patrick Roy was a cheat code in goal.

I did get really good with using the Canadiens and being able to set up one-times with every line on that team. When I played against friends, I usually won when I used the Canadiens.

As the pandemic goes on, who knows if I will revisit these items. If I had already revisited these items, it would have meant my work front was really dead.

In the grand scheme of things for me, it is good to be comfortable busy.

Shortened WHL season to show off players, other notes

Chase Wouters has been a career member of the Blades.

It appears a shortened 2020-21 WHL campaign might just be a showcase event for the players.

Late Friday night, the WHL announced that the circuit’s board of governors has made a commitment to play a 2020-21 WHL regular season. The start date for the 2020-21 regular season has been pushed back a number of times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Currently, a start date for the 2020-21 WHL campaign hasn’t been made due to current restrictions the four provinces in Canada and two states in United States have in place to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2020-21 WHL regular season will consist of 24 games for each team. Competition will be limited regionally inside each of the circuit’s four divisions.

Starting on Monday, various executives in the WHL have been making the rounds on the media circuit to talk about the potential 2020-21 campaign.

Pat McKay of CTV Saskatoon talked with Saskatoon Blades general manager Colin Priestner for a story that appeared on Monday on CTV’s web platform.

Priestner said there won’t be any fans in the stands. Following the regular season, Priestner said there could be a divisional playoff, but he couldn’t see a post-season that would see the Ed Chynoweth Cup handed out to a league champion.

The Blades GM added nothing has been decided on the post-season front and noted there are a lot of other variables that still need to be worked out including protocols, safety, insurance, logistics, roster sizes and what happens if things get shut down after starting up.

Gregg Drinnan put out a couple of media round up pieces on his Taking Note blog regarding the developments around the WHL at the start of this week. On Tuesday, Drinnan came across a report from Travis Lowe of CHBC-TV in Kelowna, B.C.

Lowe had interviewed Bruce Hamilton, who is the general manager and owner of the Kelowna Rockets and the chairman of the WHL’s board of governors. Hamilton said the new season probably wouldn’t get started until the end of February or early March.

Drinnan also wrote he heard from a source the Prince George Cougars could play the season out of Kamloops, while the Victoria Royals could play their campaign out of Kelowna. The league is looking at cutting down on travel in B.C.

Cole Sillinger in action for the Tigers in 2020.

There were also a couple of other developments.

On Tuesday, the Lethbridge Hurricanes sent out a release saying they will be issuing full refunds to everyone who purchased season tickets for the 2020-21 campaign.

On Wednesday, the Medicine Hat Tigers announced they were releasing their star NHL Entry Draft eligible 17-year-old centre Cole Sillinger to the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL. Sillinger is slated to return to Medicine Hat the conclusion of the 2020-21 campaign.

Last season, Sillinger had 22 goals, 31 assists and a plus-19 rating in the plus-minus department in 48 regular season games with the Tigers.

“Each situation is unique and with Cole having dual citizenship, it was felt that this option would give him the best ability to showcase his talent for the upcoming NHL Draft,” said Tigers general manager and head coach Willie Desjardins in a release.

If the WHL does pull off a 2020-21 season, it will basically allow players to put their talents on display for NHL clubs or put together film for other professional opportunities or to show off for U Sports teams.

It would also allow players like Blades 20-year-old captain Chase Wouters to give the circuit and his team a farewell. Wouters has been with the Blades for his entire WHL career becoming a full-time member of the club as a 16-year-old.

At this point in these pandemic times, the WHL is trying to salvage something for the 2020-21 campaign.

• Drinnan had two great round-up pieces regarding the developments in the WHL on Taking Note. His post from Monday can be found by clicking right here, and his post from Tuesday can be found by clicking right here.
• On Monday, the Red Deer Rebels announced Cam Moon, who has been the team’s play-by-play voice since 1998, has joined the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers as their radio announcer for the 2020-21 campaign. Moon’s first game will be Thursday, when the Oilers host the Vancouver Canucks for a second straight night. Moon called the Rebels 2001 Memorial Cup title win, and he held the role as the team’s director of broadcasts and media. Greg Meachem wrote a farewell piece on Moon for the Red Deer Rebels website, which can be found right here.
• On Monday, Skate Canada cancelled its 2021 National Skating Championships and Skate Canada Cup due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Skating Championships were slated to run Feb. 8-14 in Vancouver, B.C. The Skate Canada Cup was planned to be a virtual event in replacement of pre-novice and novice competitions at the 2021 Skate Canada Challenge.
• On Monday, defenceman Jay Bouwmeester announced his retirement from playing hockey in an interview he gave Pierre LeBrun of the Athletic. The 37-year-old Edmonton, Alta., product played 17 seasons in the NHL from 2002 to 2020 for the Florida Panthers, Calgary Flames and St. Louis Blues. He appeared in 1,240 regular season games collecting 88 goals and 336 assists for 424 points. Bouwmeester was a member of the Blues Stanley Cup winning team in 2019. Before joining the WHL, Bouwmeester starred for the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers from 1998 to 2002 appearing in 194 regular season games posting 40 goals and 111 assists for 151 points. Nearly a year ago, Bouwmeester collapsed on the Blues bench during a game due to a cardiac episode. He had surgery to install a defibrillator to restore his heart’s normal rhythm.
• I went live with a couple of posts for the Howe Happenings blog, which promotes the Gordie Howe Sports Complex, on Saturday. I wrote a post about the Saskatoon Short Mat Club moving to the facility, and that piece can be found by clicking right here. I included a piece on the Going Yard Training Centre, and it can be found by clicking right here.

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.

Desjardins still a perfect fit in Tigers’ saddle

Willie Desjardins is back behind the Tigers bench as HC and GM.

    The empathy poured out of Willie Desjardins for a fallen opponent, because he too has been on the wrong side of a blowout score.

    The legendary head coach and general manager of the Medicine Hat Tigers saw his squad bomb the host Saskatoon Blades 11-3 in a WHL regular season clash before 2,632 spectators at the SaskTel Centre on Tuesday. The win allowed Desjardins’ Tigers to improve to 21-8-1, while the Blades fell to 14-14-1-2.

    While Desjardins’ Tigers are known for their high-flying, skilled and exciting offensive style, the 62-year-old veteran bench boss thought things just snowballed on the opposition.

    “Everything we shot went in,” said Desjardins. “If you look at the chances, they were probably pretty even tonight.

Cyle McNabb had a hat trick and an assist for the Tigers.

    “We wouldn’t be dominating them. They went out and they would work hard and they would get scored on. It gets pretty deflating after a period of time.

    “They have a good organization. They have some really quality players. This was a tough night for them.”

    With that said, Desjardins is happy to be back behind the bench of the Tigers after being away from the club for nine seasons. The Tigers owners and brothers, Darrell and Brent Maser, brought Desjardins back into his old roles this past May as the club was set to embark on its 50^th anniversary season.

Cole Sillinger had three assists for the Tigers on Tuesday.

    During his first run with the team from 2002-2010, Desjardins cemented himself as “the” Tigers head coach and took on the general manager’s role before the start of the 2005-06 campaign. Under Desjardins guidance over that stretch, the Tigers posted a 323-176-60 regular season record and won WHL titles in 2004 and 2007.

    He departed the team to take on coaching stints in the NHL, AHL and one season with Canada’s senior national team, which won bronze at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Last season, Desjardins was the interim head coach of the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings before making his homecoming to the Alberta centre with a population around 62,000 people and the Tigers.

    “Medicine Hat is a great city,” said Desjardins. “I like the franchise a lot.

    “For me, it is always great when you can be part of this franchise. More than that, I have a really good group of guys and a great staff. It has been nice for me to come into something like that.”

Garin Bjorklund made 20 saves in goal for the Tigers on Tuesday.

    Desjardins said Medicine Hat has always been great to him, his wife, Rhonda Carlson, their sons, Brayden and Jayce and daughter Sheehan. While the family was away, they always ensured to maintain roots in “the Gas City.”

    “We always kept our house, so we were always there in the summers,” said Desjardins. “It wasn’t like we had ever left.

    “It wasn’t like we had ever been gone from Medicine Hat. We were there every year back for the summers, so we were always part of it.”

    Desjardins took over a Tigers team that posted a 35-27-4-2 record last season and fell 4-2 to the Edmonton Oil Kings in a best-of-seven first round playoff series. The Tigers were reloading for what they hoped would be another breakout season, and Desjardins said he walked into a good situation.

Bryan Lockner scored a pair of goals for the Tigers on Tuesday.

    “I think we have a good group of guys,” said Desjardins. “I think we have good structure.

    “I think we have a good staff here. I think (assistant coaches) Joey (Frazer) and Ryan (Smith) do a great job with them. I think they’ve brought a lot of structure from last year that I was able to walk into, and that is important.

    “I think people are probably surprised at how many goals we scored. Our ‘D’ weren’t noted for being offensive ‘D.’ They were known for being pretty defensive, but they’ve found a way to contribute offensively this year.”

    Desjardins also inherited 16-year-old standout rookie left-winger Cole Sillinger. Sillinger had three assists in Tuesday’s win and has piled up 11 goals, 17 assists and a plus-11 rating in the plus-minus department in 25 regular season games in the current campaign.

Tigers HC and GM Willie Desjardins give instructions to his players.

    Sillinger played for Team Canada White at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge that ran Nov. 2 to 9 in Medicine Hat and Swift Current, Sask.

    “The thing I say about Sillinger and the biggest compliment is you don’t even treat him as a 16-year-old,” said Desjardins. “He plays heavy, a heavy game.

    “He plays like an 18-year-old the way he plays. I think he has been good. He has missed some games for the under-17s, but when he has been here, he has been very good for us.”

    While Desjardins saw that he had a good hand coming back to the Tigers, he didn’t expect the season to start out as well as it has.

    “It surprised me a little bit, and I think the thing for us is it is just one game at a time,” said Desjardins. “We’ve been beaten badly by some teams, so it is not like we haven’t had our share of games like this.

Tigers captain James Hamblin had five assists on Tuesday.

    “We lost 5-0 at home (to the Everett Silvertips on Saturday). We lost 4-0 at home (to the Brandon Wheat Kings on Nov. 19). Those are big losses at home as well, so it was a tough one for the Blades, but we’ve had that in our rink.

    “We have a long ways to go to be a top team.”

    As for Tuesday’s game itself, the Tigers stormed out to a 5-0 lead in the first period.

    The surge chased Blades starter Nolan Maier from the Saskatoon goal. He stopped 7-of-12 shots sent his way.

    Koen MacInnes started the second period for Saskatoon and played the rest of the way in relief. He turned away 20 of 26 shots sent in his direction.

The Tigers celebrate a goal from Lukas Svejkovsky (#20).

    The Tigers held an 8-2 edge after the second period and cruised to their 11-3 victory from there.

    Right-winger Cyle McNabb, who was traded to the Tigers by the Blades on Nov. 26, had a hat trick and an assist for the Medicine Hat side. Lukas Svejkovsky and Bryan Lockner each had two-goal nights for the Tigers, while Brett Kemp, Ryan Chyzowski, Elijah Brown and Daniel Baker all had singles.

    Tigers captain James Hamblin picked up five assists in the romp.

    The Tigers played their fourth line of left-winger Nick McCarry, centre Baxter Anderson and right-winger Noah Danielson a tonne in the third period.

    Captain Chase Wouters had a pair of goals for the Blades, while 16-year-old rookie Jayden Wiens netted a single.

    Garin Bjorklund stopped 20-of-23 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Tigers. Associate player call up Evan Fradette was inserted in net at the media break with 9:05 remaining in the third period and stopped two shots in his relief appearance.

Daniel Baker scored a goal for the Tigers on Tuesday.

    The Tigers travel to Prince Albert on Wednesday to face the defending WHL champion Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

    The Blades are back in action on Friday when they host the Kamloops Blazers at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

    As the Tigers march through their 50^th season, Desjardins said he isn’t one to look too far ahead. With that noted, he is looking forward to Bob Ridley potentially reaching 4,000 games called near the end of the regular season.

    Tuesday’s game marked the 3,965^th game Ridley has call as the Tigers play-by-play voice in the regular season, one standings tiebreaking game, the WHL playoffs and the Memorial Cup tournament. Ridley has been the team’s only play-by-play voice, and he has only missed one game.

Overager D Parker Gavlas patrols the Tigers back end.

    In 1972, Ridley was assigned by the CHAT radio and television outlet in Medicine Hat to go to Saskatoon to cover the national women’s curling championships. A Medicine Hat rink was the Alberta champion representative, and that squad was skipped by Polly Beaton.

    The foursome had a lead named Terry Kope, who was the wife of the station’s general manager.

    Due to that connection, Ridley was dispatched to Saskatoon and had to miss calling one Tigers regular season game. Ridley drove the Tigers team bus for most of his career too.

    “I think it is a real accomplishment for Bob Ridley,” said Desjardins “What he has done in this game is incredible.

    “How does anybody go 3,900 and some games and only miss one game? Like surely he can be sick sometime along the line or whatever, but never. He wasn’t sick.

Tigers RW Cyle McNabb is stopped on this backhand attempt.

    “He is a big part of the 50 years.”

    Desjardins credited the Maser family for being a big part of the Tigers success as the team owners. Darrell and Brent inherited the team from their late father, George.

    George was part of the ownership group that founded the Tigers in 1970 with Rod Carry and Joe Fisher. George became the sole owner in 1979, and the Tigers have remained owned by the Maser family since that time.

    “The Masers are a great family,” said Desjardins, who was the captain of the 1982-83 U Sports national champion University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team. “They’ve had the franchise the whole time.

The Tigers celebrate their win on Tuesday night.

    “I can’t say enough about them and what they’ve brought to Medicine Hat.”

    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.

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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