Corkish hatty puts Raiders one win away from WHL final

Tigers fall 6-3 in Game 5 of Eastern Conference final

The Raiders celebrate a hat trick goal from Owen Corkish (#32).

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Owen Corkish capitalized on his moment to be the x-factor for the Prince Albert Raiders.

On Friday night playing before a raucous sellout crowd of 3,299 spectators at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre, Corkish, who is an 18-year-old rookie left-winger, delivered his first WHL hat trick in either regular season or post-season play. The Cottage Grove, Minnesota, product’s three-goal night powered the host Raiders to a 6-3 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers in Game 5 of the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series.

With the Raiders clinging to a 4-3 lead late in the third period, Corkish fired home a shot from his own zone into an empty Tigers net with 2:31 remaining in the third period to complete his hat trick. Following that tally, hats rained down from the Raiders faithful at the Hauser in celebration of that goal.

Owen Corkish (#32) breaks away from Noah Davidson (#39).

“I just put one and one together and tried to go for it and see what happens,” said Corkish. “Fortunately, it went in.”

If there was going to be any other drama, Raiders 20-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube wrapped home an empty-net tally with 1:29 remaining in the third to round out the 6-3 final score in favour of the Prince Albert side.

With the win, the Raiders take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven set with the Tigers. They will try to close the series out in Game 6 on Sunday at 6 p.m. local time at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat.

Before looking forward to Game 6, Corkish said his hat trick performance in Game 5 ranks up there with the biggest hockey games he has ever had.

Owen Corkish sets to score his long distance empty-net goal.

“It is definitely one of them,” said Corkish. “I’m fortunate enough to have the night I had with the guys around me.

“I couldn’t have done it without those guys. We have such a tight group and such an amazing group that it could have been any one of those guys tonight. I’m just proud to be a part of this group.”

The Raiders came storming out of the gate. At the five-minute mark of the opening frame, standout 17-year-old right-winger Jonah Sivertson had the puck in the left corner of the Medicine Hat and passed it to linemate Alisher Sarkenov in front of the goal. Sarkenov quickly blasted the puck home to put the host side up 1-0.

Prince Albert outshot Medicine Hat 16-3 in the opening 20 minutes, but the Tigers were able to force a 1-1 tie before the stanza came to a close. With 2:50 remaining in the first, Tigers star 19-year-old defenceman Jonas Woo popped home a puck close in at the left side of the Prince Albert net for the equalizer.

Jonas Woo scored the Tigers first goal on Friday.

“We let them get off to a great start, which we can’t do in their building,” said Tigers legendary head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins. “We were so lucky to come out 1-1.”

While 18-year-old rookie netminder Carter Casey came up big in the opening frame, he couldn’t keep the Raiders at bay forever.

Just 22 seconds into the second period, Corkish tipped home a point shot from Raiders captain Justice Christensen to give the hosts a 2-1 lead. Raiders 16-year-old rookie right-winger Ben Harvey then tapped home a puck at the right side of Medicine Hat net to push Prince Albert’s advantage to 3-1 at the 8:57 mark of the frame. Harvey converted a beauty setup pass from linemate Maddix McCagherty from the left side boards in the Medicine Hat zone.

Alisher Sarkenov scored the Raiders first goal on Friday.

With 6:24 remaining in the second, Corkish picked up his second goal of the contest banging home the rebound of his own shot in front of the Medicine Hat net. Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald was pleased with the play of the line of Corkish, 20-year-old star centre Aiden Oiring and Dube calling them dynamic. Dube finished with an assist to go with his goal, while Oiring had one helper.

“I thought their line did a great job tonight,” said McDonald. “They were on the right side of pucks.

“They checked really well. They got their offensive chances, and they capitalized on them and really used their speed tonight.”

The Tigers proceeded to battle back in the third. 

Just 1:55 into the frame, a shot from Tigers 19-year-old left-winger Cam Parr deflected off the skate of 20-year-old right-winger Ethan Neutens into the Prince Albert net to cut the Raiders lead to 4-2.

Ethan Neutens scored for the Tigers on Friday.

At the 9:19 mark of the third, Tigers right-winger Carter Cunningham put a shot on goal from the left side of the Raiders net that was stopped by Raiders star import netminder Michal Orsulak. The puck rebounded to the right side of the net to Tigers 20-year-old rearguard Josh Van Mulligen. Van Mulligen fired home the rebound to trim the Raiders advantage down to 4-3.

While the Tigers have posted their share of comeback victories this season, they weren’t able to rally back any further on this night. The tallies by Neutens and Van Mulligen set the stage for the Raiders two empty-net markers to close the contest out.

Desjardins was pleased to see his squad battle back to make the contest a one-goal game again in the third.

“We got the first one,” said Desjardins. “You knew you had a chance.

Ben Harvey had a goal for the Raiders on Friday.

“Then, we got the second. We had some looks to get the third as well. We just didn’t get it.

“They bent a little bit, but they didn’t break. They stayed with their game plan, and they were able to pull it out.”

McDonald was happy to see there was no panic coming from his Raiders side after the Tigers pulled to within 4-3.

“They’re a good team,” said McDonald. “You can’t give them chances.

“They have the ability to put them in the back of the net. I really liked our guys’ calmness tonight. They got those two in the third, and guys were even keel.

“We just continued to go about our business and continued to win our battles and lock it down.”

Brayden Dube had one goal and one assist for the Raiders.

Orsulak stopped 25 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Casey turned away 41-of-45 shots to take the setback in net for the Tigers.

Prince Albert also held a 49-21 advantage in the faceoff circle.

During the regular season, the Raiders topped the Eastern Conference, claimed the East Division title and finished second overall in the WHL with a 52-10-5-1 mark. They were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Tigers, who are the defending WHL champions, finished second in the Eastern Conference, captured the Central Division title and finished third overall in the WHL during the regular season with a 50-10-5-3 mark. They were rated fifth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Tigers enjoy a goal from Josh Van Mulligen (#22).

The Raiders and Tigers met four times in the 2025-26 regular season. Each side claimed two regulation time wins including one victory at home and one the road. Each side scored 16 goals in those four head-to-head contests.

The winner of the Eastern Conference final will face the Everett Silvertips in the best-of-seven WHL Championship Series. The Silvertips swept the Penticton Vees 4-0 in the Western Conference Championship Series. Everett was rated first in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

Looking towards Game 6, Desjardins wants his team to be better in a couple of areas.

Fans at the Art Hauser Centre cheer on the Raiders.

“We’ve got to be more aggressive,” said Desjardins. “They’ve got lots of speed and the worst thing with speed is to back up.

“You’ve got to be aggressive on speed and gap up and handle it. We’ve got to be better in the faceoff circle too. They were really good in the faceoff circle.

“Give them credit, but they’ve got to win another one.”

The Raiders celebrate their win on Friday.

While the Raiders will try to clinch the series and the Eastern Conference title on Sunday, Corkish said his squad has to focus on business as usual on the ice.

“I think there is nothing we’ve got to overcomplicate,” said Corkish. “I think we’ve just got to simplify our game and keep doing what we’re doing, and it is going to turn out good.”

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Rudolph’s house – D-man’s four points powers Raiders victory

WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series tied 2-2

Daxon Rudolph (#10) his second of two goals on Wednesday.

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – Co-op Place was Daxon Rudolph’s house.

The Prince Albert Raiders star defenceman had a monster game when his team needed it the most. On Wednesday playing in Game 4 of a WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series, Rudolph had a pair of power-play goals and two assists to power his Raiders to 6-3 victory over the host Medicine Hat Tigers to the disappointment of most of the 5,324 spectators in attendance at Co-op Place outside of a sizable contingent of Raiders supporters.

With the win, the Raiders even the best-of-seven series at 2-2. Game 5 is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert. Prince Albert picked up the victory after dropping a 2-1 heartbreaker in overtime to the Tigers in Game 3.

Daxon Rudolph had two goals and two assists on Wednesday.

“Obviously, we didn’t get the result we wanted last night, so we knew tonight was going to be a big one,” said Rudolph, who turned 18-years-old in early March. “We had to even the series up before heading home.

“We gave it our all out there. For myself, I felt really good from the get go. I happened to put a couple in the net and help others as well.

“It felt good for myself and then the team holding out to get the win.”

It was obvious early in the contest that Rudolph had a good jump. In the opening moments of the first period, he went coast to coast on a rush and was stoned by a left pad save from Tigers sophomore netminder Jordan Switzer.

Rudolph, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 202 pounds, wasn’t going to be kept off the scoreboard for long. At the 10:16 mark of the first, the Lacombe, Alta., product fired home a point shot through a screen to give the Raiders a 1-0 lead.

Daxon Rudolph has 19 points in 13 games in the WHL Playoffs.

Tigers 20-year-old right-winger Ethan Neutens said his squad likely didn’t do the best job of tracking the Raiders rearguard.

“I think he (Rudolph) is a good player,” said Neutens. “All credit to him, and their team.

“They’ve got a good power-play unit. They are a skilled team. They are fast, and I think we just didn’t do as good of a job as we usually do or can of containing him.

“I think moving forward we have to realize that those are the type of players that we have to contain to help us be successful in our game.”

Daxon Rudolph is a top prospect for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.

Just 84 seconds after Rudolph’s first tally, Raiders 19-year-old centre Evan Smith fired home a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle to push the Raiders lead out to 2-0.

Medicine Hat put a halt to the Raiders momentum eight seconds later on a positive break goal from 17-year-old centre Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll. Gordon-Carroll was attempting to one-time a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle, but he partially fanned on the attempt.

Raiders star rookie import netminder Michal Orsulak misjudged what turned out to be an off-speed shot and the puck went between his legs into the Prince Albert net to cut the visitor’s lead to 2-1. That just set the stage for Rudolph to have his next big moment in the contest.

The Raiders contigent at Co-op Place salutes their team.

Just 25 seconds into the second period and working on the power play, Rudolph burst into the Medicine Hat zone on a rush, used a Tigers defender as a screen and wired a bullet to the top right corner of the Medicine Hat net to push the Raiders lead out to 3-1.

“He (Rudolph) is just a good hockey player,” said Tigers legendary head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins. “He is going to score.

“He could have had three in the first game (in Medicine Hat on Tuesday). He had so many chances the first night. He just didn’t score.

Josh Van Mulligen had a pair of assists for the Tigers.

“He is a good player. You have to be aware of that. I don’t think we played our best coming back and finding guys.”

Rudolph would pick up his first assist of the night on the Raiders next tally at the 4:15 mark of the second. He got the puck to defensive partner and Raiders captain Justice Christensen at the left side boards in the Medicine Hat zone.

Christensen fired a shot that rebounded out to the right side of the net to Tigers 20-year-old star centre Aiden Oiring. Oiring popped the puck home into an empty cage to put the Raiders advantage out to 4-1.

At that point, the Tigers elected to pull Switzer, who turned away 12-of-16 shots to take the setback in net. Carter Casey played the rest of the way in relief turning away 18-of-20 shots sent his way.

The Tigers celebrate a goal from Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll (#11).

Casey would fall victim by a great play from Rudolph just 2:18 after entering the contest. Working the puck in the Medicine Hat zone, Rudolph took a pass from Christensen and jetted down the right side boards low to the right side of the Tigers net.

The skilled blue-liner put a pass across the face of the cage to Raiders standout left-winger Maddix McCagherty. McCagherty tapped the puck into the empty side of the net to make the visitors lead sit at 5-1.

Gordon-Carroll admitted that Rudolph was on a roll on Wednesday.

“Obviously, he (Rudolph) is a great player,” said Gordon-Carroll. “A great player is going to make plays.

Aiden Oiring does a fly by after scoring a goal for the Raiders.

“He has a big game tonight, so we got to go out next game and focus on him.”

Rudolph said all players want to have big outings in the playoffs. After Tigers star right-winger Liam Ruck scored the overtime winner for his side in Game 3, Rudolph said he was inspired to try to have a difference-making performance in Game 4.

“I think that kind of brings the best out of everyone,” said Rudolph, who is a top prospect for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft set for June 26 and 27 in Buffalo, New York. “I saw an interview of Liam (Ruck) last night saying everyone wants to be a big player in a big moment.

“It is no different for me just like he said. Everyone wants to step up in the playoffs, and I think it is a big part of who I am. When it really matters, I think I step up really well and can play some of my best hockey.”

Maddix McCagherty had a goal for the Raiders.

The Tigers attempted to battle back as Neutens scored 25 seconds after McCagherty’s tally to trim the Raiders edge to 5-2.

Max Heise tallied for the Raiders at the 9:07 mark of the third, and Gordon-Carroll picked up his second of the contest with 4:40 remaining in the stanza to round out the 6-3 final score in favour of the Raiders.

Orsulak stopped 23 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Christensen and star centre Braeden Cootes each finished with two assists for Prince Albert. Local product and 20-year-old defenceman Josh Van Mulligen had a pair of helpers for the Tigers.

Medicine Hat late scratched Ruck before Wednesday’s game and also scratched import defenceman Niilopekka Muhonen with undisclosed ailments.

Max Heise had a third period goal for the Raiders.

Still, Wednesday night was a night that belonged to Rudolph. Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald said his star defenceman was on point in all facets of his game.

“Offensively, he chips in with his goals and assists and a big time shot on the power play to get us started,” said McDonald. “He just continues to elevate his game as it goes on.

“He defends extremely hard. Anytime things might have got hairy for us out there, he was able to calm it down, him and his partner (Christensen) and continue to get pucks going in the right direction.”

During the regular season, the Raiders topped the Eastern Conference, claimed the East Division title and finished second overall in the WHL with a 52-10-5-1 mark. They were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

Justice Christensen had two assists for the Raiders.

The Tigers, who are the defending WHL champions, finished second in the Eastern Conference, captured the Central Division title and finished third overall in the WHL during the regular season with a 50-10-5-3 mark. They were rated fifth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Raiders and Tigers met four times in the 2025-26 regular season. Each side claimed two regulation time wins including one victory at home and one the road. Each side scored 16 goals in those four head-to-head contests.

The winner of the Eastern Conference final will face the Everett Silvertips in the best-of-seven WHL Championship Series. The Silvertips swept the Penticton Vees 4-0 in the Western Conference Championship Series.

Heading back to the Hauser for Game 5, Rudolph said the series is at a new beginning.

“Obviously, they took one in our barn, so we knew we had to get one here in their rink,” said Rudolph, who has eight goals and 11 assists in 13 post-season contests. “It is important to tie this one up and have a fresh start heading back home.

The Raiders head to their dressing room all smiles after their win.

“(It is) a best-of-three series now. It all starts at zeros again, and we’ll keep battling.”

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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Biggest win of the season

Blades down Tigers 3-2 after tiebreaking shootout

The Blades celebrate their win over the Tigers on Friday.

If the Saskatoon Blades need a boost in the “believe” department, they got it against one of the best the CHL has to offer.

On Friday night playing before 4,263 spectators at the SaskTel Centre, the host Blades found themselves trailing the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers 2-1 late in the third period of a WHL regular season contest. The Tigers came into the contest sitting third overall in the WHL, leading the circuit’s Central Division and were rated fifth in the latest CHL Top 10 Rankings that were released on Tuesday.

Inside the final minute of the third, the Blades were working the puck in the Medicine Hat zone with star netminder Evan Gardner pulled for an extra skater. The Blades worked the puck down to star 17-year-old centre Cooper Williams, who was positioned off the right of the Medicine Hat net just above the icing line.

Cooper Williams scored with 55.8 seconds remaining in the third.

Williams ripped a shot from that spot past Tigers 18-year-old rookie netminder Carter Casey with 55.8 seconds remaining on the clock to force a 2-2 tie and overtime.

The two squads proceeded to skate through a five-minute three-versus-three overtime still locked in a 2-2 tie causing the contest to go to a tiebreaking shootout. Blades 18-year-old centre Hayden Harsanyi scored in the second round of the shootout and Gardner turned away all three shooters he faced to deliver the Blades to a 1-0 victory in the tiebreaking session and a 3-2 win in the contest overall.

The win allowed the Blades to improve to 24-16-3-1 to sit fifth overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Tigers saw their record move to 32-7-3-3 to remain third overall in the WHL and second overall in the Eastern Conference.

Hayden Harsanyi had the shootout winner for the Blades.

The Blades victory over the Tigers was both a gutty and surprising one. Saskatoon’s odds of pulling out the upset were hampered due to entering the contest having four defencemen out of the lineup due to injury.

The hosts were missing Derek Thurston and Jordan Martin due to upper body injuries and Isaac Poll and Kaden Allan due to lower body injuries. In order to take the ice with six defencemen, the Blades had to dress a pair of 16-year-old associate player call ups.

Julian Revel skated in his fourth game with the Blades having been brought in from the Edge School Under-18 Prep team in Calgary. Luke Dumas suited up in his second game for the Blades after being brought in from the Northern Alberta Xtreme Under-18 Prep team located in Devon, Alberta, which is just southwest of Edmonton.

Ethan Neutens scored to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.

The Tigers were missing a key member of their roster as captain Bryce Pickford was out with an upper body injury. Aside from Pickford’s absence, the Tigers had everyone else on their roster ready to be utilized.

While the Blades were incredibly short staffed on defence, they played the Tigers pretty much even up throughout the night on Friday.

The Tigers opened the game’s scoring at the 8:50 mark of the opening frame. Medicine Hat 20-year-old right-winger Ethan Neutens deflected home a point shot from rookie import 18-year-old left-winger Yaroslav Bryzgalov to give the visitors a one-goal edge.

While the visitors got the opening tally, they weren’t able to build their lead. The Tigers held an 11-10 edge in shots on goal after 20 minutes. Casey and Gardner locked things down in their respective nets resulting in Medicine Hat going into the first intermission holding just the one-goal edge from Neutens’ tally.

Hunter Laing scored the Blades first goal in the third period.

The netminders on both sides continued to shine in a scoreless second period that saw the Tigers hold an 11-5 edge in shots on goal. With about 7:40 remaining in the frame, Blades 19-year-old right-winger Hunter Laing appeared to pop home the equalizer, but the play had been blown dead with a scrum around the Medicine Hat net.

With about 30 seconds remaining in the second, 18-year-old centre Kazden Mathies had a pair of chances in close in front of the Medicine Hat net, but he was denied by Casey.

Just before the midway mark of the third period, the Blades were finally able to break through on to the scoreboard to force a 1-1 tie. Laing had the to the right of the Medicine Hat net just above the icing line close to the right side boards. He slipped home a shot to the short side over top of Casey’s shoulder for the equalizer.

Andrew Basha gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead with 8:01 left in the third.

After Laing got the Blades on even terms, it appeared Tigers 20-year-old star centre Andrew Basha delivered what could have been a dagger moment in the contest. With 8:01 remaining in the second, Basha fired a shot from the left side boards in the Saskatoon zone that Gardner got a piece of, but the puck fell into the crease and slowly slid across the goal-line into the Saskatoon net to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.

That set the stage for the dramatics where Williams netted the equalizer inside the final minute of the third and the Blades proceeded to get the win after the tiebreaking shootout.

Gardner stopped 27 shots over 65 minutes and all three shooters he faced in the shootout to pick up the win in goal for the Blades. Casey turned away 29 shots over 65 minutes and one of two shooters in the shootout to take the extra time setback in net for the Tigers.

Evan Gardner came up with a big performance in goal.

Both teams entered the contest having solid success on the power play only to come up empty in that department. The Blades failed to score on five opportunities with the man advantage, and the Tigers were unable to score on three of their own power-play chances.

The Tigers return to action on Saturday when they travel to Prince Albert to take on the 34-6-4 Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre). The Raiders, who are rated second in the CHL Top 10 Rankings, hold a two point lead over the Tigers for first in the Eastern Conference and second overall in the WHL. Prince Albert has a game in hand on Medicine Hat.

The Blades get back at it on Sunday when they travel to Edmonton to take on the 30-9-3-2 Oil Kings (4 p.m. local time, Rogers Place). The Oil Kings are rated sixth in the CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Blades were in good spirits after their win over the Tigers.

Throughout the 2025-26 campaign, the Blades have had a season that has been a bit all over the map. On Friday, they showed they can rise to the occasion and pick up wins over the elite in the WHL and by extension the CHL.

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 to be for Tigers, Knights win Memorial Cup

Experience gave London slight edge in CHL final

Experience matters.

In Sunday’s Memorial Cup championship game between the OHL champion London Knights and the WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers in Rimouski, Quebec, the Knights had an edge due to falling 4-3 to the host Saginaw Spirit in last year’s tournament final. A total of 13 players from the 2023-24 Knights returned to play for the 2024-25 Knights.

That included stars like Easton Cowan, captain Denver Barkey, Jacob Julien, Sam O’Reilly, Sam Dickinson and Oliver Bonk. While it can be argued the experience factor gave the Knights a slim edge over the Tigers, it was still an edge.

The Knights took a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes, pushed their advantage out to 4-0 in the second and posted a 4-1 victory over the Tigers before a sellout crowd of 4,512 spectators at Coliseum Sun Life Financial.

Another difference in the contest came down to the fact the Knights capitalized on their scoring chances. The Tigers had their scoring chances and weren’t able to finish them off. They outshot the OHL champs 32-24 in the contest.

The Knights benefitted from getting another stellar outing from overage netminder Austin Elliott, who came up with 31 saves. During the 2024-25 campaign that began with three games with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, Elliott had a spectacular 55-3 record including play in the WHL regular season, the OHL regular season and post-season and the Memorial Cup tournament.

During London’s five games at the Memorial Cup tournament, Elliott posted a 4-1 record, a 1.59 goals against average and a .943 save percentage. Between his time with the Blades and Knights, Elliott had a 7-1 career record against the Tigers.

Elliott’s journey to the OHL started after he was cut by the Blades and cleared WHL waivers. He was actually claimed on CHL waivers by the Barrie Colts, but the powerhouse Knights wanted to bring him to their squad.

On October 16, 2024, the Knights dealt a 14^th round selection in the 2026 OHL Draft and a conditional fifth round pick in the 2027 OHL Draft for Elliott. The puckstopper never played a game for the Colts and had a sensational run with the Knights that concluded with a Memorial Cup title win.

In Sunday’s game, London broke through on the scoreboard with 8:39 remaining in the first period. Knights defenceman Henry Brzustewicz fed a pass from his own blue line to spring Julien into the Medicine Hat zone on a breakaway. The 19-year-old centre went forehand to backhand and tucked the puck in behind Tigers star 20-year-old netminder Harrison Meneghin to give the Knights a 1-0 lead.

The Tigers came with a big push back after Julien’s goal which included veteran right-winger Ethan Neutens ringing the crossbar. The teams went into the first intermission with the Knights holding on to their one-goal edge.

In a crazy second period, the Tigers outshot the Knights 17-9 in the frame, but London outscored Medicine Hat 3-0 in the stanza.

At the 3:13 mark of the frame, O’Reilly had the puck down low in the right corner of the Medicine Hat zone and centred a pass to Cowan, who was streaking to the front of the Tigers goal. The star right-winger tapped the puck home to push the Knights edge out to 2-0.

Just 1:40 later, Dickinson poke checked the puck off the stick of Tigers star captain Oasiz Wiesblatt at the London blue line. Dickinson knocked the puck up ice enough to spring Barkey on a breakaway. Barkey went forehand to back to tuck the puck home to make the Knights advantage stand at 3-0.

At the 10:01 mark of the stanza, Cowan appeared to net his second goal of the contest, but the tally was waived off after the officials ruled O’Reilly bumped into Meneghin before setting up Cowan for the tally. The officials made an incidental contact ruling on O’Reilly, which nullified the goal.

With 7:52 remaining in the second, Barkey tallied on the power play for his second goal of the night. He fired home a mid range shot from the left side boards past a screened Meneghin to the top right corner of the Medicine Hat net to give London a 4-0 edge.

Just 2:43 into the third, Tigers superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna was finally able to solve Elliott. McKenna snapped home a shot from the front of the London net to trim the Knights lead to 4-1.

Gavin McKenna had the Tigers lone goal on Sunday.

The Knights at that point proceeded to trap things up through the centre ice zone and lock down the game defensively. While the Tigers were only able to hold a 4-3 edge in shots on goal for the frame, the Knights close out wasn’t all smooth.

With 5:21 remaining in the third, McKenna fired home a shot to the top left corner of the London net off a chance from the front of the goal. The officials reviewed the goal and determined Tigers star right-winger Ryder Ritchie knocked the puck down with a high stick earlier in the play causing McKenna’s tally to be disallowed. The officials added nine seconds to the clock before play resumed.

After that scare, the Knights closed out the contest.

Meneghin turned away 20 shots in the final major junior game of his career. The Tigers netminder had a remarkable post-season playing heroically after finding out his father, Derek, passed away after Medicine Hat’s final game of the regular season.

Cowan won the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as the MVP of the Memorial Cup tournament. In the five games the Knights played, he recorded three goals, four assists and a plus-three rating in the plus-minus category.

On top of being named the tournament MVP, Cowan was named to the tournament all-star team along with Barkey, Dickinson and Elliott. McKenna and star defenceman Tanner Molendyk were named to the tournament all-star team from the Tigers.

The Knights topped the OHL standings with a 55-11-2 mark and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings released on March 25. They advanced through the OHL Playoffs with a 16-1 record.

Medicine Hat finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 47-17-3-1 mark and posted a 16-2 record in the WHL Playoffs capturing the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions. The Tigers were rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Tigers overcame their share of adversities this season. They started out 1-4, and as they started to turn things around on the ice, the Tabbies had to battle through a massive amount of injuries.

Just when it looked like things were all ready to go full speed ahead at the end of the regular season, Meneghin’s father passed away. The Tigers rallied around their netminder, who was named the MVP of the WHL Playoffs. When the Tigers were being presented the Ed Chynoweth Cup, Wiesblatt waved Meneghin in to accept and be the first to lift the trophy.

Including play in the WHL regular season, the WHL Playoffs and the Memorial Cup tournament, the Tigers won 47 of their last 56 games.

For the Knights, they captured their third Memorial Cup title in team history with the two past victories coming in 2005 and 2016. Dale Hunter was the head coach for all of those Knights wins.

Over the past 21 years, the Knights are considered the standard in the CHL having won six OHL titles to go with their three Memorial Cup championships over that period of time. Whenever they make the Memorial Cup tournament, they are usually the favourites to win it.

The Tigers topped the round robin standings of this year’s Memorial Cup tournament with a 3-0 record earning a bye into the event’s championship game. It appeared they might be destined to be the team that ends the WHL’s Memorial Cup title drought.

After Sunday’s final, the Edmonton Oil Kings in 2014 remain the last squad from the WHL to win the Memorial Cup. They also took the WHL title that year too.

The WHL’s drought of not winning the Memorial Cup now spans the last nine tournaments marking the longest the circuit has gone without winning the biggest prize in major junior hockey. Since the Spokane Chiefs dropped the Memorial Cup after winning it in 2008, the Oil Kings have been the only WHL club since that time to claim that trophy which leaves the feeling the “Curse of the Drop” still lingers over the circuit.

Still, the Knights’ experience – however slight it may have been – from losing the Memorial Cup final last season pushed them over the edge this season.

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Tigers down Knights 3-1, move on to Memorial Cup title game

If there were any doubts, the Medicine Hat Tigers proved they can win by gaining three yards in a cloud of dust.

On Tuesday night at the Coliseum Sun Life Financial in Rimouski, Quebec, the WHL championship Tigers downed the OHL champion London Knights 3-1 in the final round robin contest for both sides at the Memorial Cup tournament which crowns a CHL champion. The win allowed the Tigers to finish on top of the round robin standings with a 3-0 record and advance directly to Sunday’s tournament championship game (5 p.m. Alberta and Saskatchewan time, TSN).

The Knights posted a 2-1 mark to place second in the round robin portion of the event. They will play in a semifinal contest on Friday (5 p.m. Alberta and Saskatchewan time, TSN).

In the semifinal, London will take on the winner of Wednesday’s final round robin game between the QMJHL Moncton Wildcats and host Rimouski Oceanic (5 p.m. Alberta and Saskatchewan time, TSN). The Wildcats and Oceanic are both 0-2 in round robin play.

In the Tigers win over the Knights on Tuesday, the Medicine Hat side had to grind out victory. The Knights held a 36-29 edge in shots on goal. Both sides were changing things up on the ice to counter each others’ offensive attacks.

Tigers superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna wasn’t able to record a point.

Medicine Hat pulled out victory winning battles for the puck and blocking shots. The Tabbies were also powered by a spectacular 35-save performance by star 20-year-old netminder Harrison Meneghin in picking up the win.

The Knights got out to the fast start on Tuesday. Just seconds into the contest, Meneghin stoned Knights centre Jacob Julien on a two-on-one break into the Medicine Hat zone.

At the 3:34 mark of the opening frame, the Knight struck on the power play taking a 1-0 lead. Knights star defenceman Sam Dickinson floated a shot from the point that was deflected home by star right-winger Kasper Halttunen to give their side a one-goal edge.

Mathew Ward scored the winning goal for the Tigers.

London held a 9-2 edge in shots on goal at one point in the first period before heading into the first intermission holding a 10-7 lead in that department.

Just inside the first two minutes of the second, Knights star left-winger Blake Montgomery was sprung into the Medicine Hat zone on a breakaway only to be turned away by a blocker stop from Meneghin.

The Tigers broke through on the scoreboard netting a gritty goal thanks to a positive bounce at the 5:11 mark of the second. Star defenceman Tanner Molendyk fired a shot from the point that deflected off a Knights player to Tigers veteran right-winger Ethan Neutens at the left side of the London net. Neutens quickly put the puck into an open left side of the London cage to even the score at 1-1.

The Knights came with a push back after the Tigers pulled even on the scoreboard, but the London side was kept at bay by Meneghin.

Just seconds into the third, Meneghin stoned Knights captain Denver Barkley, who fired a shot on goal from the front of the Medicine Hat net on an offensive rush.

Following that chance, the Tigers were buzzing in the London zone at the 1:17 mark of the frame. Tigers 19-year-old defensive centre Misha Volotovskii poked the puck down to overage left-winger Mathew Ward at the right side of the London net.

Ward quickly looped around the front of the London net and popped home his first of the tournament to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead. That tally marked the first time the Knights trailed in the third period at any point in this year’s Memorial Cup tournament.

After going ahead on the scoreboard, the Tigers proceeded to focus on defensive structure. With 10:45 remaining in the frame, Knights star right-winger Easton Cowan put a shot off the post of the Medicine Hat net that Meneghin proceeded to gather up.

Harrison Meneghin made 35 saves in goal for the Tigers.

Late in the frame with the Knights on the power play, Cowan was stoned on a close in chance by Meneghin. After that power play expired, Tigers star captain Oasiz Wiesblatt came up with a big shot block on Dickinson with 71 seconds remaining in the frame to help prevent the Knights from pulling even on the scoreboard. At the time of that shot block, the Knights had star overage netminder Austin Elliott pulled for an extra attacker.

With 11.6 seconds remaining in the third, Wiesblatt sprung star right-winger Ryder Ritchie on a break down the right wing into the London zone. Ritchie fired the puck into an empty net to round out the 3-1 final score in favour of the Tigers.

Neutens had an assist to go with his goal finishing with a two-point night to go with a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department for the Tigers.

Elliott turned away 26-of-28 shots to take the setback in net for the Knights. In action combined in the CHL regular season and post-season, Elliott saw his record in net fall to 53-3.

The veteran puck stopper started the 2024-25 campaign in the WHL with the Saskatoon Blades winning all three of his starts with “the Bridge City Bunch.” Elliott was cut by the Blades and cleared WHL waivers.

Elliott was actually claimed on CHL waivers by the Barrie Colts, but the powerhouse Knights wanted to bring him to their squad. On October 16, 2024, the Knights dealt a 14^th round selection in the 2026 OHL Draft and a conditional fifth round pick in the 2027 OHL Draft for Elliott.

The puck stopper never played a game for the Colts. He has a 50-3 record playing for the Knights.

During his time in the WHL with the Blades, Elliott won all six of his career starts against the Tigers.

Oasiz Wiesblatt had a big shot block and an assist for the Tigers.

Medicine Hat finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 47-17-3-1 mark and posted a 16-2 record in the WHL Playoffs capturing the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions. The Tigers were rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings that came out on March 25.

The Tigers have won 47 out of their last 55 games including play in the WHL regular season, the WHL Playoffs and the Memorial Cup tournament.

The Knights topped the OHL standings with a 55-11-2 mark and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings released on March 25. They advanced through the OHL Playoffs with a 16-1 record.

The Wildcats topped the QMJHL regular season standings with a 53-9-2 mark and were rated first in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. In the QMJHL Playoffs, the Wildcats went 16-3 to capture the league title.

The Oceanic were second overall in the QMJHL’s regular season standings with a 46-14-2-2 mark. They posted a 14-9 record in the QMJHL Playoffs falling in six games in the league championship series to the Wildcats. Rimouski was rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

Now, the Tigers have four days off where they will wait to see who they will play in the Memorial Cup title game. They were last in the championship game of the Memorial Cup tournament on May 27, 2007 falling 3-1 to the host Vancouver Giants. The Tigers went into that tournament as the WHL champions.

The Tigers have won the Memorial Cup twice with the victories coming in 1987 and 1988. In 1987, the Tigers downed the host and OHL champion Oshawa Generals 6-2 in the Memorial Cup title game on May 15 of that year. 

In 1988, the Tigers outgunned the OHL champion Windsor Spitfires 7-6 in the championship contest on May 14 of that year with the event being hosted in Chicoutimi, Quebec.

Medicine Hat is also trying to become the first WHL team to win the Memorial Cup since the Edmonton Oil Kings downed the OHL champion Guelph Storm 6-3 on May 25, 2014, when the tournament was held in London, Ont.

Ethan Neutens had one goal and one assist for the Tigers.

If the Tigers take the Memorial Cup title game on Sunday, they would make history on numerous fronts.

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Big saves, returns power Tigers in opener of WHL final

Medicine Hat claims hard fought 4-1 win over Chiefs

The Tigers celebrate their Game 1 win in the WHL final.

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – Harrison Meneghin, Andrew Basha, and Cayden Lindstrom oh my!

The Medicine Hat Tigers were full of storylines in Game 1 of the WHL Championship Series. Getting a big emotional lift from the return of Basha and Lindstrom coming off long-term injuries, the Tigers jumped out to 1-0 lead just 54 seconds into the contest.

Along with that spark, Meneghin would make 36 saves on the night to allow the host Tigers to skate a 4-1 victory over the visiting Spokane Chiefs before a raucous sellout crowd of 6,244 spectators at Co-op Place. With the win, the Tigers lead the best-of-seven set 1-0. Game 2 is set for Sunday at 7 p.m. at Co-op Place.

Andrew Basha scored the Tigers first goal on Friday.

Tigers superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna also picked up a pair of assists in the hard-fought contest, and he now has points in 54 straight games played between the regular season and post-season. During the 54 games of the streak, McKenna has recorded 137 points coming off 40 goals and 97 assists.

“I thought it was a hard game for sure,” said legendary Tigers head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins. “Spokane is a very good team.

“I thought that we had a great start, which was huge for us. Then I thought that, you know, we stepped back maybe a little bit, but a lot of credit goes to Spokane. We were ready, and you know, they played hard.”

Before Friday’s contest, Basha last played for the Tigers in their 4-0 home ice victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes on December 28, 2024, and he had been out with a lower body injury since that time.

Cayden Lindstrom had an assist on the Tigers first goal on Friday.

Lindstrom had been battling a back injury since December 16, 2023. Before Friday’s contest, he last suited up for the Tigers on April 5, 2024. The Tigers fell 5-2 at home that night to be eliminated from the WHL Playoffs in Game 5 of a first round series against the Red Deer Rebels.

The two took the spotlight on the Tigers first tally just 54 seconds into the contest. Off a dump in, Lindstrom recovered the puck in the right corner of the Spokane zone.

He passed the puck to star right-winger Hunter St. Martin just above the right faceoff dot. St. Martin dished the puck across the front of the Spokane net to Basha at the left side of the goal. Basha fired home the backdoor setup to give the Tigers the first goal of the contest.

Andrew Basha (#34) celebrates scoring the Tigers first goal.

The 19-year-old Calgary product was awestruck by the whole experience of being back on the ice.

“It was really weird,” said Basha, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Calgary Flames. “I said it before it was just a very slow winter for me.

“The past kind of three weeks it just started picking right back up again, and now, we are here. I was kind of telling Willie the whole time I was going to do it. I was pretty just kind of mesmerized that it was unbelievable to see that crowd.

“It is so special how well the boys have played throughout this whole run. It is just great to get back out there with them.”

The fans at Co-op Place cheer the Tigers first goal.

At the 6:27 mark of the opening frame, McKenna broke into the Spokane zone on an offensive rush. He dangled and did a half-spin at the top of the right faceoff circle and put a pass out to offensive-defenceman Bryce Pickford. Pickford drove home a mid-range shot for his eighth tally of the post-season to push the Tigers edge out to 2-0.

Pickford, who turned 19-years-old in early April, scored his Game 1 tally in the WHL final a year to the day he was acquired by the Tigers in a trade with the Seattle Thunderbirds. The Chauvin, Alta., product played two complete seasons in Seattle before coming to Medicine Hat.

Bryce Pickford had the Tigers second goal on Friday.

“Gav (McKenna) made an unreal play entering the zone,” said Pickford, who was a member of the Thunderbirds 2023 WHL title winning team. “I didn’t think he was going to find me, but he always does.

“I came as the fourth guy, and he found me and I scored.”

The Chiefs proceeded to mount a pushback and outshot the Tigers 13-7 in the opening 20 minutes. Meneghin ensured the visitors didn’t get on the scoreboard.

Meneghin and Chiefs star netminder Dawson Cowan took the spotlight in a scoreless second period that saw the Tigers hold a 12-9 edge in shots on goal. Cowan made the biggest stop of the period as his left pad denied a breakaway chance by McKenna just past the midway point of the frame.

Harrison Meneghin makes one of his 36 stops on Friday night.

Spokane made another big push in the third. At the 4:44 mark of the frame, the Chiefs broke through on the scoreboard tallying on their fourth power-play chance of the contest. Chiefs star left-winger Shea Van Olm had the puck along the left boards on a rush up ice and flipped a pass over to captain Berkly Catton to send him in alone on the Medicine Hat goal.

Catton put a backhand shot between Meneghin’s legs to cut the Tigers edge to 2-1.

“Special teams are huge, and obviously, it is even bigger in the playoffs,” said Catton. “I think we like to have speed in our break in.

Two Tigers fans show off signs and lead crowd chants.

“I think that Shea (Van Olm) made a great play to me, and I just finished it. I think it was a great break in, and it just started off that.”

Just 72 second later, the Tigers pushed their advantage out to 3-1 when right-winger Ethan Neutens, who turned 20-years-old on May 3, flipped a knuckleball shot that flipped high through the air and overtop Cowen into the Spokane net.

Tigers star defenceman Tanner Molendyk rounded out the game’s scoring with an empty-net goal with 2:17 remaining in the third. The Chiefs had outshot the Tigers 15-3 in the stanza.

Cowan turned away 18-of-21 shots to take the setback in net for the Chiefs.

Berkly Catton had the Chiefs lone goal on Friday.

“We had some chances,” said Chiefs head coach Brad Lauer. “I think some of the areas where we were getting a little bit frustrated were the turnovers and making the mistakes that we did over and over again a couple of times.

“It is one of those games where we kind of kept giving them the puck, especially in the second period and kind of put us on our heels for a little bit. We did stick around. We did find a way to get to 2-1.

“We’ve done that all year. We find ways to get back into games. We’ll go through the videotape, and we’ll make the corrections that we need to make for Game 2.”

Shea Van Olm had an assist on the Chiefs lone goal on Friday.

The Chiefs defensive players started to jump up in the play a little more in the third period attempting to help their squad get on even terms with the Tigers. 

Chiefs overage defenceman Brayden Crampton said the blue-liners understand the risks of jumping up in the play against the Tigers.

“We want to get up in the rush as much as possible,” said Crampton. “I thought there were times where, you know, we could jump up in a rush, but it is a bit risky just because they are such an offensive team.

“We know that. You just have to take your chances when you can go and when you can’t.”

Gavin McKenna had a pair of assists for the Tigers on Friday.

Overall, Meneghin had a night where Tigers fans could have been seeing flashbacks of Matt Keetley making stops in the Medicine Hat net, when he backstopped the Tigers to the WHL title in 2007 and was named the MVP of the WHL post-season.

“’Keets’ (Keetley) was an unbelievable goaltender,” said Desjardins, whose squad has won 11 straight post-season contests. “He was so good during that run.

“It is hard to say how good he was. He was there every night. Harrison (Meneghin) has been for us as well.

“We’ve had lots of tough games, and tonight, he was good. He was just so calm back there, and that gives you a lot of confidence, when he is that calm as well. There is a lot of series left here, and we’re going to need him to be big as we go forward.”

Ethan Neutens had the Tigers third goal on Friday.

The Tigers finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 47-17-3-1 mark. The Chiefs were fourth overall in the regular season with a 45-20-1-2 record.

As for the final CHL Top 10 Rankings that were released back on March 25, the Tigers were ranked third, and the Chiefs were rated sixth.

With the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band set to play Co-op Place at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night, the Tigers and Chiefs will enjoy a day off before going at it again in Game 2 on Sunday. Desjardins believes the day off will be good for both teams.

“We will get the rest we need,” said Desjardins. “We’ll go over video and take a look at it.

“It is good to get that break especially guys like Andrew (Basha) and Lindy (Lindstrom) where they haven’t been playing for a while. It is nice to get the break. It is good for everybody.

The Tigers enjoy their win on Friday night.

“Playoffs is such a hard time that you need every break you can get. They will get the same break though, and they’re going to be really hungry for Game 2. We’ll have to be better Sunday.”

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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