Tigers’ skill shines in Memorial Cup opening victory

Medicine Hat downs host Oceanic 5-4

Outside of a bump in the road of dealing with a hot opponent’s power play, the Medicine Hat Tigers played well enough to turn heads in the opening game of the Memorial Cup tournament.

On Friday skating before a sellout crowd of 4,512 spectators at the Coliseum Sun Life Financial, the WHL champion Tigers slipped past the host Rimouski Oceanic 5-4 while holding a 38-24 edge in shots on goal. The clash was a back-and-forth battle thanks to the Oceanic cashing in on 3-of-4 chances on the power play.

When the Tigers were playing five-on-five or working on their power play, they showcased really good skill transiting the puck up and down the ice. It is something that has become a trademark of the team since head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins first took up the club’s head coaching duties before the start of the 2002-03 campaign in his first stint with the team. Fans of the Tigers have seen their players play with great skill for a lengthy period of time.

Seeing the Tigers skill live might have also come as a surprise to hockey fans and observers in Eastern Canada only because clubs from the WHL are stereotypically viewed as squads that are very physical and try to drive their opponents through the boards. The Tabbies also showed heart persevering past a couple of moments of over the line physical play.

Medicine Hat opened the game’s scoring with 6:10 remaining in the first period. Tigers superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna fired a shot from the left side of the Rimouski net that hit the crossbar and rebounded out to the right side of the goal to star right-winger Ryder Ritchie. Ritchie popped home the rebound to give the WHL champs a 1-0 lead.

The Tigers proceeded to get a scare with 1:46 remaining in the frame while working their first penalty kill. During a scramble at the right side of the Medicine Hat net, Tigers star 20-year-old netminder Harrison Meneghin was about to cover a loose puck, and he was pitchforked in the groin area by Oceanic star centre Mathieu Cataford.

Meneghin was tended to by Tigers veteran athletic therapist Mikki Lanuk and was able to stay in the game. No penalty was called on the play.

The Oceanic showed their skill scoring on that first power play opportunity. With 20.9 seconds remaining in the first, centre Mael Lavigne tipped home a shot pass at the left side of the Medicine Hat net that came from Alexandre Blais to even the score a 1-1.

Bryce Pickford scored a pair of goals for the Tigers.

At the 10:43 mark of the second just after an Oceanic power-play chance expired, Blais was working on the forecheck in the right corner of the Medicine Hat zone. He stole the puck from a Tigers defenceman and put a pass out to linemate Mael St-Denis positioned in close at the right side of the Medicine Hat net. St-Denis potted home a shot to give the Oceanic a 2-1 advantage.

With 3:42 remaining in the second, the Tigers struck on the power play as Tigers offensive-defenceman Bryce Pickford drove home a goal at the top of the right faceoff circle in the Rimouski zone to even the score at 2-2.

The Oceanic proceeded to get a positive puck bounce to score their second power-play goal with 94 seconds remaining in the second. Cataford took a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle that deflected off a Tigers player and then off the stick of Oceanic captain Jacob Mathieu into the Medicine Hat net to give Rimouski a one-goal edge.

Just 68 seconds into the third, the Tigers evened the score at 3-3, when Pickford wired a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle for his second tally of the contest.

Just over four minutes after that tally, Tigers captain Oasiz Wiesblatt had the puck at the left side boards in his own zone. He made a transition pass to the centre ice zone to spring McKenna on a breakaway. McKenna wired a shot to the top left corner of the Rimouski net to put the Tigers in front 4-3.

The Oceanic would strike for their third power-play goal with 6:56 remaining in the third. Rimouski star centre Jonathan Fauchon fired a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle that deflected off a Tigers player into the Medicine Hat net to even the score at 4-4.

Shortly after that tally when play resumed, Wiesblatt was hit from behind into the boards in the centre ice zone when he didn’t have the puck by Oceanic right-winger Maxime Coursol. No penalty was called on the play.

With 2:41 remaining in the third and the teams playing four-versus-four hockey due to offsetting minor penalties, Tigers star defenceman Tanner Molendyk skated to the left faceoff dot and put a shot pass on net that was deflected home by Tigers star right-winger Hunter St. Martin that gave Medicine Hat a 5-4 lead that would hold up as the contest’s final outcome.

Gavin McKenna had one goal and one assist for the Tigers.

Meneghin stopped 20 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Tigers. Mathis Langevin turned away 33 shots to take the setback in net for Rimouski.

Wiesblatt finished the contest collecting three assists for the Tigers. Including action in the WHL Playoffs, Pickford has scored goals in his last nine straight games putting up 12 tallies over those outings.

Medicine Hat elected not to dress star centre Cayden Lindstrom, who did take pre-game warmup. Lindstrom returned to the Tigers lineup at the start of the WHL Championship Series after being out for over a year with a back injury.

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 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 Moncton Wildcats. Rimouski was rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Memorial Cup tournament that determines a CHL champion resumes on Saturday when the OHL champion London Knights take on the QMJHL champion Moncton Wildcats (4 p.m. Alberta and Saskatchewan time, TSN).

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 returns to action on Sunday when they face the Knights (4 p.m. Alberta and Saskatchewan time, TSN).

Hunter St. Martin had the winning goal for the Tigers.

The Tigers get back at it on Monday when they take on the Wildcats (5 p.m. Alberta and Saskatchewan time, TSN).

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

-------

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.

Tigers sixth WHL title win had emotions like no other

Meneghin named MVP playing to honour his late father

The hand of fate made the Medicine Hat Tigers sixth WHL title win feel unlike the five other league championships that came before.

On Friday night, the Tigers downed the Spokane Chiefs 4-2 in Game 5 of the WHL Championship Series played before 7,607 spectators at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. The victory allowed the Tigers to claim the best-of-seven set 4-1 and raise the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions.

The WHL title win was a first for the Tigers since 2007 and sixth league championship win in team history. The six league title wins by the Tigers also equaled the Kamloops Blazers for the most in the history of the circuit.

It also seemed fitting Tigers star 20-year-old netminder Harrison Meneghin had another stellar outing in Friday’s series clinching win making 34 saves on the night. Meneghin was playing through an emotionally-filled post-season.

When the Tigers closed their regular season schedule back on March 23 with a 5-2 victory over the Hitmen in Calgary, Meneghin found out about the passing of his father, Derek. Derek’s passing came in an unexpected fashion.

During the post-season, it was obvious Meneghin was playing for his father, and the rest of the Tigers were playing for him. In the WHL Playoffs, Meneghin would appear in 16 games for the Tigers posting a 14-1 record, a 2.35 goals against average, a .906 save percentage and three shutouts. He claimed honours as MVP of the WHL Playoffs.

After Meneghin accepted the trophy as the MVP of the WHL Playoffs from Richard Doerksen, who is the WHL’s vice-president of hockey, the puck stopper was mobbed by his teammates.

Next on the agenda came the presentation of the Ed Chynoweth Cup. Tigers captain Oasiz Wiesblatt posed for the initial photos holding on to the WHL championship trophy with league commissioner Dan Near.

Wiesblatt proceeded to call Meneghin over to step in to be the one to take the Ed Chynoweth Cup from Near. Meneghin came in and posed for photos and proceeded to take the championship trophy from Near and raise it over his head. The goalie was then swamped by his teammates and the celebration began in earnest.

Meneghin then took the first victory lap with the trophy. It felt like it was a moment that was meant to be. The whole on ice celebration for the Tigers was a moment that everyone with the team who was soaking in the festivities wished could have lasted forever.

At the start of Game 5, Meneghin and Chiefs star netminder Dawson Cowan took centre stage in the opening frame making a number of big saves to ensure the stanza remained scoreless. The Tigers held a 14-8 edge in shots on goal after 20 minutes.

The Tigers also hit the ice with superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna, star centre Cayden Lindstrom and 16-year-old breakout centre Gordon-Carroll Shaeffer back in the lineup after all three missed Game 4 with undisclosed injuries. McKenna was out for Game 3 as well.

The Chiefs came out with a big push in the second holding a 17-9 edge in shots on goal for the frame. The Tigers would get in the only goal in the period.

With 7:18 remaining in the second, Tigers veteran right-winger Ethan Neutens won an offensive zone faceoff back to Finnish rookie import defenceman Niilopekka Muhonen. Muhonen fired an off-speed wrist shot from the left point home to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. The tally was Muhonen’s first goal of the post-season.

At the 5:01 mark of the third, McKenna wired home a power-play goal from just inside the top of the left faceoff circle to push the Tigers lead out to 2-0.

Harrison Meneghin on Friday night. (Photo by Larry Brunt/Spokane Chiefs)

Just 44 seconds later, Tigers 19-year-old right-winger Hunter St. Martin netted what would be a controversial goal to Chiefs supporters that put the visitors up 3-0. Tigers overage left-winger Mathew Ward drove to the Spokane net and was shoved from behind by Chiefs overage defenceman Brayden Crampton.

Ward slid into Cowan, who made a kick save on Ward’s initial shot. As Ward went into Cowan, the Spokane net came off its pegs. St. Martin swooped in, picked up the rebound and put it into an empty cage.

The officials went to a video review and ruled the tally was a good goal. Officials have the discretion to allow a play to continue if a net pops off its pegs and an attacking offensive team has a scoring chance. The officials in that instance are allowed to judge if the puck from a shot would go into the net, if it was still on its pegs.

The Chiefs would proceed to battle back after going down by three goals. Just 49 seconds after St. Martin’s tally, Chiefs superstar right-winger Andrew Cristall drove home a mid range shot from the front of the Tigers net for a power-play marker to trim Medicine Hat’s edge to 3-1.

With 10:47 remaining in the third, Chiefs rookie import right-winger Assanali Sarkenov potted a goal from the front of the Medicine Hat to further cut the Tigers lead to 3-2. Sarkenov converted a nice pass from linemate Sam Oremba, who was positioned by the left side of the Medicine Hat net.

The Chiefs weren’t able to find the equalizer from that point.

With 74 seconds remaining in the third, Tigers offensive-defenceman Bryce Pickford fired a puck from his own zone into an empty Spokane net to seal the 4-2 victory for the visitors. The tally was Pickford’s 13^th of the post-season.

The empty-net marker extended Pickford’s streak of scoring goals in eight straight games, which is the longest consecutive string of games with a goal by a defenceman in the WHL Playoffs since 1996. Pickford has 10 goals over his last eight outings.

Pickford also equaled the WHL record for most goals by a defenceman in a single WHL Playoffs with his 13^th tally. Darren Veitch of the Regina Pats scored 13 goals playing on the blue line in the Pats run to winning the WHL title in 1980.

During the 18 games the Tigers played in winning the WHL title, Pickford recorded 24 points off 13 goals and 11 assists to go with a plus-23 rating in the plus-minus department.

Jonas Woo picked up a pair of assists playing on the back end for the Tigers, while St. Martin had an assist to go with his goal.

Cowan turned away 32-of-35 shots to take the setback in net for the Chiefs.

Before entering the WHL Playoffs, the Tigers placed 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.

Over their last 52 games combined in the regular season and post-season, the Tigers have collected 44 wins.

The Tigers, who went 16-2 in the WHL Playoffs, now advance to play in the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup. The Memorial Cup runs May 22 to June 1 in Rimouski, Quebec.

Medicine Hat opens play at the Memorial Cup on May 23 taking on the host Rimouski Oceanic. The Memorial Cup tournament also includes the OHL champion London Knights, the Oceanic and Moncton Wildcats from the QMJHL. The Oceanic and Wildcats are currently going at it in the best-of-seven QMJHL Championship Series that is being led by the Wildcats 3-1.

Still, Friday night was a special one for the Tigers as Meneghin continues to write an incredible story. The Tigers are ensuring the 2024-25 campaign is one of the most memorable in the team’s storied history.

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

-------

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.

Eye of the Tiger – Medicine Hat blanks Chiefs 6-0 in Game 3

Tabbies overcome big Game 2 setback and injuries

Adversity seems to make the Medicine Hat Tigers stronger.

After falling 6-2 to the Spokane Chiefs in Game 2 of the WHL Championship Series at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat on Sunday, the Tigers appeared to face a tough challenge in Game 3 of the set played before 7,814 spectators at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena on Tuesday night.

The challenge appeared to grow for the Tigers when superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna took warm up, but was scratched from the game with an undisclosed injury. During warm up, McKenna appeared to have a lower body issue as he seemed to have struggles trying to power off his skating stride.

While those things were going against Medicine Hat, the Tiger proceeded to play their best game of the series and roared to a 6-0 victory getting goals from six different players and holding a 45-28 edge in shots on goal. 

That performance included extra adversity in the contest when star centre Cayden Lindstrom went down with an injury late in the second period in a regular hockey collision with a Chiefs player.

The Tigers were holding a 4-0 lead when Lindstrom went down, and he had the game’s first goal and an assist in helping build that advantage. The Fort St. John, B.C., product returned to the Tigers bench in the third period to cheer his squad on as they rounded out their win.

With the victory, the Tigers take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven set. Game 4 of the series is set for Wednesday at 7 p.m. local time at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.

In Game 3, the Tigers got the jump on the Chiefs holding a 15-5 edge in shots on goal in the first period and would open the scoring for the third straight contest. At the 11:45 mark of the first, Tigers captain Oasiz Wiesblatt intercepted a pass of a Chiefs player in the left corner of the Spokane zone.

Wiesblatt passed the puck to Lindstrom in the left slot, and Lindstrom quickly buried his second tally in his second straight contest into the Spokane net to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

Harrison Meneghin stopped 28 shots to pick up the shutout win.

With 1:51 remaining in the first, Lindstrom stole the puck from a Chiefs player at the Medicine Hat blue-line. Lindstrom jetted back up ice and put a long backhand shot on target that was stopped by Chiefs star netminder Dawson Cowan but rebounded out to the left side of the net.

Tigers star right-winger Hunter St. Martin came up the left wing and potted home the rebound to push the visitor’s lead out to 2-0.

Like a racer out at the Medicine Hat Drag Racing Association Drag Strip or the Medicine Hat Speedway, the Tigers kept their foot on the gas pedal in the second.

Just 93 seconds into the second, Finnish import defenceman Veeti Vaisanen showed off his offensive skill. Vaisanen got deep in the Spokane zone and skated behind the Chiefs net going from left to right.

When he came out to the right side, Vaisanen put a pass out to sophomore left-winger Kadon McCann positioned by the right post. McCann quickly popped home his second of the WHL Playoffs to give the Tigers a 3-0 advantage.

With 5:08 remaining in the second, the Tigers were buzzing with all sorts of pressure in the Spokane zone. Tigers veteran right-winger Marcus Pacheco got the puck in the right corner of the Spokane zone and centred a pass out to super rookie linemate Liam Ruck. Ruck fired home his fifth tally of the post-season to make the Tigers lead stand at 4-0.

At the start of the third period, the Chiefs pulled Cowan to let him rest for Game 4. He turned away 28-of-32 shots to take the setback in net for the Chiefs. Carter Esler, who is a 16-year-old rookie, played the third period in relief turning away 11-of-13 shots sent his way.

Just 23 seconds into the third, Tigers star left-winger Andrew Basha jetted down the right side boards of the Spokane zone with the puck, cut across the front of the Chiefs net and tucked home a high shot for his second of the post-season to make the Tigers edge sit a 5-0.

The Tigers picked up their final goal of the night working on the power play at the 9:16 mark of the third. 

Hunter St. Martin had one goal and one assist for the Tigers.

Wiesblatt had the puck at the top of the left faceoff circle and passed it to offensive-defenceman Bryce Pickford just inside the top of the right faceoff circle. Pickford drove a shot to the top right corner of the Spokane net for his 10^th goal of the post-season to round out the 6-0 final score in favour of the Tigers.

With 5:01 remaining in the third, there was a scrum that saw Wiesblatt, Pickford, Chiefs left-winger Cameron Parr and Chiefs right-winger Coco Armstrong all pick up 10-minute misconducts.

Tigers star 20-year-old netminder Harrison Meneghin stopped all 28 shots he faced to pick up his third shutout victory of the playoffs.

St. Martin had an assist to go along with his goal, and Wiesblatt finished the contest with two assists. Tigers star defenceman Tanner Molendyk has points in his last 11 straight games recording four goals and 13 assists over the course of that streak.

The Tigers placed 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.

Including play in both the regular season and post-season the Tigers have won 42 out of their last 50 games. The Tigers are also 10-2-1 during the 2024-25 campaign when they don’t have McKenna in the lineup. During the regular season, McKenna missed 12 games with the Tigers due to activities being a member of Canada’s team at world juniors and a three-game league imposed suspension.

Tuesday’s Game 3 win was arguably the best game the Tigers have played in the 2025 post-season. The Chiefs had arguably their best outing in the playoffs in their Game 2 win on Sunday.

Veeti Vaisanen had a sweet assist for the Tigers.

Now, it is anyone’s guess as to what type of stories these two clubs will write in Game 4.

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

-------

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.

Chiefs cruise past Tigers 6-2 in Game 2 of WHL final

Championship series evens up at 1-1 heading to Spokane

The Chiefs enjoy a third period goal by Berkley Catton, centre.

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – The Medicine Hat Tigers early jump on the scoreboard didn’t pay the same dividends this time around.

The Spokane Chiefs responded with a nasty counter punch.

Just 55 seconds into Game 2 of the WHL Championship Series at Co-op Place on Sunday night, Tigers star center Cayden Lindstrom scored to give his squad a 1-0 lead. Lindstrom’s goal was his first since returning from a long term back injury in Game 1 of the series.

In Game 1 on Friday, Lindstrom’s linemate Andrew Basha scored 54 seconds into that contest returning from a long term lower body injury as the Tigers skated to a 4-1 victory. A similar story didn’t play out on Sunday night.

Berkly Catton had two goals and an assist for the Chiefs.

Starting at the 6:50 mark of the opening frame, the Chiefs scored four goals in a span of four minutes and 46 seconds to surge ahead 4-1. They cruised to a 6-2 victory from that point to the disappointment of most of the 6,238 spectators in attendance outside of a contingent of Chiefs supporters.

“I think it was the response we wanted,” said Chiefs head coach Brad Lauer. “Obviously, we didn’t want to give up that first goal that quick, but I thought our kids it didn’t faze them.

“I thought we stuck with it and found a way. We had a really good first period. We were able to score four, so it was a good response.

“It was a good start, which is what we wanted.”

Cayden Lindstrom scored 55 seconds into Sunday’s game.

With the win, the Chiefs even the best-of-seven series 1-1. The series now shifts to Spokane. Game 3 is set for Tuesday at 7 p.m. local start time at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.

The Tigers jumped ahead 1-0 just 55 seconds into the opening frame when Lindstrom received a backdoor pass at the right side of the Spokane net from linemate Hunter St. Martin to pop home the first goal of the game. 

Ultimately, scoring the opening goal of the contest proved to be bittersweet for Lindstrom due to the final result of the contest.

“Scoring goals is fun and all, but I think winning is better,” said Lindstrom. “You can score as many goals as you want, but if you don’t win the game, it is not the best.”

Rasmus Ekstrom (#13) scored the Chiefs second goal on Sunday.

At the 6:50 mark of the first, Chiefs star left-winger Shea Van Olm brought the puck into the Medicine Hat zone and dropped the pass to linemate Berkly Catton at the right point. Catton drove to the front of the Medicine Hat goal, deked around a Tigers defenceman and tucked home the equalizer between the legs of Tigers 20-year-old star netminder Harrison Meneghin to even the score at 1-1.

The Chiefs surge continued with goals coming off the sticks of Rasmus Ekstrom, Owen Martin and Van Olm to give the visitors their 4-1 advantage.

“I thought Spokane played really well,” said legendary Tigers head coach and general manager Desjardins. “I thought they were quicker than us in the first period.

Owen Martin (#21) celebrates scoring the Chiefs third goal.

“They were just a little bit hungrier. I don’t think there is much more than that. They just played a really good game, and they outplayed us tonight.

“They deserved the game.”

Lauer said his squad had productive video sessions and meetings following the Game 1 loss, which helped lead to a different result in Game 2.

“With these guys here, it doesn’t take a lot,” said Lauer. “We didn’t have to show them too, too much.

“It was just some conversations that we had, and then we backed it up with a little bit of video. This time of year, a lot of these guys know (what to do). After the game when we lost, we kind of asked them some questions about what we need to be better at.

Shea Van Olm had the Chiefs fourth goal on Sunday.

“They had all the right answers. They kind of knew what we needed to focus on. We don’t try to overload them, but right now, they are good students after this game.”

It appeared the Tigers were going to get some traction in the second period. At the 5:55 mark of the frame, offensive-defenceman Bryce Pickford drove home a mid-range shot from the front of the Spokane net working on a four-versus-three power play to cut the Chiefs advantage to 4-2.

With 55.7 seconds remaining in the second, St. Martin drove down the right wing and fired a shot off the left post of the Spokane net that one of the referees at first pointed to the net and called a goal. The play went to a video review that correctly determined the puck did not go in the Spokane net, which meant the Chiefs would continue to hold a 4-2 lead.

Bryce Pickford scored the Tigers second goal on Sunday.

“I thought we played pretty good in the second,” said Desjardins. “We had a chance and Hunter (St. Martin) hit the goalpost, and that would have put it 4-3.

“Maybe that would have made it different, but in the end, they deserved it.”

Still trailing 4-2 in the third, Tigers star defenceman Tanner Molendyk would ring a shot off the post. Following that scoring chance by Medicine Hat, the Chiefs would put the game away.

At the 12:07 mark of the third, Martin put a backhand pass from the right side of the Tigers net across the face of the goal to 16-year-old rookie right-winger Mathis Preston at the left side of the net. Preston knocked home the backdoor tap to give the visitors a 5-2 advantage.

Ryder Ritchie (#21) battles Andrew Cristall (#82).

Preston finished the night recording one goal, one assist and a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department. He said he enjoyed playing the first two games of the WHL final in Medicine Hat.

“It is a great environment,” said Preston. “They are sold out every night, and it is super fun to play with all these fans.

“Being the away team, it gives you energy too, not just the home team. It is lots of fun, and I think our team feeds off it.”

With 4:42 remaining in the third, Catton scored on a breakaway for his second tally of the night which rounded out the 6-2 final in favour of the Chiefs. To go with his two goals, Catton also posted one assist and a plus-two rating.

Mathis Preston accounted for the Chiefs fifth goal on Sunday.

“He (Catton) was there,” said Lauer. “Obviously, he understood the importance of this game and him being our captain.

“The way he played, and the way he came out and skated with the puck he wanted to make sure that we weren’t going to lose this game. You could see it by his effort tonight.”

Meneghin turned away 19 shots to take the setback in net for the Tigers, who lost for the first time at home in the post-season on Sunday and saw their 11 overall game winning streak come to an end. Dawson Cowan stopped 19 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Chiefs.

Tigers superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna was held without a point. That brought an end to his streak of recording points in 54 straight games played between the regular season and post-season. During the 54 games of that streak that dated back to November 6, 2024, McKenna recorded 137 points coming off 40 goals and 97 assists.

A group of young fans keeps cheering hard for the Tigers in the third.

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.

Looking ahead to Game 3 in Spokane, St. Martin said his Tigers have to play with a little more jump.

Gavin McKenna (#72) was held without a point on Sunday.

“I think they just outplayed us,” said St. Martin. “It was simple.

“They won more battles than us. They got more bounces. I think now we take and reflect what we can.

“We have to rebound. It is a quick turnaround here on the bus, and we have to get to it on Tuesday.”

Chiefs star right-winger Andrew Cristall, who collected a pair of assists on Sunday, said his squad heads into Game 3 with a renewed belief in themselves.

“All four lines played an unreal game,” said Cristall, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Washington Capitals. “We obviously wanted to have a little more of a bounce back game.

The Chiefs celebrate their victory on Sunday.

“I thought five-on-five we played pretty well. It gives us a lot of confidence, especially heading back home and hopefully it keeps going.”

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

-------

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.

Hildebrand’s last stand – netminder makes 54 saves as Raiders season comes to a close

Tigers advance with 3-0 win in Game 4 to sweep series

Harrison Meneghin, left, and Max Hildebrand embrace.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Max Hildebrand went out in a blaze of glory.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to help his Prince Albert Raiders keep their 2024-25 campaign alive. The Raiders 20-year-old star netminder had a spectacular end to his WHL career stopping 54 shots before a standing room crowd of 3,208 spectators at the 2,591 seat storied and historic Art Hauser Centre on Thursday night.

The Raiders ultimately got overwhelmed by the speed and the skill of the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers and fell 3-0 in Game 4 of a WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series. The Tigers were able to sweep the series with the victory 4-0. They will play the winner of the other Eastern Conference semifinal that is currently tied 2-2 between the Calgary Hitmen and Lethbridge Hurricanes.

Max Hildebrand leads the Raiders on to the ice.

While the Tigers celebrated advancing to the Eastern Conference Championship Series for the first time since 2014, Hildebrand turned out one of the best goaltending performances this season in the WHL. Raiders interim head coach Ryan McDonald was not surprised to see Hildebrand come up with another big game.

“He (Hildebrand) is the ultimate competitor,” said McDonald. “I’ve been working with Max for four years watching his work ethic and his attention to detail.

“He is a tremendous teammate and a tremendous leader. He is a Raider through and through. His battle out there and his compete are second to none.”

Max Hildebrand makes one of his 54 saves for the Raiders.

Hildebrand had a spectacular regular season posting a 33-16-5 mark, a 2.87 goals against average, a .918 save percentage and three shutouts. In the Raiders 11 games in the post-season, he posted a 3.05 goals against average, a .919 save percentage and one shutout.

Thanks to his work in the regular season, Hildebrand is a nominee for the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the WHL player of the year, the Del Wilson Memorial Trophy as WHL goaltender of the year and the Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s humanitarian of the year. Legendary Tigers head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins said Hildebrand definitely made things tough on his team.

Max Hildebrand had a sensation 2024-25 campaign for the Raiders.

“He (Hildebrand) was unbelievable tonight, and he has been unbelievable through the playoffs,” said Desjardins, who club took Game 3 of the series one night earlier 6-1. “I think he was a guy that got caught a little bit too.

“He played so much, and I think he was a little bit tired. But saying that, he rebounded hard after Game 3. Playing Game 4, he was unbelievable.

“He is a great goaltender. Obviously, he is up for player of the year and goalie of the year. It was good for us to find a way though.”

Tigers overage captain Oasiz Wiesblatt said his team had to keep getting as many shots on goal as they could on Hildebrand in order to get the goals they needed. Wiesblatt said you have to give Hildebrand credit for how well he played.

Max Hildebrand, centre, is consoled at game’s end.

“He was red-hot fire the whole series,” said Wiesblatt. “When you play a goalie like that, I think you just have to contest and put pressure on him.

“I thought he did a great job holding P.A. in the series. You kind of just have to keep attacking and not settle down. I thought we did a good job.”

The Hildebrand show hit top gear out of the game keeping the contest scoreless after 20 minutes, where the Tigers outshot the Raiders 17-6 in the opening frame. Hildebrand turned away Tigers star right-winger Ryder Ritchie with a pad save, swallowed up a shot by star defenceman Tanner Molendyk who attempted a between the legs shot and denied Ritchie again with a glove stop.

“Obviously, their goalie is unbelievable,” said Molendyk. “He is the backbone to their team.

“We were told to get pucks on net, and I think we did a good job of that.”

Tanner Molendyk (#24) had the Tigers first goal on Thursday.

The Tigers broke through on the scoreboard at the 4:03 mark of the second. While working on the power play, Molendyk floated a seeing-eye shot from the left point to the top right corner of the Prince Albert net to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

Tigers superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna picked up an assist on Molendyk’s tally. With that helper, McKenna now has recorded points in his last 49 consecutive games including action in the regular season and post-season.

At the 10:40 mark of the second, Tigers captain Oasiz Wiesblatt fired a shot from the right wing boards to the top left corner of the Prince Albert goal to push the visitors’ edge out to 2-0. Wiesblatt’s tally was his 10^th of the post-season.

Oasiz Wiesblatt had one goal and one assist for the Tigers.

Medicine Hat outshot Prince Albert 27-6 in the second period, but Hildebrand ensured the visitors were only able to get two goals in the frame.

Just 59 seconds into the third, Tigers star 19-year-old left-winger Hunter St. Martin scored by roofing a shot off a rush down the left wing to the top right corner of the Prince Albert net to give the visitors a 3-0 advantage.

While they seemingly never had the puck, the Raiders did put in a good effort and had their chances to score. With about 7:10 remaining in the third, Raiders star 20-year-old right-winger Rilen Kovacevic won a race to a loose puck to the left side of the Medicine Hat net and centred a pass to breakout star left-winger Brayden Dube.

Hunter St. Martin had the Tigers third goal on Thursday.

Dube wired a shot on goal, but it was turned away by an arm save from Tigers star 20-year-old netminder Harrison Meneghin. The puck rebounded to the right side of the Medicine Hat goal, and Dube got to the puck only to put a second shot wide of the mark.

Inside the final two minutes of the third, Raiders breakout rookie defenceman Daxon Rudolph, who turned 17-years-old in March, wired a shot on goal from the top of the right faceoff circle but was denied on a glove save by Meneghin.

Meneghin stopped all 18 shots sent his way to pick up the shutout victory in net for the Tigers.

Wiesblatt was pumped his Tigers could finish the series with the Raiders at the Hauser, because his older brother, Ozzy, helped the Raiders win a WHL championship in 2019. Oasiz was able to check out some of Ozzy’s games in that 2019 post-season run including the first two games of the WHL final at the Hauser.

Harrison Meneghin made 18 saves for the shutout victory.

“This place has a special place in my heart,” said Wiesblatt, who had an assist to go along with his goal. “I came here before I started in the WHL.

“I kind of really got a taste of playoff hockey and how crazy fans can kind of be. It was really cool to come down here. P.A. has great fans.

“They are a great fan base, and they’re really loud. This place is a hard place to play in. There is a lot of history involved in it.”

Molendyk got to play a part in knocking the Raiders out of the WHL Playoffs for a second straight year. A year ago, Molendyk helped the Saskatoon Blades take out the Raiders in five games in a first round series. The rearguard who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Nashville Predators said the emotions of beating the Raiders weren’t the same as a year ago.

Gavin McKenna had an assist in the win for the Tigers.

“It is different,” said Molendyk. “It is not as much of a rivalry as it is with Saskatoon.

“It is always fun coming in here. It is always packed. The crowd is always into it.”

The Raiders were without star left-winger Tomas Mrsic for a sixth straight contest having suffered a skate cut late in the first period of the Raiders victory in Game 5 in their first round series over the Edmonton Oil Kings. The Tigers were without star forwards Andrew Basha and Cayden Lindstrom.

Basha last played in the Tigers 4-0 home ice victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes on December 28, 2024 and has been out with a lower body injury since that time. Lindstrom has been battling a back injury since December 16, 2023 and last suited up on April 5, 2024, when the Tigers fell 5-2 at home to be eliminated from the WHL Playoffs in Game 5 of a first round series against the Red Deer Rebels.

The Tigers celebrate their win on Thursday night.

The Tigers topped the Eastern Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season with a 47-17-3-1 mark. They took out the Swift Current Broncos in five games in a best-of-seven first round series. In their last 43 games between the regular season and playoffs, the Tigers are an impressive 36-4-2-1.

The Raiders won the WHL’s East Division title with a 39-23-5-1 mark. They overcame a 3-1 series deficit to down the Oil Kings 4-3 in the first round of the playoffs.

Overall, McDonald thought his squad put together a pretty memorable campaign.

The Raiders give a final salute to their faithful at the Art Hauser Centre.

“I couldn’t be more proud of this group,” said McDonald. “I liked the way that we continued to learn and work and improve throughout this season to the division championship, to coming back in the first round, and continuing to battle right until the bitter end against a really good team.”

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

-------

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.

Doing it for Harry – Tigers rallying around netminder

Medicine Hat takes commanding 3-0 series lead on Raiders

Harrison Meneghin makes one of his 21 saves on Wednesday.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – On a night when the Medicine Hat Tigers had the offensive fireworks going at full force, their thoughts were still with their main man in the net.

On Wednesday, the Tigers had a great night rolling to a 6-1 win over the host Prince Albert Raiders in Game 3 of a WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series at the Art Hauser Centre. The win allows the Tigers to take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven set. They will try to close the series out in Game 4, which is slated for Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Hauser.

Just 58 seconds into the opening frame, Tigers star 19-year-old left-winger Hunter St. Martin roofed home the first shot of the contest from the right faceoff circle to the top right corner of the Prince Albert goal to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. St. Martin’s tally brought the raucous atmosphere created by the standing room crowd of 3,185 spectators at the 2,591 seat storied and historic home rink of the Raiders to a hush.

Harrison Meneghin plays the puck behind his own net.

St. Martin would finish with one goal, two assists and a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department. He had helpers on the Tigers second and fourth tallies of the night.

Tigers superstar 17-year-old left-winger Gavin McKenna would steal the show with his own three-point night coming off one goal and two assists to go with a plus-one rating. He tallied his marker on a “Michigan” lacrosse-type goal play 76 seconds into the third period during four-versus-four action to give the Tigers a 5-1 lead. That tally is making all the major sports networks in Canada and has gone viral on various social media platforms.

While seemingly all the Tigers had big nights, it is safe to say they are all happy for their 20-year-old star netminder Harrison Meneghin, who was making his first start after attending the funeral for his father, Derek, last Thursday in South Surrey, B.C.

Harrison Meneghin tracks play in his own zone.

Meneghin made 21 saves to pick up the win in goal. He dressed as the Tigers backup for their wins over the Raiders in Games 1 and 2 this past Saturday and Sunday respectively at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat.

Tigers legendary head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins, who is wearing a button with Meneghin’s #35 and the word dad on it, was beaming with pride for his veteran puck stopper.

“It is a pretty difficult circumstance for sure,” said Desjardins. “Nobody knows what to do with that.

“It is a really tough one. You know, his family is unbelievable. When I was at the funeral, I was pretty impressed, pretty amazed by them.

Harrison Meneghin (#35) is embraced by two teammates.

“With Harrison (Meneghin), he has been good for us all year. He has battled lots of things. There is nothing really to say except he has got outstanding character.”

Desjardins then paused before continuing.

“I know he is playing for his dad,” said Desjardins. “I know that.

“For him, it is great to have a good night.”

Meneghin’s efforts were not lost on arguably his most famous teammate in McKenna, who seems to make nightly highlight reels recording points in his last 48 games played between the regular season and post-season. McKenna admitted he has been amazed by what Meneghin has been able to do.

“It has been huge for him to even be in between the pipes playing,” said McKenna. “It is very special.

Harrison Meneghin gives a stick tap thank you to a group of Tigers fans.

“We know he has gone through a lot, and we want to be there for him whenever we can. Obviously, I think the rink for him we want it to be a getaway to kind of feel normal again. We want to just comfort him when he needs it.

“He has been doing a heck of a job playing.”

After St. Martin put the Tigers up 1-0, the opening frame was fairly evenly played with the visitors holding a 9-8 edge in shots on goal. The game’s complexion changed greatly in the second.

Just 82 seconds into the second, Tigers overage centre Mathew Ward came down the left wing on a one-on-one rush and wired a shot to the top left corner of the Prince Albert net to push the visitor’s lead out to 2-0. St. Martin, who picked his first assist of the night on Ward’s tally, said it was big for his squad to score early at the beginning of periods.

Hunter St. Martin had one goal and two assists for the Tigers.

“The start and end of periods are huge for momentum and the overall game feel,” said St. Martin. “It was huge.

“Wardo (Mathew Ward) got us started in the second. I got us started in the first. It is just huge getting that momentum at the start of the period, so that you kind of take the energy out of the building.”

Shortly after Ward’s goal, the Raiders had a big chance to break on to the scoreboard when rookie centre Ethan Bibeau received a backdoor feed at the right side of the Medicine Hat net. Bibeau put a shot on goal only to be robbed by a sprawling left pad save by Meneghin.

At the 14:04 mark of the second, Tigers rookie import defenceman Veeti Vaisanen roofed home a power-play goal close in from the left side of the Prince Albert net to the top left corner of the goal. Vaisanen’s tally put the Tigers up 3-0.

Gavin McKenna had one goal and two assists for the Tigers.

Just 75 seconds later, Tigers right-winger Marcus Pacheco entered the Raiders zone on a two-on-one rush jetting down the left wing. Pacheco put a pass across the front of the Prince Albert net to star defenceman Tanner Molendyk, who quickly popped home his first of the post-season to push Medicine Hat’s advantage out to 4-0.

With 20.8 seconds remaining in the third, Raiders star defenceman Lukas Dragicevic deflected a puck home in front of the Medicine Hat that came via a point shot by standout rookie rearguard Daxon Rudolph to trim the Tigers lead to 4-1. For a moment, that looked to potentially set the stage for the Raiders to rally.

McKenna’s goal off the “Michigan” ended those hopes early in the third. Following his goal, McKenna had the puck on the left side boards of the Prince Albert zone and fed a pass to Tigers star right-winger Ryder Ritchie. Ritchie, who is a former member of the Raiders, jetted in alone and sniped a mid-height shot to the left side of the Prince Albert net to round out the 6-1 final score in favour of the visitors at the 5:12 mark of the frame.

Mathew Ward (#10) scored 82 seconds into the second period.

The Raiders elected to pull star 20-year-old netminder Max Hildebrand after Ritchie’s tally. Hildebrand turned away 16-of-22 shots fired his way. Dimitri Fortin stopped all seven shots he faced in a relief effort.

“We had our chances early,” said Raiders interim head coach Ryan McDonald. “We created some chances.

“We just weren’t able to capitalize. They are a team that doesn’t need too many chances to put pucks in the back of the net. They capitalized on our mistakes and took advantage.”

The Raiders were without star left-winger Tomas Mrsic for a fifth straight contest having suffered a skate cut late in the first period of the Raiders victory in Game 5 in their first round series over the Edmonton Oil Kings. The Tigers were without star forwards Andrew Basha and Cayden Lindstrom.

Veeti Vaisanen had a big power-play goal for the Tigers.

Basha last played in the Tigers 4-0 home ice victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes on December 28, 2024 and has been out with a lower body injury since that time. Lindstrom has been battling a back injury since December 16, 2023 and last suited up on April 5, 2024, when the Tigers fell 5-2 at home to be eliminated from the WHL Playoffs in Game 5 of a first round series against the Red Deer Rebels.

The Tigers topped the Eastern Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season with a 47-17-3-1 mark. They took out the Swift Current Broncos in five games in a best-of-seven first round series. In their last 42 games between the regular season and playoffs, the Tigers are an impressive 35-4-2-1.

The Raiders won the WHL’s East Division title with a 39-23-5-1 mark. They overcame a 3-1 series deficit to down the Oil Kings 4-3 in the first round of the playoffs. McDonald said his Raiders will do their best to regroup to try and win a fourth straight elimination game on Thursday.

Lukas Dragicevic (#3) had the Raiders lone goal on Wednesday.

“It is sticking to the process and sticking to the game plan,” said McDonald. “The sun is going to come up tomorrow.

“We’ve been in this position before, and we will lean on the experience we just had. It is simplifying and sticking to our process.”

Since the WHL started in 1966-67, only three teams have rallied back from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series to claim the set.

The Spokane Chiefs, who were guided by Mike Babcock as head coach, trailed the Portland Winterhawks 3-0 before rallying to take a first round series 4-3 in 1996. The Kelowna Rockets fell behind the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-0 in 2013 before rallying back to claim that first round series 4-3. The Saskatoon Blades fell behind the Red Deer Rebels 3-0 in an Eastern Conference semifinal series in 2023 and stormed back to take that series 4-3.

Ryder Ritchie had the Tigers sixth goal on Wednesday night.

The Raiders have rallied once from a 3-0 series deficit in their team’s history back in their junior A days. In the 1979 SJHL Playoffs, the Raiders trailed the junior A version of the Swift Current Broncos that existed at that time 3-0 in a best-of-seven second round series. The Raiders stormed back to take that series 4-3 and moved on to win the Centennial Cup as national junior A champions.

Desjardins is more concerned that this season’s Raiders squad rallied back to down the Oil Kings in round one. The Tigers bench boss said his squad has to focus even more to close out their series with the Raiders.

“There is no reason to look ahead,” said Desjardins. “That team came back from 3-1.

“They think they’re going to come back from 3-0. That is their plan. They are going to come hard.

The Tigers celebrate their victory on Wednesday night.

“They will give everything they’ve got to get it. Tomorrow is a tough one. We’ve got to be good.”

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

-------

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.