Tigers show tenacity, rebound with 5-0 win over Raiders

WHL Eastern Conference final tied at 1-1 heading to the Hat

Markus Ruck (#26) is all smiles after scoring the Tigers third goal.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – When it comes to handling adversity, it can be argued that no team in the WHL circles the wagons better than the Medicine Hat Tigers.

On Friday, the Tigers opened the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series by getting trampled 8-3 by the host Prince Albert Raiders at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre. Since Willie Desjardins first joined the Tigers before the start of the 2002-03 campaign, it became common for the Medicine Hat franchise to quickly get over what happened in a bad loss and roar back with a sound victory.

In Game 2 of the series on Saturday played before another sellout crowd of 3,299 spectators at the Hauser, the Tigers rolled to a 5-0 victory and silenced the Raiders faithful for long stretches of the contest. The win allowed the Tigers to even the best-of-seven series at 1-1.

Markus Ruck had one goal and one assist for the Tigers.

The defending WHL champions will now host the next two games of the set in Medicine Hat. Games 3 and 4 are set for Tuesday and Wednesday respectively at Co-op Place for a 7 p.m. start on both nights.

“It is a big win for sure,” said Tigers star left-winger Markus Ruck, who had one goal, one assist and a plus-two in the plus-minus department. “We knew coming in it is a really tough rink.

“To get that one is huge. We knew coming into it we had to get this one.”

The teams started off playing fairly even as the shots on goal were tied 4-4 after the first 11 minutes of the opening frame. Momentum changed when Raiders defenceman Linden Burrett was given a roughing minor with eight minutes remaining in the frame.

Jordan Switzer made 30 saves to earn a shutout win.

The Tigers proceeded to buzz the Prince Albert net forcing Raiders rookie star import netminder Michal Orsulak to make about six huge saves. Tigers star 20-year-old centre Andrew Basha came the closest to scoring by wiring a shot off the crossbar causing a scramble in front of the Raiders net. Raiders star centre Braeden Cootes came up with a clearance to relieve the pressure.

While the Raiders got the kill, the Tigers had a tonne of momentum they would carry through to the end of the second period. Raiders star 20-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube said you could feel that momentum was on the side of the visitors after that power-play chance.

“They got lots of shots and lots of good looks,” said Dube. “They got a jump in their step.

Michal Orsulak makes one of his 36 saves in goal for the Raiders.

“We just have to find a way to go back at them after big kills like that. We have to find a way to get back to our game after.”

Before the first ended, the Tigers went back on the power-play after Raiders standout 16-year-old defenceman Brock Cripps was called for holding with 2:07 remaining in the first. Right after that power play expired, Tigers star defenceman Jonas Woo threw a puck from a bad angle at the right boards by the icing line to the front of the Prince Albert net.

The puck appeared to deflect home off Tigers standout centre Noah Davidson into the Prince Albert goal to give the visitors a 1-0 lead with 5.9 seconds remaining in the frame. Woo, who missed Game 1 of the series with an undisclose ailment, was given credit for the goal. The Tigers exited the first holding their 1-0 advantage and a 16-6 edge in shots on goal.

Jonas Woo was credited with two goals on Saturday.

That opening tally by Medicine Hat marked the first time the Raiders gave up the first goal of a game in the 2026 WHL Playoffs.

The Tigers continued to come hard at the Raiders in the second holding a 17-9 edge in shots on goal for the frame. Medicine Hat finally got a second goal past Orsulak with 3:47 remaining in the stanza while working on the power play.

Ruck swooped down the right wing with the puck and made a backhanded pass to the front of the Prince Albert net to his twin brother Liam Ruck. Liam blasted home his sixth of the post-season to push the Tigers advantage out to 2-0.

“It is pretty cool,” said Markus Ruck about the power-play goal. “I was kind of just wheeling in the zone, and I kind of popped up and saw him there.

Alisher Sarkenov and the Raiders had no luck around the net.

“It is pretty cool playing with him. It is obviously really cool being his brother.”

In the third, the Raider came with a big push forcing Tigers netminder Jordan Switzer, who turned 19-years-old in January, to stand on his head. The Raiders would outshoot the Tigers 15-8 in the third but were unable to put a puck past Switzer, who was making his first start of the series.

“In our room, we knew they were going to battle hard there,” said Switzer. “I think it was only 2-0 for a bit.

“I think we did a good job shutting them down, weathering the storm and then we got a couple in the end.”

With 7:11 remaining in the third, Markus Ruck came up with a dagger goal. Tigers right-winger Carter Cunningham sprung Ruck down the left-wing on a contested breakaway. Ruck lasered home a shot to the short side on Orsulak to give the visitors a 3-0 advantage.

Aiden Oiring of the Raiders jets away from Cam Parr of the Tigers.

Woo proceeded to score a long empty-net from his own icing line with 1:55 remaining in the third, and import defenceman Niilopekka Muhonen netted his first of the post-season with a seeing-eye shot from the left side boards in the Prince Albert end to round out the 5-0 final score in favour of the Tigers.

“This is a hard barn to play in, especially in playoff time,” said Switzer. “It is a sold out rink.

“All the fans are all over us, but I think we handled it good tonight, didn’t get rattled and stuck to our game plan.”

Orsulak turned away 36-of-40 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders. Switzer stopped 30 shots to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Tigers, which was also Switzer’s first clean slate in post-season play.

Noah Davidson had a strong game for the Tigers.

The Tigers were 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Raiders failed to score on four chances with the man advantage.

“The first period the shots were a little lopsided there from a couple of power-play situations,” said Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald. “I didn’t mind our start.

“I thought we created some opportunities and didn’t get some bounces and got away from it in the second period and started turning some pucks over and feeding into their transition and making it real hard on ourselves. In the third period, we got back to our game and getting pucks in behind and created some opportunities for ourselves. Again, you have to tip your cap to them.

“They played hard. Again, we need to match that intensity and match that level.”

Liam Ruck scored a power-play goal for the Tigers.

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 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.

These two traveling fans enjoyed the Tigers win on Saturday.

Due to how even the regular season series was, Desjardins, who is the Tigers legendary head coach and general manager, expects every game of the Eastern Conference final with the Raiders to be a battle.

“I thought we played a little better tonight,” said Desjardins. “I thought the first game they kind of took it away on us.

“We had a really good start and then got on our heels a little bit. They got some power-play goals. Tonight, we got one on the power play.

“One just went in at the end of two (minutes), so that was probably the difference.”

Niilopekka Muhonen had the Tigers final goal on Saturday.

Going into Game 3 of the series in Medicine Hat on Tuesday, Dube said his Raiders have to show their perseverance.

“We just have to wipe this one and play our game,” said Dube. “Today, we were trying to do too much I think.

“We’re at our best when we are playing fast, just getting pucks deep and on our forecheck.”

As for the Tigers, Ruck said everyone on his squad is pumped to continue the series at their home rink.

“Going back 1-1 in the series, we know our fans are going to be awesome,” said Ruck. “We can’t wait.

“Hopefully, we continue what we just had today.”

The Tigers celebrate their win on Saturday.

NOTES – The Raiders had another huge 50/50 pot for Saturday’s game with online sale combined with sales in the building. The take home prize was $98,540 and will go to the person with ticket number C-124720.

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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Power of the Hauser – Raiders roll to 8-3 win over Tigers

Prince Albert claims opener of Eastern Conference final

The Raiders and their fans enjoy a goal from Brayden Dube (#15).

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – The Prince Albert Raiders could feel the power of the Art Hauser Centre.

On Friday night, the Raiders were once again out to show home ice advantage is a real thing, when they skate in their storied and historic rink in Game 1 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series against the defending WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers. In that clash, the Raiders scored first, led 2-1 after the first period, went ahead 4-1 at one point in the second before cruising to an 8-3 victory.

The victory came before a raucous sellout crowd of 3,299 spectators at the 2,580 seat facility.

“I thought we played well,” said Raiders captain Justice Christensen, whose squad will host the Tigers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Hauser. “We got to our pace and our hunt like we wanted to do early.

Part of the Hauser’s sellout crowd cheer on the Raiders.

“We scored some big goals there at some key times, and then we just continued to build. Overall, I was just happy with the game.”

Christensen, who has been a full-time member of the Raiders since the start of 2022-23 campaign, said the enthusiasm of the fans gave his team a boost. Throughout the day on Friday, it snowed steadily in “Hockey Town North” creating large snow banks and road conditions that were far from optimal. When looking out at the crowd at the Hauser, it appeared there were very few unused tickets, and Christensen said the players picked up on that.

“The atmosphere is great,” said Christensen, whose team is 6-0 at home in the current WHL post-season. “There is a lot of energy, and they are behind us.

Brock Cripps had three assists for the Raiders on Friday.

“Coming out to that kind of energy gives us a lot of energy, and it was a lot of fun to play in front of.”

During the pre-game, Raiders long time anthem singer and billet mom Carole Ring raised her microphone to the crowd to let the fans sing a large part of the national anthem. When the game got going, the Raiders hit the scoreboard first at the 6:39 mark of the first period.

On a Tigers rush up ice, Raiders 20-year-old star centre Aiden Oiring knocked the puck off the stick of a Tigers player at centre ice to Raider 18-year-old import left-winger Alisher Sarkenov. Sarkenov quickly got the puck back to Oiring to start a rush into the Medicine Hat zone.

Brayden Dube had the Raiders first goal on Friday.

Oiring passed the puck to star 20-year-old right-winger Brayden Dube on the right wing. Dube blew past the Tigers defence to get in alone on Medicine Hat rookie standout netminder Carter Casey. The Raiders forward tucked a backhand home five-hole on Casey to give the host side a 1-0 lead.

So far in this year’s WHL Playoffs, the Raiders have scored first in all 10 games they have played.

With 4:23 remaining in the first, the Tigers answered back. Tigers star left-winger Markus Ruck entered the Prince Albert zone on a two-on-one break jetting down the left wing. He blew a shot to the top right corner of the Prince Albert net past Raiders star rookie import netminder Michal Orsulak to even the score at 1-1.

Before the opening frame ended, Christensen fired home a point shot for his first goal of the post-season to put the Raiders up 2-1 heading into the first intermission.

Markus Ruck had the Tigers first goal on Friday.

Prince Albert kept rolling in the second, when head-turning 16-year-old rookie left-winger Ben Harvey put home a shot from the left point to push the Raiders lead out to 3-1 just 2:43 into the frame. With 6:07 remaining in the second, the Raider struck on the power-play when star centre Max Heise one-timed home a shot from the front of the Medicine Hat net to give the hosts a 4-1 advantage. At that point, it seemed like nothing could stop the noise at the Hauser hitting louder and louder heights.

“I had chills going out there tonight,” said Heise. “It is pretty cool to see this community and this town rally around our team.

“It is really special, and all the boys in there get fired up for it.”

Justice Christensen scored his first goal of the 2026 post-season.

The Tigers attempted to push back. With 3:02 remaining in the second, Tigers sophomore 17-year-old centre Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll redirected home a puck to the back of the Prince Albert net to trim the Raiders lead to 4-2 heading into the second intermission.

The Raiders proceeded to open the third with power-play goals coming off the sticks of Oiring and Sarkenov to surge the host side’s lead out to 6-2. Tigers captain Bryce Pickford off a mid-range shot to trim the Raiders edge to 6-3.

Prince Albert rounded out the game’s scoring with Oiring netting his second of the contest and Evan Smith potting home a single.

Max Heise (#14) does the fly by after scoring on the power play.

“I thought Prince Albert was better than us tonight,” said Tigers legendary head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins. “I thought they worked hard.

“I thought they won a lot of one-on-one battles. We knew it was going to be a tough building coming into, and we were right. It was a tough building, and it didn’t go the way we wanted.”

Orsulak stopped 21 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Raiders. Casey turned away 31 shots to take the setback in net for the Tigers.

Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll had the Tigers second goal on Friday.

Raiders standout 16-year-old rookie defenceman Brock Cripps picked up three assists on Friday, while star centre Braeden Cootes and star defenceman Daxon Rudolph each had a pair of assists.

Also in the contest, the Raiders were 3-for-4 on the power play, while the Tigers didn’t see any time playing with the man advantage. Medicine Hat was without star defenceman Jonas Woo and 20-year-old right-winger Ethan Neutens with undisclosed ailments, and they are basically day-to-day.

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

Ben Harvey had one goal for the Raiders on Friday.

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.

During the 2025-26 regular season, the Raiders and Tigers met four times. 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.

Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald, who was born and raised in Prince Albert, loved the energy his team’s fans brought in Game 1 on Friday.

“This place is electric,” said McDonald. “I said in the pre-game media that I don’t think four feet of snow could have kept Raider fans out of this rink for this game tonight.

Raiders G Michal Orsulak pounces on a puck in a crowd.

“Our crowd and our fan base is extremely passionate, and they really rally our group.”

While the Raiders got a lift from their fans, Desjardins, who has seen pretty much everything in his coaching career, was not shaken by what happened on Friday. He said that before the Eastern Conference final with the Raiders started he had it in his mind that every game was going to be a hard game.

“Once a game is done, it is just done, and you move on to the next one,” said Desjardins. “It is just real simple.

“It doesn’t matter if you win. It doesn’t matter if you lose. They can win, and I believe we can win in this building.”

Aiden Oiring had two goals and an assist for the Raiders.

Desjardins said the Raiders a high-quality opponent, and with that said, he wouldn’t waiver in the belief he has in his player.

“I just think they’re a really good hockey team,” said Desjardins. “I have to believe that we’ll find a way to be better.

“We weren’t good enough tonight, and it is pretty simple. They were just a better team tonight.”

Looking towards Game 2 on Saturday, Heise said his Raiders just have to keep up the strong effort like they had in Game 1.

“We’ve seen these guys before a lot,” said Heise. “They’re really fast off the transition.

“We’ve got to get pucks under and just keep playing physical on them. They are a really good team over there. You’ve got to give them credit.

The Raiders salute their fans at the Art Hauser Centre.

“They’ll capitalize on chances too, so we’ve got to be stronger in the D-zone.”

NOTES – The Raiders had another huge 50/50 pot for Friday’s game with online sale combined with sales in the building. The take home prize was $98,450 and will go to the person with ticket number B-144538.

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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Tigers’ McKenna sinks Blades with three-point night

Former Saskatoon players combine on Medicine Hat winner

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

Gavin McKenna ensured a mini slump experienced by his Medicine Hat Tigers didn’t last long.

On Tuesday night, the Tigers went into their WHL regular season clash with the host Saskatoon Blades having posted one regulation loss, one overtime setback and one shootout defeat in their last three games. Against the Blades, McKenna came through with one goal and two assists in helping his Tigers come away with a 5-3 victory before a mostly disappointed gathering of 3,754 spectators at the SaskTel Centre.

The win allowed the Tigers to improve to 34-16-3-1 and continue to hold a slim lead for first overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. They hold a one point edge over the Calgary Hitmen (33-13-3-2), but the Hitmen have three games in hand on the Medicine Hat side.

Gavin McKenna is tied for the WHL scoring lead with 95 points.

While McKenna, who is the Tigers superstar left-winger, had the night’s biggest performance, former Blades members in star defenceman Tanner Molendyk and defensive centre Misha Volotovskii came through with a highlight moment for the Tigers playing their first game against their former club. Molendyk and Volotovskii were dealt by the Blades to the Tigers in a blockbuster trade on January 6.

Just 24 seconds after the Blades scored to force a 3-3 tie in the contest in the third period, Volotovskii tipped home a point shot from Molendyk to put the Tigers up 4-3 with 6:54 remaining in the frame. Volotovskii’s tally held up to win the game.

Gavin McKenna had a key third period goal for the Tigers.

Also having a big night was Blades netminder and former Tigers member Ethan McCallum. McCallum made 38 saves to keep the Blades in the game. Had he not made a number of big saves in net for the Blades, the score of Tuesday’s contest could have been a lot worse with Medicine Hat holding a 43-18 edge in shots on goal.

McCallum was being backed up by associate player call up in 16-year-old Ryley Budd, who is playing regularly for the Edge School Under-18 Prep team in Calgary. Blades star netminder Evan Gardner is out day to day with a lower body injury.

While McCallum was doing his best to keep the Blades in the game, McKenna came through with offence in timely moments to give the Tigers a boost. Just 4:35 into the opening frame, McKenna fired a backhander on net that rebounded to the left side of the Saskatoon goal to Tigers star right-winger Ryder Ritchie. Ritchie quickly popped the rebound into the Saskatoon net to put the Tigers up 1-0.

Ryder Ritchie had the Tigers first goal on Tuesday.

Following that tally, the Tigers proceeded to fire all sorts of shots at the Saskatoon net, but McCallum stood tall to prevent the visitors from pulling away with the game early. That allowed the Blades to get some traction.

With 4:04 remaining in the first, the Blades broke into the Medicine Hat zone on a two-on-one break. Blades breakout 16-year-old rookie centre Cooper Williams broke down the left wing with the puck and slipped a pass across of the face of the Medicine Hat net to right-winger Hunter Laing. Laing potted a backhanded backdoor tap to even the score at 1-1. Import 17-year-old rookie left-winger David Lewandowski started the breakout with a backhanded pass between his legs.

Ethan McCallum stopped 38 shots in goal for the Blades.

Just 41 seconds in the second, Blades sophomore centre Hayden Harsanyi, who came to Saskatoon in the trade for Molendyk and Volotovskii, broke down the right wing into the Medicine Hat zone on a three-on-one rush. Harsanyi, who was playing his former Tigers team for the first time since being traded, got in close and sniped a shot low into the left side of the Medicine Hat net to give the Blades a 2-1 lead.

Just 2:18 later, Tigers 16-year-old left-winger Markus Ruck broke into the Saskatoon zone down the left wing, fired a shot on goal that was stopped, gathered the rebound behind the icing line and deflected the puck in off McCallum to even the score at 2-2.

Hunter Laing, right, taps home the Blades first goal.

That set the state for McKenna come through again for the Tigers as they went ahead 3-2 with 4:37 remaining in the second. With a faceoff in the offensive zone to the left of the Blades net, McKenna was positioned on the top of the faceoff circle to get off a quick shot on a clean draw win on a set play the Tigers have used for at least two decades.

Tigers 20-year-old captain Oasiz Wiesblatt won the draw back to McKenna at the top of the faceoff circle only for Blades solid 20-year-old defenceman and captain Ben Saunderson to get up on McKenna to cut off the shooting lane. McKenna stayed calm and put a smart pass out to Wiesblatt, who was left all alone at the right side of the Saskatoon net. Wiesblatt put home a backhand shot between McCallum’s legs to give the Tigers their one-goal edge.

Hayden Harsanyi had the Blades second goal on Tuesday.

Medicine Hat proceeded to keep the pressure up on the host side, but the Blades again found a traction moment working on a power play in the third period. With 7:18 remaining in the third period, Blades 20-year-old left-winger Tanner Scott had the puck at the left side of the Medicine Hat net.

Scott made a pass across the front of the Medicine Hat goal to 19-year-old left-winger Rowan Calvert at the right side of the net. Calvert one-timed home his 20^th goal of the season and 15^th on the power play to even the score at 3-3.

That set the stage for Volotovskii to score the winner for the Tigers just 24 seconds later deflecting in Molendyk’s point shot.

The Tigers celebrate a goal from Markus Ruck (#26).

McKenna proceeded to come through with a dagger goal with 4:38 remaining in the third that sealed the victory. The 17-year-old collected the rebound at the left side of the Blades net off a rebound from a shot taken by Wiesblatt.

From a bad angle, McKenna put home an elite level shot to the top right corner of the Saskatoon net for his 29^th goal of the season that rounded out the 5-3 score in favour of the visitors.

Harrison Meneghin stopped 15 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Tigers.

The Blades fell to 27-17-3-3 to remain second in the WHL’s East Division. They have the same amount of standings points as the first place Prince Albert Raiders (28-17-3-1) at 60, but the Raiders hold the standings tiebreaker due to having more wins. Prince Albert also has a game in hand on Saskatoon.

The Brandon Wheat Kings (26-16-4-3) sit one standing point back of both the Raiders and Blades.

The Tigers return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Prince Albert to take on the Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The Tigers celebrate their win on Tuesday.

The Blades get back at it on Friday when they host the 33-13-3-2 Calgary Hitmen (7 p.m., Sasktel Centre).

With his three-point night, McKenna now has 95 points on the season coming off 29 goals and 66 assists. He is tied for the lead in the WHL’s scoring race with Spokane Chiefs right-winger Andrew Cristall, who recently turned 20-years-old. Cristall has his 95 points coming from 35 goals and 60 assists.

Still, McKenna could have had an even bigger night on Tuesday as he had nine shots on goal that included at least three golden scoring chances he was robbed on. Even at his young age, McKenna showed once again that he is truly one of the WHL’s elite players and a total treat to watch.

Blades salute Molendyk, Volotovskii and Desjardins

Tigers D Tanner Molendyk, left, with Blades GM Colin Priestner.

Tanner Molendyk and Misha Volotovskii were part of a number of big moments over the last four years for the Saskatoon Blades, and it was fitting they got a homecoming.

On Tuesday, Molendyk, who recently turned 20-years-old, and Volotovskii, who is 19-years-old, returned to the SaskTel Centre for the first time as members of the Medicine Hat Tigers. The two were dealt by the Blades to the Tigers in a blockbuster trade on January 6.

During a pre-game ceremony, the Blades made a presentation to Molendyk, who is a star defenceman and signed NHL entry-level contract with the Nashville Predators. Blades general manager Colin Priestner gave Molendyk a set of golf clubs, and the Blades announced their team award for the club’s top defenceman will be named after Molendyk. The presentation also included a tribute video.

At the game’s first media timeout in the first period, the Blades paid tribute to Volotovskii, who is a sound defensive centre. They showed a tribute video for Volotovskii that drew big cheers from the 3,754 spectators in attendance. Volotovskii was on the Tigers bench at that time and make sure to get up and give a wave to the crowd.

Tanner Molendyk played 210 regular season games for the Blades.

Molendyk played in 210 career regular season games for the Blades starting in the 2020-21 campaign collecting 26 goals and 108 assists. Volotovskii suited up in 195 career regular season contests for the Blades starting in the 2021-22 campaign recording 19 goals and 16 assists.

The Blades also gave a salute to Tigers head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins for picking up his 500^th career regular season win as a WHL head coach back on January 10, when the Tigers downed the Red Deer Rebels 8-1 at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat. Desjardins served as the Blades head coach as a mid-season replacement in the 1997-98 campaign.

As a player, he was a University of Saskatchewan Men’s Hockey Team legend and was captain of the 1982-83 Huskies squad that won the Canada West Conference and U Sports national championships. Desjardins, who was a forward, was the MVP of the 1983 U Sports National Championship Tournament. In the event’s championship game, the Huskies downed the Concordia University Stingers 6-2 to capture what is now known as the David Johnston University Cup.

Misha Volotovskii played 195 regular season games with the Blades.

The Blades also passed on a birthday greeting as Desjardins turned 68-years-old on Tuesday. The Tigers came away with a 5-3 victory over the Blades, which was the 510^th career regular season victory for Desjardins as a WHL head coach and his 500^th career regular season win as the head coach of the Tigers.

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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