Raiders versus Tigers – a collision of legacy franchises

Storied clubs to battle for WHL Eastern Conference title

Mike Modano and Trevor Linden hockey cards.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. - So who is the better player – Mike Modano or Trevor Linden?

If you remember this question or debate and you live in Prince Albert or Medicine Hat, you are – like me I hate to say it – old or getting older. The question does show that the paths of the Prince Albert Raiders and the Medicine Hat Tigers have been intertwined in the past.

The Raiders and Tigers - they are two of Canada’s legacy junior hockey franchises.

The Raiders were born in 1971 as a junior A team. They won the Centennial Cup as national junior A champions in 1977, 1979, 1981 and 1982. After the second Centennial Cup win, Raiders legendary head coach and general manager Terry Simpson foresaw the day was coming soon that he thought the community owned franchise in “Hockey Town North” needed a bigger challenge.

While Simpson will downplay and say he had a small role in the Raiders moving from junior A to the major junior ranks, you will admit when sitting and talking to him about those times he envisioned the great things that came for the Raiders at that time in history. The Raiders jumped to the WHL, which is one of the CHL’s three major junior circuits, for the start of the 1982-83 campaign.

They won the WHL title and the Memorial Cup as CHL champions at the end of their third season in major junior in 1984-85. Those championships happened because Simpson believed that Dan Hodgson, Dave Pasin, Emanuel Viveiros, Dale McFee, Ken Morrison and netminder Ward Komonosky would be the guys that would win those titles for the Raiders when the team was getting hammered in that first major junior campaign in 1982-83.

The Raiders would add another WHL title in 2019 with Curtis Hunt as general manager and Marc Habscheid as head coach. Dante Hannoun scored the overtime winner in Game 7 of the WHL Championship Series against the Vancouver Giants at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre. Throughout their history, the Raiders have delivered numerous memorable moments for their fans.

The Tigers were born one year before the Raiders, and the Medicine Hat franchise joined the WHL in 1970 founded by the trio of George Maser, Joe Fisher and Rod Carry. Hockey in the 1970s was colourful to say the least, and Maser, Fisher and Carry had their share of colour. It was safe to say there were times they were kings of “The Gas City.”

In just their third season in 1972-73, the Tigers won their first WHL championship with stars Tom Lysiak, Lanny McDonald and Boyd Anderson. They played at the Memorial Cup championship tournament held that year at the fabled Montreal Forum. Going 1-1 in round robin play, the Tigers didn’t have the edge in standings tiebreakers and didn’t qualify for the tournament final.

Maser took sole ownership of the team in 1979. Before the start of the 1982-83 campaign, Maser brought in Russ Farwell to be the team’s general manager, and it would be Farwell who got the Tigers on the road to the elusive Memorial Cup.

Farwell’s Tigers collided with Simpson’s Raiders in 1985 in what is now the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series. The Raiders claimed victory in five games in the best-of-seven series on their way to winning the WHL title and Memorial Cup.

Farwells’ Tigers met Simpson’s Raiders again in the 1986 Eastern Conference final. It was the heaviest of heavyweight showdowns with the Tigers topping the WHL at 54-17-1 and the Raiders were right on their tail at 52-17-3. The series went to a deciding Game 7 where the Tigers prevailed 4-1 in their storied and historic first home rink in The Arena.

After beating the Raiders, the Tigers at that time felt they had won the Memorial Cup. They had a hangover after that series win and fell to the Kamloops Blazers in the WHL final in five games. Linden was a young associate player call-up centre in his 15-year-old season and was with the Tigers when they fell to the Blazers.

He was born and raised in Medicine Hat and grew up idolizing the Tigers and listening to their iconic play-by-play voice in Bob Ridley on radio. Linden, whose home became a frequent team hang out, was determined that ending wouldn’t happen again.

The returnees and core players from that Tigers team showed they learned their lessons well. The Tigers won WHL and Memorial Cup titles in both 1987 and again in 1988. The first Memorial Cup title came under the guidance of colourful head coach Bryan Maxwell and the second under equally colourful head coach Barry Melrose, who had a unique new school style way of thinking.

George Maser passed away on November 29, 1990 due to a heart attack, which brought some uncertainty to the Tigers franchise in Medicine Hat. Sons Darrell and Brent Maser took over the team.

Unlike their father, Darrell and Brent developed a style where they like to stay behind the scenes and let good hockey guys run the team. They don’t get enough credit for this, but they are good community guys too.

It is common for donations to show up quietly for a charity, cause or sport organization, but they try to avoid taking any credit for that. Actually, Darrell and Brent do more nice things for people behind the scenes than most know, but they are good with staying anonymous.

They also like to win, and there was frustration when the Tigers missed the playoffs for five straight seasons from 1998 to 2002. After bringing in a string of old school head coaches, the Masers allowed then general manager Rick Carriere to make an outside the box hire for that position.

In came the classy Willie Desjardins, who was as new school as they get. Desjardins was the ultimate players’ coach with a master’s in social work. Players realized Desjardins cared and understood them, and they took off. The Tigers won their fourth WHL title in Desjardins second season with the team in 2003-04.

He took on the role of general manager to go along with head coach before the 2005-06 campaign started. The Tigers won their fifth WHL title in 2007 with Brennan Bosch scoring the double overtime winner in Game 7 of the WHL Championship Series against the Giants at The Arena.

After going off to coach in the professional ranks following the 2009-10 campaign, Desjardins was brought back to the team as head coach and general manager before the 2019-20 campaign started. Another WHL title followed in the 2024-25 campaign with star 20-year-old captain and career Tigers member Oasiz Wiesblatt and superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna supplying the heroics.

The Tigers were powered by lots of emotion playing for star 20-year-old netminder Harrison Meneghin, whose father, Derek, passed attending the team’s final regular season contest of the 2024-25 campaign.

Meneghin was playing for his father, and the Tigers were playing for him. They rode that to the team’s sixth WHL championship and a berth in the Memorial Cup tournament’s title game, where they fell 4-1 in the CHL championship contest to the London Knights on June 1, 2025 in Rimouski, Que.

Desjardins is the best coach in the WHL when it comes to handling something totally unexpected like a player’s parent passing away right before the post-season. While those extremely rare situations are the toughest thing a junior hockey player can encounter in a career, players find out in those times how much Desjardins cares and how special of a person he is.

Now at age 69, Desjardins is still as good as ever.

The Tigers finished third overall in the WHL regular season, second overall in the Eastern Conference and first in the Central Division at 50-10-5-3. Medicine Hat put together a team record 19-game winning streak that was stopped on January 17 due to an 8-5 setback against the visiting Raiders at Co-op Place.

The Raiders, who are still overseen by Hunt as general manager, had their own special season in 2025-26 after having been swept 4-0 in an Eastern Conference Semifinal Series in the 2025 WHL Playoffs at the hands of the Tigers. In the 2025-26 season, the Raiders finished second overall in the WHL, first in the Eastern Conference and first in the East Division at 52-10-5-1.

The Raiders are guided by a youthful 38-year-old head coach in Ryan McDonald, who was born and raised in “Hockey Town North,” and played centre for his hometown WHL team.

The Raiders were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings, while the Tigers are rated fifth in those rankings.

The two sides are set to collide in a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series for the first time since 1986. Game 1 of that series is set for Friday at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

Depth is the name of the game in this series.

The Raiders had nine players who scored 20-or-more goals in the regular season. They include Max Heise (29), Daxon Rudolph (28), Aiden Oiring (28), Brandon Gorzynski (27), Braeden Cootes (24), Jonah Sivertson (24), Brayden Dube (24), Alisher Sarkenov (21) and Maddix McCagherty (20).

Raiders captain Justice Christensen just missed out on being the 10^th player to score 20 goals finishing at 18 markers for the campaign. Christensen also missed the Raiders first four games this season after attending the training camp of the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings.

The Tigers had eight players who scored 20-or-more goals in the regular season. They included Liam Ruck (45), Bryce Pickford (45), Noah Davidson (30), Jonas Woo (29), Luke Cozens (25), Kade Stengrim (25), Markus Ruck (21) and Kadon McCann (21).

Tigers star 20-year-old left-winger Andrew Basha just missed hitting the 20-goal mark finishing with 18 tallies. He also spent the first half of the 2025-26 campaign with the Calgary Wranglers of the AHL, before their parent club in the NHL’s Calgary Flames reassigned Basha to the Tigers. Basha proceeded to put up 18 goals and 50 points in 32 regular season games with the Tigers since his return.

There is also another interesting side plot to the series.

The players on both respective teams really and truly believe they have the best fans in the WHL. Both fan bases are passionate, and in a players’ poll earlier this season, the Hauser was voted as the toughest road rink in the WHL to play in. This could be a series where the club that loses at home first is in trouble.

Oh, back to the Modano versus Linden debate. That was huge leading up to the 1988 NHL Entry Draft when Modano starred for the Raiders and Linden became one of the Tigers best local products ever. Modano did have the better NHL career putting up more than 500 points than Linden did to go with a Stanley Cup title win.

In junior, Modano had more than double the regular season points than Linden did, but Linden has two WHL and Memorial Cup titles to his credit. Modano went first overall in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft to the then Minnesota North Stars, and Linden was picked second overall in that same draft to the Vancouver Canucks.

If they met up today, maybe they could have a Maverick and Iceman moment from the movie “Top Gun: Maverick.” For those that remember and lived through those old days, you can smile, because they happened and hold on to fond memories.

It is time for the Raiders and Tigers teams of the current day to let their stories play out.

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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Last dance tour on for Robison as WHL commissioner

Outgoing executive reflects fondly on time in the league

Rob Robison, centre, drops the ceremonial faceoff in P.A. on Dec. 15.

For outgoing WHL commissioner Ron Robison, the 2006-07 campaign stood out better than all the rest when it came to highlights on the ice.

That season concluded with epic post-season encounters between the Medicine Hat Tigers and the Vancouver Giants. The two clubs met in a WHL Championship Series that needed a series deciding Game 7.

In Game 7 played on May 14, 2007 before a sellout crowd of 4,006 spectators at The Arena in Medicine Hat, Tigers talented centre Brennan Bosch scored in double overtime to deliver his squad to a 3-2 victory in that contest. The win allowed the Tigers to win their fifth WHL championship in team history.

The two sides would move on to the Memorial Cup Tournament that determines a CHL champion. Medicine Hat entered that event as the WHL champions, and Vancouver was in as the host team.

On May 27, 2007, the two sides would meet in the Memorial Cup championship game played before a sellout crowd of 16,281 spectators at the Pacific Coliseum. The teams entered the third period locked in a 1-1 draw.

With 4:55 remaining in the third, Michael Repik scored the winner for the Giants, and Spencer Machacek scored into an empty net inside the final 50 seconds of the third to round out a 3-1 final. The win allowed the Giants to capture their first Memorial Cup in team history.

The WHL Guide for 2007-08.

The championship wins of both teams were commemorated on the cover of the WHL Guide for the 2007-08 campaign. Serving as the WHL’s commissioner, Robison was pretty proud two of the circuit’s member teams could go head to head in classic encounters like that where each side captured a major championship trophy.

“I have a lot of great memories,” said Robison. “When we talk about a certain event I go back to 2006-07 season when Medicine Hat and Vancouver went seven games in the (WHL) championship series, and then they met again in the Memorial Cup championship.

“In the WHL championship, Medicine Hat won at home, and then Vancouver won at home in the Memorial Cup. I think that was a pretty special year.”

In the current day, Robison is serving out his final days as commissioner of the WHL, which was a position he stepped into on September 15, 2000. Last June, Robison, who is an alumnus of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Men’s Hockey Team, announced the 2023-24 campaign would be his last as commissioner of the WHL.

Before coming on board with the WHL, Robison worked in various roles for Hockey Canada from 1981 to 2000. The 68-year-old had been a Huskies assistant coach and a faculty member of the Physical Education department at U of S before coming on board with Hockey Canada.

On November 30, the WHL hired Dan Near to be the circuit’s next commissioner. Near’s tenure in the WHL office will begin on January 1, 2024 as he transitions into the role of commissioner. He will officially take over the full responsibilities as WHL commissioner on February 15, 2024.

At that point, Robison will transition to an advisory role providing support and guidance to Near.

The 43-year-old Near served as the global head of Adidas Hockey and was responsible for leading Adidas’s entry into hockey managing their global business since 2016. Prior to his time with Adidas, Near, who is a product of Markham, Ont., spent 10 years with the NHL’s head office in New York specializing in marketing, retail development and consumer product licensing from 2006 to 2016.

Ron Robison, right, is pictured with Mathew Barzal (#13) in 2017

Robison is making a tour to visit every WHL centre one last time while he is commissioner. The Indian Head, Sask., product stopped in Prince Albert on December 15, when the host Raiders fell 4-3 in overtime to the Kelowna Rockets at the storied Art Hauser Centre.

One night later, Robison dropped into Saskatoon as the host Blades fell 5-4 in overtime to the Rockets at the SaskTel Centre.

During his time as commissioner, Robison wanted to oversee a circuit that had good competitive balance where any team could win, and it didn’t matter if you came from a big, medium or small sized market. He believes the fact that Swift Current Broncos won a WHL title in 2018 and the Raiders captured a WHL championship in 2019 as small market clubs shows the league has come up with a formula that works in that area.

Robison believe the Raiders, who have a storied history, are in a really healthy spot, and he praised the team’s leadership for the work they’ve done.

“I think the credit is due to the people on the ground here in Prince Albert led by (Raiders president) Gord Broda,” said Robison. “I think they have community leadership like Gord (Broda) provides for this franchise is incredible.

“He has been dedicated for many years and continues to be. Then when you look at the job that Curtis Hunt has done as general manager has really I think done a great job of acquiring a lot of assets to put this hockey program in a really good place moving forward combined with Mike Scissons on the business side. When you are getting buildings in the small markets you need to be over 90 per cent sold out on a regular basis.

Ron Robison takes part in a WHL title presentation in 2019.

“They are doing that here in Prince Albert, so we couldn’t be more delighted. We think the franchise is in a really good place, and we’re looking forward to having a new facility here real soon.”

During his time in the WHL, Robison said the thing he liked most was meeting people in all the league’s centres over the years. He made sure to give credit to a number of people that work behind the scenes to make the league run including education advisors, security network personnel, team doctors and billet families.

“If I look back, I think that is the area we have so much respect for,” said Robison.

Robison was pleased with the growth the league made in two areas in particular while he was commissioner.

“I think we’ve really worked at two things extremely hard,” said Robison. “One was our facility standards to make sure that at all times the players and the fans have as much of a world class experience as we can possibly deliver.

“The standards to make sure that those facilities are always delivering a good environment for the players was really important. I think the player experience overall has been enhanced significantly when you look at our scholarship program. Over the 30-year period of the scholarship (program), we’ve had close to 8,000 players benefitting in investment by over $30-million by our ownership.

Ron Robison does a ceremonial faceoff in Saskatoon on Dec. 16.

“It is incredibility an important program, because the players can commit to us at a young age and focus on their hockey, but also have that education opportunity when it is all over.”

Going forward, Robison said the league will be in good hands with Near. The outgoing commissioner said the strength of the new commissioner will be on the business side of the game. Robison believes Near will quickly adapt to all aspects of his new position.

Looking at his own future after his time with the WHL wraps up, Robison said it will be different not seeing the staff in the league office in Calgary adding you become close with the staff you work with on a day-to-day basis. He said he will miss WHL lifers in vice-president of hockey Richard Doerksen and senior director of officiating Kevin Muench.

Robison said it will be strange to no longer interact regularly with Greg Gardner, who is the WHL’s chief operating officer, and added Near is fortunate he will joining a great group of people who are great to work with.

When Near takes on full responsibilities as WHL commissioner, Robison is going to focus more on enjoying time away from the game, but he believes he will still be attached to the circuit.

“I’m going to be slowing down for sure,” said Robison. “I’m going to step back, and I think I will still be available to help the league in any way they need me.

Ron Robison, right, shakes hands with Rockets captain Gabriel Szturc.

“You don’t just walk away. After all these years, you need to be able to support the league, and I’m prepared to do that for sure. I think it is about going from 100 miles an hour maybe down to 40 or 50 miles an hour about and try to spend a little bit more time with family.”

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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Last call as Tigers play-by-play voice in for Ridley

Iconic broadcaster retires after 52 seasons, 4,022 games

The Tigers retirement tweet for Bob Ridley.

Bob Ridley has bid his audience “a very pleasant good night” for the final time.

On Tuesday, the iconic play-by-play voice of the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers announced his retirement. The announcement brings an end to a career that started with the inaugural campaign of the modern version of the Tigers in 1970-71 and would go on to last 52 seasons and 4,022 games.

Ridley’s 4,022 games called as the Tigers play-by-play voice is a record for most games called as the play-by-play voice of one hockey team, and he is the only hockey play-by-play voice to have hit the 4,000 games plateau. The total includes 3,590 regular season games, one standings tiebreaker game, 411 games in the WHL playoffs and 20 contests in the Memorial Cup tournament.

If someone called 80 games a season for 50 seasons, they would come up 22 contests short of Ridley’s total as the Tigers play-by-play voice.

Ridley, who is a product of Vulcan, Alta., was on the call for the Tigers five WHL championship wins in 1973, 1987, 1988, 2004 and 2007. He was there to call the Tigers two Memorial Cup title victories in 1987 and 1988 to become champions of the CHL.

During the Tigers first 51 seasons, Ridley missed calling just one game. In 1972, Ridley was assigned by the CHAT radio and television outlet in Medicine Hat to go to Saskatoon to cover the national women’s curling championships.

A Medicine Hat rink was the Alberta champion representative, and that squad was skipped by Polly Beaton. The foursome had a lead named Terry Kope, who was the wife of the station’s general manager.

Bob Ridley calls a Tigers playoff game in March of 2019.

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

This past season, Ridley was absent for all but one regular season game due to the fact he had to battle cancer. Scott Roblin filled in as the Tigers play-by-play voice during the time Ridley was gone.

Before Christmas this past December, Ridley was declared cancer free. With the world in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, he didn’t return to the broadcast booth until the Tigers final game of the 2021-22 campaign this past April 15. They fell 3-0 in that contest to the eventual WHL champion Edmonton Oil Kings at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat.

The Tigers missed the playoffs having finished last in the WHL regular season standings with an 11-53-3-1 record, which was an unusual down campaign for the club.

In an interview with Gates Guarin of CHAT News on Tuesday, Ridley said he contemplated a lot of things during the down time he had this past season and decided the time was right to retire in order to spend more time with family and friends. The 78-year-old added that on top of being the Tigers play-by-play voice he spent about 47 years as the sports director at CHAT, so that meant he sacrificed a lot of time with family and friends.

For about eight years starting in 1977, Ridley was also the play-by-play voice of Medicine Hat’s representatives in the Pioneer Baseball League, which is a rookie circuit for MLB clubs. That included calling games for the A’s lone season in the Hat in 1977 followed by the first number of seasons played by the Blue Jays, who came to town in 1978 before departing following the 2002 campaign. The Blue Jays won the Pioneer League championship in 1982.

Bob Ridley gets set to drive the Tigers bus in the 2012 WHL playoffs.

Ridley has a lengthy list accolades. The accolades include receiving the Medicine Hat Civic Recognition Sports Award in 1995, the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame Bell Memorial Award in 2005, the Alberta Centennial Award in 2005, the WHL Distinguished Service Award in 2007, induction into the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011 and induction into the Western Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2019. At Co-op Place the Tigers home rink, the press box is named the “Bob Ridley Broadcast Centre” in Ridley’s honour.

On February 27, 2021 at Co-op Place, Ridley called his 4,000^th game as the Tigers romped past the Red Deer Rebels 7-2. Before that contest, the WHL feted Ridley with a unique honour.

The WHL announced the creation of the Bob Ridley Award for Media Excellence to be presented annually to a member of the radio, television and print journalism industry in recognition of their outstanding contributions to sports journalism and the WHL.

Ridley was named the inaugural winner of the honour and was presented with the award by WHL commissioner Ron Robison during a special ceremony at Co-op Place before he called his 4,000^th game.

This past April 2 before a 6-1 loss to the Lethbridge Hurricanes, the Tigers honoured Ridley at Co-op Place unveiling a banner to pay tribute to his career that was placed up in the building rafters alongside the retired #9 banner for Tom Lysiak and the retired #8 banner for Lanny McDonald.

Bob Ridley calls a game at The Arena in Medicine Hat.

Ridley’s career is so special that he would be deserving of the call to the Hockey Hall of Fame, if that honour should come his way one day. One day, there should be a place for Ridley in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Tigers fans are going to miss Ridley’s classic goal call, “He scooooooorrrres!”

They can always hear Ridley making his famous goal call when Brennan Bosch scored in double overtime of Game 7 of the 2007 WHL Championship Series to deliver the Tigers their fifth league title and a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Giants. 

The win came before a raucous sellout crowd of 4,006 spectators at the Tigers legendary former home rink in The Arena.

Ridley will always be “the Dean” of major junior hockey broadcasters. The best part about “Rids” is he has always taken all the accolades that have come his way on a humble manner, and he has never made himself that big of a deal.

Ridley is a gentleman and a Hall of Fame person. He has always treated everyone with grace and class, and for anyone associated with the Tigers, it was always a highlight to be interviewed by him.

Anyone that has come through Tigers organization has only great things to say about Ridley including players like Lysiak, McDonald, Kelly Hrudey, Trevor Linden, Chris Osgood, Kris Russell, Darren Helm, Emerson Etem and Cole Sillinger. Ridley considers current Tigers general manager and head coach Willie Desjardins as one of his all-time best friends, and Desjardins cherishes Ridley’s place in team lore.

Bob Ridley calls a road game in Saskatoon in 2017.

It does feel like a disservice not to mention everyone that came through Tigers who would have something great to say about Ridley. Team owners Darrell and Brent Maser have to feel fortunate Ridley was the team’s play-by-play voice for as long as he was.

If you did a search of Ridley’s name on social media channels on Tuesday, you will see an endless number of people and teams offering him well wishes and praise.

In finishing his interview with Guarin, Ridley said his immediate plans are to sit back and relax and enjoy his family and enjoy life. You can be sure Ridley’s wife, Deb, will be happy he is home.

On top of enjoying time with family, hopefully, Ridley will revel in some rides on his Harley Davidson motorcycle too.

Ridley has left a unique mark on the game of hockey, the Tigers and Medicine Hat as a city that will never be matched. In retirement, he deserves everything good that comes his way.

Personal note – I will miss tracking Ridley’s games called total

Bob Ridley calls a game at the 2007 Memorial Cup.

Since Stanks’ Sermon is my blog, I wanted to get a personal note in.

I am going to miss tracking Bob Ridley’s games called total as the play-by-play voice of the Medicine Hat Tigers. I know this will sound self-serving, but I enjoyed tracking that statistic over the years.

When Ridley announced his retirement on Tuesday, it felt weird for me that I wouldn’t be tracking that total anymore that closed out at 4,022 games called, which is the most one person has called as a play-by-play voice of any hockey team.

I first tallied up the number of games Ridley had called way back in August of 2006. As a sports reporter for the Medicine Hat News, I was doing stories about a tribute dinner night the Tigers did for Ridley at that time, which saw a huge number of the team’s alums turn out from all eras. I also did a story on that tribute night for Hockey Now.

After I figured out how many games Ridley had called back in August of 2006 in the newsroom of the News, Sean Rooney, who was my sports editor, suggested that I should keep track of Ridley’s games called tally going into the future. Rooney said that would be an important piece of information people would like as the years went on.

When I left the News and Medicine Hat after 10 years to move to Saskatoon in the summer of 2014 to be closer to family, I kept tracking Ridley’s games called total. When I arrived in Saskatoon, Ridley’s games called total stood at 3,545 contests.

At the end of every season, I would note on a post in this blog where Ridley’s games called total stood at. I also noted when he would hit milestones like 3,600 or 3,700 games called. Of course, it was big time exciting to see him become the first person to call 4,000 games as the play-by-play voice of one hockey team.

Over the years, I hope you enjoyed the games called total I was able to track. I hope it added to Ridley’s iconic status.

I’m going to miss seeing Ridley on the WHL beat. I’ll always consider him a great friend.

Thanks for the memories “Rids,” and cheers to you making many more great memories in your retirement years.

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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Dorsett will always have a home with Tigers

Former feisty forward forever a hero in Medicine Hat

Derek Dorsett at the Memorial Cup in 2007.

Derek Dorsett will forever be a hero in Medicine Hat.

For three seasons from 2004 to 2007, the product of Kindersley, Sask., was a high energy right-winger for the Medicine Hat Tigers. He was the ultimate competitor who was a heart and soul member of the team.

Dorsett played a huge role in helping the Tigers win their fifth WHL title in team history in 2006-07 along with advancing to the title game of the Memorial Cup tournament, where they fell 3-1 to the host Vancouver Giants.

In the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, Dorsett was selected in the seventh round and 189^th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets. He graduated to the professional ranks playing in the AHL in 2007-08 for the Syracuse Crunch.

Dorsett became a full-time regular in the NHL in 2008-09 and appeared in 515 career regular season games over 10 seasons posting 51 goals, 76 assists and 1,314 penalty minutes with the Blue Jackets, New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks.

He was forced to retire from the NHL due to a cervical disc herniation near a previously treated neck injury. Dorsett made his retirement announcement on November 30, 2017 having started the 2017-18 campaign posting seven goals, two assists and 74 penalty minutes in 20 games with the Canucks.

Last Friday, Dorsett came home to Medicine Hat becoming an assistant coach with the Tigers. The 34-year-old was behind the bench when the Tigers downed the visiting Calgary Hitmen 4-1 in a WHL regular season clash at Co-Op Place in Medicine Hat.

He will remain with the Tigers through the end of the regular season. The Tigers (9-3-0-1) return to action Friday when they travel to Lethbridge to face the Hurricanes (3-6-2).

It just feels right that Dorsett got to rejoin the Tigers. He has the biggest heart and cared deeply about the team.

When Dorsett became a regular with the Tigers as an 18-year-old rookie in 2004-05, he never looked back.

In 180 career regular season games with the Tigers, Dorsett posted 49 goals, 79 assists and 593 penalty minutes. During his final season in “the Gas City” in 2006-07, he appeared in 61 regular season games posting 19 goals, 45 assists and 206 penalty minutes.

Standing 6-feet and weighing 192 pounds, Dorsett wasn’t the biggest player on the ice, but he didn’t back down from anyone. When he engaged in a fight, it seemed to always be against a player that was bigger than he was.

Dorsett was the agitator who knew what to say on the ice to get opponents off their game. 

The front of a Derek Dorsett Medicine Hat Tigers jersey.

You also always knew his work ethic would be at an extremely high level and unmatched by anyone else game in and game out.

Dorsett would throw hits, block shots and do all the gritty things that were needed to help the Tigers win games. He seemed to have the knack for getting points at key times too.

His biggest clutch goal for the Tigers came in their final preliminary round game at the 2007 Memorial Cup, where he had the lone tally in a 1-0 victory over the host Giants. That win gave the Tigers first place in the preliminary round and a bye straight to the Memorial Cup championship game.

If something needed said to spark the Tigers during pre-game or intermission, Dorsett was the one that would get fired up and say what needed to be said.

He was also the best teammate too. On the ice, it was always visible that Dorsett would stick up for his guys. Dorsett had a good sense of humour as well and would be able to say something that would break up the room, if levity was needed.

He would go the extra mile off the ice too.

During his 19-year-old season in 2005-06, Dorsett’s billet home was only about a couple of blocks away from the billet home of 16-year-old rookie right-winger Tyler Ennis, who is best known as an NHL regular these days.

Back in 2005-06, Ennis was a list player who was able to crack a strong Tigers roster standing 5-foot-8 and weighing 140 pounds at the time. While Ennis deserved the roster spot due to a strong training and play in pre-season, there was still a little uncertainty about him being with the Tigers due to his small size.

On top of adjusting to major junior hockey, Ennis had to worry about his Grade 11 high school studies too.

That season, Dorsett picked Ennis up every morning and drove him to Medicine Hat High School for school. After classes were done, Dorsett picked up Ennis to bring him to practice at the Tigers old long time home in The Arena. During those drives, the two had great personal visits.

Dorsett wanted to ensure Ennis was comfortable in his new junior hockey home. If Ennis needed anything, Dorsett told the rookie forward to give him a call.

The back of a Derek Dorsett Medicine Hat Tigers jersey.

In the grand scheme of things, Dorsett didn’t have to do those things for Ennis. The fact that he did helped Ennis feel like he truly was part of the Tigers family and was in the right junior hockey home.

Ennis would have a star career with the Tigers that saw him be selected in the first round and 26^th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

Dorsett left a legacy in Medicine Hat that will last for decades with everything he did as a Tigers player. It is fitting he gets to add to that legacy now as an assistant coach, even if it is ultimately for a short time.

Canucks confirm 25 test COVID-19 positive

A Bo Horvat card.

Facing whirlwinds of speculation, the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks released a statement on Wednesday regarding how bad the coronavirus (COVID-19) has affected the team.

The Canucks announced 25 individuals from the team had tested positive for COVID-19 including 18 roster players, three taxi squad players and four staff members. The Vancouver club added that one additional player is considered a close contact.

The statement said the source infection is a confirmed variant and the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control will need to do a full genome sequencing to determine the specific type.

The Canucks added in the statement, “An ongoing investigation by Vancouver Coastal Health and club contact tracing staff attributes the source infection to a single individual obtained in a community setting, which has since been identified by public health as a public exposure location.”

With the world stuck in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic, it doesn’t come as a surprise the source infection came from a single individual in a community setting.

The Canucks said all players and staff currently remain in quarantine.

The statement concluded saying, “This is a stark reminder of how quickly the virus can spread and its serious impact, even among healthy, young athletes.”

The Canucks COVID-19 troubles began on March 30, when centre Adam Gaudette was pulled from practice after next day results from the previous day’s testing came back positive for COVID-19.

On March 31, defenceman Travis Hamonic found out he had tested positive for COVID-19 from testing done the previous day after he participated in a morning skate. The Canucks ultimately held two on ice sessions with infected players.

That resulted in the March 30 NHL regular season game between the Canucks and the visiting Calgary Flames at Rogers Arena being postponed 90 minutes before puck drop.

The COVID-19 outbreak with the Canucks escalated from there with stars like Bo Horvat going on the NHL’s COVID protocol list.

The Canucks last played at Rogers Arena when they fell 5-1 to the visiting Winnipeg Jets on March 24.

At the moment, the Canucks are slated to play again this coming Monday against the Oilers in Edmonton. As it stands right now, the Canucks have postponed six games.

The Canucks have played 37 of their 56 regular season games for the current campaign posting a 16-18-3 record. They sit eight points back of the Montreal Canadiens for the final playoff berth in the all-Canadian North Division.

Due to privacy issues surrounding health care in Canada, it becomes harder to get information in situations like the Canucks have encountered with COVID-19. As a result, there were reports that varied regarding the extent of the situation.

Kudos can be passed on to the Canucks for releasing the information that they did on Wednesday.

Traditionally, hockey teams and leagues can be sketchy when it comes to transparency regarding illness and injuries.

On the reporting front, TSN’s Darren Dreger nailed the Canucks positive test number spot on before the club released its statement.

Overall, it is good the Canucks themselves provided the clarity they could on Wednesday.

From what the Canucks provided, the team is still far from getting out of the woods as far as COVID-19 is concerned, but the club’s situation is being taken seriously.

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 would not be denied of 2007 WHL title

Bosch’s 2OT winner in Game 7 ends intense series

The Tigers team picture after winning the 2007 WHL title.

    It is the moment you can always see in The Arena even when it is empty.
    It is the second overtime in Game 7 of the WHL Championship series, and the host Medicine Hat Tigers are locked in a 2-2 tie with the Vancouver Giants.

    Tigers talented centre Brennan Bosch has the puck near the blue-line in his own zone, and he is tapped by a swinging stick of a Giants player. The Martensville, Sask., product goes down to his knees, quickly gets up and a 3-on-1 break ensues.

    Bosch skates two to three strides past the Vancouver blue-line and wires home the winner low stick side on Giants goaltender Tyson Sexsmith. The sellout crowd of 4,006 spectators at The Arena explodes like never before with the home side pulling out a 3-2 win and capturing their fifth WHL title.

    That was how the scene played out on May 14, 2007 in what goes down as arguably one of the greatest games in the history of the WHL.

    From that moment, Bosch would be forever cemented as a hero in “the Gas City.”

    It is crazy to think 13 years has passed since that game was played. I worked that game for the Medicine Hat News as the beat writer that covered that Tigers team.

    I can still remember that day and game well.

    Looking back now, I see myself as being really young. I was a really young guy who was locked into that series that day.
    That series had been an intense one. Before the opening faceoff of Game 1, there was a jostling match, followed by a beautifully conducted tag team fight in Game 2 and an overtime winner by Tigers defenceman Trevor Glass in Game 3.

A Tigers celebration picture from the pages of the Medicine Hat News.

    After Game 3, the Tigers were up 2-1 in the set.

    Game 4 featured “the bite,” where Tigers agitator Derek Dorsett bit the finger of Giants pest Kenndal McArdle, when McArdle was trying to use his finger to fish hook Dorsett.

    Dorsett was ultimately suspended for Game 5 for the bite. There were members of the Vancouver media that painted Dorsett as the real life Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter.

    The Giants claimed a 4-0 victory in Game 4 and a 3-0 win in Game 5 to take a 3-2 lead in the series as it returned to the Hat for Games 6 and 7.

    Dorsett was inserted into the starting lineup for Game 6. He was the last Tigers member announced as part of the starting six.

    The fans at The Arena rose to their feet to give Dorsett a standing ovation that was cut off after 90 seconds by the start of the national anthem.

    Dorsett went out and immediately laid a massive hit on Giants captain Brett Festerling. The Tigers took the game 4-3 with star centre Darren Helm scoring the winner with 7:43 remaining in the third period that broke a 3-3 tie.

    The series was now tied 3-3 going to the first Game 7 to be played in a WHL final in 13 years.

    Looking at the intensity of the battle in that 2007 WHL final, one would never suspect both the Tigers and Giants had berths locked up in that year’s CHL Championship tournament – the Memorial Cup – due to the Giants being the host team for that event.
    With all that had happened in the series to that point, I was ready for anything to happen in Game 7. Of course, I wanted the Tigers to win, and I believed they would find a way to get it done.

    The guys on that team were my buds. Until this day, the guys that played for the Tigers over the two seasons from 2005 to 2007 are still the best group I ever dealt with in hockey.

The left and right photos show Tigers Game 7 moments from 2007.

    It also helped that Tigers star captain Kris Russell and the leadership group were great at making you feel a part of everything.

    Still, I prided myself in being able cover games objectively, and I felt set for any outcome to play out. I wasn’t making any predictions for that game.

    In the hours leading up to that game, I remember fielding a couple of requests from people looking for Game 7 tickets. The Tigers were in the midst of a lengthy sell out streak, and I had to tell those looking for tickets that they were out of luck.

    I arrived at The Arena about 90 minutes before puck drop. I remember being so nervous that I had to go to the washroom to vomit.

    About four of the Tigers veterans saw me throw up before the game, and that seemed to provide a laugh and levity.

    I was thankful I had a great crew at The News to cover that game with and the bench was emptied for that one. I was in the press box with my partner in crime Collin Gallant.

    Sports editor Sean Rooney motored back and forth between the rink and The News office putting together a column and handling the desking.

    The talents of Emma Bennett and Ian Sorensen expertly took care of the photography.

    Believe it or not, there was a time I went a lengthy stretch where I didn’t shoot photos of sports events. As a result, you won’t see a whole lot of photos with this post.

    In later years, I would try to mirror a lot of Bennett’s pictures when it came to championship celebrations.

    I just had to focus on my main story and a sidebar column filled with my three stars and odds and ends.

    Another group that was ready for the game were the fans. The rivalry between the Tigers and Giants built up to the ferocity you would see between bitter division rivals, and the Tigers faithful did not like the Giants.

    Despised might have been an accurate descriptor. The biggest Vancouver villains were McArdle and right-winger J.D. Watt.

A Tigers WHL championship T-shirt.

    They were heckled any time they hit the ice, and one Tigers fan had a sign for Watt that said, “Watt’s your problem.”

    When the Tigers came out to the ice before the start of the first period, they were greeted with a wave of noise the drowned out the public address announcer.
    They were engaged in the game with constant chants of “Go Tigers Go,” cheers for every big Tigers play and hit and chants of “Keets!” for every big save from hometown hero netminder Matt Keetley.

    Game 7 carried the intensity of the previous six encounters of the series.

    Tyler Ennis put the Tigers ahead 1-0 in the first period.

    Vancouver forwards Wacey Rabbit and Michal Repik potted singles in the second period to put the Giants up 2-1.

    At the media break of the third period, in game host Mike Thibeau rallied the fans to give a salute to Tigers overagers in Dorsett, Keetley and Chris Stevens for playing their final home game that night.

    Within about a couple of minutes of that salute, centre Daine Todd scored for the Tigers to even the score at 2-2 and force overtime.

    Another what would become a romantic moment came in the extra sessions. Due to being warm outside, the fog descended on to the ice at The Arena.

    On about two or three stoppages, the players came off their respective benches to skate circles to dissipate the fog.

    The Tigers hit another gear in the first overtime holding a 10-6 edge in shots on goal.

    That set the stage for Bosch’s goal in the second overtime frame creating the signature moment in the Tigers storied old home rink.

    Right after Bosch scored, I phoned my mom in Saskatoon, who was watching the television broadcast of the game with family.

    Energized, I jetted to the ice surface. I remember interviewing both Bosch and Keetley and their excitement was going all over the place.

    Keetley, who was named the MVP of the WHL playoffs, spotted a big gathering of his family in the crowd and gave a shout out and wave to them.

    Even at that time and looking back now, that was a game neither team deserved to lose.

    With that noted, the fact the Tigers won was a good thing.

    Even with a deadline looming, it felt effortless to finish of the work that night.

    After the work was finished, it was off to the Silver Buckle for a victory party. There were a few different ones that happened in town that night.

    To this day, that game is still my best memory in hockey.

My story of the Tigers Game 7 victory in the Medicine Hat News.

    Of course, it was a great one for that Tigers team, which began a tradition of getting together every summer to enjoy the memories of that day and run. It appears that the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic will be the thing that breaks up those annual reunions this year.

    There are a lot of points in time I wish I could go back, be as young as I was and relive that day again. The fact that day happened will always make me smile.

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

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    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

It just feels right – Tigers, Desjardins together again

Willie Desjardins pictured in the 2007 Memorial Cup game program.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pictures from the Tigers glory times under Willie Desjardins.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Willie Desjardins pictured in the Medicine Hat News.

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

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

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

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

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

Clouston had great run with Tigers facing difficult odds

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shaun Clouston explains a point on the Tigers bench.

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

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

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

    Anything short of that would be viewed as a disappointment.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shaun Clouston tracks play in the defensive zone.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shaun Clouston tracks play in the centre ice zone.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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    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.