By Darren Steinke /
After sitting through their longest off-season in six years, the Medicine Hat Tigers are just jumping at the chance to get going again.
Last season, the storied WHL franchise from the Gas City lost out in a first round playoff series to the Kootenay Ice and failed to play hockey in the month of April for the first time since 2002. While the Tigers were going through a rebuilding season after winning the WHL championship in 2007, they did finish seventh overall in the 22-team league with a 43-22-5-2 record.
The returning players have dreams of putting together another long post-season run, which have been common under head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins.
“It is nice to come back and see all the guys again,” said star left winger Tyler Ennis, who was selected in the first round and 26th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in June’s NHL Draft. “We’ve been missing hockey for a while here.
“I think everyone is kind of itching to get back here.”
The Tigers should return the majority of their lineup from last season. Gone of course are overagers Jerrid Sauer, Daine Todd and Yashar Farmanara.
Rearguard Jordan Bendfeld re-entered the NHL Draft and was taken in the seventh round and 193rd overall by the Edmonton Oilers. As an overager, he could be assigned to the minor professional ranks.
Also gone are Europeans goaltender Tomas Vosvrda and forward Mikael Ahle’n. The Tigers also traded 18-year-old centre Jordan Hickmott to the Prince Albert Raiders in order to move up in the CHL Import Draft.
Medicine Hat added Tristan King, an 18-year-old forward, and Jace Coyle, an 18-year-old rearguard, to its roster in separate trades. King came from the Portland Winter Hawks, while Coyle played last season with the Memorial Cup winning Spokane Chiefs.
In the Import Draft, the Tigers picked up Czech rearguard Tomas Kundratek, who will turn 19 in December, and 18-year-old Czech left-winger Zdenik Okal. Kundratek was picked in the third round and 90th overall in the NHL Draft by the New York Rangers.
“We look pretty good as far as deals,” said overage centre Brennan Bosch. “We have most of the same guys back.
“They have had a year under their belt and a summer to train. Obviously, coming in, our expectations are high, but I don’t know if teams are going to take us lightly or not, but it doesn’t really matter to us.”
The Tigers have the potential to put together a memorable season. However, a lot of steps have to be taken in order to make any dreams of a league or a Memorial Cup title come true, as the players have to do their part to create that story.
“The problem you have is you have a lot of good teams in our league,” said Desjardins. “Last year, you can evaluate it for whatever you want, but the bottom line is we lost out in the first round in the playoffs.
“It was quick. If I evaluate us on that, I think that we have a lot of work to do.” |