WHL

Tigers Tame Rebels; Sweep Weekend Series

 

The Medicine Hat Tigers scored early and often at the newly branded Co-Op Place, parlaying a 4-0 first period advantage into a 7-2 victory in its Western Hockey League home opener.

Coming off a third period barrage in Red Deer the previous night, where the Tigers overcame a 4-1 deficit to earn a 5-4 overtime decision, the hosts completely smothered the Rebels during the first frame.

“I’m glad it was a win” said Tigers coach Willie Desjardins after the contest. “I thought we had a good start.”

“But I think the night was for Bob (Ridley). It was really nice. It was great to find a way to win.

On an historic night in the Gas City, with Tigers play-by-play voice Bob Ridley calling his 4,000th career game, the home side gave the veteran broadcaster plenty of opportunity to warm up his pipes and make his famous goal calls.

Cole Clayton: 4-point night.

The Tigers opened the scoring 36 seconds into the contest. Overage defenceman Cole Clayton took a feed at the point from Corson Hopwo and drifted a shot that Rebels goaltender Byron Fancy couldn’t squeeze.

With Rebels Dallon Melin serving a high-sticking minor, the Tigers power play connected in short order to make it 2-0 at 3:34. Clayton and Brett Kemp worked the puck to Ryan Chyzowksi, who skated to the top of the faceoff circle and beat Fancy cleanly with a wrister on the stick side.

Medicine Hat took command eight minutes later when Dru Krebs sprung Lukas Svejkovsky in all alone from the neutral zone. Svejkovsky, selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins at the 2020 NHL Draft, beat Fancy five-hole to make it 3-0. Clayton also picked up a assist, his third point of the period.

Oasiz Wiesblatt
Oasiz Wiesblatt: first WHL goal.

A minute later, rookie Oasiz Wiesblatt stole the puck from a Rebels defender along the half-wall and beat Fancy with a shot over the shoulder. For Wiesblatt, it was his first career WHL goal and ended the night for Fancy, who was replaced by Ethan Anders.

The Tigers were full marks for the lead after 20 minutes, outshooting the Rebel 15-5. In fact, the Tigers peppered Fancy early on with eight shots before Red Deer finally tested Garin Bjorklund in the Tigers cage. That first Rebels shot came nine minutes into the affair.

Red Deer scored the only goal of the second stanza.

Just 15 seconds after coincidental minors, Chris Douglas took advantage of  some open ice, stepped around a couple of Medicine Hat defenders and lifted a shot past Bjorklund for his second of the season.

Brayden Boehm: first WHL goal

The Rebels narrowed the gap to 4-2 at 4:22 of the third period when Chase Leslie sifted a “plinko” like shot from the point that changed direction three or four times before bouncing off the goal post past a stunned Bjorklund.

The Tigers answered at 12:08.

Brayden Boehm took a perfect feed from Caleb Willms to convert at two-on-one break, extending the lead to 5-2.

A pair of late tallies by Brett Kemp and Noah Danielson made the final 7-2.

“Everybody is so excited to play, there’s lots of energy on the bench,” said Desjardins, when asked about the atmosphere in the buildings with no spectators. “We’ve got great fans here. We feel bad. I appreciate the owners stepping up so we can play. I know for us, we’re grateful for the opportunity.”

Earlier in the day at Co-Op Place, WHL Commissioner Ron Robison was in Medicine Hat to announce the league has created an award to honour Ridley.

Bob Ridley: game number 4,000

Aptly named the Bob Ridley Award for Media Excellence, a committee will present the award annually to a distinguished member of the print, radio or television media.

Ridley, whose storied career over 50 years has been well-documented, is the inaugural award recipient.

Throughout the game during stoppages in play, video messages were played from a number of Tigers alumni, including Jim Nill, Matt Keetley, Chris St. Jacques, David Quenneville, Marek Langhamer, Jason Prsofsky, Ryan Hollweg, Ken Holland, Brennan Bosch, Ron McLean and Kelly Hrudey.

Ice Chips…Three stars were Clayton, Chyzowski and Wiesblatt…The Tigers outshot the Rebels, 33-21…Bjorklund finished with 19 saves, while Fancy and Anders combined to make 26 stops…Medicine Hat was 1-for-6 on the power play, while Red Deer went 0-for-1…The Tigers are carrying five players from its 2019 WHL Bantam Draft class  including Wiesblatt, Orem Shtrom, Tyler MacKenzie, Brayden Boehm and Cayden Glover…For Boehm and Wiesblatt, who both tallied their first WHL goals, their respective milestones will forever be linked to Ridley’s 4,000th game…There were approximately two dozen scouts in the otherwise empty building, all observing the stringent COVID-19 protocols set forth by the WHL…Elsewhere in the WHL, the Edmonton Oil Kings knocked off the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 7-2…The Tigers travel to Edmonton Friday to take on the Oil Kings at the Downtown Community Arena. Next home game for the Tabbies is Saturday when the Oil Kings come calling at 7:30pm to Co-Op Place.

SUMMARY

First Period
1. MH Clayton 1 (Hopwo) :36
2. MH Chyzowski 1 (Kemp, Clayton) 3:34 (PP)
3. MH Svejkovsky 2 (Krebs, Clayton) 12:11
4. MH Wiesblatt 1 (unassisted) 13:07.

Penalties: RD Melin (high-sticking) 3:22. Wiebe (kneeing) 19:07.

Second Period
5. RD Douglas 2 (Ward, Grubbe) 18:26
Penalties: MH Baker (tripping) 1:55. MH Ferster (cross-checking), RD Bains (roughing) 18:19.

Third Period
6. RD Leslie 1 (Wiebe, Bains) 4:22
7. MH Boehm 1 (Willms, Clayton) 12:08
8. MH Kemp 1 (Krebs) 17:52 (EN)
9. MH Danielson (Willms, Boehm) 18:11

Penalties: RD Douglas (cross-checking) 4:52. RD Tarzwell (high-sticking) 7:47. RD King (check to the head) 12:53. MH Willms (hooking) 13:57. RD Ward (roughing) 14:09.

Shots on Goal
MH:  15-6-12: 33
RD:  5-8-8: 21

Goaltenders:
MH: Bjorklund (60:00) 19/21
RD: Fancy (13:07) 8/12, Anders (46:53) 18/20

(Glen Erickson is a long-time freelance writer with ties to the WHL over the past 35 years. He covered the WHL extensively in Kelowna between 2005 and 2019, in addition to four CHL Top Prospects Games and a pair of IIHF World Junior Championships. Erickson provided coverage of Rockets home games for the Kelowna Daily Courier during the 2018-19 season, before relocating to Medicine Hat.)