Tigers double Canes 4-2
Shaun Clouston entered elite territory on Wednesday night at the Canalta Centre. The Medicine Hat Tigers head coach collected his 323rd victory behind the bench in a 4-2 nailbiter over the Lethbridge Hurricanes to tie Willie Desjardin’s all-time franchise win record.
“It’s the best junior hockey league in the world and it’s been an absolute honour. I think the biggest thing is, I’m just so thankful for the opportunity to be in one spot, and in my mind, such a great spot for so long,” said Clouston. “You don’t get wins without having great players. There are so many people involved in that, from the top, from our owners in Darrell and Brent (Maser) to Willie who was a GM for a while … There’s definitely a winning tradition and I’m just really fortunate to be a part of that. It takes players and scouts and management and ownership to have a successful season.”
The victory puts Medicine Hat at 19-14-2-0 on the Western Hockey League season.
While Clouston has amassed more regulation losses than Desjardins did in his 559-game tenure with the Tabbies, he achieved his 323rd win in just 557 games — two fewer than Desjardins, who left behind a 323176-60 record with Medicine Hat.
“That’s really special for Shaun. It’s a big night for him,” said Tigers defenceman David Quenneville, adding the Tigers hope to secure the record Friday in Lethbridge. “We can’t let any points slip and we’re really going to have to dig deep for Clouston to get that win on Friday.”
While the Tigers found themselves trailing early for the 11th time in the past 12 games, they came roaring back to secure the milestone win for their coach when Hurricanes centre Jordy Bellerive broke open a scoreless game midway through the second.
While Hurricanes starting goaltender Stuart Skinner was a scratch, backup Reece Klassen didn’t miss a beat. The 18-year-old netminder turned aside 13 shots in the first and nine more in the second to keep Medicine Hat on the wrong end of a one-goal game through 40 minutes, but the Tiger offence finally awoke in the third.
“He was solid. We was moving well in the net and made a lot of big saves for us on some tough shots in the slot,” said Hurricanes captain Giorgio Estephan. “He was nothing but outstanding from our end, they were a couple goals he had no chance on.”
David Quenneville finally found Medicine Hat’s window with Calen Addison sitting for roughing. The 19year-old Edmonton product jumped all over a rebound in the left circle and beat Klassen to the back of the net for his 13th goal of the season.
Max Gerlach stole away the lead five minutes later, notching his 13th own of the year by putting a shot off the post and in while falling to his knees.
But the Hurricanes answered in a hurry when Lane Zablocki quickly gained a breakaway and beat Tigers goaltender Jordan Hollett through the wickets to tie up the game just 22 seconds after Gerlach’s marker.
The Tigers and Hurricanes continued to trade chances into dying minutes, when Hurricanes centre Jadon Joseph caught Tigers defenceman Dylan MacPherson with a high elbow and was promptly sent to the box. James Hamblin converted on the ensuing power play, then Quenneville added an empty-netter in the final minute to send most of the 3,688 in attendance home happy.
Hollett shut the door in the final seconds to lock up a 27-save victory. Klassen stopped 36 in the loss, dropping Lethbridge to 1517-2-0.
NOTES —
The Hurricanes have suspended 19-year-old forward indefinitely. Bowen, from Chilliwack, B.C., was notified of a trade to another WHL team but was suspended after informing the Hurricanes he would not report to the new club. Bowen appeared in 53 games with the Hurricanes in parts of two seasons collecting 30 points (7g-23a) along with 27 penalty minutes. He added three points (2g-1a) in 14 postseason games.
Ryan Bowen