Bullion gets first shutout
Tigers goalie shines in first career shutout
Superstitions range in all sports. Some are connected to a particular team, while others are more personally driven. But there’s one superstition in particular that all hockey fans, players and coaches alike seem to adhere to without question — the dreaded S word.
The term didn’t pop up on Twitter and was never spoken on the Medicine Hat Tigers bench — though it was undeniably on the tip of everyone’s tongue — Saturday night at the Canalta Centre. That is, until the clock finally reached zero for Michael Bullion’s first career shutout with a 5-0 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
“I was just telling myself to clamp it down. You don’t want to say it and jinx it,” said Bullion, adding he almost didn’t believe it when the clock finally showed zeros. “I just looked up at the score and was like, ‘shouldn’t that be a one where there’s a zero? Usually there’s a goal in by this point.’ It was just indescribable.”
“They didn’t want to say the exact words (on the bench) but they were excited and wanted it to happen,” added Tigers head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston, whose team improved to 40-16-1-0. “He’s a tireless worker, and I thought tonight he looked as good as he ever has. He looked aggressive but under control.”
Bullion — who entered the WHL in 2014 with the Portland Winterhawks — turned aside 19 pucks to silence the red-hot Hurricanes for the first perfect night of his career, and in front of one of the largest crowds of the season, to boot, at 4,419 fans.
“He’s one of the hardest workers I know so to see him get rewarded like that is amazing. He’s been great for us so this is definitely huge,” said Tigers captain Clayton Kirichenko, adding he was happy to see some new life out of the crowd. “It was awesome. It’s always good when our fans are being loud. It kind of shut (Lethbridge’s) fans up so that was good.”
The Tigers acquired Bullion from Portland on Jan. 1, for a seventh-round draft pick, with plans of using him as a backup in order to give starter Nick Schneider more rest before the playoffs. But the 19-year-old Alaskan has been nothing short of impressive since donning the orange and black sweater. After a career-best 2.72 goals against average with an .898 save percentage and a 9-2-0-0 record — with two of his wins earned through entering games in relief — in his first 11 games, he’s certainly making his case for the No. 1 position.
“It’s probably the best thing in the world to have the confidence of my coach. To put me in a game like this one means a lot to me,” said Bullion.
“I’ve got all the respect in the world for the Portland Winterhawks, but I feel like here they really utilize what I have to offer and what I bring to the table. I think most importantly, it’s just a comfort thing,” said Bullion. “The hockey they play here is exactly
While the Tigers had some insight on Bullion prior to the trade — as the former Winterhawk worked with Tabbies goaltending coach JF Martel in the past — Clouston admits his performance since joining the team has been far better than they could have anticipated.
“We wouldn’t have made the move if we didn’t believe he could come in and help, but to see him really play with as much confidence as he’s playing with, that’s probably the thing that’s the most surprising,” said Clouston. “For being a No. 2 guy for a long time, he’s got a lot of confidence.”
Clouston added fans will be seeing a lot more of Bullion down the stretch, as he plans on splitting the minutes between him and Schneider.
“I think rest and being fresh down the stretch is important,” said Clouston. “We’re in a good spot right now. We’ll just keep both guys going and we’ll see where it takes us.”