Iron Mark: Tigers captain set for 200th consecutive game
There have been plenty of changes at the Canalta Centre since the Medicine Hat Tigers made it their home in 2015, but if there has been one constant, it’s Mark Rassell.
The 20-year-old captain has been in the lineup for every single one of Medicine Hat’s Western Hockey League games at the Canalta Centre over the past three seasons. And the ironman streak doesn’t stop on home ice, as Rassell will lace up his skates for the 200th consecutive time when the Tabbies take on the Kootenay Ice tonight in Cranbrook.
“I wanted to be part of a rare club, so it’s been an honour — the fact I’ve been able to play through some of the minor injuries I’ve had and get into the lineup every night with no suspensions — and now it’s here on Friday,” said Rassell, whose Tigers hit the ice at 7 p.m. “I looked it up at the start of the year. I knew playing all 72 last year and (70) the year before. I knew I hadn’t missed a game in a while and I knew if I took care of my body I could potentially get to 200 games, which I thought would be a pretty rare feat in this league.”
Rassell has missed just two games since the Tigers made the switch from The Arena to the Canalta Centre at the start of the 2015-16 season. The last game he missed was on Oct. 9, 2015 against the Lethbridge Hurricanes — a landslide loss that marked Trevor Cox’s last game in orange and black.
“We lost 7-0 that game, it was the game Cox broke his hand when he fought,” said Rassell, who has played in every game at the Canalta Centre. ”I was back in the lineup the next game, we traded Cox because he was hurt and I haven’t missed a game since.”
Playing a complete 72-game season is hard enough, but 200 consecutive inserts Rassell into that rare club he’s been searching for. To put things in perspective: Tonight will mark Ryan Jevne’s 200th career contest, making him just the third member of Medicine Hat’s roster to achieve the feat alongside Rassell and defenceman David Quenneville. Jevne has missed just eight games over the past three seasons.
“Obviously he doesn’t get too gritty,” Jevne said with a smile. “That’s all that shows, he doesn’t hit much and doesn’t block shots. It’s fun to make jokes about that stuff but that’s a pretty impressive streak to go 200 games.”
While Rassell has been playing through a minor knee injury over the past month, he says there haven’t been many instances where missing a game was even a question — which he insists is a credit to Medicine Hat’s coaching and training staff, as well as his mother.
“There have been a couple where I’ve been kind of under the weather, but I’ve got to give credit to my mom. She was a single mom of four, so when I was sick and wanted to stay home I wasn’t allowed because we didn’t have a babysitter.
“She just said ‘tough it up and go to school,’” Rassell said, adding the team staff has also played a big role in his ironman run. “I’m in (trainer Mikki Lanuk’s) office a lot getting minor treatment on nagging things, just so they don’t get worse to the point that I’d have to miss a game. The coaching staff, too, they’re very smart and very aware. They know when we need a day off or a break from skating.”
Rassell will also have a chance to notch his 100th career goal in his 200th consecutive game — and 267th overall. The Calgary product went on record saying he should only be credited for 98 regular season goals — since one came in his team’s Game 73 tiebreaker loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings in 2016. But the News reached out to WHL communications co-ordinator Robert Murray earlier this week and confirmed the league officially views Rassell as a 99goal scorer, and he isn’t about to argue.
“If the league says it, I’ll count it. I guess I’m at 99 and I guess it’s all in the wording,” said Rassell. “I’ll take 99, that’s one less goal I need to score to get to 100 so if the league says so, who am I to argue with them?”
The new milestones add to Medicine Hat’s growing list of accolades both on the ice and behind the bench this season. Tigers head coach Shaun Clouston set a new record for victories in December, David Quenneville set a new defensive scoring record earlier this month and now Rassell and Jevne are both on the cusp of adding another achievement to their Tigers legacies tonight.
“I think it’s really cool,” Clouston said. “They are just numbers, but I think what happens is you don’t really realize, you don’t think about it very much — whether it’s points or games or wins — and then when it happens it’s just like ‘Wow, that’s pretty cool.’”
He says it’s even rubbing off on the younger players.
“I think there’s a parallel with (Henry) Rybinski and with (Josh) Williams. They are playing some great hockey right now but it didn’t just happen, it happened because at the beginning of the season they started working on things, they started chipping away and working at it every single day.”