Haden gets his wish, Tigers get 19-year-old from Blades
Gary Haden has a new home.
The 19-year-old forward was shipped from the Medicine Hat Tigers to the Saskatoon Blades in exchange for centre Logan Christensen Thursday after requesting a trade out of the Gas City two weeks ago.
“I’ll be in the lineup tomorrow so I’m excited,” said Haden, whose Blades will face off against the Rebels tonight in Red Deer. “It’s been a crazy day and doesn’t really feel real yet but I’m excited to be part of the organization and can’t wait for the future.”
Tigers general manager and head coach Shaun Clouston says the trade “just seemed to make sense,” and that the two teams were in talks for a while before solidifying the transaction Thursday.
Christensen — a 5-foot-10, 181-pound centre with a lefthanded shot who will join the Tigers for tonight’s game in Regina against the Pats — had a goal and two assists in 13 games with Saskatoon this season, and 58 points in 197 career games with the club.
“He’s a real intelligent twoway centreman that can play kind of up and down the lineup. He can kill penalties for sure, and I think he’s got some offence,” said Clouston, adding the 19-year-old Lundar, Man. product suffered a ruptured spleen early last season, which kept him off the ice for a few months. “That was a real tough scenario for him, so this is an opportunity for him to start fresh.”
With a career faceoff win percentage of 50.3, Clouston says he plans on keeping Christensen in the middle for the time being. With the status of winger Henrik Rybinski up in the air following a check from behind in Wednesday’s 41 win over the Red Deer Rebels that required several stitches in his eyebrow, Clouston added Christensen could slot in between Elijah Brown and Bryan Lockner when he makes his debut with the Tigers tonight at the Brandt Centre.
“It might be a real simple solution there, where it was Brown, Rybinski and Lockner and now it might be Brown, Christensen and Lockner,” said Clouston. “We’ll move Brown over to the left, that’s a simple option where we don’t change too much. It was a pretty solid effort (Wednesday).”
Haden departs the Tigers after recording 25 goals and 28 assists in 115 regular season games, including a goal and two assists in nine games this year. The 5-foot-10, 176-pound Airdrie product also produced two goals in six playoff appearances.
Haden becomes the second member of the Tigers to join the Blades over the past year, as former Tabby sniper Max Gerlach was shipped to Saskatoon at last season’s trade deadline in exchange for Lockner and a pair of draft picks.
“(Gerlach) is how I found out actually. He texted me and said, ‘Welcome to Saskatoon,’” said Haden. “I’m super excited to be part of playing on a team with Max and hopefully playing on a line with him. He’s a great veteran to have.”
Haden and Gerlach will be in Medicine Hat to face the Tigers on Nov. 9. It will be the first time either player has returned to Canalta Centre since being traded to the Blades.