Etem gives Tigers bite

Emerson Etem could easily erupt for a Medicine Hat Trick.

Etem, who led the Western Hockey League with 61 regular-season goals, scored seven more times as the Medicine Hat Tigers engineered a fourgame sweep of the Saskatoon Blades in their first-round playo series.

The Tigers are now preparing for a best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal against the Moose Jaw Warriors, who will play host to Friday’s opener. Moose Jaw, which has an array of talented forwards, must find a way to counteract Tigers’ snipers such as Etem and 49-goal man Hunter Shinkaruk.

“We’re a speed team,’’ Etem said. “With less hooking and slashing, it gave us more room to use our skills. Hunter Shinkaruk’s obviously a skilled guy and he’s got great hands. He seems to open up things for me and my speed. We built o our chemistry all year and stayed positive and we were able to do good things, night in and night out.’’

That was especially true for Etem, who amassed 107 points in 65 games while becoming the first WHLER to hit the 60-goal mark since Pavel Brendl sniped 73 times for the 1998-99 Calgary Hitmen.

The immediate priority, though, is the looming matchup with Moose Jaw.

“I think it will be a closer series than Saskatoon,’’ Etem said. “We thought the Saskatoon series was going to be close. They’re a hard-nosed team, and Moose Jaw’s no di erent. We’re a great road team and they’re a strong home team, so we’ve just got to focus on playing a simple game and sticking to our systems — sticking to the game that led us to a sweep against Saskatoon.

“It’s hard for the opposing player to play against us if we’re all 100 per cent committed and bearing down on the little things.’’