Tigers aim for 50 wins, 100 points
The Medicine Hat Tigers are coming off one their roughest nights of the season after Tuesday’s 8-3 loss at the hands of the Red Deer Rebels, but with two games before playoffs, they’re trying to see it as a final test of adversity.
The Tigers looked anything but in form during Tuesday’s third period, allowing the Rebels to put Medicine Hat’s hopes at reaching 100 points on hold with a five-goal period.
Defenceman David Quenneville says it’s certainly serves as a stiff wake-up call with just two games left before the second season begins.
“We got kicked off the mountain and now we’ve got to build back up and get back up to the top,” said Quenneville. “It’s back to good habits, skating hard and making sure we do the little things because there’s no room for error in the playoffs.”
While milestones are typically placed on the backburner during the WHL’s 72-game docket, the Tabbies are currently on the cusp of joining some elite company in the franchise’s history. And it’s no doubt serving as motivation to finish the regular season strong with the weekend’s home-and-home series against the Lethbridge Hurricanes, starting Friday at the Enmax Centre before shifting to the Canalta Centre for Saturday’s finale.
One more victory would make this squad the fourth in Tigers history to reach the 50win plateau, while a single point would make them the seventh to crack 100 points.
“We really want to get to 50 wins and 100 points. We know if we play our game good things will happen so we just want to stick to it and continue to improve going into playoffs,” said overage forward Steven Owre, adding Tuesday’s loss was a reminder that it only gets harder from here. “We’re going to go things a lot tougher than that in the playoffs. I think it was a test for us. It’s going to be a tough bounce back, we’ve got a couple tough games coming back, but it’ll be good to see how we respond to that.”
Owre’s linemate, Chad Butcher, is on the hunt for a personal milestone as well — though he insists it pales in comparison to the 50-win marker. Just like his team, Butcher sits within striking distance of 100 points on the season, two shy at 26 goals and 72 assists.
“I think we’re just going to focus on playing the team games and letting the wins follow,” said Butcher. “Individual success will come with good team play.”
Butcher has all but locked up his place as the team’s leading point-getter — as Mason Shaw sits six points behind at 92 — but the top goal-scorer is still yet to be determined.
Matt Bradley, Zach Fischer and Mark Rassell currently share the team lead with 34 goals apiece, while Max Gerlach sits closely behind at 33 and John Dahlstrom has 29. That’s 164 goals for players across three separate lines, and Tigers head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston says it’s sure to be an asset when the puck drops on the post-season.
“That’s been a strength of ours all year, the depth of our offence,” said Clouston. “It’s a real good situation to be in offensively. I think we’ve got lots of players who can contribute so we’re hoping that when the time comes and we need guys to step up that it’s going to be different guys on different nights.”
Medicine Hat’s goaltending tandem will also be looking to bounce back and finish the regular season on a strong note after a forgettable performance Tuesday at the Canalta Centre. Both Michael Bullion and Nick Schneider were pulled from the loss, with Bullion allowing three goals on 15 shots before Schneider was beaten four times on seven shots — prompting Bullion’s return, where he was beaten on Red Deer’s first shot.
“It was a tough one, but I don’t think we were re al great in front,” said Clouston, adding he’s confident in both of their abilities to come back with a better effort. “We’ll get a couple good practices in and they’ll be ready for the weekend.”