Kohler already a champion among Tigers
He’s only been in Canada for a month, but Mick Kohler is already a champion among the Medicine Hat Tigers.
One of the many amenities included in Medicine Hat’s new player facilities is a rec room, which includes a ping pong table, bubble hockey and a dart board. No stranger to the pub favourite, Kohler wasted no time defeating every one of his new teammates in darts.
“I’ve beat everybody. I’m the champ,” said Kohler. “I play in Germany with my athletic coach. Before every training starts, we play.”
The 19-year-old German centre joined the Tigers as the 59th overall pick in the summer’s CHL import draft and seems to have used darts as a way to break the ice with a number of his teammates. Fellow forward Max Gerlach — who has some German blood running through his veins as well — says he was the first to fall victim to Kohler’s skills with a dart, and quickly too.
“It must be popular in Germany because he just dusted me. But it was fun,” said Gerlach, adding the rec room seems to be improving the overall mood and camaraderie. “That’s how guys are jelling in there. Guys are spending way more time at the rink now that we’ve got our own little area.”
Tigers head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston says the plan was always for Kohler to fill an important role up front, but the arrival of Swedish import Linus Nassen complicates things. Nassen brings Medicine Hat’s import count to three alongside Kristians Rubins and Kohler. The situation forces Kohler to prove himself in a hurry, as the Tigers must release one of their three imports within seven days of Rubins’ return from a shoulder injury.
“We’ve got three guys to fill two spots with the imports but we’re not at a place where we need to make a decision yet,” said Clouston, adding Mason Shaw’s torn ACL gives Kohler some added responsibility. “There’s a little bit more pressure on some guys, and some bigger roles for some with Mason out for a big part of the season,”
Kohler is coming off a strong year with Kolner EC of the under-19 Deutsche Nachwuchs Liga. The product of Bonn came just shy of a two pointsper-game average with 16 goals and 44 assists for 60 points in 31 games.
With any luck, he’ll be lacing up his skates with Germany at the upcoming IIHF World Junior Championship as well. Kohler has competed for his country on a handful of occasions — including the under-18 world junior championship and an under-17 tournament in 2015 — and he’s hoping a strong start to his WHL season will put him on the under-20 radar.
“It’s awesome. To play for your country, it’s very exciting,” said Kohler. “I really hope that I play this year.”
Kohler added he’s still acclimatizing to the smaller North American rink, which he says come with a much different style of play. But after posting two assists in four exhibition games and chipping in with a strong start to the regular season, he seems to be figuring things out.
“In Canada it’s more north-south and in Germany it’s all more side-to-side, into the corners,” said Kohler. “You play more with the defenders, with a fiveman rush.”
Clouston added most import players require a transitionally period after joining the WHL. While Kohler is no exception, he’s been making sizable strides since the season started last week.
“I think there’s always a little bit of a transition and we’re in the early stages of that, but hopefully it continues to go the way it’s gone so far,” said Clouston. “He had a couple really good chances (Saturday against Lethbridge) that didn’t go in for him but I thought he played really well.”
Kohler and the Tigers (1-1-0-0) open a two-game road trip tonight in Saskatoon against the Blades (0-1-0-0) at 7:05 p.m.