The bad, the ugly with the good still to come

Ithink I am alone in saying, I actually enjoyed this Medicine Hat Tigers season. I know, pretty sadistic and easy to say because I didn’t pay to see a single game. But hear me out.

When teams win, things come easy. Whether it be stories, post-game interviews, coming to the rink and working to get better every day, winning makes that very easy. Who doesn’t like to win? But losing, that makes everything difficult. Players can shut down and give up. Coaches can snap and fans can turn for the worse when teams lose and the Tigers did lose a lot. Like a franchise worst record a lot.

But that never happened with the Tigers. The fans never turned and actually embraced the team more as the season was turning to a close, something I can say the players noticed and greatly appreciated.

As for the coaches and players, they wore losses hard. Whether it was an 11-1 or 4-3 loss, it was a sombre mood around the locker room as another night went by without success and another loss was added to the tally. But if we had our media availability the next day it was smiles and jokes as the kids could show their personality.

Before anyone reads that and starts firing up an angry Tweet or letter on how the players didn’t care about losing because they weren’t negative days after losing, relax. Take a breath. These kids–and they are kids, most of them on the team this season couldn’t buy a lottery ticket– are as mentally tough as anyone. Because they have to be if they want to move onto that next level. They’re confident in their abilities and know how not to dwell on tough moments because hockey is a mental game. Like golf, if you dwell on a bad shot as you go to hit the ball again, chances are you’re going to hit two bad shots in a row.

Instead of dragging around the losses, the Tigers were able to enjoy some of what it means to be in the Western Hockey League and show their personalities in practice or through interviews. They loved coming to the rink every day. But don’t get me wrong, they cared about each and every one of those 53 losses this season. Every single player I talked with during the final week of their season said they can not and will not go through a season like this one again. They didn’t want to talk about the season not because they were dodging their responsibilities but they were more upset than anyone at what their season became.

So what exactly did I enjoy about this season? From

Game 1 against the Swift Current Broncos to Game 68 against the Edmonton Oil Kings, I saw a lot of players grow mentally beyond their years. That’s a powerful thing. This young core is heading into a summer of working out off the heels of an embarrassing season that they have said they’re willing to do anything to avoid repeating.

Just an aside for the old core, the trio of Daniel Baker, Logan Barlage and Carter Chorney made my job really easy this season and were a joy to be around each day. There were a lot of laughs with those three and I wish I could have had longer to get to know Logan and Carter and share their stories. I look forward to tracking what’s next in their careers.

There’s a lot to be excited about next season for the Tigers. Thursday they won the draft lottery and will pick first overall on May 19, likely adding an elite prospect to the young group of Tomas Mrsic, Cayden Lindstrom, Josh Van Mulligen who will all likely find substantial playing time in their rookie seasons. With a strong summer and the fuel of las season, next year could be big stepping stones for Tigers like Andrew Basha, Reid Andresen, Latvian wonder Bogdans Hodass and more.

I’m not trying to be the Tigers cheer leader here and promise a playoff run next season. This group of Tigers has a really big jump to make from being in the CHL basement, not just the WHL, to being in a playoff spot. Whether or not they have that in them or whoever is brought in via trade or signing has it in them is yet to be seen. What I am sure of heading into the 202223 season, is that the Tigers are following a plan for future success.

I’m not sure where that got lost in translation this season, whether it was my reporting or what but once the Tigers realized Cole Sillinger was not going to return, they made the decision to move veterans for futures and take the lumps. This season of defeat and disappointment was not incompetence, but an extremely painful stepping stone of which can be the foundation for a run of successful seasons for the Tigers. That’s what gives me confidence to believe in the Tabbies heading into the new season. There’s a plan in place that if successful could in a few seasons see the Tigers capture their first WHL Championship since 2006-07. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, I don’t know what next season will bring results wise as the Tigers are coming off of an 11-53-3-1 season, there’s still a lot of success that has to happen before a parade can even be drawn up.

It’s a long road ahead for the Medicine Hat Tigers to return to their playoff pedigree and championship prowl. But a big step was taken with the lottery win and, there are more to come this off-season as players get better and next year when they put their money with their mouth’s are with their promises of better results.

There’s no better time to jump on the Tigers bandwagon if you’re not yet a fan and for those die hards who suffered alongside the players this season, that belief may pay off sooner than expected.

James Tubb is a sports reporter with the Medicine Hat News. He can be reached at jtubb@medicinehatnews.com