A change of culture has fed Medicine Hat’s success
It’s been a very quick turnaround for the Medicine Hat Tigers and in the eyes of Shane Smith, it comes down to one word.
Culture.
Just two seasons ago the Tigers won 11 games. Yes, it allowed them to draft a franchise altering star in Gavin McKenna. But with all the talent the Tigers possess, they still have to come together.
That’s now happened.
“I was up and down with that 11-win team throughout the whole season but a huge part of it was a shift in our culture into last year,” Smith said. “We sat down in camp and talked about a focus on culture. Last year, every day, [it was] just getting better. We knew we were a team that were underdogs, fighting through it and I think we did a great job last year of putting our game on the map so to speak and improving that culture and getting better every day.
“Then coming into this year, we knew we’d have a special group of guys and we’ve continued to embrace that culture.”
The Tigers made a swift return to the playoffs a season ago after they went 30-29-9 although they were swept in the first round by Winnipeg. This year, their game has reached new highs as they sit 13 games over .500 at 35-22-7 and sit fourth in the WHL’s Western Conference. They’ve also been named in the CHL Top 10 rankings on three occasions this year too.
“Simple things like needing everybody to win,” Smith said when asked what the biggest culture shift has been. “Last year a big thing was everybody ties into the win whether its first line, second line, third line or fourth line. We’re all rotating, whatever D pair, the goalies, our trainers, our coaches, everybody ties into it.
“That continued this year and we’ve focused on getting better every day and focused on our structure; a big part of who we are as the Medicine Hat Tigers is our structure so buying into that has been huge for us.”
They’ve also accomplished this with the fourth youngest squad in the WHL at an average age of 18.00. Furthermore, with the exception of Marcus Pacheco, every player on the Tigers roster was drafted by the club. Simply put, the culture has truly come from within, led by head coach Willie Desjardins.
“He’s as first-class as they get when it comes to a coach,” Smith said. “We’re really lucky to have a coach like that in our organization.”
On a personal level for Smith, 2023-24 has been a pivotal year. He’s set career highs already with 29 goals and 51 points as he looks to increase his value ahead of the 2024 NHL Draft.
On the stick, off the stick. Shane Smith can shoot!@tigershockey pic.twitter.com/kcm9b7yH9K
— The WHL (@TheWHL) December 2, 2023
The 19-year-old was draft eligible a year ago but after his first full season in the WHL, he didn’t have high expectations of being selected.
“I wasn’t really expecting my name to be called too much last year but I did use it as motivation all summer,” he said. Smith was ranked as the 188th North American skater in NHL Central Scouting’s mid-term rankings that were released in January.
Unsurprisingly, the talk around Medicine Hat is focused on 2026 NHL Draft prospect and 16-year-old phenom McKenna. His 90 points are tied for the 11th most in the WHL this year while he’s looking to become just the fifth player his age to record 100 points in a season.
“It’s special to have somebody like that who can change a game in the blink of an eye,” Smith said.
And that Tigers talent, that also includes 2024 NHL Draft prospects Andrew Basha, Cayden Lindstrom (who has been out of the lineup since Dec. 16) and Tomas Mrsic, as well as Dru Krebs, Hunter St. Martin and Oasiz Wiesblatt, has expectations high in Medicine Hat.
“Going into this year with a lot of the same guys, we’ve had that taste [of the playoffs] but now we want it that much more,” Smith said. “Coming into camp our main focus was to win a championship so we’re doing whatever we can to achieve that goal.”
The Medicine Hat Tigers face the Swift Current Broncos in tonight’s CHL Game of the Week. Fans can watch live at 7pm ST on CHL TV or TSN+.
