[{"id":51380,"date":"2026-04-09T13:01:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T19:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/?p=51380"},"modified":"2026-04-09T13:01:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T19:01:41","slug":"pickford-rucks-named-finalists-for-four-broncos-memorial-trophy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/article\/pickford-rucks-named-finalists-for-four-broncos-memorial-trophy","title":{"rendered":"Pickford & Rucks Named Finalists For Four Broncos Memorial Trophy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Calgary, Alta. \u2013<\/strong> The Western Hockey League announced today the 2025-26 finalists for the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy, presented annually to the WHL\u2019s Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

The most prestigious individual award in the WHL, the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy is named in memory of the four members of the Swift Current Broncos who died in a tragic bus crash December 30, 1986. Trent Kresse, Scott Kruger, Chris Mantyka, and Brent Ruff all died when the Broncos bus crashed while en route to a game in Regina.<\/p>\n

Finalists for WHL Awards are voted upon by WHL General Managers.<\/p>\n

Winners of 2026 WHL Awards will be announced from Tuesday, April 21, through Wednesday, May 6.<\/p>\n

Four Broncos Memorial Trophy<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 Eastern Conference Finalists<\/p>\n

Bryce Pickford, Medicine Hat Tigers
\nLiam Ruck, Medicine Hat Tigers
\nMarkus Ruck, Medicine Hat Tigers<\/p>\n

Four Broncos Memorial Trophy<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 Western Conference Finalists<\/p>\n

JP Hurlbert, Kamloops Blazers
\nTij Iginla, Kelowna Rockets
\nCameron Schmidt, Seattle Thunderbirds<\/p>\n

Bryce Pickford, Medicine Hat Tigers<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 19-year-old product of Chauvin, Alta., had a breakout campaign, registering 45 goals, 83 points, and a plus-55 rating in 55 games as captain of the Tigers. The 6-foot-1, 186-pound right-shot blueliner\u2019s 45 goals were tied for second in the WHL, while his 83 points finished second among all WHL defencemen. With 11 game-winning goals, the smooth-skating defender finished tied for first in among all WHL skaters. \u00a0Pickford\u2019s 45 goals set a Medicine Hat Tigers franchise record for goals by a defenceman, surpassing the previous mark of 32 set by Kris Russell in 2006-07. A two-time WHL Champion (Seattle \u2013 2023; Medicine Hat \u2013 2025), Pickford was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the third round (81st overall) of the 2025 NHL Draft. Originally selected by the Seattle Thunderbirds in the second round (38th overall) of the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft, Pickford has played 224 career WHL regular season games, tallying 165 points (73G-92A).<\/p>\n

Liam Ruck, Medicine Hat Tigers<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 18-year-old product of Osoyoos, B.C., finished second in WHL scoring with 104 points (45G-59A) in 68 games. The 6-foot, 175-pound right winger\u2019s 45 goals were tied for second in the WHL, while his 59 assists ranked fifth across the League. Ruck\u2019s 16 power-play goals were tied for third best in the WHL, and his 10 game-winning goals were also tied for third in the League. Eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft, Ruck is ranked 26th among North American skaters in NHL Central Scouting\u2019s midterm rankings. In November, he was selected to represent Team CHL at the CHL USA Prospects Challenge. He followed that in February by being named to Team East for the 2026 WHL Prospects Game presented by Showpass. Originally selected by the Tigers in the first round (ninth overall) of the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft, Ruck has skated in 132 career WHL regular season games, recording 147 points (71G-76A). Ruck was a member of the Tigers 2025 WHL Championship.<\/p>\n

Markus Ruck, Medicine Hat Tigers<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 18-year-old product of Osoyoos, B.C., and twin brother of Liam, finished first in WHL scoring with 108 points (21G-87A) in 68 games. The 6-foot, 167-pound centre\u2019s 87 assists were tops in the WHL this season, leading the next best skater by 21. Ruck\u2019s 38 power-play assists were best in the WHL. Eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft, Ruck is ranked 31st among North American skaters in NHL Central Scouting\u2019s midterm rankings. In February, he was selected to represent Team East for the 2026 WHL Prospects Game presented by Showpass. Originally selected by the Tigers in the first round (21st overall) of the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft, Ruck has played in 132 career WHL regular season games, tallying 137 points (29G-108A). Ruck was a member of the Tigers 2025 WHL Championship.<\/p>\n

JP Hurlbert, Kamloops Blazers<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 17-year-old product of Allen, Texas, exploded onto the WHL as a rookie, posting 97 points (42G-55A) in 68 games with the Blazers. Hurlbert\u2019s 97 points were fourth in the WHL, while his 42 goals were tied for fourth. He led all WHL rookies in scoring. The 6-foot, 182-pound right winger served as an alternate captain for the Blazers in his first WHL season. Eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft, Hurlbert is ranked 10th among North American skaters in NHL Central Scouting\u2019s midterm rankings. The first-year WHL forward was named to Team CHL for the CHL USA Prospects Challenge in November, before representing Team West in the 2026 WHL Prospects Game presented by Showpass. He was originally selected by the Blazers in the first round (20th overall) of the 2023 WHL U.S. Priority Draft.<\/p>\n

Tij Iginla, Kelowna Rockets<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 19-year-old product of Lake Country, B.C., returned following an injury-shortened 2024-25 season to lead the WHL in points per game (1.88), registering 90 points (41G-49A) in 48 games with the Rockets. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound centre established new career highs in both assists and points, best his previous marks from 2023-24 when he tallied 37 assists and 84 points in 64 games. Iginla finished sixth in both goals and points among all WHL skaters. Selected by the Utah Mammoth in the first round (sixth overall) of the 2024 NHL Draft, Iginla has played 184 career WHL regular season games, posting 225 points (108G-117A). Prior to arriving in Kelowna, he was a member of Seattle\u2019s 2023 WHL Championship squad. Iginla was originally selected by the Thunderbirds in the first round (ninth overall) of the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft.<\/p>\n

Cameron Schmidt, Seattle Thunderbirds<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 19-year-old product of Prince George, B.C., finished third in WHL scoring with 100 points. He was one of only three WHL players to reach the 100-point plateau and was the lone WHL player to register 50 goals in 2025-26. Having split the season between the Vancouver Giants and Thunderbirds, the 5-foot-8, 158-pound right winger finished tied for first in the WHL with 11 game-winning goals. Selected by the Dallas Stars in the third round (94th overall) of the 2025 NHL Draft, Schmidt has collected 237 points (123G-114A) in 195 career WHL regular season games. Schmidt was originally selected by the Giants in the first round (seventh overall) of the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft.<\/p>\n

About the Western Hockey League<\/strong><\/p>\n

Regarded as the world\u2019s finest development league for junior hockey players, the Western Hockey League (WHL) head office is based in Calgary, Alberta. The WHL consists of 23 member Clubs with 17 located in Western Canada and six in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. A member of the Canadian Hockey League, the WHL has been a leading supplier of talent for the National Hockey League for over 50 years. The WHL is also the leading provider of hockey scholarships with over 375 graduates each year receiving WHL Scholarships to pursue a post-secondary education of their choice. Each season, WHL players also form the nucleus of Canada\u2019s National Junior Hockey Team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Four Broncos Memorial Trophy is presented annually to the WHL Player of the Year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":599,"featured_media":51381,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[844],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-51380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-844","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/04\/09115412\/POTY_Finalists-1920.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/599"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":51377,"date":"2026-04-09T11:03:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T17:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/?p=51377"},"modified":"2026-04-09T11:03:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T17:03:29","slug":"woo-pickford-named-finalists-for-bill-hunter-memorial-trophy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/article\/woo-pickford-named-finalists-for-bill-hunter-memorial-trophy","title":{"rendered":"Woo & Pickford Named Finalists For Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Calgary, Alta. \u2013<\/strong> The Western Hockey League announced today the 2025-26 finalists for the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy, presented annually to the WHL\u2019s Defenceman of the Year<\/p>\n

Bill Hunter was a founder and builder of the WHL. He served as Owner, General Manager, and Coach of the Edmonton Oil Kings from 1966 through 1972, while also serving as the first Chairman of the Board for the WHL. Hunter was the driving force that kept the WHL at the forefront of Major Junior hockey in Canada.<\/p>\n

Finalists for WHL Awards are voted upon by WHL General Managers.<\/p>\n

Winners of 2026 WHL Awards will be announced from Tuesday, April 21, through Wednesday, May 6.<\/p>\n

Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 Eastern Conference Finalists<\/p>\n

Bryce Pickford, Medicine Hat Tigers
\nJonas Woo, Medicine Hat Tigers
\nDaxon Rudolph, Prince Albert Raiders<\/p>\n

Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 Western Conference Finalists<\/p>\n

Landon DuPont, Everett Silvertips
\nTarin Smith, Everett Silvertips
\nCarson Carels, Prince George Cougars<\/p>\n

Bryce Pickford, Medicine Hat Tigers<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 19-year-old product of Chauvin, Alta., had a breakout campaign, registering 45 goals, 83 points, and a plus-55 rating in 55 games as captain of the Tigers. The 6-foot-1, 186-pound right-shot blueliner\u2019s 45 goals were tied for second in the WHL, while his 83 points finished second among all WHL defencemen. With 11 game-winning goals, the smooth-skating defender finished tied for first in among all WHL skaters. \u00a0Pickford\u2019s 45 goals set a Medicine Hat Tigers franchise record for goals by a defenceman, surpassing the previous mark of 32 set by Kris Russell in 2006-07. A two-time WHL Champion (Seattle \u2013 2023; Medicine Hat \u2013 2025), Pickford was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the third round (81st overall) of the 2025 NHL Draft. Originally selected by the Seattle Thunderbirds in the second round (38th overall) of the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft, Pickford has played 224 career WHL regular season games, tallying 165 points (73G-92A).<\/p>\n

Jonas Woo, Medicine Hat Tigers<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 19-year-old product of Winnipeg, Man., posted a career best campaign, logging 86 points (29G-57A) in 56 games to lead all WHL defencemen in scoring. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound right shot blueliner\u2019s 29 goals were second among all WHL rearguards, while his 57 assists were tops among defencemen across the League. With four shorthanded goals to his credit, Woo finished tied for first among all WHL players. Originally selected by the Winnipeg ICE in the first round (18th overall) of the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft, Woo has played 259 career WHL regular season games, securing 187 points (51G-136A). He helped the Tigers claim the WHL Championship in 2025.<\/p>\n

Daxon Rudolph, Prince Albert Raiders<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 18-year-old product of Lacombe, Alta., posted incredible numbers in his NHL Draft season, including 28 goals and 78 points, along with a plus-32 rating for the East Division champion Raiders. Rudolph\u2019s 28 goals and 78 points both finished third among all WHL defencemen. The 6-foot-2, 202-pound right-shot blueliner tied a Raiders franchise record for goals by a defenceman, matching the mark established by Josh Morrissey in 2013-14. Eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft, Rudolph is ranked sixth among North American skaters in NHL Central Scouting\u2019s midterm rankings. In November, Rudolph was selected to represent Team CHL at the CHL USA Prospects Challenge. He followed that up in February by captaining Team East at the 2026 WHL Prospects Game presented by Showpass. Originally selected first overall by the Raiders in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft, Rudolph has played 132 career WHL regular season games, tallying 119 points (35G-84A).<\/p>\n

Landon DuPont, Everett Silvertips<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 16-year-old product of Calgary, Alta., registered career highs in all major offensive categories, including 18 goals, 55 assists, 73 points, and a plus-59 rating in 63 games this season. DuPont\u2019s 73 points were tied for fourth among all WHL rearguards, while his 55 assists were tied for second. The 5-foot-11, 183-pound right-shot blueliner took home the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as WHL Rookie of the Year in 2024-25 having entered the WHL at 15 years old after being granted Exceptional Player Status by Hockey Canada. DuPont tallied 28 power-play assists in 2025-26, good enough for second in the entire WHL. Eligible for the 2027 NHL Draft, DuPont has played 127 career WHL regular season games, collecting 133 points (35G-98A) and a plus-90 rating. He was selected by the Silvertips with the first overall pick in the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft.<\/p>\n

Tarin Smith, Everett Silvertips<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 20-year-old product of Porcupine Plain, Sask., enjoyed his best WHL season yet, scoring 71 points (16G-55A) in 65 games while serving as captain of the Silvertips. Smith\u2019s 55 assists left him tied for second among all WHL defencemen. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound left-shot blueliner was selected by the Anaheim Ducks in the third round (79th overall) of the 2024 NHL Draft. In 208 career WHL regular season games, Smith has secured 176 points (41G-135A). Smith was originally selected by the Silvertips in the first round (20th overall) of the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft.<\/p>\n

Carson Carels, Prince George Cougars<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 17-year-old product of Cypress River, Man., emerged as a dominant force in 2025-26, recording 73 points (20G-53A) in 58 games. Carels\u2019 73 points tied for fourth among WHL blueliners, while he was one of only six rearguards to reach the 20-goal plateau. Eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft, the 6-foot-1, 175-pound left-shot Carels is ranked third among North American skaters in NHL Central Scouting\u2019s midterm rankings. In November, he was selected to represent Team CHL in the CHL USA Prospects Challenge. Come February, Carels was named captain of Team West for the 2026 WHL Prospects Game presented by Showpass. Originally selected by the Cougars in the first round (16th overall) of the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft, Carels has played 125 career WHL regular season games, securing 111 points (26G-85A).<\/p>\n

About the Western Hockey League<\/strong><\/p>\n

Regarded as the world\u2019s finest development league for junior hockey players, the Western Hockey League (WHL) head office is based in Calgary, Alberta. The WHL consists of 23 member Clubs with 17 located in Western Canada and six in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. A member of the Canadian Hockey League, the WHL has been a leading supplier of talent for the National Hockey League for over 50 years. The WHL is also the leading provider of hockey scholarships with over 375 graduates each year receiving WHL Scholarships to pursue a post-secondary education of their choice. Each season, WHL players also form the nucleus of Canada\u2019s National Junior Hockey Team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy is presented annually to the WHL’s Defenceman of the Year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":599,"featured_media":51378,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[844],"tags":false,"class_list":["post-51377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-844","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/04\/09101323\/DOTY_Finalists-1920-NO-REMAX.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/599"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":51374,"date":"2026-04-08T12:19:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T18:19:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/?p=51374"},"modified":"2026-04-08T12:19:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T18:19:50","slug":"playoff-series-preview-round-2-vs-calgary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl-tigers\/article\/playoff-series-preview-round-2-vs-calgary","title":{"rendered":"Playoff Series Preview \u2013 Round 2 VS Calgary"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s an all-Alberta showdown in Round Two of the 2026 WHL Playoffs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Central Division rivals from Medicine Hat and Calgary are ready to battle in the postseason for the first time in more than a decade.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Calgary, which finished third in the Central Division, was the first Eastern Conference team to move on to the second round after completing a sweep of the Brandon Wheat Kings on April 2.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The 2025 WHL Champion Tigers needed five games to move on after being stunned by the seventh-seed Regina Pats in Game 2 of their opening series.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Medicine Hat took the regular season series against Calgary in dominant fashion with a 7-1-0-0 record, though four of those games were decided by a single goal and three required overtime or a shootout.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Tabbies are tied with the regular-season champion Everett Silvertips for most goals in the first round with 25, though none of the Tigers have surpassed three goals- yet.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jonas Woo, fresh off of setting a franchise record for single-season points by a defenceman with 86, netted a hat trick in Game 1 against Regina, while Calgary Flames pick Andrew Basha, Montreal Canadiens defensive prospect Bryce Pickford and rookie Noah Davidson all had a trio of goals in the first round.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Basha and WHL regular-season points leader Markus Ruck are tied for second in playoff assists with six each.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Calgary has shown they can run-and-gun in high-scoring matches or duel late into the night as the goal lights gather dust.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Hitmen and Wheat Kings set a modern WHL record for longest 1-0 playoff game as they reached triple overtime in Game 1 before Ethan Moore sent the exhausted teams to their rooms, and motored back for a 6-5 overtime win in their second match.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Moore has been clutch with five goals (including a modern record four game-winners), while trade addition Julien Maze (2G-5A) and Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Kale Dach (2G-2A) have been more than consistent.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hitmen rookie goaltender Eric Tu ranks second among all WHL netminders with a 1.63 goals-against average and .945 save percentage, in addition to his 49-save shutout in his first playoff start.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Ruck twins and Pickford have cracked the 2025-26 WHL Eastern Conference First All-Star Team, while Markus is also in the running for the Brad Hornung Memorial Trophy for Most Sportsmanlike Player.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dach and draft-eligible blueliner Ben MacBeath are both up for the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy for Rookie of the Year, and behind the bench, Head Coaches Dustin Friesen and Willie Desjardins are finalists for the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy, which is presented annually to the WHL’s Coach of the Year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Desjardins and Hitmen General Manager Garry Davidson are also finalists for the Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy for Executive of the Year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Tigers and Hitmen last tangled in the playoffs in 2015, where Calgary downed Medicine Hat in five games to advance to the Eastern Conference Championship.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Game 1 is set for Friday, April 10, at 7:00 p.m. at Co-op Place.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The teams will head back up the highway to battle at the Saddledome in Game 3 on Monday, April 13, with every game streaming for free on Victory+<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

GAME BREAKERS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Calgary:\u00a0<\/strong>Say it with us, Hitmen and Britney Spears fans: Gimme Moore. Calgary alternate captain Ethan Moore has been unstoppable with four consecutive game-winning goals in the first round. The 21-year-old is the first player in the WHL’s internet era (1996-present) to score every game-winner in a single series. Two of Moore’s tallies also came in overtime. The 6-foot-1, 177-pound winger has a goal and four helpers in seven outings against Medicine Hat in the regular season, highlighted by a goal and an assist in a 7-6 shootout loss to the Tabbies on November 22, 2025.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Medicine Hat:\u00a0<\/strong>Andrew Basha’s grit and spirited play were big reasons why the Calgary Flames called his name in the second round of the 2024 NHL Draft. The 20-year-old started his season in the pro ranks with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers and now gets a final lap with the team he helped reach the Memorial Cup Final last spring. Not only is the 6-foot, 187-pound forward leading the Tigers in playoff scoring, but he’s been sensational against his hometown Hitmen in the regular season. In three outings against Calgary, Basha has piled up seven points (2G-5A), including a statement one-goal, three-assist outing in an 8-3 rout of the Hitmen on February 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

GOALTENDING<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Calgary:\u00a0<\/strong>Seventeen-year-old Eric Tu made history in his very first playoff start. The Hitmen rookie posted a 49-save shutout as Calgary and Brandon battled to a 1-0 triple overtime result in Game 1, marking the longest 1-0 playoff game in modern WHL history. Tu has allowed two or fewer goals in his four starts to earn Mary Brown’s Chicken WHL Goaltender of the Week honours. The 6-foot-3, 198-pound puckstopper went 1-3-2-0 against the Tigers in the regular season with a 4.06 goals-against average and an .866 save percentage.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Medicine Hat:\u00a0<\/strong>Jordan Switzer has been holding down the net for the Tigers in the postseason, but draft-eligible Carter Casey took on the bulk of the starts against the Hitmen in 2025-26. Casey went 6-0-0-0 with a 2.17 GAA and .923 save percentage, while Switzer posted a 1-1-0-0 record, a 4.64 GAA and an .833 save percentage. Will the Tigers roll with their starter or give Casey a shot against the club he’s dominated?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

X-FACTOR<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Calgary:\u00a0<\/strong>It’s been a big month for Big Axe. Captain Axel Hurtig has stepped up with a goal and two assists in the first round while earning an entry-level contract with the Calgary Flames. Hurtig may not pile up the points, but the ones he does get are timely- look no further than the late game-tying goal in Game 2 and assist on the Game 3 game-winner. The 6-foot-4, 217-pound blueliner will be tasked with slowing down a potent Tigers attack. The 20-year-old has three assists in eight games against Medicine Hat with a +1 rating.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Medicine Hat: <\/strong>Luke Cozens has done this dance before. Before joining the Tigers at the 2026 WHL Trade Deadline, Cozens was a respected Lethbridge veteran- and he scored the insurance marker in last year’s Game 7 showdown that saw the Hurricanes eliminate Calgary 3-1 in the second round. The 19-year-old has totalled eight points (6G-2A) in eight games against the Hitmen with Lethbridge and Medicine Hat, including three two-goal nights.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

STATS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2025-26 Standings:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Medicine Hat<\/strong><\/td>\nCalgary<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
50-10-5-3<\/td>\n38-21-8-1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Central \u2013 1st<\/td>\nCentral \u2013 3rd<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
East \u2013 2nd<\/td>\nEast \u2013 4th<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
League \u2013 3rd<\/td>\nLeague \u2013 8th<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Home \u2013 28-3-2-1<\/td>\nHome \u2013 20-10-4-0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Away \u2013 22-7-3-2<\/td>\nAway \u2013 18-11-4-1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Leading Scorers (Regular Season)<\/u><\/p>\n