Tigers, Hurricanes meet with spot in WHL Finals on the line

By Lethbridge Herald on April 24, 2025.

NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB The Medicine Hat Tigers and Lethbridge Hurricanes will meet in the WHL's Eastern conference finals, just the third ever playoff matchup between the two clubs. Pictured are Hurricanes' defenceman Caden Price and Tigers' forward Gavin McKenna in the first period of a 10-1 Tigers win at Co-op Place on March 22.

By James Tubb

Southern Alberta Newspapers

The Forgotten Corner of Alberta is about to make a lot of noise up and down the Highway 3.

The Medicine Hat Tigers and Lethbridge Hurricanes get set for an Eastern Conference finals meeting that kicks off tonight with Game 1 at Co-op Place. Game 2 Saturday is also at Co-op Place before the best-of-seven series heads down the road to Lethbridge with Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Lethbridge beat the Calgary Hitmen in Game 7 3-1 Wednesday night to win the second-round series 4-3 and meet the Tigers who have been off since April 17 after sweeping the Prince Albert Raiders.

It’s a meeting of two clubs who share little love for one another and a matchup head coach Willie Desjardins says brings challenges for his team.

“They’re really well coached, Pete Anholt has done a great job building that team, they’re a playoff team, they’re heavy,” Desjardins said. “Pete’s always built a heavy team and that was a tough series against Calgary. They showed who they are to fight through that series, they have lots of characters. So it’ll be a tough series for sure.

“There’s no quit in that group, they’re a really good hockey team and they’re hard to handle.”

Medicine Hat last made the conference finals in 2014, Lethbridge was in the final four in 2018.

Both teams are looking to get to the WHL Finals for the first time in the 2020s. The Tigers last trip was victorious with their 2007 title. Lethbridge lost in the WHL finals the next season.

It’s just the third time the two teams have met in the playoffs, the last being a 2017 thriller that saw the Hurricanes win in Game 7 overtime with a shorthanded goal from Tyler Wong that either lives in infamy or despair depending on which direction home falls on the highway.

Tigers defenceman Josh Van Mulligen was a stick boy for his hometown team when they lost that series, the first true heartbreak in the then-named Kanalta Centre.

He’s faced the Hurricanes and city of Lethbridge more times than he can count in his young hockey career.

“Growing up here playing Lethbridge in minor hockey, we always had that rivalry and then coming to (Tigers) games and watching it, we knew we were always getting good games,” Van Mulligen said. “There’s obviously a lot of history and it should be a good series.”

More recently than the heartbreaker from Wong, there’s fresh history between the two clubs. On Oct., 5 with a 1-3 record to start the season, the Tigers swung a deal with their Highway 3 rivals, sending forward Shane Smith to Lethbridge in exchange for overage net minder Harrison Meneghin.

Both have found success with their new clubs, the 20-year-old Smith has three goals and six points in 10 playoff games after tallying 12 goals and 30 points in the regular season. Meneghin earned himself two goalie of the month honours, picking up 23 wins in the regular season with three shutouts. He’s recorded two shutouts in the playoffs with a 2.00 goals against average and a .910 save percentage.

Tigers’ captain Oasiz Wiesblatt says the history and the background of the series will only play up into the excitement of the games.

“Smitty going to Lethbridge and us getting Harry, we want to do this for Harry,” Wiesblatt said. “There’s a lot of backstory to it, so for us it’s just do it for Harry and it’s pretty remarkable these two teams can go at it.”

The Tigers won the season series 5-3, with four wins coming at Co-op Place including the final game a 10-1 drubbing on March 21 against a preseason-like Lethbridge lineup.

Among the four teams left in the WHL Playoffs, the Hurricanes’ penalty kill (80.6 per cent) falls in just ahead of the Tigers (79.3). Medicine Hat’s power play leads the four teams (34.3 per cent), Lethbridge’s (28.1 per cent) sits third.

Tigers forward Gavin McKenna leads the offence in the series with six goals and 22 points in nine playoff games. Lethbridge blue liner Noah Chadwick leads the Hurricanes with three goals and 13 points in 12 games.

Being just four wins away from a WHL finals appearance is an exciting premise, one that McKenna wouldn’t entertain ahead of the series.

“We don’t want to look too far ahead, that’s been our thing all playoffs is just stay where your feet are and focus on what’s ahead of you,” McKenna said.

“If you look too far ahead, then maybe nerves come to start to play and you’re thinking of the next round when you haven’t finished Game 1. So we just have to make sure we’re taking it game-by-game, because it’s four wins and those are going to be four hard wins to get.”