No matter who you cheer for, the first team that made you a hockey fan will always be special. For me, that’s the Medicine Hat Tigers. As soon as my brother and I were old enough to understand what was happening, my dad and my uncle were taking us to games with them. Unfortunately, while we could understand the game of hockey, we more often chose not to and instead ran around the arena, giving the person who took us panic attacks as they tried to watch both the game and two kids with high energy and low attention spans.
The hockey bug never really got my brother, but it sure got me. As the years passed, I grew more and more invested in the team, cheering on the likes of Darren Helm, Kris Russell, and Tyler Ennis. Noticing my burgeoning interest, my dad and uncle taught me what to look for, who to pay attention to, and many of the finer points of the fantastic sport of hockey. It was they who gave me my first hockey cards, taught me how to pronounce the stars’ names, and always gave me the chance to talk about the sport I was growing to love.
I continued to support the Tigers after I went off to college in Saskatchewan, making sure to check in Emerson Etem, Tyler Bunz, and Hunter Shinkaruk when they came to town. But despite now being several hours apart, I continued to share the experiences with my dad. When he’d come to visit, we’d try to schedule it around when Medicine Hat was also in town so we could watch a game together. It remains some of my fondest memories of that time — just hanging out with my dad and talking hockey.
After graduating, I remained in Saskatchewan, which made catching games together increasingly harder. Before I realized it, it had been nearly a decade since we watched any game in person together, let alone the Tigers. So, after watching the Saskatoon Blades, Regina Pats, and Prince Albert Raiders, I knew I had one very important arena to cross off my list before I got much further in my journey to see every Western Hockey League (WHL) team play at their home rink.
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If this is your first time reading my journey, welcome! This is the fourth stop I’ve made in my effort to visit all 22 locales in the WHL. Junior hockey played a huge part in me becoming the hockey fan I am today, and I wanted to recapture the excitement of walking into an arena for the first time again. It’s also my way of giving back to the communities that love and support their teams through thick and thin. You can check out my first three stops over on The Hockey Writers’ Premium Substack, but future episodes will be posted here on the main site. Stay tuned for more to come!
But before we get to the game, let’s look at how the Tigers ended up in Medicine Hat in the first place.
Tigers History
As with many prairie towns, Medicine Hat’s history is deeply intertwined with the sport of hockey. Hockey teams can be traced back to as early as 1901 when the first hockey rink was built, and in the 1930s William Henry Gray established the city’s first midget hockey program. It was he who likely first came up with the name ‘Tigers;’ the first reference I could find showed up with a 1927-28 senior team. It’s hardly an original idea; the Hamilton Football Club ‘Tigers’ had been around since 1869 and likely inspired the NHL’s Hamilton Tigers, who joined the league in 1920. Out west, the Calgary Tigers became one of Alberta’s first professional teams in 1921, winning two league titles in 1923-24 and 1924-25. The Tigers moniker worked for them, so why reinvent the wheel?
While there were all levels of hockey being played in Medicine Hat, the first competitive junior team arrived in the 1940s and was also called the Tigers. William Gray’s seventh child, Richard, began his playing career with the team, later taking his talents to the Vancouver Canucks of the Pacific Coast Hockey League in 1945-46. The hard-nosed defenceman stuck around just one season before returning to Alberta and joining the Lethbridge Maple Leafs, who were selected to represent Canada at the World Hockey Championship in 1951 in London, which they won. After that, Gray returned to Medicine Hat, where he coached the Tigers, who were playing in the Western Canada Junior Hockey League (WJCHL).
However, by the mid-1950s, the Tigers disbanded, likely due to the constantly shifting leagues and poor performance (they never finished higher than fourth place in the WCJHL.) The senior Tigers remained, although they were now known as the Blades, but they too met an untimely end when their arena burnt down in 1969, filling the city’s skyline with smoke.
That left Medicine Hat without a top-tier hockey team at any level for the first time in decades, and that didn’t sit well with Joe Fisher. A minor celebrity, Fisher became the first local to join an NHL team and get his name on the Stanley Cup in 1942-43 with the Detroit Red Wings. When his playing career ended in 1949, he returned to his hometown and coached the Tigers for a season before getting replaced by Richard Gray. Fisher was at the forefront of getting a junior team back in Medicine Hat, and when the newly-formed WHL finally granted the city an expansion franchise in 1970-71, he, along with fellow owners George Maser and Rod Carry, carried on the rich tradition in the city and dubbed the new team the Tigers.
Related: Top 5 Medicine Hat Tigers to Make it to the NHL
Since joining the WHL in 1970-71, the Medicine Hat Tigers have been one of the most successful teams in the league, winning five league championships and claiming two Memorial Cups. Their first came just two seasons into their existence thanks to the dynamic duo of Lanny McDonald and Tom Lysiak. Then, in 1987 and 1988, the Tigers won back-to-back Ed Chynoweth Cups and back-to-back Memorial Cups, becoming the third team to accomplish the feat in tournament history, thanks to the leadership of Trevor Linden. In the 40 years since only two other teams have joined them. Medicine Hat had to wait nearly 20 years before they saw their next league championship, claiming it in 2003-04, then again in 2006-07, but neither resulted in another Memorial Cup.
It’s been almost 20 years since their last championship, and there have been some very lean seasons, but there’s hope on the horizon thanks to phenom Gavin McKenna, who nearly tied Connor Bedard’s 16-year-old scoring record, as well as Cayden Lindstrom, Andrew Basha, Tomas Mrsic, Hayden Harsanyi, and 16-year-old twins Liam and Markus Ruck. After all, you can never fully count out the Tigers for too long. Not even a burning arena can keep them from making their mark on hockey in the prairies.
Other Franchise Leaders:
- Most Points (Total): Al Conroy (1982-86) – 446
- Most Points (Season): Greg Carroll (1975-76) – 171
- Most Goals (Season): Don Murdoch (1975-76) – 88
- Most Games Played: Ben Thomson (1997-03) – 352
- Most Wins (Total): Tyler Bunz (2007-12) – 115
- Most Wins (Season): Matt Keetley (2005-06) – 42
- Retired Numbers: 2 – #8 Lanny McDonald; #9 Tom Lysiak
- Highest Drafted Players: Trevor Linden, 2nd (Vancouver, 1988); Barry Dean, 2nd (Kansas City, 1975); Tom Lysiak, 2nd (Atlanta, 1973); Cam Barker, 3rd (Chicago, 2004); Jay Bouwmeester, 3rd (Florida, 2002), Mike Rathje, 3rd (San Jose, 1992); Neil Brady, 3rd (New Jersey, 1986); Cayden Lindstrom, 4th (Columbus, 2024); Wayne McBean, 4th (Los Angeles, 1987); Bryan Maxwell, 4th (Minnesota, 1975); Lanny McDonald, 4th (Toronto, 1973); Rob Niedermayer, 5th (Florida, 1993)
Co-Op Place
After 45 years in the same building, the Tigers moved to the brand-new, state-of-the-art facility, the Canalta Centre, in 2015. Fans were initially slow to welcome the new building; despite an upgrade from 4000 to 7100 seats, the new building was a far cry from the beloved Medicine Hat Arena, nicknamed “The Loudest Barn in the ‘Dub.” It was outside the city, had an awful parking lot, and lacked much of the old-school charm that made the old Arena such a fun hockey experience. Rising operating costs and lagging ticket sales forced the city to find a new partner for their arena, and ahead of the 2021-22 season, the Canalta Centre was officially renamed to Co-Op Place.
I never got the chance to see a game in the Canalta Centre, but I saw several games in the old Medicine Hat Arena. Tucked in the city’s downtown, it was a true relic of the 1970s. The roof was teal green and, inside, the paths to the seats were plain concrete and claustrophobic. Originally, the seats were coloured in a rainbow pattern, earning the arena the nickname “The Smartie Box,” but by the time I was watching games, they’d been replaced by green plastic. Rows of championship banners hung around the scoreboard at centre ice. Despite the cramped quarters, the atmosphere during the game was incredible. There wasn’t a bad seat in the house, and there was no question about whose building you were in. Reportedly, opponents hated coming to Medicine Hat, as it felt like the fans were right on top of them the entire night.
The old Arena was a barn, but it was beloved, and the last time I heard anything about Co-Op Place, it was all negative. So I was caught off guard when both my dad and uncle, who’ve followed the team since 1970, were fairly complimentary of the place. They still hate that the arena is located five minutes outside the city in an industrial park and the parking lot is a confusing labyrinth, but after eight seasons, it seems even the most diehard fans have softened their stance.
Related: Gavin McKenna and Viggo Bjork Lead Historic 2026 NHL Draft Class
Once I stepped inside, I could see why. Instead of being shoved through tight hallways and crammed into your seat, the building is large and roomy, affording plenty of room to get around, and the walkway offers a great view of the ice. The standing tables surrounding the ice were some of my favourite new additions. I hung out there for a good 15-20 minutes before the game, chatting with my uncle about the Tigers and the rest of the WHL and giving me a chance to take in the clean, spacious building. Not even the monstrous 15,000-seat Sasktel Centre in Saskatoon feels that roomy.
My only issue is that I wish it was more…well, Tigers-centric. The arena was designed to be a multi-purpose facility that could serve as not only the Tigers’ new home but also a major venue for touring bands and conventions. Yet those decisions removed a lot of the personality that the old building had. The banners honouring the two retired numbers of McDonald and Lysiak hung quietly near the top of the rafters on the far side of the arena, above the team’s championship banners, all of which felt tucked out of the way. The building is also primarily painted in red rather than black and orange, making it feel more like a grocery store than an arena. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it left me nostalgic for that old Arena I grew up in.
Food and Extras
Summary
- Tickets – $23.40
- Hat – $34.95-36.95
- Jersey – $129.95
- Puck – $4.95
Initially, I thought that this adventure would be a little thing, with just my dad and I meeting up with my uncle to watch a game. But before I knew it, the trip had become a family affair, with the total party also including my mom, wife, and aunt. That worked just as well for me since my memories of going to games were always with the whole family. When you live an hour out of town, you might as well bring everyone along.
Although my uncle provided the tickets — pulling a few strings to get all six of us sitting in the same section — single-game tickets generally cost $23.40, which were the cheapest tickets I’ve seen so far on my journey. Like the old Arena, there still isn’t a bad seat in the house, too, even if you’re in the upper levels. But our seats were right in the corner of the home end, giving us a fantastic view of the whole ice.
There was only one main food kiosk, the Gas City Grill, which had pretty typical arena offerings. My uncle warned us of this, saying it’s pretty much just like eating at a Co-Op, but he is a fan of the burgers. However, I like going for things that I don’t generally see on other menus, so I went for the perogy poutine. At $12 and half the size of a regular poutine, it was a little expensive, but replacing the fries with little perogies was fun and worked well with the gravy, sour cream, and onions. The rest of the family didn’t have as much fun as I did, though. My dad went for the regular poutine, which could have used some more gravy, my wife went with a classic taco in a bag and found out too late that it used hot sauce instead of salsa, which she didn’t appreciate, and my mom was not happy with her hot dog, learning from my aunt that you need to tell them to burn it or else it tastes undercooked.
There are some other food options, but if you don’t know where you’re going, they’re tricky to find. My uncle said that there’s a pretty solid pizza joint in the basement, but I wasn’t clear on the directions and figured it would be easier to just stick with the group. I think I saw the stairs en route to our seats, but, again, I didn’t need to get lost before the game started.
As for snacks, Gas City Grill is pretty much the only spot, but I noticed some signs for a Swirls Ice Cream Stand, a local ice cream shop in town that has some excellent soft serve. Unfortunately, this was also a little tricky to find, and after wandering back and forth, I finally figured out that it was at the far end of the arena and hidden by a giant, snaking lineup. It was so congested and noisy in that area that, when I finally got to the front, I tried to give my order as quickly as possible, which resulted in me getting something I didn’t think I asked for. Oh well, the vanilla ice cream is still really good.
The crowded ice cream experience left me feeling a bit overwhelmed, so I stuck in my seat for the rest of the game, thinking that I could quickly grab a souvenir from the store at the end. However, by the time the game ended, the store was already closed, depriving me of one of my traditions on this journey picking up something from the shop.
Feb 17, 2024 – Medicine Hat Tigers vs. Saskatoon Blades
One thing I’ve tried to do in my journey is to act like a local fan since cheering for the home team is always more fun. You can get wrapped up in the excitement without worrying about whether your team wins or loses. But then I found out that my dad and uncle had picked the date when the Blades were in town. It was like a return to my college days when my dad visited. However, I was not prepared to have to choose where my true allegiance lay. I knew that I should be cheering for the home team, but I’d been supporting the Blades for nearly a decade already. Could nostalgia win out over recent memory? I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know the answer to that, but I was going to find out.
The Tigers got off to a hot start with a great short-handed goal six minutes into the first period by Hunter St. Martin, which was followed up with a power play goal from Shane Smith seven minutes later. Blades’ forward Brandon Lisowsky added one more to put Saskatoon within one before the period ended, but it looked like the Tigers had the advantage at home, and they were buzzing. Heading into the second period, I was firmly a Tigers fan again, giving me time to reflect on how we all got here.
Both my dad and uncle grew up in Medicine Hat and have been watching the Tigers ever since they arrived, as my grandpa made sure to get season tickets right away. He also made it a priority to bring along one of his two sons, but paying for their seat was another story, and my dad remembers watching many games from the metal steps beside his dad’s seat. Being the 1970s, you could get away with stuff like that, but my dad also remembers one time when someone tried to stop them from entering. Rather than pay for my dad, however, my grandpa pushed him ahead and said, “Don’t look back, just keep going.” I wonder how he would have felt about $25 tickets.
From those improvised seats, my dad and uncle witnessed some of the greatest moments in the Tigers’ history. My uncle, who is 12 years older than my dad, remembers watching McDonald and Lysiak combine forces to create the best line in junior hockey. McDonald obviously went on to be an NHL Hall-of-Famer, but there were few junior stars like Lysiak, who might be one of the Tigers’ best playmakers of all time and quickly became my uncle’s favourite. He was also in attendance when the Tigers took on the Flin Flon Bombers on Oct 7, 1972, and watched Boyd Anderson, who centred McDonald and Lysiak, score the fastest five goals in league history, which took him just over three minutes. The final score — 10-1 Medicine Hat. The trio was also a big part of that season’s opening playoff series against the Calgary Centennials, which was some of the best hockey my uncle can remember.
My dad’s favourite player came a couple of seasons later when Don Murdoch joined the Tigers in 1974-75 and became an immediate star, leading the league with 82 goals as a rookie, then scoring 88 the following season. He also remembers watching a 16-year-old Trevor Linden take the Tigers back to the Memorial Cup in 1987, defeating the Portland Winterhawks in the Final for the spot. My dad, who was in college at the time, can’t remember a time when there were more people shoved into the old Arena. The fire marshal had to be called because the building was dangerously over capacity. But it sure made for some great memories.
When my dad met my mom and moved out to the farm, he didn’t go to as many games, but would still take the time to go and see his nephew and my uncle’s son, Mike, play for the Tigers. Although he mostly rode the pine for his two seasons with the team, my dad remembers when the Tigers took on the Brandon Wheat Kings. Trevor Kidd, a top goalie prospect, was in the net, but Mike still managed to score a goal against him. Sure, it was after the whistle had blown and led to a brawl, but it still counts.
As for my uncle, he loved watching players with high-end skills. A long-time season-ticket holder, he got to watch first-hand the incredible skating of Jay Bouwmeester, Joffrey Lupul’s ability to score at will, and the surprising dual threat of David Schlemko, who could skate better than anyone else on the team and was always the Tigers’ choice for the shootout, where he rarely missed. Guys who could score with ease always stood out to my uncle, such as Chris St. Jacques, Ken Solheim, Stacy Roest, Kevin Riehl, and David Quenneville. My dad, on the other hand, talked about the tough guys he remembers, like Bob, Brad, and Ken Gassoff, the Tigers’ version of the Hanson Brothers, and defenceman Dean Chynoweth, a top NHL pick who suffered a nasty eye injury in his rookie season.
Listening to my dad tell stories of his childhood made me realize how closely the Tigers were tied to his family. Sure, the hockey was great and undoubtedly made him the hockey fan he is today, but watching games with his older brother, or his dad, or watching his nephew play added that special connection you can’t get anywhere else. While my uncle’s stories were more about the skill and the top players, I doubt he would be the same hockey fan he is now if he wasn’t able to share it with his brother or his son. Now I was part of both of their journeys, just like they were part of mine.
However, the Blades couldn’t let me live in my nice moment. After starting the second period with penalty trouble, Lisowsky scored his second of the night to tie it up at the end of the second period and Alexander Suzdalev put another away to start the third, giving Saskatoon their first lead. The Tigers’ Tomas Mrsic put a highlight-reel goal by Blades’ goalie Austin Elliott to tie it up, but neither team could find an opening before the end of the game. That sent us into overtime, and it was a close matchup until the Blades intercepted a bad pass, leading to a two-on-one and the game-winner from Fraser Minten. I couldn’t help it; I jumped up and cheered, just like I do at SaskTel Place in Saskatoon, excited that my team won. I joked with my dad that I guess my allegiance had changed, which was met with little more than a light chuckle.
As I reflect on the game and the experience, I think that was the wrong thing to say. The Tigers aren’t just some team that you cheer for. The team is one of the reasons my dad and uncle have stayed close all these years and I’ve been able to form such a close bond with both of them. It could have been any hockey team that accomplished that feat, but it wasn’t any team: It was the Tigers. Realizing that gave me a little more reverence for the team I first cheered for, and even though much has changed since I first was running around the concourse of the Medicine Hat Arena, the Tigers are still here, giving my family one more excuse to spend time with each other. If that’s not what being a hockey fan is all about, then I don’t know what is.