After a historic comeback win over the Red Deer Rebels in round one of the WHL playoffs, the Lethbridge Hurricanes are set to meet their biggest rival in round two. The formidable Medicine Hat Tigers await the ’Canes after sweeping the Brandon Wheat Kings in their opening-round series.
“We haven’t really played in the playoffs, so it’s going to be a whole different beast,” Hurricanes forward Giorgio Estephan said. “I think the rivalry will be there for sure.”
Somewhat remarkably, it’s the first time these two teams have met in a playoff series since 1991. The match-ups always bring an added level of excitement for the fans and players alike.
“The fans go absolutely crazy for it,” said Tigers goaltender Michael Bullion. “It’s definitely a special experience to be a part of. It’s fun, because [in] either building you get both sets of fans, and I think the players respond to that.”
The Hurricanes’ approach doesn’t change because of the rivalry, but ’Canes captain Tyler Wong would still love to beat the Tigers for ‘Canes fans.
“Obviously we do have a rivalry with them,” Wong said. “Like for our fans as well — everybody hates Medicine Hat here, and we’re wanting to win at as much for them as we are for us.”
The southern Alberta squads battled seven times this year, with the Tigers taking the season series four games to three. Medicine Hat had the slight edge, but Wong isn’t putting much stock in that.
“I’m not worried at all about what happened in the regular season,” Wong said. “I think in the games that we played when we had a full lineup, we won every game. The last two games, we were resting Z [Zak Zborosky], and Alf [Matt Alfaro] in meaningless games that we didn’t really play our best in.”
The Tigers and Hurricanes kick off round two Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in Medicine Hat.
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