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— New photo Sam LeungMedtehw Hat Tiger Ryan Epp and the Kelowna Rocket Nolan tankman fight for the puck In front of Rockets' goaltender Chris Noble Saturday at The Arena.STEVEN GALLAGHERStaff WriterMEDICINE HATRyan Finnerty is getting a second chance with the Medicine Hat Tigers.The forward was demoted to Tier 2 three games into the Western Hockey League campaign. Finnerty was sent down to the Cam-rose Kodiaks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League because the Tigers had a glut of forwards.With the recent trade of overage forward Tyler Perry and injuries to Steve Albrecht (neck) and Blair Simpson (bruised hip), Finnerty’s services are needed.And the 16-year-old wants to prove he deserves to stay the entire season.“When a guy gets a second chance, you gotta make the best of it,” Finnerty said Saturday after the Tigers’ 4-3 loss to the Kelowna Rockets at The Arena. “I gotta come in here and work hard and do the things that they told me I have to do on a regular basis.” That includes playing tough in the corners, chipping in with the odd goal and being a physical presence on the ice, he said.Finnerty, a native of St. Paul, fought Lethbridge Hurricane Jason Hegberg in his first game back on Friday.“He’s proven that he’s hungry and wants to play heie,” Tiger coach Kurt Lackten said of Finnerty. “He has a lot of growth and development to do. There’s room for guys that contribute to our hockey club no matter who that is.Finnerty returns to the Tigers with the team sporting the same number of wins as when he left—one.The Tigers dropped their 10th straight contest Saturday after Rocket Jason Deleurmescored the winner with 34 seconds to play in the third period.“That’s the game of hockey,” Lackten said of Deleurme’s goal. However, we seem to be on the wrong end of it all the time.”The Tigers appeared to be on their way to stopping the streak when Jeff Temple tied the game 3-3 at 5:32 in the third period. But another defensive breakdown in front of Tiger netmlnder Dustin Schwartz allowed Deleurme to score the winner.“There’s a lot of games that we have lost that we deserved to lose, ’’said Temple. “But a game like tonight when we worked hard right to the very last minute, it’s really frustrating to lose. We just gotta keep working. There’s not much more we can say.” Schwartz kept Medicine Hat in the game with 35 saves, including several spectacular stops after Temple’s goal. The Tigers couldonly muster 20 shots on Rockets’ goaltender Chris Noble.Finnerty wants to help guide the Tigers’ ship out of troubled waters.“You have to stay positive as much as you can,” said Finnerty, who played part of last season with the Monarch Cable TV Tigers of the Alberta AAA Midget Hockey League. “Nothing is worse when you’re losing than to get negative. You’ll have to beat two teams out there instead of beating one. Once we start winning, we’re not going to lose.”TigersRockets 4, Tigers 3□ The Tigers dropped their 10th straight game, including three in a row at The Arena□ Aaron Millar, KevinMcDonald and Jeff Temple scored for Medicine Hat. Ryan Wade, Brett McLean, Kevin Korol and Jason Deleurme replied tor Kelowna□ Deleurme extended his point streak to nine games (8 goals and six assists)□ The 1-10Tigers host thewinless Edmonton Ice on Wednesday. Game time is 7 p.m.
Newspaper Details
Medicine Hat News
Medicine Hat, Alberta, CA
Mon, Oct 20, 1997
Page 5
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