The Medicine Hat Tigers are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League (WHL) based in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Established in 1970, the team is tied with the Kamloops Blazers for the most Ed Chynoweth Cups as league champion with six, and have gone on to win two Memorial Cup titles. The Tigers also have seven Division titles. Since 2015, the Tigers play at Co-op Place after forty-five seasons at the Medicine Hat Arena.

History Medicine Hat was granted a team in the Western Canada Hockey League ahead of its fifth season, and the Tigers began play in 1970–71. Although the team struggled in its inaugural season, the Tigers rapidly improved, led by the scoring exploits of Tom Lysiak—who won league scoring titles in 1972 and 1973—Lanny McDonald. The team made the playoffs in its second season, and in its third made it to the championship final. In the final, they defeated the Saskatoon Blades to win their first title.

The Tigers' next significant run of success came in the latter half of the 1980s. In 1986, the team secured its first regular season title and advanced to its first of three consecutive league finals. Led by the likes of Trevor Linden, Wayne McBean, and Mark Pederson, the Tigers would capture back-to-back championships and Memorial Cup titles in 1987 and 1988. Because of their success, the championship Tigers' teams were inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame.

The Tigers won two more league titles in a four-year span between 2004 and 2007. In 2004, Medicine Hat put together the best record in the Eastern Conference and advanced to the final, where they swept the expansion Everett Silvertips. In 2005–06, the Tigers secured their second regular season title, before losing the Conference Final against the Moose Jaw Warriors. The following season, they would return to the championship series, where they faced the Vancouver Giants. Backstopped by goaltender Matt Keetley, the Tigers defeated the Giants in double-overtime of game seven to win the title. Because Vancouver was hosting the 2007 Memorial Cup, both teams advanced to the tournament. The Tigers again defeated the Giants in overtime during the preliminary round in order to advance directly to the final, which wound up being a re-match between the two rivals. In the final, the host Giants avenged their earlier losses, defeating the Tigers 3–1 at Pacific Coliseum.

Since their last title run in 2007, the Tigers have missed the playoffs only twice, but have failed to advance past the second round of the playoffs, even despite securing division titles in 2016–17 and 2017–18. In 2015, the team moved from the old Arena to the new Co-op Place. In 2024, Gavin McKenna became the fourth Tiger and the first since Neil Brady in 1986 to be named the winner of the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as WHL rookie of the year.

Season-by-season record Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Season GP W L T OTL GF GA Points Finish Playoffs 1970–71 66 22 43 1 - 271 351 45 5th West Did not qualify 1971–72 68 35 30 3 - 351 312 73 4th West Lost in quarterfinal 1972–73 68 39 20 9 - 348 254 87 2nd West Won Championship 1973–74 68 29 31 8 - 305 314 66 3rd West Lost in quarterfinal 1974–75 70 40 22 8 - 380 291 88 2nd West Lost in quarterfinal 1975–76 72 38 24 10 - 379 306 86 3rd West Lost in quarterfinal 1976–77 72 32 28 12 - 330 304 76 1st Central Lost in preliminary round 1977–78 72 22 41 9 - 293 365 53 3rd Central Lost in Central Division final 1978–79 72 15 50 7 - 270 479 37 4th Central Did not qualify 1979–80 72 37 30 5 - 344 315 79 3rd East Lost in East Division final 1980–81 72 40 29 3 - 358 302 83 3rd East Lost in East Division quarterfinal 1981–82 72 25 46 1 - 308 446 51 7th East Did not qualify 1982–83 72 37 34 1 - 345 338 75 6th East Lost in East Division quarterfinal 1983–84 72 45 26 1 - 404 288 91 2nd East Lost in East Division final 1984–85 72 53 17 2 - 355 224 108 2nd East Lost in East Division final 1985–86 72 54 17 1 - 384 245 109 1st East Lost in final 1986–87 72 48 19 5 - 383 264 101 1st East Won Championship and Memorial Cup 1987–88 72 44 22 6 - 353 261 94 2nd East Won Championship and Memorial Cup 1988–89 72 41 27 4 - 359 326 86 3rd East Lost in East Division quarterfinal 1989–90 72 32 38 2 - 298 331 66 5th East Lost in East Division quarterfinal 1990–91 72 40 27 5 - 366 296 85 2nd East Lost in East Division final 1991–92 72 48 24 0 - 336 264 96 2nd East Lost in East Division quarterfinal 1992–93 72 29 38 5 - 285 343 63 7th East Lost in East Division semifinal 1993–94 72 33 33 6 - 263 264 72 5th East Lost in East Division quarterfinal 1994–95 72 38 32 2 - 244 229 78 5th East Lost in East Division quarterfinal 1995–96 72 30 37 5 - 243 288 65 3rd Central Lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 1996–97 72 39 32 1 - 270 278 79 3rd Central Lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 1997–98 72 16 50 6 - 188 340 38 5th Central Did not qualify 1998–99 72 15 56 1 - 185 323 31 5th Central Did not qualify 1999–00 72 21 39 6 6 222 295 54 5th Central Did not qualify 2000–01 72 24 40 5 3 271 316 56 5th Central Did not qualify 2001–02 72 30 36 4 2 277 316 66 5th Central Did not qualify 2002–03 72 29 34 2 7 278 314 67 3rd Central Lost in Eastern Conference semifinal 2003–04 72 40 20 9 3 277 216 92 1st Central Won Championship 2004–05 72 45 21 4 2 234 143 96 1st Central Lost in Eastern Conference semifinal Season GP W L OTL SOL GF GA Points Finish Playoffs 2005–06 72 47 16 1 8 257 171 103 1st Central Lost in Eastern Conference final 2006–07 72 52 17 3 0 264 175 107 1st Central Won Championship; Lost Memorial Cup final 2007–08 72 43 22 5 2 234 191 93 3rd Central Lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 2008–09 72 36 29 4 3 249 242 79 2nd Central Lost in Eastern Conference semifinal 2009–10 72 41 23 3 5 276 232 90 3rd Central Lost in Eastern Conference semifinal 2010–11 72 46 18 4 4 265 196 100 2nd Central Lost in Eastern Conference final 2011–12 72 42 24 2 4 255 209 90 3rd Central Lost in Eastern Conference semifinal 2012–13 72 36 33 2 1 243 244 75 4th Central Lost in Eastern Conference semifinal 2013–14 72 44 24 3 1 260 196 92 3rd Central Lost in Eastern Conference final 2014–15 72 45 23 2 2 268 213 94 2nd Central Lost in Eastern Conference semifinal 2015–16 72 30 37 3 2 223 287 65 5th Central Lost tiebreaker game vs Edmonton 2016–17 72 51 20 1 0 350 248 103 1st Central Lost in Eastern Conference semifinal 2017–18 72 36 28 8 0 260 252 80 1st Central Lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 2018–19 68 35 27 4 2 217 222 76 4th Central Lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 2019–20 63 41 19 2 1 265 182 85 2nd Central Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2020–21 23 14 8 0 1 87 69 29 2nd Central No playoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2021-22 68 11 53 3 1 154 315 26 6th Central Did not qualify 2022–23 68 30 29 8 1 248 224 69 4th Central Lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 2023–24 68 37 23 6 2 280 231 82 2nd Central Lost Eastern Conference quarterfinal 2024–25 68 47 17 3 1 300 193 98 1st Central Won Championship; Lost Memorial Cup final 2025–26 68 50 10 5 3 348 208 108 1st Central Lost in Eastern Conference final

WHL Championship history

Memorial Cups: 1987, 1988 President's Cups/Ed Chynoweth Cups: 1972–73, 1986–87, 1987–88, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2024–25 Scotty Munro Memorial Trophies: 1985–86, 2005–06 Conference Championships: 2003–04, 2006–07, 2024–25 Regular Season division titles: Central (9): 1976-77, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2024-25, 2025-26 East (2): 1985-86, 1986-87

WHL Championships 1972–73: Win, 3–0–2, vs. Saskatoon Blades 1985–86: Loss, 1–4, vs. Kamloops Blazers 1986–87: Win, 4–3, vs. Portland Winter Hawks 1987–88: Win, 4–2, vs. Kamloops Blazers 2003–04: Win, 4–0, vs. Everett Silvertips 2006–07: Win, 4–3, vs. Vancouver Giants 2024–25: Win, 4–1, vs. Spokane Chiefs

Memorial Cup finals

1987: Win, 6–2 vs Oshawa Generals 1988: Win, 7–6 vs Windsor Spitfires 2007: Loss, 1–3 vs Vancouver Giants 2025: Loss, 1–4 vs London Knights

NHL alumni

Team records

+ Team records for a single seasonStatisticTotalSeasonMost points1091985–86Most wins541985–86Most goals for4041983–84Fewest goals for1851998–99Fewest goals against1432004–05Most goals against4791978–79

+ Individual player records for a single seasonStatisticPlayerTotalSeasonMost goalsDon Murdoch881975–76Most assistsGreg Carroll1111975–76Most pointsGreg Carroll1711975–76Most points, rookieDon Murdoch1411974–75Most points, defencemanCliff Lane821975–76Best GAA (goalie)Matt Keetley1.662004–05 Goalies = minimum 1500 minutes played

See also List of ice hockey teams in Alberta

References

External links Official site