GAME 1 - 2ND ROUND - BEST OF SEVEN SERIES

AGAINST THE HITMEN: The Calgary Hitmen and the Medicine Hat Tigers met six times this season with the Tigers posting a (2-2-0-2) record versus the Hitmen (1-2-0-1 at home) and (1-0-0-1 in Calgary) during which the Hitmen outscored the Tigers 23-19 despite being outshot by Medicine Hat 184-172. The Tigers were led by Emerson Etem (5G, 2A) with seven points, while Taylor Gal (2G, 4A) has six points. Kale Kessy and Bretton Cameron chipped in three goals each against Calgary. Goaltender Tyler Bunz was 2-2-0-1 allowing 15 goals (2.92 - G.A.A) on 137 shots (.891 - Save %). On the power play, the Tigers were 5 for 32 with the man advantage (15.6%), while killing off 22 of 31 Calgary power plays (71.0%).

2^nd ROUND SERIES SCHEDULE VS CALGARY: #1 - Medicine Hat @ Calgary; Friday, April 2 (7:00pm), #2 - Medicine Hat @ Calgary; Sunday, April 4 (5:00pm), #3 - Calgary @ Medicine Hat; Tuesday, April 6 (7:00pm), #4 - Calgary @ Medicine Hat; Wednesday, April 7 (7:00pm), #5 - Medicine Hat @ Calgary; Friday, April 9 (7:00 pm) * If necessary, #6 - Calgary @ Medicine Hat; Sunday, April 11 (6:00 pm) * If necessary, #7- Medicine Hat @ Calgary; Tuesday, April 13 (7:00 pm) * If necessary.

1^st ROUND PLAYOFF RECAP: The Medicine Hat Tigers defeated the Kootenay Ice FOUR games to TWO in the 1^st round of the Best-of-Seven WHL Eastern Conference Quarter-finals (3-0 at home, 1-2 in Cranbrook), while winning four straight games to close out the series after losing the first two in Cranbrook, BC. The Tigers outscored the Ice 20-15 despite Kootenay outshooting Medicine Hat 162-152 in six games. Leading the way for the Tigers were forwards Emerson Etem (4G, 3A) with seven points, while Bretton Cameron (1G, 5A) and Linden Vey (1G, 5A) each had six points. Goaltender Tyler Bunz (4-2-0) allowed 13 goals (2.32 G.A.A.) on 153 shots (.915 Save %) in six starts, while Deven Dubyk allowed one goal on eight shots in one relief appearance. Medicine Hat was 3 for 32 on the power play (09.4%), while having killed off 27 of 31 Kootenay power plays (87.1%), while scoring two shorthanded goals.

SUBWAY CENTRAL DIVISION CHALLENGE CUP STANDINGS: In Head-to-Head games versus Central Division opponents, the Medicine Hat Tigers (21-7-2-2) finished 2nd in the Central Division Cup standings with a winning percentage of .719 , while the Kootenay Ice (22-10-1-1) finished 3rd with a winning percentage of .676. The Calgary Hitmen (24-6-0-2) captured their second straight Central Division Challenge Cup with a winning percentage of .750 against their division rivals this season. Visit www.whl-central.com for more details.

2009-10 VS CALGARY HITMEN

• Medicine Hat 0 @ Calgary 2 (Feb 6 2010) Final
• Calgary 4 @ Medicine Hat 1 (Feb 4 2010) Final
• Calgary 4 @ Medicine Hat 6 (Dec 19 2009) Final
• Medicine Hat 6 @ Calgary 5 (Dec 12 2009) Final SO
• Medicine Hat 2 @ Calgary 3 (Nov 13 2009) Final SO
• Calgary 5 @ Medicine Hat 4 (Sep 25 2009) Final SO

DID YOU KNOW?
The Medicine Hat Tigers have qualified for the WHL Playoffs for the eighth consecutive season. Coming into the 2^nd round of the 2010 WHL Playoffs, General Manager and Head Coach Willie Desjardins has coached the Tigers in 102 WHL Playoff games, winning 63 games and 14 of 19 series. The Tigers failed to advance to the second round only once in the past eight post-seasons. The Medicine Hat Tigers and the Calgary Hitmen last met in the playoffs during the 2007 WHL Eastern Conference Championship, which the Tigers won FIVE games to ONE.

PLAYOFF EXPERIENCE: Heading into the series, Medicine Hat Tigers has a combined 255 games of playoff experience. Veterans Linden Vey (22 GP), Wacey Hamilton (22 GP) and Mark Isherwood (22 GP) lead the way. Goaltender Tyler Bunz has posted four straight playoff victories. The Tigers have eight players (Etem, Dubyk, MacKay, McKay, Kessy, Bredo, Busenius, Sohn) who played in their 1^st career WHL post season games during the 1^st round. Matt MacKay, Emerson Etem, Kale Kessy and Matthew Konan recently scored their first career post season goals.

How the 2 teams match up