MEDICINE HAT, AB — Two members of the Medicine Hat Tigers are contemplating signing professional hockey contracts in the coming days.
Mark Rassell and David Quenneville are both thinking about a potential move to the big leagues, days after the Medicine Hat Tigers season came to a close in Dauphin, MB.
Rassell, who played his last game in Orange and Black on Sunday, says his agent is in talks with several teams, and a decision about his future will be made soon.
“I’m making my decision Wednesday to see where I’ll finish the season up,” he said.
“We’ll see what happens at the end of the season, and then into next year. Obviously with certain contracts, I can’t get to deep into it, but you have that year to try out pro before you have to use that WHL scholarship before it’s gone, but I’m pretty excited about the opportunity to try that.”
Quenneville, who was drafted by the New York Islanders in 2016, enters the 2018-19 WHL season as a 20-year-old, but says his future is still up in the air.
“I guess I’ll find out in the next couple of days,” he said. “(I’ll) talk to my agent, kind of create a plan going forward, and just see where things go. I think just the biggest thing is being patient and just kind of letting things settle. At the same time, it’s probably going to sting for a while, going home this early.”
Quenneville led the WHL defensive scoring race with 80 points in the regular season, and says if Sunday’s game was his last as a Tiger, he will have lots of good things to remember about his time in Medicine Hat.
“It’s such an underrated city,” he said. “I honestly don’t think I would’ve wanted to play anywhere (else) in my four years. It’s just such a special community.”
Rassell also spoke highly about the past four years as a Tiger.
“Being a household name is something that’s really new to me,” he said. “I didn’t expect that, coming from a big city like Calgary, but coming to Med Hat, they love their Tigers. They’re on Facebook, they’re talking about you and their development, and it’s pretty cool.
“Then, off the ice, it’s the perfect size city, we’re pretty well-known around town, so when we’re out and about, people are coming up to us, talking about how they’re a fan, or how their kids are huge fans. It’s absolutely an honour. I’ve had so much fun, I couldn’t picture myself anywhere else other than Medicine Hat these last four years.”
