Tigers teammates Langkow & Shtrom tied through fathers’ ECHL tussle

Scott’s big league career included stops in Winnipeg, Phoenix and Atlanta totaling 20 games at the NHL level.

From there, Scott embarked on a lengthy professional career that took him through the minor leagues before multiple stops overseas.

It was during his time with Krefeld Pinguine in the German Elite League that his son Beckett began to strap on the pads like his father.

“Growing up I got to watch him play in Germany lots, I have a lot of memories from back then,” said Beckett. “I remember always wanting to be a goalie, just wanting to follow in his footsteps.”

Scott took notice of the stride Beckett began to make with the youth programs in Germany, strides that he was making mostly off pure talent and determination.

“I was playing and I didn’t have a whole lot of time to work with him when he was younger,” said Scott. “But, he picked up and learned how to move on his own, stuff that I was taught he kind of taught himself at a young age.”

As Beckett began to find his love of the game, the same was happening half a world away in Montreal.

That’s where former professional goaltender Leeor Shtrom was showing his son Oren the ropes of the game as well.

“He’s the reason I got into it and just having him is huge for me in supporting me, giving me tips that maybe not other guys get having a dad who played pro,” said Oren.

That included endless loops of SportsCentre on TSN and hours of skating on the backyard rink, moments that Leeor looks back on fondly years later.

“He’d watch highlights over and over again and he’d just sit there with his bottle of warm chocolate milk or just playing with him down in the basement,” said Leeor. “He just always loved wanting to score goals.”

These days, Oren is getting to do just that with seven goals in 30 games this season for Medicine Hat while his teammate Beckett tends goal with six career wins in the Tigers net.

The pair entered the Western Hockey League at the same time and have grown into pieces of the future for Willie Desjardins and his coaching staff.

However, the history between their families dates back much further. Something that was discovered at Tigers rookie camp in the summer of 2019.

“It was just really funny hearing about it,” said Oren. “Obviously, the picture is great just seeing both of them.”

It’s the 2000-21 season in the East Coast Hockey League and the Birmingham Bulls hold a 5-2 lead on the Mobile Mysticks.

“It was just really funny hearing about it,” said Oren. “Obviously, the picture is great just seeing both of them.”

Tensions began to boil over and the two netminders on the ice that night stared each other down at centre ice.

“The guys on the bench were going, ‘Go, go,’” said Leeor. “But, as soon as he grabbed me I knew I was in trouble.”

Leeor, a second-year ECHL goalie and graduate of Union College, then found himself in the grasp of the much larger and more experienced Scott Langkow.

“I don’t think we ended up fighting, we just kind of danced around a bit and I’m sure just talking a little bit,” said Scott.

Langkow only played in six games that season for the Mysticks, bouncing between the American Hockey League, International Hockey League and ECHL.

And according to Shtrom, it was Langkow who delivered the first chirp before the officials finally intervened.

“The first thing he said to me was, ‘Step back and take your mask off,’” said Leeor. “I was trying to be tough and I was like, ‘No, you step back and take your mask off.’ So, that went on for a couple minutes until finally the linesmen came in and I was saved.”

That story was relayed to both Oren and Beckett, who discovered their connection extended far beyond their years.

“The funny thing is they were both goalies at the time too, for both of them to have kids the same age and to play on the same team later,” said Beckett. “He was playing in Arizona, I was in Fort Saskatchewan so across the border, for us to come to the same team now is pretty cool and pretty special.”

Both Scott and Leeor agreed that while they may have been adversaries at one point in time, they both are firmly supporting the black and orange together as they watch their children chase their own hockey dreams.

“It’s a fun part of it and it’s definitely fun to share these times with families like the Langkows,” said Leeor.

And it’s those connections that have made playing together this season and beyond even more special for the pair of current Tabbies teammates.

“That’s why the game of hockey is so great, just the connections that you make through life and the friends you’ll make,” said Oren. “How it just can go down generations is really cool.”

by Scott Roblin

Tigers teammates Langkow & Shtrom tied through fathers’ ECHL tussle

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