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Saturday, September 25, 2010 — THE MEDICINE HAT NEWS


TIGERS WHL PREVIEW


Cameron Reflects on Time in The Hat


NEWS PHOTO EMMA BENNETT - Former Medicine Hat Tigers Stefan Meyer, left, and Bretton Cameron take part in a Tigers practice recently at The Arena.


DARREN STEINKE dsteinke@medicinehatnews.com


Bretton Cameron’s time with


the Medicine Hat Tigers had a pretty unassuming start. In March of 2007, the


Didsbury native joined the Tigers to skate with the black aces — players who practice but don’t play. He was with the club during a postseason run which saw the Tigers win the WHL title and advance to the Memorial Cup final before losing to the host Vancouver Giants. During that run, the biggest memory surrounding Cameron was the fact he had his stick stolen during a team practice at the Britannia Ice Rink in Vancouver following the club’s final round-robin game. The Tigers had clinched first place in the round robin and a bye into the Memorial Cup final, and the practice Cameron had his stick stolen at was an optional skate devoid of future NHLers like Kris Russell, Derek Dorsett and Darren Helm. “That was just a weird situation,” said Cameron. “I think he took a couple of our sticks. “We had some laughs about


it. Obviously, it was not a huge deal for us. (Tigers athletic therapist) Mikki (Lanuk)


here had some other sticks. Whoever took it, enjoyed a couple of new sticks.” Now fast forward to April 11, 2010, and Cameron was waving goodbye to a sellout crowd of 4,006 fans at The Arena. During his overage season, he became a hugely valuable player. Besides the 40 goals and 27 assists he put up in a breakout regular season, he became the face of the team as far as community events were concerned. Cameron had a large involvement with a pair of fundraisers for cancer research, and he was also the most visible Tiger when it came to hospital visits and other public events. The Tigers season came to an end with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Calgary Hitmen and the crowd made sure Cameron had one fi nal salute. Three nights later, Cameron was presented with the Gerard Moyer Memorial Trophy at the team’s awards banquet for his humanitarian and community service work by former Tigers great and hockey legend Lanny McDonald. As a graduate, Cameron


returned to Medicine Hat to skate with the Tigers, while his professional options sorted themselves out. Last week, he departed to Hartford to attend the training camp of


the American Hockey League’s Wolfpack on a tryout basis. While skating with the Tigers,


Cameron admitted many memories went through his head of what he was leaving behind. “I am obviously going to miss


it tremendously,” said Cameron after one of his fi nal skates with the Tigers. “It has been kind of cool. “I’ve been down here for almost just shy of a month now. It has been fun to hang out with the guys and reminisce about things and get my last little doses before I have to take off for the year. “Obviously, I am excited to


start my career now and start in the pro ranks and work my way up.” Cameron them paused before adding another little tidbit. “It has been fun to be here,”


said Cameron, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 181 pounds. “The guys have been giving me a hard time about trying to live the dream still.” During his fi rst two full seasons with the Tigers, Cameron played a checking role with the club. As an overager, he inherited the leadership torch with the club’s then new captain and one of his best friends in Wacey Hamilton.


Cameron remembers that he had a great chemistry with Hamilton that went beyond what happened, when the pair were linemates on the ice. When the two were talking to the team, Cameron said they would often fi nish off each other’s sentences. “It was obviously a good


experience,” said Cameron, who often says that Hamilton assists on at least 35 of his 40 goals. “We took it upon ourselves to be the leaders this past year. “We enjoyed being on a line (together) that last year and having the success we did.” Cameron’s leadership also


showed off the ice in his community involvement. He said the feeling that he had to give back to the community was mainly instilled in him by his mother, Pam. In the fundraising efforts for


the Canadian Cancer Society, Cameron was proud the “Dusters for Dollars” campaign raised $12,520.05. That campaign saw then Tigers head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins shave off his trademark moustache. Cameron was also the poster boy for the “Stick it to Breast Cancer” fundraiser that brought in $6,465. Besides those fundraisers, Cameron said he loved interacting with the


children he met during various school visits to give speeches on various topics like bullying or eating healthy. “Starting off with the moustaches in November was a big thing for me and for the organization I think,” said Cameron. “It was a huge group effort by everyone. “I enjoyed growing up and having the other teams come in to my school. I looked up to them. “Medicine Hat is such a great


organization and community to me that I felt I needed to give back a lot more in my 20-year- old year.” Cameron heads on to the next


part of his hockey career, which he hopes will be a long stay in the professional ranks. He will always carry memories of goals that were scored, birthday Gatorade bucket dumps, various charity stops and taking to fans in the mall from his time in the Gas City. “The support from the fans not only in the regular season but the playoffs was absolutely amazing,” said Cameron. “To go back home in the summer time and hear the other guys in the league say how frustrating it was to come to Medicine Hat to play, it makes you feel good to know that I was in a great place for my whole junior career.”


THOMAS CARRTHOMAS CARR


POSITION: D HT: 6’0” WT: 202 D.O.B JAN/15/1990 HOMETOWN: EDMONTON, AB 09/10 SEASON: MEDICINE HAT TIGERS LEAGUE: WHL GP: 71 G: 01 A: 15 PTS: 16 PIM: 89 DRAFT: FREE AGENT


MATTHEW KONAN MATTHEW KONAN


POSITION: D HT: 6’3” WT: 188 D.O.B SEPT/03/1991 HOMETOWN: TUSTIN, CA 09/10 SEASON: MEDICINE HAT TIGERS LEAGUE: WHL GP: 65 G: 05 A: 15 PTS: 20 PIM: 117 DRAFT: FREE AGENT


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