In the past four years, season after season of disappointment greeted Tyler Wong and the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
This time around, after making it to the Western Hockey League (WHL) playoffs, it looked as though the hockey gods had finally taken a liking to the Cochranite and Hurricanes captain as the franchise made it to its first post-season since the 2008/09 campaign.
However, the hockey gods are rarely charitable, and snatched away Wong’s playoff dreams before they had a chance to flourish.
The ‘Canes fell four games to one in their first-round series to the Regina Pats leaving a bad taste in the mouths of Lethbridge’s players after they recorded a stellar season record of 46-24-1 finishing first in the Central Division.
Things continued to look on the up as the ‘Canes continued their run and took the first game of the series 6-3 at home on March 25, before the Pats ended all hope with four straight wins (3-0, 3-2, 2-0, 7-2).
“It was a really disappointing end to the season,” Wong admitted. “We had high expectations after our successful regular-season, and were super pumped for the playoffs.
“It’s too bad our hopes came crashing down the way they did, but it was an awesome experience. The city got behind us 100 per cent. Being able to play in front of a sold-out crowd that was constantly yelling and screaming is something I’ll never forget. It was unbelievable.”
The fact his team lost four straight to the Pats after winning the series opener may look to outsiders like the ‘Canes got outmuscled and outplayed, but Wong doesn’t believe for a second Regina was as dominant as the score would have you believe.
“I don’t think they were a better team than us at all,” he admitted. “Obviously you have to give them credit, they are a good team who have stacked up well against us all season. They did a good job of shutting down our main guys, and we can’t say the same thing.
“Their top guys outperformed ours and it comes down on a lot of the older guys’ shoulders. We definitely worked our hardest and tried out best, but that’s the way it went. We just have to keep looking forward to next year.”
Despite things not going their way after game one, Wong insists he and his teammates never doubted their abilities or had a moment where they thought it was all over.
“Even going into game five we knew there was always a shot in a seven-game series,” he said. “It was disappointing to lose in our home rink, but we never gave up. Hockey’s a game of inches, and if we got a few bounces here and there, it could have been different.
“If you gave us another series, I think we’d beat them.”
On a personal note, after having the best season of his career – recording 89 points (43 goals, 46 assists) in 72 games – Wong is looking next year to improve on his playoff point tally of two (one goal, one assist) in five games during the playoffs. Which was only good enough to give him a minus-seven rating.
“I did decently,” he admitted. “Obviously you want to do more than put up two points in a series, but I don’t have any regrets. You just have to keep moving forward.”
As for what the future holds in store, Wong is currently in Ontario at the Toronto Marlies (the Maple Leafs’ American Hockey League affiliate) camp, and hopes to make an impact.
“I’m here for a couple weeks seeing how things go,” he said. “Hopefully I can have a good camp and impress them and be able to play here next year, otherwise I’ll be back with Hurricanes which I’m also looking forward to.”
