Despite losing a tooth, Bullion happy with bounce-back performance against Seattle
Michael Bullion became the third member of the toothless Tigers club on Saturday night at the Canalta Centre.
The 20-year-old goaltender had his right canine tooth sheared off with uncanny precision in his collision with Seattle Thunderbirds defenceman Cade McNelly on Saturday. While the hit forced him out of Medicine Hat’s eventual 4-3 overtime victory, Bullion says he doesn’t blame McNelly.
“The guy tried to get over me, which to his credit was the right move, and I misjudged his height. I was hoping he would go over me, like he was hoping, but instead I kind of took a flying knee right to the chin area of the mask,” said Bullion, who added he will be ready to go for the weekend’s home and home set against the Calgary Hitmen. “The mask came up with so much force that the part where the cage and the mask itself meet cut right through my lip and the tooth. So I’ve got three stitches and I lost about threequarters of my canine.”
Saturday’s win over Seattle was Bullion’s first game since suffering a 9-1 shelling at the hands of the Moose Jaw Warriors on Oct. 27. While his time between the pipes was cut short, along with his tooth, Bullion still managed to achieve a rousing bounce-back performance — he even earned a standing ovation from the 3,182 in attendance after pulling a bouncing puck off the goal line just minutes before his departure.
“It was definitely a confidence booster,” said Bullion, who made 15 saves in the win. “I think my confidence was pretty low after that Moose Jaw game, that definitely hurt, but I also knew that being confident is a choice, so I think I rebounded from there.
But I definitely think getting that standing O from the crowd, it definitely felt really good and it’s a testament to our crowd and how they’ve improved from last year. I think this arena is starting to grow on the fans. I think for the most part we’re all pretty happy and pretty excited with the energy we’ve been getting from the fans.”
Tigers captain Mark Rassell added he’s seen a positive shift in Bullion since Saturday’s overtime. While losing to the Warriors by eight goals was a harsh blow to the entire team, it took a toll on Bullion’s confidence. Thankfully, says Rassell, he got it back.
“You can really notice it. After the Moose Jaw game his confidence was kind of lacking, you could notice it in practice a bit, that he wasn’t having as much fun,” said Rassell, who scored Saturday’s overtime winner. “After Saturday night, he only played half the game but he did really well. His confidence is there and he’s having more fun at the rink and having more fun around the guys so it’s good to see.”
Bullion joins Max Gerlach and Mason Shaw as the third Tiger to lose a tooth in 2017. Curiously enough, none of the incidents involved pucks. Shaw — still sidelined with a torn ACL — lost a molar when the skate of Brandon Wheat Kings defenceman Dmirty Osipov caught him in the face on Jan. 28, while Gerlach recently returned after taking the stick of defenceman Brayden Pachal to the face on Oct. 7.
The Tigers (10-6-0-0) hit the road to Calgary to take on Nick Schneider and the Hitmen (610-1-0) Friday at 7 p.m.