Saturday, February 13th marked the return of some of the best players to ever wear the Orange and Black as the Tigers Alumni took on the Medicine Hat Firefighters in a charity matchup.

The Tigers roster was chocked full of impact players who definitely earned a legacy with the club, starting with thier goaltenders.  Five-season vet Scott Buhler was joined by hometown hero and the 1994-95 WHL Goaltender of the Year Paxton Schafer.

The forward group boasts the leading scorer in Tigers history, 199 goal man Kevin Riehl and Mike Lay, who tallied an astronomic 426 points with the club.  Other snipers include Brian Varga who led the WHL in scoring in 1980-81, notching 2.35 points per game on route to a 160 point season.  Morris Lukowich rounds out an outstanding group of forwards, bringing his 263 points in just 207 games played to the table.

Other forwards include the likes of Brian Hill, Clayton Gainer, Stacey Fritz, Guy Phillips, Lorne Toews, Cody Jensen, Ron Areshenkoff, Rod Van Slyke, Jason Prosofsky, Jeremy Thompson and Josh Maser.

The defense corps were stacked with impact players as well, beginning with Brian Maxwell.  One of the few players to win a WHL Championship as both a player and a coach, "Maxie" was a tough as nails defender with great skill and relentless determination.  He' was joined by  some offensively gifted blueliners,  Memorial Cup champion Scott McCrady, former captains Cliff Lane and fan favorite Steve Marr.

But perhaps the most incredible was the return of a couple players who suited up for the Tigers in the inaugural 1970 season:  defence man Doug Fritz and left winger Dave Simons.  Both were on the ice for the Tigers 1st game in franchise history, so it will be an extra special honor to have them help the club commemorate it's 40th season.

Top to bottom, front to back, the MH Tigers Alumni squad and firefighters line up provided fans with a lot of excitement and a chance to see some of the best Tigers to ever suit up for Medicine Hat.

The match was a great success for charity and was played before about 1400 spectators.

"We are grateful to Telus for coming on board as our title sponsor for the alumni game," said Tigers' Director of Marketing and Public Relations Dave Andjelic. "A big thank you also goes out to our media sponsors, Pattison Broadcast Group, made up of CHAT-TV, MY-96 and CHAT 94.5 FM, as well as, the Medicine Hat News."

In Total $11,244 dollars were raised with both the Tigers Education Fund and the Medicine Hat Burn Society each receiving $5,622.00.

Special thanks to all sponsors and spectators who made this a very special day from all participants.