Medicine Hat Tigers prospect Oasiz Wiesblatt participates in an on-ice training session at the team's annual orientation camp on Friday, May 24, 2019 at the Family Leisure Centre. -- NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
Oasiz Wiesblatt is within sight of the Medicine Hat Tigers dressing room – literally.
The 16-year-old centre played his first Canadian Sport School Hockey League game with South Alberta Hockey Academy’s U18 male prep squad at Co-op Place last month, picking up his first assist in the process.
With his first year of full-time Western Hockey League eligibility on the horizon, Wiesblatt says he’s happy to be building chemistry with a handful of fellow Tabby prospects and working in close proximity of his Dub club.
“People around here are awesome and the team is really good. We’re bonding,” said Wiesblatt, who plays with seven fellow Tabby prospects on SAHA’s lineup, including five other members of his 2019 draft class.
“All six of us are really close, we probably hang out every day. It’s been really good skating together and going to school, a really good bonding situation.”
The 12th overall bantam draft pick is coming off a strong season with the Calgary Buffaloes last season – where he netted seven goals and added 14 assists over 29 games in his first year competing at the U18 level – but Wiesblatt says he welcomes the increase in pace that has come with transitioning to the CSSHL, and hopefully the WHL in the near future.
“I felt ready for it, so it was good,” said Wiesblatt, whose SAHA squad picked up a 5-1 win over NAX on Friday in Edmonton. “It was a little different, just the play style, but it wasn’t too much of a difference.”
The youngest of four hockey-playing brothers, Wiesblatt says he’s been leaning on the advice of Ozzy, Orca and Ocean on his path to the WHL. Orca, 20, is entering his overage season after putting in 64 games with the Calgary Hitmen last season, while 18-year-old Ozzy recently signed up to compete down the road with the Brooks Bandits while he awaits the chance to return to his Prince Albert Raiders and Ocean, 21, is coming off his fourth season of junior A hockey.
“I’ve been talking to them since I left,” said Wiesblatt, adding his brothers have told him to always remain positive through the ups and downs that will come with a WHL career. “I’ve talked to Ozzy a bit more just from him being a bit closer to me in Brooks but I talk to them all.”
It was an especially long off-season for players like Wiesblatt, and even with hockey back in his life, the wait still continues with the WHL planning for a Jan. 8 return. But the 5-foot-8, 175-pound Calgary product says he’s been using the extra time to maximize his skating – a skill that should prove valuable as he pushes for a full-time role on a Tigers squad known for its speed-and-skill approach.
“I really worked on my speed this year, and trying to get a harder shot, but I really tried to focus on my feet,” he said. “That was my main focus.”
SAHA U18 male prep head coach Brayden Desjardins says Wiesblatt brings a dizzying number of tools to the table, and his dynamic abilities are nearly incomparable.
“He’s extremely dynamic. He’s a really, really powerful skater,” said Desjardins. “The way he can make plays out of nothing is almost second-to-none. I haven’t seen somebody this dynamic in a long time. To have somebody with this elite skill is good for us.”
Wiesblatt agreed he feels he has a knack for anticipating plays as they begin to unfold, which can lead to impressive results when combined with his skating abilities.
“I feel like I can see plays where not a lot of other people can see that they’re coming,” he said. “I just try to bring my speed into that too.”
But it’s not just his awareness, skating or skill with the puck that set Wiesblatt apart and make him a model player and teammate, as Desjardins points out the young playmaker hasn’t let his draft status go to his head, and remains humble in his push toward a career in professional hockey.
“He’s a great kid, super humble,” said Desjardins. “It doesn’t matter who you are to him, he treats everybody with the same amount of respect. When he’s on the ice, you can tell it’s important to him – there’s never a day that he doesn’t find a way to bring it on the ice. I couldn’t be more excited to have him in our program.”
