Tigers trio riding hot streak before holidays

By James Tubb on December 14, 2023.

NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB Medicine Hat Tigers forwards Oasiz Wiesblatt and Tomas Mrsic celebrate Wiesblatt’s second period goal in an 8-2 win Friday over the Edmonton Oil Kings at Co-op Place.

Two Calgary kids and a product of Surrey have led the way for the Medicine Hat Tigers as of late.

The forward trio of Oasiz Wiesblatt, Hayden Harsanyi and Tomas Mrsic have led the Tigers’ offence since their line was formed four games ago. They have combined for five goals and 20 points in their last four games, with a majority coming over the weekend.

In their two-game sweep of the Edmonton Oil Kings this weekend, they potted four goals and registered 12 assists against their Central division opponent.

Associate coach Joe Frazer says their production started from their efforts in practice the week prior.

“They were flying last week in practice, every day they were noticeable, every drill,” Frazer said. “It’s a fast line, all three guys have great vision and can pass, so when they’re hunting pucks and on the forecheck, they have the skill to make plays when they create turnovers. That line was outstanding all weekend, in both games.”

Wiesblatt, the elder of the line at 19, reflected Frazer saying their ability to produce came from chemistry built in practice. He says it’s their speed that drives their success.

“The forecheck we committed to, we were pretty good with the forecheck and that obviously led to how well we played,” Wiesblatt said after their 8-2 win Friday over the Oil Kings at Co-op Place.

Wiesblatt had two goals and an assist in that win, with Mrsic chipping in three assists and Harsanyi adding a goal and two helpers. Head coach Willie Desjardins said Friday’s win was Mrsic’s best offensive game of the season and he liked seeing that line going, with others having led in other games.

“I’m just playing more confident and just simplifying my game,” Mrsic said about his first half of the season. “It’s just really what I need to do, get on the forecheck, turning pucks over, and I’m getting rewarded.”

In their win Saturday, Mrsic had a goal, Wiesblatt added an assist and Harsanyi had two helpers.

“We just knew what we had to do,” Harsanyi said about their weekend. “When you’re a fast line, we played to our strengths, which helped us a lot and was really the biggest thing, just playing fast.”

Harsanyi, learning the ropes in his rookie season, has worked his way up the lineup and not allowed himself to be demoted with his play. With this hot streak paired alongside Wiesblatt and Mrsic, he says they can’t stop now after a little success.

“Keep talking as a line, keep doing the things that we’re successful at and with that, we’ll keep adding production to the squad here,” Harsanyi said. “We just have to keep doing the little stuff.”

It took some time for Harsanyi to get on the scoresheet and erase the zeros on his stat line. He recorded his first assist in the 16th game of the season and scored his first WHL goal a night later. Entering play Wednesday night, he has four goals and 14 points in 29 games.

He says he’s not worried about the numbers at this point but is more focused on the work off the ice and doing the little things to be at his best every night. Harsanyi says the need to do more of the extra work was an early lesson in the year.

“It was definitely a bit of a rough start but I just realized that you can’t come into this league as a 16-year-old without doing all the extra stuff,” Harsanyi said. “That’s what really was the turning point for me, I realized I have to just work so much harder than everyone and keep pushing myself every day to the max.

“Just keep being the best version of myself every day.”