Veterans returning from NHL camps as Tigers get set for second week of season

By JAMES TUBB on September 25, 2024.

jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb

The Medicine Hat Tigers are starting to see some familiar faces at practice again.

The Tigers have had five of the nine players who missed opening night while at NHL camps returned to the club ahead of their home-and-home series with the Red Deer Rebels this weekend.

Forward Oasiz Wiesblatt was the fifth player returned, getting released from the Washington Capitals. He will join the club alongside defencemen Niilopekka Muhonen, Josh Van Mulligen and forwards Ryder Ritchie and Shane Smith.

Smith returned from the Vegas Golden Knights camp in what he describes as a dream experience.

“Even just coming into rookie camp is a dream come true, to put on an NHL uniform and then being fortunate enough to make main camp and skate with some of the superstars in the game of hockey is so cool,” Smith said. “You dream about those things as a kid and I had a lot of fun.”

Smith watched the Tigers’ 4-2 season opening win over the Edmonton Oil Kings on Saturday and says he’s glad to be back with the focus on the long-term goal in the Hat. He learned a lot about having to think and play with more pace.

“Just realizing it’s more than a game, it’s a lifestyle for those guys,” Smith said. “Those guys are playing for their families and have kids, that’s their job now and that’s what I want to get to, where we all want to get to here as a club. So just trying to bring what I learned back from the NHL, from Vegas here to Medicine Hat, so we cab hopefully go on a good run here.”

With the return of players from NHL camps, the Tigers will look to further teach their systems to the new players and re-familiarize their returning players with the structure they want to play with.

“It’s reteaching some things, because we all have to be on the same page,” associate coach Joe Frazer said. “Obviously for them the experience was great getting the NHL camps, and now we have to become a team. So that’s the main focus this week, as guys start trickling back.”

With the five returned players, the Tigers are still missing defenceman Veeti Väisänen (Utah) and forwards Andrew Basha (Calgary), Hunter St. Martin (Florida) and Cayden Lindstrom (Columbus).

Frazer says he hopes those players stick with their NHL clubs as long as possible to get the exposure and bring back the experience and lessons learned.

He also hopes the Tigers’ younger players see how much harder the game gets as time has passed since training camp, the preseason and even opening weekend.

“The regular season is much faster than the first preseason game that a lot of them played in and then a month from now, it’ll be even faster, and then playoffs is a whole other level,” Frazer said. “The whole experience they’ve gotten here thus far and how every day teams get more dialled in on execution. It just gets faster and faster. So I just want them to take and remember how hard it is to win in the league.”

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