NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forwards Oasiz Wiesblatt and Gavin McKenna talk strategy ahead of a face-off in the first period of the Tigers 5-4 preseason overtime win at Co-op Place against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Sept. 10.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Medicine Hat Tigers fans may get a twist in their neck watching the forward group skate up and down the ice.
The Tigers are bringing a faster and younger forward group into the 2022-23 season than they did last year. With the addition of Tomas Mrsic and Cayden Lindstrom, two 2006-born rookies, and a core of 17- and 18-year-olds forwards who went through the hardships of last season, the Tigers look to play a game of speed.
Head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins says he’s excited with the players who got older and better over the summer.
“It shows because we’ve been able to move some veteran forwards,” Desjardins said. “If you look at camp, you know, the Swift Current game, Oasis (Wiesblatt) and (Andrew) Basha played really well. The Lethbridge game was (Shane) Smith and (Hunter) St. Martin that had great games. Those two guys (Smith and St. Martin have been really good in camp, I’m really pleased with them. The last game it was kind of (Tyler) Mackenzie, (Oren) Strohm, (Alex) Drover, so it seems like every night that different guys have played well. Lindstrom has played well, (Dallon) Melin is a good player, (Brendan) Lee was playing with the Smith line. We’ve had some good performances, we just all have to have the great games every night instead of one out of three.”
The 18-year-old Wiesblatt is entering his third full season with the Tigers. He says the entire group is excited for Saturday’s home opener at Co-op Place against the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Throughout camp the Calgary product has played alongside Basha and a mix of rookies, from Mrsic to first overall pick Gavin McKenna – a rotation Wiesblatt said he’s enjoyed.
“Bash and I bring good speed, we’re both smart players and we’re both hungry this year,” Wiesblatt said. “It’s kind of fun to see younger players out there and look at myself as an older guy now. It’s good to see them, they’re really good and they’re really skilled. Nothing but good things to say about them.”
He says he loves looking at himself as an older player but says it’s a little weird how younger players can remind him of himself at that age. Wiesblatt was a 12th overall pick of the Tigers in the 2019 WHL draft and has notched 13 goals and 34 points in his first 87 WHL games.
He echoed Desjardins and doubled down on the Tabbies’ forward group being faster this season.
“We’re a little younger this year but I think we’re a really fast group,” Wiesblatt said. “You have to be really good structured. If we’re really good structured in the D zone, then we’re going to be really good in the ‘O’ zone.
The Tigers are carrying a heavy forward group into Friday, the final day of preseason, with 16 forwards listed on the roster. Desjardins said they will make a final decision after their skate on Friday but feels they already have a “pretty good idea who will be going.”
“You can never tell, there’s a few guys bumped up a little bit so we’ll wait until after the skate,” Desjardins said.
As young as the Tigers forwards are, they enter the season with four 20-year-olds in the mix for their three overage slots. Oskari Kuntonen, Lee, Melin and Drover are all competing for the chance to play their final junior hockey season in the orange and black.
The Tigers have until Oct. 10 to make a decision on their overagers, which gives them five regular season games, including the first half of their U.S. road trip, to cycle them through and come to a verdict.
“They’re all great guys, nothing but good things to say about all four of them,” Wiesblatt said about the 20-year-olds.
Kuntonen spent the 2022-23 season with the KooKoo U20 team in the U20 SM-sarja league in Finland. In 24 games the Lahti, Fin. product had six goals and 26 points. Drover joined the Tigers from the QMJHL’s Rimouski Oceanic at the start of training camp. He had 14 goals and 37 points in 44 games last season.
Melin played against the Tigers in 2021-22, as he put up 11 goals and 24 points in 67 games for the Red Deer Rebels. Lee is the only 20-year-old who has donned the Tigers crest before camp. He had five goals and 10 points in 22 games after joining the club via trade on Dec. 28, 2021.
