PHOTO COURTESY JENN PIERCE CALGARY HITMEN
Medicine Hat Tigers prospect Hayden Harsanyi skates around in warmup ahead of his WHL debut on Dec. 2 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in his hometown of Calgary during the Tigers 4-3 win over the Hitmen.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
While on the team bus from Medicine Hat to Calgary, Hayden Harsanyi’s mind was on one thing: don’t fall in warmup.
The 15-year-old made his Western Hockey League debut a week ago in the Tigers’ 4-3 win over the Hitmen in his hometown of Calgary on Dec. 2. When Harsanyi took the ice for warmup at the Scotiabank Saddledome, he had a plan to not embarrass himself during his solo rookie skate.
“I was looking at the pucks as I skated around making sure I didn’t step on one,” Harsanyi joked.
He says it wasn’t hard finding his family sitting behind the Tigers’ net during warmups. Harsanyi says it was a special night not only getting to make his debut but having the chance for it to be at the NHL rink he grew up watching hockey in, and in front of family and friends.
“Pretty much my whole friend group came and watched, and my entire family of my mom and dad, my grandparents, my cousins. I had a lot of people come out which was good,” Harsnayi said. “(The Saddledome) was super cool. It feels a lot smaller though from the bench then when you’re in the stands. But it was really cool to play there after watching so many games there.”
He says he couldn’t hear them yelling in the crowd but was sure his mom was cheering her heart out. Harsanyi was part of the starting lineup, which gave him the opportunity to stand on the blue line without a helmet during singing of the national anthem. He says he was not expecting it and didn’t find out until just before the game.
“I had no clue, I was just fully dressed and ready to go and they announced the starting lineup in the room and I heard my name,” Harsanyi said. “It was pretty cool to be there for the anthem and in front of the crowd and my family and friends, but I was pretty nervous standing there.”
Harsanyi says the nerves stuck around through his first shift but eventually subsided as he got into the game. The biggest difference he noticed in play from the Edge Hockey School of the CSSHL to the WHL is the quicker transitions.
“Going from defence to offence, that’s something I’ll take away from that game for sure,” Harsanyi said. “The most noticeable difference was just the transition and how fast the breakouts are.”
Tigers associate coach Joe Frazer and head coach Willie Desjardins were impressed with Harsanyi and were happy to see him get the experience.
“He’s going to be a great Tiger for us and it was a special experience for him to get to play his first one in the ‘dome in front of all his friends and family,” Frazer said. “He’s quick, he’s really smart and you could just see his confidence grow with each shift.”
“He’s going to be a great player for us and it’s exciting when you look where our young guys are at, there’s some excitement there,” Desjardins said. “They have to know what they need (to work on) because we expect them to be part of our team next year so they have to know what they have to do.”
Harsanyi has eight goals and 17 points in 18 games with Edge at the U18 level this year.
He was selected 16th overall in the 2022 WHL Draft, and is the second Tigers’ prospect to make his debut following first overall pick Gavin McKenna, who debuted in the season opener. He says getting that first game played in the WHL gives him an idea of where he needs to be and what he needs to do to become a full-time Tiger next season.
“The main thing is to play with confidence, and playing games now really builds my confidence up going into training camp and preseason next year,” Harsanyi said. “It comes from thinking quicker and comes with a bit more confidence, too. I start to play more and feel the game a little more, you start to feel more confident making plays and I’m not second guessing myself.”
