Wiesblatt getting extended look with Blue Jackets

By JAMES TUBB on September 20, 2023.

Oasiz Wiesblatt left the Medicine Hat Tigers last week for a weekend prospects tournament and is now gearing up for his first National Hockey League training camp.

The 19-year-old forward received an amateur tryout contract to be one of the 73 players taking part in the Columbus Blue Jackets’ training camp that gets underway today. It’s an experience he’s always wanted to have and is looking to make the most of.

“At the start of the year I never really expected to go to camp and then I ended up going in the summer. Since I wasn’t drafted, I’ve had to turn some heads and now coming back, I’m super pumped they wanted me back,” Wiesblatt said. “That was a huge thing and now going to this main camp really means something, they really want me and I’m doing something right, so I’m excited.”

The invite comes after Wiesblatt joined the Blue Jackets’ prospects at Traverse City, Mich. for two prospect games, scoring two assists in the first contest he appeared in. He skated in the Blue Jackets’ summer development camp, making this training camp his third opportunity to showcase his talent against NHL level players and the coaching staff.

He says there were some nerves ahead of his first prospect game, with sleep hard to come by the night before. But once he got on the ice it slowly felt more comfortable, the two assists helped and by the second game, he says it was just about playing hockey.

There’s still a lot of work ahead, Wiesblatt says, as he works toward his goal of playing professional hockey and playing in the NHL. While he does get to don a jersey with the NHL crest and Columbus’ logo, he’s grounded enough to know that dream is still a lot of work away.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and with my brothers, it’s always been our goal to put on an NHL jersey and play in the National Hockey League,” Wiesblatt said. “It’s getting closer and closer but I’m not there yet, I still need to sign a pro contract first. So, I just have to turn more heads, keep grinding, competing against anyone and just have to work hard to get that pro contract, then the dream will be one step closer.”

Wiesblatt getting the invite to the NHL camp was not a surprise for Tigers associate coach Joe Frazer, who was excited when he learned the news.

“He’s worked so hard his whole career here and he’s just a warrior,” Frazer said. “Everyday he comes to the rink looking to get better, he sets the pace at practice, the tone and intensity and to see him get a shot at main camp, it’s exciting – all the guys are thrilled. He’s just one of those guys who makes coming to the rink fun. He’s always energetic, with a smile on his face, he loves the rink.”

Head coach Willie Desjardins says Wiesblatt has done well in the Tigers’ organization and has grown on the ice and off the ice with his schooling from the Prairie Rose Public Schools division. He says it’s a well deserved invite for Wiesblatt and remarked on a story ahead of his first WHL camp after being drafted.

“The very first fitness test he turned in to me as a 15-year-old, they weren’t very good,” Desjardins said. “So I phoned him and asked about it and he said, ‘Coach, I don’t know if you know, but I don’t like working out,’ and I started to laugh. But he’s evolved and that’s what our program is about, is evolving and growing.”

The Calgary product will miss the Tigers’ opening weekend home-and-home series against the Hitmen but says he will be watching if he’s not playing.

Wiesblatt has some familiar faces in Ohio, with Tigers’ alumni forward Cole Sillinger and defenceman Cole Clayton both attending the Blue Jackets’ camp. He’s spoken with Clayton every day and says ‘Cowboy’ put him under his wing at age 16 and has continued that ahead of camp, taking him for an Italian dinner.

“It’s the Med Hat Tigers family, we all take care of each other,” Wiesblatt said.

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