Tigers look for bounce back in Teddy Bear Toss weekend

By JAMES TUBB on December 1, 2023.

The Medicine Hat Tigers look to get back in the win column during one of their top weekends of the season.

The Tigers are coming off a 5-3 loss at Swift Current against the Broncos on Wednesday as they host the Calgary Hitmen tonight. The next night, the Prince Albert Raiders are at Co-op Place for the annual Medicine Hat News Teddy Bear Toss game.

Medicine Hat allowed three unanswered goals in the first period and could not complete the comeback for their seventh loss of the season, second against their Central division rivals.

Associate coach Joe Frazer says the slow start held them back and he says the Broncos were just more ready for puck drop.

“It’s a combination of they’re ready to go quick and hard on the forecheck, they have a great transition game,” Frazer said. “Then on the other side of it, we just weren’t moving our legs right away, it took us a little while to get into the game. Tomorrow night we have to make sure we start on time.”

The Tigers took a too many men penalty late in the second period, something they’ve done in some of their wins but also in half of their losses. Those type of penalties stem from their start Frazer says.

“It was just kind of a lack of focus, lack of preparation and it just snowballs,” Frazer said. “You’re going to be off and you start pressing, start forcing things. The shifts get long, the structure goes out the window because you’re trying to do too much. That just all stems from just not being quite ready.”

Cayden Lindstrom scored twice against Swift Current and Rhett Parsons found the back of the net late in the third period. Ethan McCallum made 23 saves in his fourth start of the season and his young WHL career.

As they head into the weekend, facing the Hitmen who have lost back-to-back games and the Raiders who have dropped three straight as of Friday, Frazer says the Tigers have to revert to playing their game.

“We have to get back to playing Tigers hockey, it’s a group of five but we’re relentless,” Frazer said. “That’s five up, five back, short shifts, rolling the lines. Getting back to those details we have been really good at. The guys know that, so it’s just making sure we get back to it.”

Wednesday marked the third time the Tigers have been ranked by the CHL and immediately lost their next game. They came into the game ranked seventh in the country. It’s a trend they wanted to shake against Swift Current but ultimately, it serves as another lesson of how difficult it is to win and how much teams want to beat teams higher than them.

“When you get ranked you’re going to get everybody’s best games and we have to realize that,” Frazer said. “Once you get ranked, it’s not that it gets easier, it gets harder, because you’re going to get everyone’s best game, everyone’s ready for you. We have to expect that and that’s just maturing as individuals and as a team.

“We’ve talked about being young and having learning experiences and that’s been one we have to learn from because that’s the third time now.”

Saturday’s Teddy Bear Toss game will be the first for seven Tigers to experience. For 19-year-old forward Oasiz Wiebslatt, who scored in the last five minutes of last year’s game to release the bears from their hibernation in the stands. He says it’s an easy game to get excited for.

“It’s a cool moment to give back to the community and to the kids and we’ve had a lot of fans lately so it’ll be good to see them come and support us and the throw the teddy bears,” Wiesblatt said.

All stuffed animals or winter-gear donations thrown onto the ice after the Tigers’ first goal of the game will be split between the Medicine Hat & District Health Foundation, the Salvation Army, the Medicine Hat Women’s Shelter and the Medicine Hat News Santa Claus Fund.

Wiesblatt, named an assistant captain before the season, will get to experience the hospital drop off for the first time in his career. It’s an opportunity he’s looking forward to a little bit more than the idea of scoring the Teddy Bear goal for a second year.

“My favourite thing to do really is help other people,” Wiesblatt said. “People have always helped out my family and me, so I love to give back. It’s exciting to go to the hospital, see the kids and put some light in their days.”

There are a lot of options for fans to guess who will scored the big goal. Lindstrom leads Medicine Hat with 20 goals on the season and has been a favourite suggestion from his teammates. Wiesblatt has been tabbed to go back to back, Shane Smith and Tyler Mackenzie each have 12 goals and there’s always Gavin McKenna drawing some attention.

“There’s quite a few guys who can score it,” Wiesblatt said.

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