NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers captain Oasiz Wiesblatt celebrates after the first of three, third period power play goals in Saturday's 5-2 win over the Vancouver Giants at Co-op Place.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
What a difference a week made for the Medicine Hat Tigers.
The Tigers were 1-4 on Oct. 5 after a 6-3 loss to the Moose Jaw Warriors at Co-op Place. It was the first appearance of Harrison Meneghin in net after being acquired earlier in the day and was the fourth straight loss for the club looking for solutions to a slow start.
Three games later, the Tigers are at .500 and resemble the team that came into the season as the top-ranked squad by the CHL. Medicine Hat shutout the Red Deer Rebels 3-0 on Wednesday, topped the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-1 on Friday and scored a trio of third-period power play goals in a stretch of 1:31 for a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Giants.
From a four-game slide and a spot at the bottom of the Eastern conference, to three straight wins for fifth in the East, the Tigers displayed a new-found comfort as a team.
“We’re always building in here, we’re never at our peak until we get that championship,” forward Hunter St. Martin said. “Obviously it was good that we faced some adversity, and we’re going to face adversity again, it’s not going to be just up from here.
“So it’s about sticking together, playing as a group, not selfish hockey, because that’s the only way you’re going to win games as a full team, and that’s what we’ve done. We just need to keep building on that and staying consistent.”
St. Martin scored twice in Saturday’s win, one of many standouts in the comeback win. Captain Oasiz Wiesblatt and Mat Ward each had a goal and an assist, Ward’s first points as a Tiger. Andrew Basha had four assists and Gavin McKenna had a goal with two assists.
They entered the third trailing 3-2 before they capitalized on a double minor penalty and a roughing call that gave them a five-on-three opportunity.
Medicine Hat exploded with the power play opportunities, scoring a trio of goals in 1:31 for a 4-2 advantage. Looking back on the week and the success they had, St. Martin says it came down to confidence and trust.
“We have a lot of new guys, we’ve had some injuries, so it’s just trusting each other and building that in practice, learning that we can’t do it alone,” St. Martin said. “No matter how much talent you have, you can’t do it alone in this league, it’s too hard. You need to come together and play as a group, and that’s what we’ve learned.”
The Tigers were short-handed throughout the weekend with forward Ryder Ritchie out day to day after taking a skate to the face in Wednesday’s win, and defenceman Bryce Pickford out due to a suspension with no determined timeline from the same game. They were without forward Hayden Harsanyi on Saturday after the 17-year-old had to be helped off the ice in Friday’s win.
Brandon defenceman Luke Shipley wrestled Harsanyi to the ground, a non-hockey play that resulted in the Calgary product’s leg bending beneath the weight of both bodies.
Head coach Willie Desjardins says they expect Harsanyi to miss a couple of months due to the lower body injury. He hopes Ritchie could be back for Wednesday’s contest at Co-op Place against the Prince George Cougars.
With the injuries, Desjardins has liked how rookies Markus and Liam Ruck and Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll have rose to the new responsibilities.
“We’re going to need some guys back and healthy with two really hard games coming up,” Desjardins said. “But for us, it’s about us building, it’s about the process itself and us getting better. These games are the games that help you after Christmas, they help you. The Rucks are going to have to play games like this, where they have to play big minutes, but it’s really good for us.”
The Tigers also come out of the weekend with some answers in net. After dropping his first game, Meneghin bounced back with a 24-save shutout Wednesday and had 21 stops in the win Friday. Jordan Switzer made his third career start, making 23 saves in Saturday’s win.
“You never win without goaltending, you never do, so it was great to see that,” Desjardins aid. “We need that if we’re going to do anything. But saying all this stuff, we have lots to do, we’re still not where we need to be as a team.
“I thought the game Friday was a really good game, we played good. (Saturday) wasn’t quite as good, but we have to get back on track, we got to get healthy and then we can start building.”
The Tigers host the B.C. division-leading Cougars on Wednesday before heading to Moose Jaw on Friday to face the Warriors.
Tigers announce leadership group
Medicine Hat have unveiled their 2024-25 leadership group.
The Tigers announced 20-year-old forward Oasiz Wiesblatt as the 41st captain in franchise history ahead of the 3-0 win over Red Deer on Oct. 9. Forward Andrew Basha will serve as an assistant captain for both home and away games, while Medicine Hat will have two alternates for home and away.
Forward Gavin McKenna and defenceman Josh Van Mulligen will serve as alternates during home games, and forward Hunter St. Martin and defenceman Bryce Pickford will wear an ‘A’ on the road.
