PHOTO COURTESY Nathan Reiter Prince Albert Daily Herald
Prince Albert Raiders forward Tomas Mrsic adjusts his visor in the second period of a 5-3 Raiders' win over the Tri-City Americans on Nov. 15.
For the first time in his WHL career, Tomas Mrsic will be on the other side from the orange and black.
Mrsic spent parts of three seasons with the Medicine Hat Tigers after being selected by the team eighth overall in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft.
Mrsic was acquired by the Prince Albert Raiders in a blockbuster trade at the end of August that sent Minnesota Wild prospect Ryder Ritchie back to The Gas City.
Mrsic is coming off a weekend where he earned WHL Player of the Week honours potting seven points (5G, 2A) in two games including his first career hat trick against the Tri-City Americans.
Mrsic says he is looking forward to facing his former team for the first time.
“It’ll be a pretty special game,” Mrsic said. Obviously a team I haven’t played in my career yet, so it’ll be fun to go against them. Just for myself, just work as hard as I can, just use my speed and all the stuff I’ve been doing recently should go pretty well.”
Mrsic appeared in 10 games for the Tigers as a 15-year-old in 2021-22, a season in which Medicine Hat won only 11 games. In 2022-23, the Tigers nearly tripled their win total, winning 30 games, making the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Mrsic says that season was his most memorable time in Medicine Hat.
“We made a good push for the playoffs there and all the 20 year olds when I was 16 really helped me out to get where I am today, so just a thanks to them,” Mrsic said.
Since arriving in Hockeytown North, the 18-year-old has become a fixture in the Raider lineup, playing in the top-six and becoming a key weapon on the Prince Albert power play which ranks first in the WHL converting at a 29.6 per cent clip entering play Tuesday.
In 16 games as a Raider, Mrsic has recorded 13 goals and 12 assists and leads the WHL in power play goals with nine.
Raiders’ head coach Jeff Truitt says Mrsic has come as advertised, but he believes there is still room for him to improve.
“We knew he was a great player when we acquired him. The nice part about his game right now is that it’s gotten better,” Truitt said. “It’s reached another level and we know there’s another level to get to. There’s still lots of work to be done, but he is certainly one of those players that you’ve got to be aware of. His stats speak for itself, but it’s the body of work that he does as well. He’s got a pro mentality and is easy to coach that way. It’s been terrific with Tomas.”
Both Prince Albert and Medicine Hat enter Wednesday night’s matchup with momentum. The Raiders have won four games in a row, while the Tigers are winners of three straight entering Tuesday night’s contest in Saskatoon.
Truitt says the Tigers will provide a tough test for the Raiders.
“Medicine Hat is obviously a highly skilled, big speed type of team. They’ve been like that for a while and it poses challenges,” Truitt said. “There’s no doubt you’ve got to be close to your checks. You’ve got to be able to work through the motion they’ve got as well. You’ve got to be disciplined, their power play is really good. It’s always a bit of a challenge for sure. They’re one of the elite teams that way.”
Mrsic has formed nearly instant chemistry with 19-year-old centreman Aiden Oiring. Oiring played one season of CSSHL U18 with the Southern Albert Hockey Academy in Medicine Hat prior to making the jump into the WHL.
Oiring also played regularly with Ryder Ritchie for the season and a half that the pair were together with the Raiders.
“I think we both complement each other’s games,” Oiring said.
“I think we’re both playmakers,” Mrsic explained. “We can both score as well as we showed this weekend. I think every practice, we’re just getting better. We want to be the best we can be. I think that’s going to contribute to our success.”
