NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Oasiz Wiesblatt skates towards a loose puck in the first period of a 5-0 win Feb. 22 at Co-op Place over the Kamloops Blazers.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers wrap up their East division slate on the road this weekend.
The Tigers are at Regina tonight taking on the Pats before facing the Brandon Wheat Kings on Saturday, their last two East division games of the season.
They’ve won all four previous matchups with Regina this season, the last being a 1-0 win at Co-op Place on Feb. 15. Tigers have won two of the three matchups against Brandon, the lone loss a 3-0 shutout defeat at Brandon on Nov. 2.
“This is a stepping stone towards the postseason,” forward Ethan Neutens said. “You always want to get going towards the end of the season. So they’re just games to get under our belt and win, obviously, and then move on.”
Brandon sits fifth in the Eastern conference with a 31-18-4-3 record, one point up on the Edmonton Oil Kings (32-22-2-2) with two fewer games played.
The Tigers will hit the road without leading scorer Gavin McKenna who was handed a three-game suspension Wednesday for a slashing major and game misconduct in Sunday’s 5-2 road win over the Oil Kings. Captain Oasiz Wiesblatt says they all support McKenna and they are ready to step up to show it.
“All the guys in the room have his back and we aren’t mad at him with anything on the lines with slashing, we understand why he did it, we respect him and we’re going to be ready,” Wiesblatt said. “We’ve played without him before and it doesn’t matter who’s out of the lineup, it matters who’s in, and it’s a really exciting time for guys to show up.”
Neutens skated in McKenna’s place during practice Thursday, on the wing of Wiesblatt and Hunter St. Martin.
“I’m going to play the same way as I play on any other line, so Willie has trusted me obviously to either put me up for the practice with them, or if it’s for the game, so be it,” Neutens said. “But I’m not going to change how I play.”
It’s the same approach assistant coach Josh Maser looks for from the team, don’t change anything with their game and stick to the structure.
“It’s going to be a real team effort, everybody’s going to have to contribute,” Maser said. “We’ve got some guys I think who can step up in the spots and we’re short on the back end too. But it seems when we’re faced with the challenge, we’ve risen to the occasion before.
“That doesn’t mean you always will, but that means you’ve got the experience of how to do that and you’ve got that knowledge of how to do that when the occasion rises. So it’ll be a challenge, but I think the guys are looking forward to the challenge as well.”
With forward Marcus Pacheco slotted to play his third game in a row on defence, the Tigers had 16-year-old Luke Ruptash practising with the club on Thursday. He’s expected to play over the weekend, his first WHL game since Jan. 4, and looks forward to the pace at the higher level.
“It’s faster here, I have to play fast, and I consider myself a fast guy,” Ruptash said. “It’s just about using my speed to my advantage.”
Ruptash played the season opener for the Tigers before suffering an upper-body injury that kept him out of a game until Nov. 8. Since then, he’s played in 22 games for the South Alberta Hockey Academy with 10 goals and 18 points.
Maser has noticed more speed from Ruptash from the start of the year until now. He’s looking forward to the impact the prospect can have.
“He’s gotten a bit bigger and stronger, which will help him, but he’s a real competitor, and he likes to get under guys’ skin,” Maser said. “He’s got to be disciplined, not take penalties, to be someone we can count on.”
