NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman Tanner Molendyk and goaltender Harrison Meneghin embrace following the final buzzer of a 3-2 Game 5 win Friday at Co-op Place over the Swift Current Broncos as the Tigers won the first-round series 4-1.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
A quick sigh of a relief and onto the next series is the motto for the Medicine Hat Tigers right now.
The Tigers are off to the second round of the WHL Playoffs after a 3-2, Game 5 win Friday at Co-op Place over the Swift Current Broncos, winning the series 4-1. It’s the first second-round appearance for the Tigers since the 2017 playoffs.
“This is pretty unbelievable,” captain Oasiz Wiesblatt said reflecting on his first career WHL playoff series win. “I’m really proud of the group and how resilient we stayed and how we stayed hungry. But a lot of credit to Swift Current, they played a heck of five games and they did a great job. They were a hard team to play and they did a good job this series. I’m really proud of the group.”
Wiesblatt sits tied for fourth in league scoring through the first round of the WHL Playoffs with seven goals and 12 points, four points behind league leader and line mate Gavin McKenna (two goals, 16 points).
The 20-year-old Tiger had only known heartbreak in the playoffs, bowing out in the first round to the Red Deer Rebels in 2024 and the Winnipeg Ice the year prior. Getting through a playoff round and doing so against a formidable rival in the Broncos made for quite the experience, the Wiesblatt says. There were also lots of lessons throughout the series he hopes they apply as their postseason run continues.
“You learn how important each shift is and you can’t take shifts off, there’s timely plays where you can’t make stuff,” the Calgary product said. “For our group, it’s just learning how we can’t really make turnovers in the neutral zone. We have to make sure we get the puck in deep, and special teams is a big key. There’s a lot of things you can kind of learn off the win.”
The Tigers’ power play finished at 25 per cent in the series, ninth among the 16 teams in the playoffs. The penalty kill was in the top-five at 81.2 per cent. Unlike the regular season, the Tigers didn’t lead the WHL in scoring through the five games, scoring the sixth-most goals 21. They did surrender just 13, the third-fewest.
Harrison Meneghin started all five games for the Tigers, rebounding from getting pulled in the second period of the 5-4 Game 3 loss in Swift Current. In the last two wins of the series following that game, he made 25 saves to propel Medicine Hat past the Broncos.
“He’s the most important guy to our team,” forward Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll said about Meneghin. “All the younger guys, we look up to him and he deserves the world.”
From behind the bench, head coach Willie Desjardins says they knew it would be a close series and was happy to see how his team battled through that and any adversity that came up through the five games. Their first look at closing out an elimination game was a success, something he hopes they can build off.
“You learn how to play a tight game, and it is tight, with lots on the line,” Desjardins said. “You learn how important the lines are, getting pucks deep. There’s lots of things to learn in there, but when we talked going into the third period (Friday), we’ve been playing this way since the trade deadline. We know what we have to do to be successful, and we just had to play it again in the third. We did it. We went out and did played a pretty good game in the third period.”
Since the WHL trade deadline on Jan. 9, the Tigers run a record of 29-2-1-1. As much as Desjardins tries to downplay emotions, the franchise’s winningest coach says he’s excited for the second round and wants to continue giving back to city.
“I don’t know where everybody else is, but I know I’m really excited about it,” Desjardins said. “Our fans are so great, like unbelievable.
“They were coming out like they did and supporting us like that was, that was so good. So for them, it was great for us to get a round. For me, I really appreciate the organization, I appreciate the Masers, there’s lots of good things that I appreciate and I wanted to get a win for these people, they’ve been there with us. So we have a lot of work to do for the next series.”
The Tigers’ second-round opponent is still to be determined as they await the results of the Prince Albert Raiders and Edmonton Oil Kings series. Edmonton held a 3-2 series lead entering play Sunday before Prince Albert took Game 6 4-3 to force a decisive Game 7 back in Saskatchewan tonight.
Former Tiger Tomas Mrsic did not play for Prince Albert on Sunday after taking a skate to the face in Game 5 on Friday.
Regardless of opponent, the Tigers will host Games 1 and 2 of the second-round series, with those contest taking place this Saturday and Sunday at Co-op Place. Tickets open up to the public today at noon.
Wiesblatt says they have to stay hot and be ready for the next series.
“Keep the water hot and make sure practices are crisp and the details are right,” Wiesblatt said. “It’s not looking too far ahead, you have to stay one day at a time, the next series isn’t going to be easier, it’s going to be harder. It’s important that we recover, get rest and be ready to go.”
