PHOTO COURTESY MARK PETERSON/PRINCE ALBERT RAIDERS
A group of Prince Albert Raiders celebrate Aiden Oiring’s opening goal in the first period of Game 7 Tuesday night at Prince Albert. The Raiders beat the Edmonton Oil Kings 5-0, taking the first-round series, setting up a second-round matchup with the Tigers.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Medicine Hat Tigers captain Oasiz Wiesblatt was able to celebrate his birthday in a unique fashion Tuesday.
The now 21-year-old has usually spent his birthday back home in Calgary, with his season complete and the outlook already on next year. This year, the grizzled veteran spent the day with three-on-three play during practice and looking forward to the second round of the WHL Playoffs.
“Guys are going home and packing up and maybe are already home and we’re still here and we have a job to do,” Wiesblatt said.
“I don’t really have a birthday during the year, a few times I’ve been back home for my birthday, so I’m really happy to kind of spend it with the boys and be here with them. Everyone’s happy to be here and we want to keep moving forward. It’s the best time of the year, some guys are going home and we’re still playing and in the grind.”
Wiesblatt and the Tigers await the results of the Game 7 Tuesday in Prince Albert as they’ll face the winner between the Raiders and the Edmonton Oil Kings in the second round.
He says with the ups and downs they’ve endured as a team over the last two weeks, through their 4-1 first-round win over the Swift Current Broncos, there’s a lot to be proud of but also build off.
“Our group stayed pretty resilient through these last two weeks and we’re really proud of the group coming out of round one, but we’re not done,” Wiesblatt said. “We still have our mission and we’re looking forward to this week. We are really proud of the group and now, during this week, it’s just rest and recovery and making sure we’re still jumping.”
He wasn’t planning to watch the Game 7 Tuesday, but associate coach Joe Frazer planned on being tuned in.
He spent the Tigers’ open weekend watching all available games as both a hockey fan and a coach looking to gameplan.
“Just seeing how teams play different styles and how they attack different scenarios with their structure,” Frazer said. “You’re always trying to learn something, and then seeing which players step up come playoff time on other teams.”
Desjardins up for exec, coach of the year
The Tigers’ winningest coach is up for two league awards.
Head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins is one of six finalists for the WHL’s executive of the year award and one of six nominees for the WHL’s coach of the year award.
It’s the second time in three years Desjardins has been nominated for the GM award. It is the third-straight year he’s been a finalist for coach of the year.
He was named the WHL and CHL coach of the year in 2005-06.
Prince Albert blanks Edmonton for comeback series win
The Prince Albert Raiders are off to the second round of the WHL playoffs for a meeting with the Tigers.
The Raiders blanked the Edmonton Oil Kings 5-0 Tuesday night at the Art Hauser Centre, overcoming a 3-1 series deficit to win the best-of-seven first-round series 4-3.
Raiders’ overage net minder Max Hildebrand made 30 saves for the shutout win, his first career playoff shutout win.
Aiden Oiring, Ty Meunier, Lukas Dragicevic, Niall Crocker and Rilen Kovacevic all scored in the win for Prince Albert.
The Raiders scored on two of their five power plays, holding Edmonton scoreless on two power plays.
Edmonton net minder Ethan Simcoe made 18 stops.
Prince Albert will have two days rest before they head to Medicine Hat for Game 1 on Saturday.
The Tigers won the season series 3-0-1.
The last time the Tigers and Raiders met in the playoffs was in the 2005 quarterfinals.
