NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers captain Oasiz Wiesblatt shields the puck near the blue line in the Lethbridge Hurricanes' end in the first period of a 5-2, Game 1 win Friday at Co-op Place in the Eastern Conference Championship series.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Oasiz Wiesblatt is going to play professional hockey next season.
For those around him it’s not a surprise with the work put in by the Medicine Hat Tigers captain. The 21-year-old Tiger signed a three-year AHL deal with the Milwaukee Admirals, who are the minor league affiliate of the Nashville Predators.
Days removed from signing and roughly an hour after the announcement was made, he was still trying to soak it in.
“I’m really excited to kind of pursue my pro dreams,” Wiesblatt said Monday before heading on the road to Lethbridge. “Obviously one of the things I wanted to do here was to get a pro contract, and we’re still working to win a championship, keep my focus on that, but I’m really excited to get started with Milwaukee, sign that contract, maybe possibly play with my brother and make my mom pretty proud.”
It’s an AHL team Wiesblatt knows well as one of his three older brothers, Ozzy, plays for the Admirals. He called his brother a few weeks ago, asking if he would be OK if they were teammates. He received a quick and easy answer.
“He’s like, ‘Are you kidding me man? Get over here,'” Wiesblatt said. “But he kind of left me alone after that, he told me it’s my choice and it’s my career. I just felt like it was a really special moment to do it.”
He’s never shared a team with any of his bothers but all three of Ocean, Orca and Ozzy have at some point played on a team with one another. To get that chance was something he couldn’t personally pass up, but also an opportunity he couldn’t deny his mom Kim – two of her boys on one team.
Wiesblatt says he kept things quiet until the deal was complete before sharing the news with her.
“I told her, ‘You don’t have to travel too far to see the boys, and there’s a place for her to stay in Milwaukee,” Wiesblatt said.
Monday’s signing comes in the middle of the Tigers’ playoff run where Wiesblatt sits second in WHL goalscoring with 13 goals, adding 24 points in 11 games. He’s riding a 23-game point streak as well.
The Calgary product has come a long way in his WHL career. From a 12th overall pick in the 2019 WHL draft to a 100-point season in his final year, there have been a lot of ups and downs he’s had to navigate. From 11-win seasons to injuries and early playoff exits, he says there’s some weight off his shoulders with a realization, his dream is possible.
“Those tough years where you’re kind of doubting yourself and you get passed up in the draft three times in a row and see all your buddies go and think, ‘Maybe you’re not good enough,'” Wiesblatt said. “So just staying to the mission, staying focused, following my dreams and doing it for my mom.”
He had attended development and training camps with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals in the summers of 2023 and 2024, respectively.
Willie Desjardins says Wiesblatt has left his mark on the organization and, more so, the City of Medicine Hat.
“He’s a little bit of a Medicine Hat story, because Oasiz, he touches so many people,” Desjardins said. “He got his growth out of school, he worked hard in his school, lots of people in his corner, battling. He goes on the ice for lots of hockey events with kids and practices and everybody loves him.
“It’s a story of him and Medicine Hat a little bit, because he gives everything he can to Medicine Hat. And I know the people of Medicine Hat appreciate him.”
As the WHL Playoffs have continued and the end of his junior career looms in what he hopes is a long future, Wiesblatt has started thinking about what Medicine Hat means to him and his five years donning the orange and black in the city.
“This city means a lot to me and sent a lot for me and there’s so many great people and so many people that care, it’s just a home for me,” Wiesblatt said slowly, battling emotions. “I was born and raised here, everyone knows me and just knows my story and everyone cares.”
He made good on his own promise of signing a pro contract; the next step that stands just as tall, a championship.
