NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers captain Oasiz Wiesblatt speaks with WHL commissioner Dan Near following the Tigers' 5-3 Game 4 win Wednesday at Lethbridge, sweeping the Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Championship series.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers’ elder statesmen led the way against the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
The overage duo of captain Oasiz Wiesblatt and Mat Ward turned their play up a notch as Medicine Hat pushed Lethbridge to the brink and eventually swept their Highway 3 rivals.
Wiesblatt, continuing his 25-game point streak, scored the overtime game winner in a 7-6, comeback win in Game 3 on Tuesday. He tallied an assist on the empty net goal in the 5-3 Game 4 win Wednesday, both efforts coming after scoring twice in Game 2 and a one-goal, three-point effort in Game 1.
Ward had a pair of goals in Game 4 and a shorthanded breakaway goal in Game 3. Both his goals in Game 4 came on special teams, one while shorthanded and the second, the eventual game winner, on a power play.
“It’s really important, these are the games I want to be a player in and I’ve been doing a better job with them,” Ward said.
Beyond getting on the scoresheet, the pair led the way in what the Tigers needed most in those series-clinching games – composure. Both known for being pests and getting under the skin of opposition, they achieved that goal while also remaining disciplined.
In Games 3 and 4, Wiesblatt and Ward combined for just four total penalty minutes. Ward took a coincidental roughing penalty in Game 3 alongside Hurricanes’ forward Brayden Edwards. Wiesblatt was called for cross checking off a face-off in Game 4.
Beyond that, they didn’t get into the post-whistle scrums and antics that cost the Tigers throughout the regular season. Those conscious efforts, to remain in the game and keep composure for the team, stood out to head coach Willie Desjardins.
“We got behind early here both games, in Game 3 we did a better job, even when they scored early in the third, Wiesblatt and Ward don’t take any penalties,” Desjardins said. “Two years ago, they each would have had five or six. So both guys really committed to the team. It was good when you get that where guys just want to win, that’s huge.”
The topic of discipline has something that has followed the pair all year, fairly or unfairly, being the two most penalized Tigers through the regular season. Being able to stay in the game also allowed for regularity in the Tigers’ lineup; fewer penalty kills allowed for the rolling of four lines that Wiesblatt says was the difference in the series.
“We have all our players going, some teams rely on their top players a lot and rolling them all the time,” Wiesblatt said. “They had four defenceman playing all four games and one thing for us is, we need everyone in the locker room. Everyone’s a huge, valuable piece to this team.”
Tickets for Games 1 and 2 of the WHL finals between the Tigers and Spokane Chiefs, hosted at Co-op Place, go on sale Monday at noon. Season ticket holders can begin picking their tickets up at 9 a.m. the same day.
