NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Oasiz Wiesblatt celebrates with the Ed Chynoweth Cup after winning 4-2 Friday at Spokane, beating the Chiefs 4-1 in the WHL Championship series to capture the franchise's sixth title.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
It’s been a long road, with too many ups and downs to keep track of, but Oasiz Wiesblatt finally got the moment he’s been searching five years for.
After a full career in the WHL, through a global pandemic, a CHL-worst season and a pair of first-round exits, the Medicine Hat Tigers’ captain helped bring a championship back to the place he has been happy to call home.
Wiesblatt walked the Ed Chynoweth Cup off the Tigers’ bus Saturday, greeting hundreds of fans in the parking lot of Co-op Place after they beat the Spokane Chiefs 4-2 in Game 5 of the WHL Championship series to capture the franchise’s sixth title.
“They’re so special, for them to be just so passionate through all my years here, and I know how hungry they were to see that cup,” Wiesblatt said. “To hoist it in front of them is something that was really special for me, just show them Ed and show that he’s in Medicine Hat, it’s just an unbelievable feeling.”
The 21-year-old Milwaukee Admirals prospect was a leader on and off the ice for the Tigers in the playoffs, tallying 14 goals and 29 points in 18 playoff games en route to the championship win. His 14 goals are third all-time in single playoff runs by a Tiger.
He did everything he could to get the Tigers the cup they so desired, his only wish – not that he’s complaining at all about winning – would have been for the Medicine Hat fans to see them win on home ice.
“It’s really awesome that we want it and that’s all that matters, but it was a little tough that I didn’t get to win it here in front of our fans,” Wiesblatt said. “I would have loved to do that for Rids (Bob Ridley), and we still did, but just didn’t get to do to it to his face.”
The captain took his own lap with the Cup on Monday ahead of their first practice in preparation for the opening game of the Memorial Cup on Friday against the Rimouski Oceanic. Sporting the remains of his playoff beard that have been shaped into a handlebar moustache, Wiesblatt took the trophy for a trip around the Co-op Place ice, giving Ed a showing of the place he’s called home for the last five years.
“There’s no way I could have skated on this ice one last time without lifting it up there,” Wiesblatt said. “I definitely imagined Rids up there watching, and all the fans, and they’re just so electric so I can’t imagine how loud they would have been.”
There was a time in his 284-game career where Wiesblatt wasn’t sure if he’d ever get close to winning a championship in Medicine Hat. From the 11-win season in 2021-22 to back-to-back first-round exits, he didn’t know if it was possible.
He long talked about it with teammates, pondering with Andrew Basha, Josh Van Mulligen and Hunter St. Martin on if it would be possible. Through the roster changes, trades and drafts, Wiesblatt says it’s a weight off his shoulders realizing he kept the faith just long enough as the last full-time player from that forgettable 11-win season.
“There’s a lot of guys who gave up or wanted out and just gave up on the team and didn’t believe in it,’ Wiesblatt said. “For me to be the only guy to kind of stick with the system and believe in the team, JVM, Basha and Marty have been here for a long time … but they weren’t here for the 11 wins, that was a tough one.”
Wiesblatt deferred the first lifting of the Cup in Spokane to fellow overager Harrison Meneghin in honour of his late father Derek. Meneghin passed it to overager Mat Ward, a longtime friend of his.
And then, in a move that Disney script writers couldn’t have predicted a year ago, the former Swift Current Bronco passed it to Wiesblatt, two former foes forever bonded by a championship season.
“Ward and I go way back from Swift Current, it was just a special moment,” Wiesblatt said. “You hate each other for four years, he gets traded here and he’s a brother, it’s just an unbelievable feeling where you think a lot of guys are bad guys, but when you get to know him, it’s an unbelievable feeling.
“For him to kind of pass it to me, just really special to put it all the way to the bottom, to the top.”
After Wiesblatt got his skate with the Cup, he handed it to his longtime friend Basha, who was happier for his older ‘brother’ than himself.
“When we won 11 games, our first kind of year together, we talked about this,” Basha said. “To have actually done it, it’s unbelievable.”
Wiesblatt won’t get to play another game at Co-op Place, a thought he’s trying to suppress for the time being, knowing he gets to represent Medicine Hat and the Tigers at the Memorial Cup. He’s long wished to do the jersey and his No. 7 justice, something he says he can’t check off until the final buzzer goes on his last game.
“The job’s not done, we can still make a lot more happen and get that Memorial Cup we haven’t won in a long time,” Wiesblatt said. “So that would be really special for me to really leave my mark and leave my jersey in a better place.”
