NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman Veeti Väisänen looks to make a pass as Prince Albert Raiders forward Owen Corkish bears down in the first period of a 7-1 win Dec. 3 at Co-op Place. Väisänen will represent Finland at the 2026 World Junior Championship in Minnesota, his second straight appearance at the U20 tournament.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Veeti Väisänen has been one goal away from World Juniors gold.
Capturing that illustrious medal, that’s his only goal for the next month.
The Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman left Sunday to join team Finland for the U20 tournament in Minnesota, playing in his second straight tournament for the Fins.
“It’s awesome, it’s the best tournament to play in as a junior hockey player,” Väisänen said. “It’s a big tournament and we want to win it.”
Finland collected their 19th medal at last year’s tournament in Ottawa, their seventh silver medal after losing to the United States 4-3 in the final on Jan. 5. Getting a second shot at the tournament and at that World Junior gold was a goal of his to start his second season in the WHL.
He had an assist in seven games last year. Having come short in his first tournament, he feels like he knows what it will take for them to reach the golden mark.
“It takes structure, you have to execute every game, you have to be the best player of yourself every game,” Väisänen said. “It’s like a Game 7 every game, it’s so hard to win. But I think we can get there again.”
Since the last World Juniors, the 19-year-old product of Hamina, Fin. played a key role on the blue line in the Tigers’ championship season and their run to the finals of the Memorial Cup. Coming off his first season in the WHL, where he had four goals and 24 points in 58 games, Väisänen has tallied four goals and 18 points in just 29 games this year.
Tigers’ associate coach Joe Frazer says they’re happy for him to get another invite to the tournament and he’s proud of how much the blue liner has grown in his time in Medicine Hat.
“Last year they had a heck of a tournament, so to see him go back there, they’re going to have a really good team,” Frazer said. “When you watch him from when he first came over last year in September, to where he is now, he’s improved greatly.
“He’s faster, he plays mean, he’s skating with the puck more, creating offence. He’s been a heck of a player for us.”
Väisänen has also liked his game to start this year but the Utah Mammoth prospect sees room to continue grow when he returns from the World Juniors, hopefully with gold in tow.
“I think I’ve been good, of course there’s lots of things to improve every day, but just working hard every day and getting better,” Väisänen said.
“I just have to get better at everything to make it to the next level next year, playing pro in NHL or in Finland.”
Finland opens their tournament on Dec. 26 at 1:30 p.m. MST against Denmark. They’ll face Latvia on Dec. 28 at 2:30 p.m. before taking on Czechia on Dec. 29 at 1:30 p.m. Their final round robin game comes Dec. 31 when Väisänen and Finland will face former Tigers’ teammate Gavin McKenna and Canada in a 6:30 p.m. contest.
