NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
The Calgary Flames organization has reassigned 2005-born Andrew Basha from the AHL's Wranglers to the WHL and the Medicine Hat Tigers announced Friday.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com
The Medicine Hat Tigers got a familiar face back in the lineup Friday.
The Calgary Flames announced they have reassigned 2005-born forward from the AHL’s Wranglers to the WHL and the Medicine Hat Tigers for the rest of the 2025-26 WHL season.
The Calgary product appeared in 27 AHL games with Calgary this season recording a goal and five points. He was selected 41st overall by the Flames in the second round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, signing with the club on Sept. 29, 2024.
Basha, who took morning skate with the Tigers this morning, is expected to be in the lineup tonight when they host the Moose Jaw Warriors at Co-op Place.
“It’s huge, Basha has been a big part of our program for a long time,” head coach Willie Desjardins said. “It’s not like we’re bringing in a new guy, he’s had a tough couple years here, he got injured and he never got to give us what he could last year. He worked really hard to get ready for the run but just didn’t get healthy. So it’s going to be exciting for us to get him healthy.”
Basha played in 23 regular season games with the Tigers last season with nine goals and 29 points before an injury sidelined him through the second half of the year and three rounds of the playoffs. He returned for the WHL Finals, scoring in Game 1 against the Spokane Chiefs. He finished with two goals and five points across five games in the finals, helping the Tigers capture a sixth Ed Chynoweth Cup. He had an assist in four games at the Memorial Cup in Rimouski, Que.
The 20-year-old is looking froward to getting more ice time with the Tigers and looking to do damage in the WHL.
“More than anything I’m just excited to play, I’m really excited to just get back out there,” Basha said. “Just get normal touches back, feel the power play and probably the penalty kill. We’ve got a great team here again. So it’s always nice in this situation and you come back to a good group.”
In 201 career WHL games, all with the Tigers, he had 64 goals and 184 points.
The reassignment gives the Tigers four overage players, joining forwards Ethan Neutens, Misha Volotovskii and defenceman Josh Van Mulligen. The Tigers have until the Jan. 8 trade deadline to get back under the WHL cap of three overagers.
Puck drop tonight is slated for 7 p.m. at Co-op Place.
See more in Saturday’s News on the reassignment.
