NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Andrew Basha circles back into the neutral zone during overtime in a 4-3 win Feb. 21 at Co-op Place over the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Living up to his NHL club’s name, Andrew Basha has been red hot since returning to the WHL.
The Calgary Flames prospect has recorded points in all but two of his 25 games with the Medicine Hat Tigers since returning in January. He enters play tonight, as the Tigers host the Red Deer Rebels, with a 12-game point streak.
Head coach Willie Desjardins has liked what he’s seen from Basha, starting with his motor away from the puck.
“He’s just better, when he came in, maybe his condition wasn’t quite as good and the league was a little different, but he’s back to where he used to be,” Desjardins said. “How hard he plays, that’s going to help him at the next level.”
Basha has tallied 10 multi-point efforts, a trio of those being three-point games, capped off by a four-point night in an 8-3 win at Co-op Place over the Calgary Hitmen on Feb. 28.
It was a performance Basha liked but one he says he can ride.
“I can build off that, I definitely have better,” Basha said.” “But obviously it’s nice to contribute on the score sheet and it was a good win and a great game from our line.”
He’s tallied 13 goals and 38 points in 25 games this season, a stark difference from his lone goal and five points in 27 games with the AHL Wranglers.
The 20-year-old is producing at his highest level in his fifth WHL season, running at a 1.52 point-per-game pace. He’s spent a majority of his return down the middle, playing centre for the first time since trying the position a few seasons ago.
He’s won 202 faceoffs, running a 51 per cent in the dot, putting him fourth on the team among skaters with more than 100 attempts.
“I’ve played (centre) here and there a little bit but doing it now, more full time, has been great,” Basha said. “It definitely suits my game, just learning really how to do it. I think every day is getting better and just keep grinding with it.”
Basha started playing between the Ruck twins and as of late, has been centring Luke Cozens and Yaroslav Bryzgalov. Cozens, who joined the Tigers a week after Basha returned. They’ve built chemistry as of late.
“Our line has so many things, speed, physicality, skill and the last couple games, we’ve been building chemistry,” Cozens said. “Pucks weren’t going in like we wanted to, but I think (Feb. 28) was a huge breakthrough game for us. It’s nice to build chemistry with those two, they make playing with them so easy because they’re both so good.”
He’s also enjoyed working with Basha, picking up on how his drafted linemate goes about his work on a daily basis. Cozens says he’s learned a lot from Basha in their first two months as teammates.
“On the ice, he’s unreal, but even off the ice just his habits, everything he’s learned from going up and playing pro for a bit, we can take a lot from it,” Cozens said. “I try to hang out around him a lot and learn from him.
“Just taking so much care of your body in the gym, there’s so many things off the ice that go into being an elite player on the ice,” Cozens said.
