NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers goaltender Zach Zahara squares up to the puck to make a save in the first period of the Tigers' 10-3 win Saturday at Swift Current against the Broncos. Zahara is one of three goaltenders on the Tigers' roster ahead of the 2023-24 season.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers’ regular season roster is starting to shape together.
With the WHL regular season two days away, the Tigers have narrowed their roster down to 24 players with 13 forwards, eight defencemen and three goaltenders.
Head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins says the roster is always a work in progress and a lot of decisions impacted another one to be made later. Goaltender Beckett Langkow is not one of the three net minders on the Tigers’ roster, with three 20-year-old defencemen (Rhett Parsons, Dru Krebs and Bogdans Hodass) filling Medicine Hat’s overage slots.
“Beckett was really good, he came in and battled a lot for us in some tough times and those decisions are never easy decisions with the situation,” Desjardins said. “If we have three 20-year-old D-men we’re pretty solid and that’s a big thing for our club. You usually don’t run three 20-year-old D-men but we want to have a good team this year and we think that’s our best way to be good.”
The Tigers’ three net minders to start the season are 19-year-old Evan May, 18-year-old Zach Zahara and 17-year-old Ethan McCallum. Desjardins says it will be the trio for a while as they decide who gets what playing time, with May, who suited up in 21 games last season, being the front runner with the younger goalies to back up.
On defence, 2023 import pick Latvian Bruno Petrovics is not on the roster to start the season, and Desjardins says it’s something they are working on to help build his strength. Kolby Gapter was returned to the South Alberta Hockey Academy.
Tuesday afternoon the Tigers traded defenceman Pasha Bocharov to the Tri-City Americans for a fourth-round pick in the 2025 WHL draft. Bocharov was acquired by the Tigers in the 2021-2022 season from the Saskatoon Blades. He totalled 100 games in the orange and black, with 13 goals and 33 points.
“We’d like to thank Pasha and his family for all that he did for us the past season and a half,” Desjardins said in a press release. “Pasha’s willingness to move to forward from his natural position of defence (was an asset). He helped our hockey club succeed and clinch a playoff spot with his commitment to being a strong team player within our group.”
At forward, the Tigers will be without Oasiz Wiesblatt to start the season as the 19-year-old received an invite to the Columbus Blue Jackets’ main training camp. His absence, paired with 2023 import pick Vasyl Spilka still being away from the team with a shoulder injury, leaves a couple of spots Desjardins says they haven’t cleared up.
Spilka is expected to be with the club next week.
The Tigers have nine rookies in their lineup ahead of the season, with forwards Kadon McCann, Hayden Harsanyi, Brett Calhoon, Gavin McKenna, defencemen Matt Paranych, Nate Corbet and goaltenders Zahara and McCallum looking to make an impact in their first full WHL seasons.
