Tigers with three-straight division games to mark return from holidays

By JAMES TUBB on December 28, 2024.

jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb

The Medicine Hat Tigers won’t have to wait long to shake off the holiday rust.

The Tigers get back to action from the Western Hockey League’s holiday break with three games in three nights, hosting the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday before a home-and-home with the Calgary Hitmen on Sunday and Monday.

They’ll head to Calgary for a matinee on Sunday before hosting at Co-op Place the next night.

Both Calgary and Lethbridge were in action Friday, facing off at the VisitLethbridge.comArena, the Hitmen then have Saturday off before they square-up with the Tigers.

Medicine Hat had a small skate Thursday evening with players returning from the Holidays, holding a full practice on Friday to gear up for the weekend. Associate coach Joe Frazer says the day off helps them, even with three straight ahead.

“Everybody’s playing Friday so to get an extra practice and get to work on a few things, that’s big,” Frazer said. “So we take advantage of it, practice was great (Friday). These are three tough games, Lethbridge and Calgary, so it’s a really important weekend.”

Frazer says all of their healthy skaters returned from the holidays the same, with a couple on the upswing from illness.

“Most of the guys either practised with some midget teams or on an ODR (outdoor rink) which is always great, just getting outside and skating like you used to when you’re a young kid,” Frazer said. “That’s where we all fell in love with the game. So they didn’t skate every day, which is good. They needed some time off to rest and get healthy. So the break came at a great time.”

The Tigers’ three injuries, forwards Hayden Harsanyi, Shaffer Gordon-Carroll and goaltender Harrison Meneghin remain out, Harsanyi skated with the club in a no-contact jersey.

The Hurricanes have won all but one matchup between the clubs this season, with Medicine Hat winning 3-2 on Dec. 14 at home before Lethbridge won 4-1 the next night at home. The Tigers have won all three matchups with Calgary so far, the most recent a 7-3 win Nov. 30 at Co-op Place.

The Hitmen (17-9-3-1) trail the Tigers by one point for the Central division lead, with three fewer games played after Friday. Lethbridge (17-11-1-1) is two points behind Calgary entering play Friday, same number of games played. It’s an early weekend with playoff implications for all three teams, an exciting way to start the second half, captain Oasiz Wiesblatt says.

“This weekend is going to be one of the hardest weekends of the year, it’s going to be an important weekend,” Wiesblatt said. “Teams can lose their structure sometimes after their Christmas break, and it’s the team who can gather it back right away who has success. So two Central teams who who’ve made some acquisitions, they’re two good squads, it’s going to be a good weekend.”

Both Calgary and Lethbridge made trades on Friday. The Hitmen acquired 19-year-old forward Lukas Hansen in exchange for 15-year-old prospect forward Adam Halat. Hansen has three goals and an assist in 18 games with Saskatoon this season.

Lethbridge acquired 20-year-old Vegas Golden Knights prospect Jordan Gustafson from the Seattle Thunderbirds, sending fellow overager Hayden Pakkala, a 2025 fifth-round draft pick (originally Medicine Hat’s), 2026 third-round draft pick in 2026 and a 2028 third-round draft pick.

Gustafson has not skated in a game this year due to injury. He had 12 goals and 28 points in 32 games last season with the T-birds and was part of their 2022-23 championship team.

Seeing division teams continue to add can make fans stir crazy seeing their team stand still. For Frazer, he says they just remain focused on being the better team however possible.

“Other teams are going to do things and you can’t be in the business of reacting to every move other teams make,” Frazer said. “We have to make sure we’re getting better every day. That’s our job. The Central division, it’s a great division, every team is good. So it’s, it’s going to be a dog fight until the end.”

With 34 games left on the calendar, Wiesblatt says they hope to embrace a mindset from a few seasons ago to find success leading up to the playoffs. In the 2022-23 season, where the Tigers climbed into a playoff spot on the last day of the season, they broke the second half into seven-game series.

Wiesblatt says they want to get into the playoff mindset earlier this season.

“It’s just something you kind of look forward to, you want to get those four wins and those are important wins, so you have to keep rolling on,” Wiesblatt said.

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