MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – The Medicine Hat Tigers can light it up, and the Prince Albert Raiders won’t back down.
Those have become the two biggest themes over the first two games of a best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference semifinal series between the two sides. The Tigers prevailed in the first two games of the set at Co-op Place in Medicine Hat by scores of 6-4 in Game 1 on Saturday and 5-4 in overtime in Game 2 on Sunday. Games 3 and 4 are set for Wednesday and Thursday night respectively at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.
The first two games of the series could have gone either way. The Raiders had big third period rallies in both contests, and on the bus trip home to “Hockey Town North,” they likely thought they really should have had Game 2.
The Tigers have been impressive offensively. It feels like by now everyone has seen the spectacular highlight of Gavin McKenna’s short-handed tally from Game 2 that gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead in that contest. The 17-year-old superstar left-winger has seemingly made all the sports highlight shows in Canada and is all over social media with video of that goal that needs to be seen to be believed.
McKenna, who isn’t NHL Entry Draft eligible until 2026 due to his December birthday, is the most famous player in the WHL. He finished second in league scoring with 129 points coming off 41 goals and 88 assists to go with a plus-60 rating in the plus-minus department. He has 19 points coming off five goals and 14 assists to go with a plus-six rating in the plus-minus department.
With that said, the young man that might be the biggest engine that drives the Tigers is heart and soul captain Oasiz Wiesblatt, who turned 21-years-old on April 8. During the regular season, Wiesblatt posted 36 goals, 67 assists, 103 points, 148 penalty minutes and a plus-47 rating. He has 16 points coming off nine goals and seven assists to go with a plus-five rating in seven post-season games.
It is really rare in the current day to see one player collect over 100 points and over 100 penalty minutes in the regular season. After Wiesblatt, it is possible it might not happen again in the WHL for a very long period of time.
He has a feisty and agitating style on the ice, which makes him a basically a professional wrestling “bad guy” in the eyes of fans from opposing teams. He has a soft spot for Prince Albert as older brother Ozzy won a WHL title with the Raiders in 2019. In “The Gas City,” Oasiz Wiesblatt could run for mayor.
If you spend any sort of time in Medicine Hat, stories are numerous of Wiesblatt going out of his way to sign items for kids, joke around and play with youngsters and do things to make their day. He is the type that would help an elderly person in a wheelchair to get across the street and help get a Tim Horton’s order or go out of his way to visit with team supporters who are battling illnesses like cancer. You get why he is captain pretty quickly with the amount of “good guy” stories that come up about him in the Hat.
You might wonder if all those stories are true. They might not be, but there are so many of them out there in the Hat that you believe Wiesblatt is an ultimate genuine great person off the ice.
McKenna and Wiesblatt lead a Tigers offence that has gone 5-for-8 in the series with the Raiders on the power play and has scored two short-handed goals. You almost forget that players like former Raiders player Ryder Ritchie, Bryce Pickford, Liam Ruck, Mathew Ward, Hunter St. Martin, Tanner Molendyk and you could name the rest of the Tigers roster.
The Raiders have shown they won’t mail any games in. Trailing 5-1 after two periods in Game 1, the Raiders pulled 20-year-old star netminder Max Hildebrand looking to give him some rest for Game 2.
Prince Albert proceeded to get singles from Daxon Rudolph, Dayce Derkatch and Brayden Dube in the third period and were trailing by the contest’s final outcome 6-4 with 4:08 to play. They pulled Dimitri Fortin for most of the final 2:40 of the frame pressing hard in the Medicine Hat zone only to be fended off by the Tigers.
Game 2 was really evenly played with the Tigers taking a 2-0 lead in the third period, which proceeded to run wild. McKenna looked to ice the game with his second short-handed tally of that contest coming with 2:15 to play to give the Tigers a 4-2 edge.
Raiders star 20-year-old right-winger Rilen Kovacevic proceeded to score goals on the power play and with the goalie pulled in a span of 35 seconds of each other. His tally with the goalie pulled was the equalizer that forced a 4-4 tie and overtime.
At that point, it looked like the Raiders had the Tigers right where they wanted them. The Tigers recomposed themselves for overtime.
Raiders gritty centre Harrison Lodewyk, who was having a good game, got penalized for a boarding minor on a hit he threw on Tigers defenceman Jonas Woo. Just eight seconds into the power play, Ruck deflected home a Pickford shot to give the Tigers the 5-4 victory.
Lodewyk, who had a goal earlier in the third period, is a quality veteran who has played four full seasons in the WHL with the Raiders and turned 20 in early March. You can bet he was thinking he cost his team the game, and he was emotionally getting picked up by his teammates. The faithful in “Hockey Town North” will likely get a read off that and give Lodewyk a pick me up cheer the first time he touches the ice.
His hit on Woo was bad enough that it does open the door for potential supplemental discipline. Fans might have to wait until Game 3 to find out any revelations on that front.
Rudolph, who turned 17 in March, has looked outstanding for the Raiders posting one goal, one assist and a plus-two rating in the two games against the Tigers. He was named the WHL’s rookie of the week on Monday, which marks the second time in 2024-25 he has picked up that honour. He has looked like a super rookie.
Raiders interim head coach Ryan McDonald has the “believe” factor going big time in his club. It is clear the Raiders players are listening to the young bench boss and feel empowered on the ice.
On the goaltending front, Hildebrand has still been solid for the Raiders even with the Tigers offensive outbursts. The Tigers started rookie Jordan Switzer, who turned 18 in January, in the first two games against the Raiders. He was solid in the first 40 minutes of both games and looked to be gripping the stick too tightly in the third periods when the Raiders started to rally.
Tigers star 20-year-old starter Harrison Meneghin attended the funeral for his father, Derek, this past Thursday. He dressed as the backup in Games 1 and 2 against the Raiders.
One of the toughest challenges any WHL player faces is if one of their parents passes away during their playing career. The Tigers won’t start Meneghin until Meneghin gets to the point emotionally where he is ready to go.
Tigers head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins has his masters in social work, and you can bet the Tigers will have counseling support systems available to help Meneghin. That will play into the decision of when Meneghin will start next.
At the moment, Game 3 is a big one. Including play in the regular season and post-season, the Tigers have won 34 of their last 41 games, and it would be a huge uphill climb for the Raiders, if they do go down 3-0 in the set.
If the Raiders claim Game 3, this series is one they can win, and that is not some made up thing.
Darren Steinke is a Saskatoon-based freelance sportswriter and photographer with more than 20 years of experience covering the WHL. He blogs frequently at stankssermon.blogspot.com.