WHL Medicine Hat Tigers

Game Day Preview March 7 at Winnipeg

Published on March 7, 2023 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Medicine Hat Tigers News Release


LAST GAME 5-2 W Vs Edmonton Oil Kings: A four goal first period proved to be more than enough for the Medicine Hat Tigers to record their 14th win on home ice while vaulting into 7th place in Eastern Conference standings. Tyler MacKenzie & Brenden Lee both lead the way scoring three points in the while Shane Smith had a two assist evening and Beckett Langkow made 25 saves for this 23rd win of the season.

Vs WINNIPEG: This is the 4th and final meeting of the 2022-23 WHL Season with the Tigers successfully winning the most previous match-up at Co-op Place 6-4 over the ICE, thanks to goals from five different Tigers in Hunter St. Martin, Oasiz Wiesblatt x2, Andrew Basha, Cru Hanas & Reid Andresen while Evan May made 40 saves in the win. Putting the Tigers record to 102 against the ICE in the season series.

Oasiz Wiesblatt leads the Tigers in the season series against the ICE with 5 point (3 goals, 2 assists) in all three games against Winnipeg.

Head to Head dating back to the 1996-97 Season Series against the Edmonton, Kootenay & Winnipeg ICE franchise, the Tigers are 74-76-5-0 with 5 ties while 30-43-4-1 and one tie on the road.

HEAD TO HEAD

Oct 1 @ MH (5-2 L)

Jan 14 @ WPG (8-3 L)

Mar 1 @ MH (6-4 W)

Mar 7 @ WPG

TALE OF THE TAPE

MEDICINE HAT TIGERS (26-24-8-1) 61pts

3RD in Central Division

7TH in Eastern Conference

PP - Overall 50/251 - 19.9% - Away 25/129 - 19.4%

Vs WPG - 1/6 - 16.7% @ WPG - 1/4 - 25.0%

PK -Overall 188/260 -72.3% - Away 91/128 - 71.1%

Vs WPG - 7/10 - 70.0% @ WPG - 3/6 - 50.0%

WINNIPEG ICE (49-9-1-0) 99pts

1ST in East Division

1ST in Eastern Conference

PP - Overall 59/244 - 24.2% - Home 30/114- 26.3%

Vs MH - 3/6 50.0% @MH - 3/10 - 30.0%

PK - Overall 187/231 -81.0% - Home 70/103 -68.0%

Vs MH - 3/4 -75.0% @MH - 5/6 -83.3%

2022-23 REGULAR SEASON STAT LEADERS

Goals - Lee (27) Wins - Langkow (22)

Assists - Basha (36) Shutouts - N/A

Points - Wiesblatt (55) Save % - May (.886)

+/- Basha (+22) GAA - Langkow (3.19)

PIMS - Wiesblatt (99)

PLAYERS TO WATCH

- Andrew Basha 58 GP: 15-36-51 PTS - Oasiz Wiesblatt 59 GP: 24-31-55 PTS

- Brenden Lee 48 GP: 27-21-48 PTS - Cayden Lindstrom 52 GP: 17-19-36 PTS

- Dallon Melin 58 GP: 13-25-38 PTS - Bogdans Hodass 47 GP: 10-19-29 PTS

- Dru Krebs 58 GP: 5-31-36 PTS - Reid Andresen 59 GP: 7-26-35 PTS

MILESTONE WATCH

- Owen MacNeil: 12 GP away from 200 GP - Rhett Parsons: 8 GP from 150 career GP

- Oasiz Wiesblatt: 4 GP from 150 career GP - Reid Andresen: 16 GP from 150 career GP

- Dallon Melin: 4 GP from 250 GP

HOW THE TIGERS WERE BUILT

WHL Draft (13): Andresen, Parsons, Wiesblatt, MacKenzie, Krebs, Smith, St. Martin, Boehm, Van Mulligen, Mrsic, Lindstrom, Basha, McKenna,

Trade (5): Bocharov, Lee, MacNeil, Smythe & May CHL Import Draft (1): Hodass

Listed/Signed (2): Langkow, Hanas Waivers (1): Melin

ROSTER AGE BREAKDOWN (* indicates rookie):

Alberta - 12 - Parsons, Wiesblatt, MacKenzie, Krebs, Langkow, St. Martin *, Smith *, Melin, Van Mulligen *, MacNeil, Basha,

BC - 5 - Smythe, Lindstrom *, Mrsic *, Boehm, & May

Saskatchewan- 1 - Andresen Manitoba - McCallum Yukon-1-McKenna*

USA - 3 - Lee, Hanas & Bocharov Latvia - 1 - Hodass

PREVIOUS THREE GAMES NEXT THREE GAMES (all times MT/SD

Tue Feb 28 Vs Swift Current Broncos (5-2 L) Tue Mar 7 @ Winnipeg ICE (6pm)

Wed Mar 1 Vs Winnipeg ICE (6-4 W) Wed Mar 8 @ Brandon Wheat Kings (6pm)

Fri Mar 3 Vs Edmonton Oil Kings (5-2 W) Wed Mar 11 Vs Regina Pats (7pm)

NEWS & NOTES

5 on 5 is Fine By Them: The Medicine Hat Tigers when it comes to goals at even strength at 5 on 5 are at 136 goals for and 88 goals against.

Slip On Down To The Oasiz!: Tigers F Oasiz Wiesblatt is currently leading the Tigers in points with 55. (24 goals, 31 assists) and has suited up in every single game this season.

Defenders Attack: The Tigers defence core of Kurtis Smythe, Rhett Parsons, Bogdans Hodass, Dru Krebs, Pasha Bocharov, Josh Van Mulligen & Reid Andresen have contributed to 156 points (40 goals, 116) assists)

Just Like He Dru It Up: Tigers defenceman and Washington Capitals prospect Dru Krebs is tied for 19th in WHL Defencemen points (5 goals, 31 assists) in 58 games.

Bend It Like Beckett: Tigers goaltender Beckett Langkow is 16th among WHL goaltenders, while he's 3rd amongst WHL goaltenders with minutes played, 2670, as well as he's 2nd in games played with 46. Langkow is also tied for the league lead with shootout wins with 3.

Young Bucks: Tigers Rookie forwards Hunter St. Martin & Shane Smith are tied for first in WHL Rookie Shorthanded scoring with 3 points. While Shane Smith is 5th WHL Rookie Goal Scoring with 18 goals.

The Chetwynd Kid: Tigers Centre Cayden Lindstrom is 8th in WHL Rookie scoring with 36 points (17 goals, 19 assists) in 52 games played.

Man Down, No Problem: Going into tonight's game against Swift Current, the Tigers are 7th in shorthanded goals for in the WHL with 10, (Smith x2, St. Martin, Bocharov, Boehm x2, MacNeil, Lee, Melin, MacKenzie)

Mr. 400: Tigers Head Coach & Willie Desjardins notched his 400th win as a Head Coach with the Medicine Hat Tigers December 10th in a 6-3 win at home against the Moose Jaw Warriors. Desjardins record in his 13 seasons coaching in the WHL. Desjardins first win as Tigers Head Coach was a 4-3 win on September 24, 2002 against the Saskatoon Blades.

Latvian Leap: Second year defenceman Bogdans Hodass represented Team Lativa at the completed 2023 World Junior Hockey Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia for the second straight year. Hodass had 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists

Silver Lining: Tigers forward Tomas Mrsic returns to the Tigers after taking home a silver medal at the World U17s in Langley, BC. Mrsic had one goal and one assists for Team Canada Red. Cayden Lindstrom also participated in the U17s as a member of Team White scoring two goals and two assists in the tournament.

MacNeil's Navy: The Tigers announced their leadership group for the 2022-23 WHL Season, Owen MacNeil was named the 39th Captain in Tigers history, while Rhett Parsons, Dru Krebs, Tyler MacKenzie & Dallon Melin will all wear alternate captain's A's on their jerseys this season.

Check out the Medicine Hat Tigers Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from March 7, 2023


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