Tigers of 2024-25 will always be Medicine Hat legends

Squad grew into family conquering adversity

The Tigers celebrate a goal by Bryce Pickford (#27) on May 9.

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. - There had to be times the Medicine Hat Tigers thought the dam was going to burst in 2024-25.

They faced a 1-4 stumble out of the gate, were forced to find some early season chemistry on a revamped back end, needed better early consistency in net and juggled the roster with numerous injuries that seemed to keep popping up. When they had everything corrected, it seemed there was a bad loss waiting around the corner that knocked the team down to earth.

After a stellar second half of the regular season, the Tigers faced a hurdle that could have derailed their entire campaign. When the Tigers closed their regular season schedule back on March 23 with a 5-2 victory over the Hitmen in Calgary, star 20-year-old netminder Harrison Meneghin found out about the passing of his father, Derek. Derek’s passing came in an unexpected fashion.

That news took away the high of the Tigers winning a 10^th straight game that allowed them to top the WHL’s Central Division, the Eastern Conference and sit second overall in the league standings with a 47-17-3-1 mark. Meneghin was acquired by the Tigers in a trade on October 5, 2024 with the Lethbridge Hurricanes in exchange for reliable forward Shane Smith.

Fans at Co-op Place cheer on the Tigers.

The arrival of the veteran netminder allowed the Tigers to solidify their situation in goal. Now at the start of the WHL post-season, Meneghin had to grieve for the loss of a parent.

The toughest challenge any hockey player can face is the passing of a parent during their major junior career. It is a situation that doesn’t happen often, but it comes up from time to time.

Facing a physical and skilled Swift Current Broncos team in the first round of the WHL Playoffs, things could have easily gone south for the Tigers at this point. If Meneghin wasn’t able to be at his best due to his dad’s passing off the ice, it would have been understandable.

Instead, the Tigers rallied round Meneghin, and he brought his game up to another level. On March 28 at Co-op Place, the Tigers began their journey through the WHL Playoffs with Meneghin stopping all 21 shots he faced in a 4-0 shutout victory over the Broncos.

Harrison Meneghin was the MVP of the WHL Playoffs.

The Tigers would proceed to power through the WHL Playoffs with a 16-2 mark capturing the Ed Chynoweth Cup becoming WHL champions for the sixth time in team history. Meneghin was named the MVP of the WHL Playoffs posting a 14-1 record, a 2.35 goals against average, a .906 save percentage and three shutouts.

On May 16 when the Tigers won the WHL title with a 4-2 victory over the Chiefs in Spokane in Game 5 of the WHL Championship Series, Tigers overage captain Oasiz Wiesblatt called Meneghin over to receive the Ed Chynoweth Cup from WHL commissioner Dan Near and be the first from the team to raise the trophy.

At that moment, it became clear to how much of an extent the Tigers in 2024-25 had become a family. It would be safe to say even Meneghin earned a deeper appreciation for how much his teammates cared about him. As an added bonus, Meneghin signed a three-year NHL entry-level contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning following the WHL championship win.

Oasiz Wiesblatt became one of the Tigers best ever captains.

From there, the Tigers jetted to the Memorial Cup tournament in Rimouski, Quebec. That annual event crowns a CHL champion from a field made up of the champions of the WHL, OHL, QMJHL and a host squad.

The Tigers went 3-0 in the round robin portion of the tournament to earn a bye into the event’s championship game held this past Sunday at the Coliseum Sun Life Financial. The Tigers fell 4-1 to the OHL champion London Knights while holding a 32-24 edge in shots on goal. The Knights proved to be opportunistic in building a 4-0 advantage after 40 minutes and closing out the contest defensively in the third period.

Over the Tigers four games at the Memorial Cup, Meneghin posted a 3-1 record, a 2.54 goals against average and a .906 save percentage. It is mind blowing to think about the run Meneghin and the Tigers went on after the passing of the netminder’s father. All one has to do is look back at this history of the Tigers franchise to put that run into perspective.

Way back in 1988 at the Memorial Cup tournament in Chicoutimi, Quebec, the Tigers were the defending Memorial Cup champions and had fallen in their last round robin game 5-2 to the OHL champion Windsor Spitfires. The Spitfires advanced to the Memorial Cup title game with the win, while the Tigers had to play the semifinal.

Gavin McKenna was the Tigers must-watch superstar.

Following that contest, the Tigers found out Helen Brady, who was the mother of veteran forward Neil Brady, passed away after a battle with cancer in Calgary. Led by captain Dean Chynoweth, the Tigers rallied around Brady.

The Tigers downed the QMJHL champion Hull Olympiques 5-3 in the tournament’s semifinal and outgunned the Spitfires 7-6 in the event’s title contest. To this day, that Tigers team considered it a major accomplishment to be able to rally back and win the Memorial Cup after finding out about Helen’s passing.

The 1987-88 season was the lone campaign Barry Melrose served as the Tigers head coach and he would go on to guide the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings to a Stanley Cup final appearance in 1993. Melrose said the most proud moment he had of his coaching career was seeing the Tigers rally back in 1988 to win the Memorial Cup after Helen’s passing. Had that Tigers team lost out after hearing of Helen’s passing, it would have been an understandable result.

What the 1987-88 Tigers did was incredible and that was just over the course of two games. The 2024-25 Tigers rallied around Meneghin for about two-and-a-half months after the passing of his father and won a WHL title and came up one win short of taking the Memorial Cup for the third time in team history.

Ryder Ritchie helped the Tigers have a stellar top line.

Wiesblatt will also go down as one of the most remembered players in the history of the Tigers. You could even argue he was the best captain the team ever had. For myself, he is the best WHL captain I have ever seen in the 26 seasons I have covered the circuit.

He played a huge role in helping steady the Tigers ship over the slow start, injuries and rallying around Meneghin. Even before this season rolled around, you could argue Wiesblatt was one of the most loved players in the history of the team.

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.

On the ice, Wiesblatt finished fifth in WHL regular season scoring with 103 points coming off 36 goals and 67 assists to go with a plus-47 rating in the plus-minus department. He also had 148 minutes in penalties coming from the fact he wears his heart on his sleeve.

Tanner Molendyk played at an all-world level on defence.

The Tigers in 2024-25 emulated their captain. The fans in the Hat picked up on that by giving the team’s bus big sendoffs and welcome home greetings starting in the second round of the WHL Playoffs and continuing for the rest of the post-season.

The Tigers were also able to navigate the rough waters thanks to Wiesblatt’s linemate and 17-year-old superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna. McKenna was named the winner of the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s player of the year for the 2024-25 campaign.

McKenna finished second in the WHL regular season scoring race with 129 points coming off 41 goals and 88 assists to go with a plus-60 rating in 56 games. The product of Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory took his game up to another level making national highlight shows on a regular basis. He had outings where he could put the Tigers team on his back to pull out victory.

McKenna, Wiesblatt and star right-winger Ryder Ritchie formed arguably the Tigers best line since Tom Lysiak, Lanny McDonald and Boyd Anderson were on a unit together helping the franchise win its first league title back in 1972-73.

A couple of Tigers fans raise popular signs at Co-op Place.

The Tigers got so many great contributions from their forward unit including Hunter St. Martin, Mathew Ward, Ethan Neutens, Marcus Pacheco, Kadon McCann, Misha Volotovskii and their rookie kid line of Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll and twin brothers Liam and Markus Ruck. Andrew Basha and Cayden Lindstrom came off long term injuries in the WHL Championship Series and added a spark with their respective returns.

Due to the fact the Tigers can score, it sometimes overshadowed the fact their back end was strong. Back on January 6, Medicine Hat acquired star defenceman Tanner Molendyk along with Volotovskii in a blockbuster trade with the Saskatoon Blades. Molendyk played at an all-world level and really raised the level of a solid back end.

The Tigers picked up veteran blue liners Bryce Pickford and Jonas Woo in trades before the campaign began. Veeti Vaisanen and Niikopekka Muhonen came from Finland via the Import Draft, while local product Josh Van Mulligen was the reliable defensive-defenceman.

Josh Van Mulligen was a steady defensive-defenceman.

Tigers rookie netminder Jordan Switzer made a splash as a rookie and should be a player to watch as an 18-year-old sophomore in 2025-26.

With everything the Tigers went through, the team’s legendary head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins was the right person to guide the squad in 2024-25. 

The master of social work degree he earned a while ago at the University of Calgary gives him a unique skill set that was needed for the storied Tigers squad more than ever.

His staff that includes associate coach Joe Frazer, assistant coach Josh Maser, goaltending consultant Matt Wong and video coordinator and son Jayce Desjardins are some of the best in the business.

Owners and brothers Darrell and Brent Maser still offer a steady hand and never make any rash or pressured decisions. Their family has been part of the Tigers ownership since the team’s start in 1970, and they have seen their share of ups and downs. They won’t overact to anything when adversity ultimately comes around.

Liam Ruck turned heads with a big rookie campaign.

Of course, the other huge part of the Tigers story this season has been the fans. The Tigers have always had some of the best fans in junior hockey. The passion for the team from the folks in Medicine Hat hit a whole new level in 2024-25, and it might be the best it has ever been.

The players took a reminder of that with them to Rimouski with a sign the fans signed for the team that was displayed in the club’s dressing room.

After a 1-4 start, the Tigers got their record up to 19-14-1 at the halfway point in the regular season. They posted an impressive 28-3-2-1 mark in the second half of the regular season. Including action in the regular season, WHL Playoffs and Memorial Cup tournament, the Tigers won 29 of their last 32 games.

In Medicine Hat sport lore, the 2024-25 Tigers have vaulted their way to legendary status.

Tigers players take part in a prayer circle after a win.

Their journey was one only they could navigate, and it is one that will likely never be emulated.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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