TIGERS BEHIND THE SCENES: ANDREW BASHA
Medicine Hat, AB – The WHL offseason does have its ups and downs & the desire to continue to play well into the spring and early summer but also the opportunity to reflect, and spend some time with family but for the most part it’s a chance for players to get into game shape for the grind that becomes a 68 game season along with the playoffs.
For Medicine Hat Tigers forward Andrew Basha, he saw a little of everything, leading the Tigers in assists with 36 while finishing third in scoring with 56 points. The 05′ born Calgary native caught up with the Voice of the Tigers Gino De Paoli and took some time to take a look behind the scenes at what he’s up to leading into the 2023-24 WHL Season.
GDP: When the season finally ended for the Tigers, how much time did Andrew Basha take off before getting ready for next season already?
Basha: I didn’t take that much time off actually, I was off for about three or four days before I was back in the gym with my trainer Doug Crashley of Crash Conditioning in Calgary. I took about a month off the ice before I got back into it and now I’ve been training and skating every day enjoying the time off to get ready for a big year.
GDP: What was the message you got from the coaching staff before you left on things to work on during your offseason?
Basha: This past year was really good for me, to learn how to produce against top match-ups every night. The biggest thing for me this offseason is consistency on offence, playing with speed, keeping my feet moving and the little details. It was really good for us as a group to get that playoff taste against a really good Winnipeg team, I think that’s going to be really important for us to get to the next level.
GDP: This season coming up for you personally is a big one, it’s your draft year and there’s always the high expectations to perform to hear your name called next summer but what does Andrew Basha have to do to reach those goals?
Basha: It’s everything to me, you dream about that stuff when you’re younger but at the same time it’s still a long way from now. Every workout and ice time it’s in the back of my mind to push myself to get that extra rep in or shoot it a little harder, it’s exciting to think about but we just have to take it day by day.
GDP: What memories do you take from the 2022-23 Season?
Basha: After Christmas, we had all those games against Swift Current, we didn’t do too well in them and then we had a conversation with our group and the coaching staff that we wanted the playoffs bad in our mindset and it was a change in our group’s attitude. The last two games against Swift Current were huge with the fans coming out, it just felt like those game you knew what you needed to do to clinch playoffs and we went out and did it at home.
GDP: What’s Andrew Basha up to in the offseason when you’re not training?
Basha: There’s a lot of guys in my age group in Calgary that play in the Western League that train with me and we all have the same mindset for the upcoming season, but you got have fun in the offseason whether it’s a round of golf or hanging out with my friends is a big one to me in the offseason.
GDP: What do you see for the Tigers this year when you head back to Medicine Hat in late August?
Basha: We’re already 9-10 weeks out from camp, with Winnipeg leaving the East it opens up a lot of room for us so we need to hit the ground running at the start of the year. We’re going to be a really good team against tough match-ups every night so we have to be ready for everything.
GDP: Anything you want to say to Tigers fans?
Basha: We’re all really excited to get back and play for you guys, sell out every game we need you and we can’t wait to see you once again.
