How they got here: Medicine Hat Tigers roar back to Memorial Cup after dominant playoff run

As the Medicine Hat Tigers prepare for the team’s sixth appearance at the Memorial Cup, the Western Hockey League is looking back at how the squad overcame a difficult start and a myriad of injuries to climb the mountain and lift the Ed Chynoweth Cup. The Tigers open the tournament against the host Rimouski Oceanic on Friday, May 23, at 5:00 p.m. MST at the Coliseum Sun Life Financial.

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The Medicine Hat Tigers emerge from the 2025 WHL Playoffs presented by Nutrien as more than champions.

They’re a family bonded by the uncertain waters of a season that brought storms of grief and adversity and victorious quells of euphoric wins and a ‘next-man-up’ mentality.

That was never more apparent than when Captain Oasiz Wiesblatt opted not to lift the Ed Chynoweth Cup himself after capturing the WHL’s top prize.

Instead, the veteran forward called up goaltender and WHL Playoffs Most Valuable Player Harrison Meneghin to lift the trophy and kick the celebrations into high gear.

Meneghin’s father, Derek, had passed away unexpectedly on the final day of the regular season and had become a rallying point for the team as they chased Medicine Hat’s first league title since 2007.

“My teammates have been unbelievable,” Meneghin said. “Right before playoffs started, I was at home and Willie (Desjardins) sent a few of my teammates down to come support me and my family, even for my father’s funeral too. That’s the type of stuff that, you know, makes life special, and (you) really want to run through a wall for your team.”

Instead, Meneghin became the wall.

The Tampa Bay Lightning prospect, who signed his first NHL deal on Monday, returned to the ice with a 21-save shutout against the Swift Current Broncos in Game 1 of their first-round series.

It only took five matches for the Tigers to dispatch the Broncos, with WHL Player of the Year Gavin McKenna bagging a monstrous 16 points (2G-14A) and Wiesblatt leading all WHL skaters in first-round goals with seven- including a Game 1 hat trick.

Medicine Hat only seemed to gain steam in the second round, making quick work of the Prince Albert Raiders with a four-game sweep.

McKenna dished two Goal of the Year candidates, including a lacrosse-style goal and a stunning shorthanded effort that saw the Whitehorse Wizard drop a behind-the-back pass to himself before wristing his fourth goal of the postseason home.

Nashville Predators prospect Tanner Molendyk stepped up his game with two goals and four assists in the series, while Meneghin capped off Round Two with an 18-save shutout in Game 4.

This set the stage for an all-Southern Alberta Eastern Conference Championship against the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

The Tigers weathered the storm with another sweep, highlighted by a Game 3 comeback that saw the Tabbies claw their way back from a 4-1 deficit to tie the game with 70 seconds left to force overtime, where Wiesblatt buried his fourth game-winning goal of the playoffs.

Game 1 of the WHL Championship Series against the Spokane Chiefs marked an emotional return to the ice for star forwards and NHL prospects Cayden Lindstrom (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Andrew Basha (Calgary Flames), who had both missed significant time while recovering from injuries.

The duo set Co-op Place on fire as Basha lit the lamp, with an assist from Lindstrom, less than a minute into the match.

The 4-1 win also saw McKenna extend his modern-CHL record point streak to a whopping 54 games.

Spokane leveled the series with a 6-2 win in Game 2 before Medicine Hat hit the road to claim three straight wins- and the Ed Chynoweth Cup- on the road.

NHL Draft-eligible blueliner Bryce Pickford dazzled with 10 goals (six in the Championship Series) in eight straight games, setting a WHL internet era-record for goals in consecutive playoff games by a defenceman.

Florida Panthers prospect Hunter St. Martin also stepped up, tying Pickford for the most points in the series with seven points (3G-4A) in five tilts.

Injuries limited McKenna and Lindstrom, among other players, on the road, but the Tigers kept finding new ways to step up- notably, six different skaters scored and Meneghin cleaned up a 28-save shutout in Game 3.

McKenna led his team and finished third in the WHL Playoff scoring race with 42 points (9G-29A) in 16 matches, while Meneghin’s MVP run saw him post a 14-1-0-0 record, a 2.35 goals-against average, a .906 save percentage and three shutouts in 16 appearances.

“This is something that we’ve worked towards, I’ve worked towards, for five years from the bottom up,” Wiesblatt said of the team’s rise to WHL supremacy. “From 11 wins (in 2021-22) to this is an unbelievable feeling. These boys are Warriors, like they can just battle and they’re so relentless. I just love it.”

Don’t let the 16-2-0 record in the postseason fool you.

The 2024-25 season was no walk in the park for the Tigers, especially after a tough start that saw the Tabbies dogged by injuries.

“I don’t know if I’ve had a harder year,” Desjardins admitted. “We weren’t playing great, and I honestly felt it was all my fault that we weren’t. I felt 100% responsible for us not playing well… I was taking it really hard. So it was pretty exciting for me when we got on the right streak and got going. It was a tough year, but such a good group of guys, and to get to celebrate this again is unbelievable.”

The through-line of Medicine Hat’s season was an ever-present ‘next-man-up’ mentality, combined with a trio of pivotal trades.

Desjardins, who was a finalist for WHL General Manager of the Year and WHL Coach of the Year, brought in sniper Ryder Ritchie in the offseason before acquiring Meneghin in early October after a rough 1-4-0-0 start to the regular season.

The Tigers were among the best in the Eastern Conference by the time the WHL Trade Deadline rolled around in January, but adding WHL Defenceman of the Year finalist Tanner Molendyk truly put the team over the top.

Medicine Hat dominated the back half of the campaign, going 26-2 dating back to February 22, 2025, and carried a 10-game winning streak into the 2025 WHL Playoffs presented by Nutrien.

McKenna was named the winner of the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy for WHL Player of the Year on May 7, 2025, after finishing second in the WHL scoring race with 41 goals and 88 assists for 129 points and a +60 rating in 56 regular-season games.

The projected top pick in the 2026 NHL Draft vaulted himself to superstar status after winning WHL and CHL Rookie of the Year in 2023-24.

Could the Tigers take things one step further and become the first WHL team to lift the Memorial Cup since the Edmonton Oil Kings in 2014?

The journey begins when Medicine Hat opens the tournament against the host Rimouski Oceanic in Rimouski, Que., on Friday, May 23 at 5:00 p.m. MST

Every 2025 Memorial Cup match will air on TSN and RDS in Canada and be livestreamed on TSN.ca, the TSN app, RDS.ca, and the RDS app.

The tournament will air in the United States on NHL Network and stream live for free on Victory+ for fans outside of Canada.

STAT PACK

	Medicine Hat Tigers
Regular Season Record	47-17-3-1 (1st Central)
Playoff Record	16-2-0
Playoff Leaders	Gavin McKenna (9G-29A, 38PTS) Oasiz Wiesblatt (14G-15A, 29PTS) Bryce Pickford (13G-11A, 24PTS)
Season Leaders	Gavin McKenna (41G-88A, 129PTS) Oasiz Wiesblatt (36G-67A, 103PTS) Ryder Ritchie (29G-32A, 61PTS)
Leading Goaltender (Playoffs)	Harrison Meneghin (14-1-0-0, 2.35 GAA, .906 save percentage, three shutouts
Powerplay (Playoffs)	36.9% (2nd)
Penalty Kill (Playoffs)	80% (2nd)
Last Memorial Cup Appearance	2007 (Lost Final)

 

NHL PROSPECTS

F- Andrew Basha (Calgary Flames)

F- Cayden Lindstrom (Columbus Blue Jackets)

F- Ryder Ritchie (Minnesota Wild)

F- Hunter St. Martin (Florida Panthers)

D- Tanner Molendyk (Nashville Predators)

D- Niilopekka Muhonen (Dallas Stars)

D- Veeti Vaisanen (Utah Hockey Club)

G- Harrison Meneghin (Tampa Bay Lightning)

2025 NHL DRAFT-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS (NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING)

D- Bryce Pickford (100)

F- Kadon McCann (116)

D- Jonas Woo (156)

G- Jordan Switzer (25)

MEMORIAL CUP ROUND-ROBIN SCHEDULE

DATE	AWAY	HOME	TIME	LOCATION
Friday, May 23	Medicine Hat Tigers	Rimouski Oceanic	5:00 p.m. MST	Coliseum Sun Life Financial
Monday, May 26	Moncton Wildcats	Medicine Hat Tigers	5:00 p.m. MST	Coliseum Sun Life Financial
Tuesday, May 27	London Knights	Medicine Hat Tigers	5:00 p.m. MST	Coliseum Sun Life Financial