File Photo/CHAT News

By Jesse Gill

SPORTS

Medicine Hat Tigers watching on as their teammates compete at World Juniors

Jan 2, 2025 | 2:14 PM

The IIHF World Junior Championship is into the knock out stage of the tournament.

A pair of Medicine Hat Tigers have been playing in the tournament, 17-year-old Tigers forward Gavin McKenna with Team Canada, and 18-year-old Tigers defenseman Veeti Vaisanen with Finland’s squad.

Tigers Captain Oasiz Wiesblatt, who plays regularly on a line with McKenna, and said the team has been able to enjoy watching their teammates at the tournament.

“We’re super, super happy for Gav and Vetti and yeah, we all kind of went to Rossco’s and kind of had a team dinner and watched a few games,” Wiesblatt said.

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“It was good. We’re all cheering them on and yeah, we’re really excited for Gav and Vetti to be there.”

Tigers Defenseman Josh Van Mulligen regularly plays alongside Veeti Vaisanen, and has been a teammate of Mckenna’s since Gavin joined the Tigers.

He’s enjoyed being able to watch the pair represent their countries.

“It’s been awesome to be able to watch them in a tournament like that,” Van Mulligen said.

“I’ve grown up just watching that tournament and now to get to see two of my teammates there and playing very big roles on their teams,” he added.

“I think that’s it’s really cool to see it and it’ll be nice to see them go further in the tournament as it goes on.”

The Tigers can expect their teammates back by some point next week, as the championship games of the world juniors will be played this Sunday.