Oasiz Wiesblatt could’ve been the first player to lift the Ed Chynoweth Cup on Friday night, but he preferred to give the honour to his teammate.
Following the Medicine Hat Tigers’ 4–2 win over the Spokane Chiefs in Game 5 to claim the WHL championship, Wiesblatt — the team’s captain — posed for a photo with the trophy before waving over goaltender Harrison Meneghin to do the same, allowing him to be the first to hoist the hardware.
Meneghin was voted the 2025 WHL Playoffs MVP by members of the media after going 14-1 with three shutouts, a 2.32 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage over 16 post-season games.
The 20-year-old lost his father, Derek, unexpectedly on the final day of the WHL regular season. He returned to the team just days later for the start of the playoffs and went on to backstop the Tigers to their sixth Ed Chynoweth Cup — and first since 2007.
Meneghin, from South Surrey, B.C., was selected in the final round of the 2024 NHL Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Acquired by the Tigers from the Lethbridge Hurricanes in October, he posted a 23-10-1-1 record with a 2.58 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage during the regular season.
“I’m super proud of him,” Wiesblatt told reporters after the Tigers’ first playoff game on March 28, in which Meneghin recorded a shutout just five days after his father’s passing. “I know every guy in there is super proud of him.
“It shows a lot of resiliency from him, it’s pretty incredible. There’s not a lot of words to put towards it, guys were crying after seeing him get that win. That was probably the most special thing I’ve ever been part of.”
Meneghin is the third player — and goaltender — in Tigers history to be named WHL Playoff MVP, joining Kevin Nastiuk (2004) and Matt Keetley (2007).
Medicine Hat will now represent the WHL at the Memorial Cup, which runs May 22 to June 1, alongside the host Rimouski Océanic, the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats and OHL’s London Knights.
