Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Frazer on the Block

Well it looks like Joey Frazer's rights still belong to the Tigers so he hasn't been released as of yet. I believe its the right idea to come forth about it now. The Tigers have his rights until October 14th before the overage Waiver draft.

Overagers have generally gone for 5th round picks in the past. Frazer would probably fill a 2nd line scorer type role, (possibly 1st line on a weak team, possibly 3rd on a deep team) as he posses a great deal of speed and has a strong work ethic.

Points wise depends on the situation and line-mates but I think on average he could put up 20-25 goals and good for around 45-50 points.

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http://www.medicinehatnews.com/story/frazer-trade-block
Medicine Hat Tigers general manager Brad McEwen felt it best everyone knows where they stand now, and consequently Joey Frazer is on the trading block.

McEwen announced on Wednesday that the Tigers were attempting to trade Frazer, who is an overage right-winger. The general manager also said the Tigers plans on going with centre and team captain Wacey Hamilton and defencemen Thomas Carr and Jace Coyle as their 20-year-old players.

Major junior teams are only allowed to carry three overage players on their rosters. The Tigers did have a deadline day of Oct. 14 to make the decision on which three overage players they were going to go with.

“He (Frazer) is a kid that can play in the league and is a good player,” said McEwen. “We hope that he gets an opportunity somewhere.
“It felt like this was the way we had to do it. We just felt that we needed to do it now and make that decision.”........

Joey Frazer Released

Chat TV News is apparently reporting that Tiger Forward Joey Frazer has been released by the Medicine Hat Tigers. Joey Frazer had improved tremendously during the last half of last season, and is an unfortunate victim in the 20 year old numbers game.

Their are an abundance of overager's still in the league this year.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Jace Coyle sent back to the Hat

Returned to his junior team:
D Jace Coyle (Medicine Hat Tigers)
http://stars.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=538677

Tristan King was sent to the Texas Stars (AHL)

Nice to get everyone expected back. Unfortuantely It leaves the Tigers with 4 overagers. Looks like Joey Frazer may be the odd man out. As Hamilton, and Coyle are locks, and getting rid of Carr would mean a lack of defensman.

I believe Everett, Kamloops, and Regina are under the 20 yr old cap. But there are still quite a few teams with more than 3 overagers some pretty good ones still out there.
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I also found a fight video of Cole Grbavac who layed a licking against St. Louis Blues prospect Philip McRae during the Traverse City Prospects Tournament

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Tigers lose Opener 3-1 to Lethbridge

The Tigers started the game out flying. They controlled the first 20-30 minutes of the hockey game by a wide margin. The shots read somewhere along 18-3 at one point and Lethbridge looked really flat, despite being ahead by a goal.

The Hurricanes got a key break when Austin Fyten threw a bad angle shot from the corner of the rink and it slid in between Tyler Bunz' shoulder and the post.

Momentum Change
Lethbridge made a change to their gameplan in the second half of the second period. They started sending their forwards up high, and they managed to generate a handful of odd man rushes, breakaways and opened up the neutral zone.

The Tigers had been dominating the game up to this point and a pair of goals 13 seconds apart ripped the game open and changed the momentum a complete 180 for the rest of the second period.

In the third the Tigers manage to battle back, finally cracking the impenetrable force-field around Canes goalie Dylan Tait. He lost sight of the puck after a save and Wacey Hamilton came charging in to score the first goal of the season, short-handed nonetheless.
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Game Thoughts

At the beginning of the game when I saw Thomas Carr step on to the Ice with an "A" I knew Wacey Hamilton would be dressed. It was a very pleasant surprise that he will be back this season. (Carr was captain during pre-season)

I thought the Tigers were very good at picking up loose pucks in the neutral zone and forcing turnovers. They had numerous chances to score but the Hurricanes goalie played very well. Excellent positioning and came out and challenged the shooters. Not to mention an incredible glove save when he was down and out.

I thought the Tigers looked unorganized when attacking in the third period. They looked like a team who were frustrated and started trying to play individually. The canes Defense played a collapsing style, didn't give up many odd man rushes, and they didn't give up many rebounds.

Lethbridge got a lot of offensive chances off turnovers when the Tigers were in the offensive end. (Blocked shots and sending in forwards up high)

Player Thoughts
Hunter Shinkaruk skating style reminds of Stefan Myer(not as big), I thought he looked pretty good for a 16 year old.

Tyler Pitlick looked a little hesitant. He hasn't spent very much time with the Tigers and he looked like a player that was just traded here. He was challenged to a fight but declined and his confidence looked shaky after that.

Kale Kessey must be injured. I beleive he missed the last couple exhibition games but never heard anything about it.

Reid Petryk looked very much improved with his puck handling skills.

Patrik Parkkonen has pretty good hockey sense, and despite his size plays alright in the corners. However he took a penalty trying to regain body positioning on a Canes forward. His hand I think came off his stick otherwise it was a good play.

Curtis Valk didn't play much but there was one move where I was blown away. He was coming into the offensive zone and had a player swing behind him. He did a little dip pretending to do a drop pass then rifled a shot on net.

Emerson Etem was invisible out there.
Mathew Konan looked very speedy. He caught up to 2 Canes forward on clear cut breakaways.

Sebastien Owuya made a daring play that cost him. He tried to level Hurricanes Jacob Berglund when he was the last man back, but only caught a piece of him. Berglund put a nice move ON Bunz and put one in off the crossbar.He also made a nice rush up the ice. Showed some soft hands and was able to get back pretty quickly.

Wacey Hamilton was targeted every-time he touched the puck. The Hurricanes didn't let him skate the puck through the neutral zone and had a couple guys on him pretty quick.

Wacey Hamilton fought Austin Fyten. Was a very scrambly fight both players fell down pretty early.

Give the Tigers a bit of Time. They are missing Jace Coyle on the back-end a lot, and still need some time to gel offensively. Once their forwards start clicking, get their powerplay going, and are a little more mindful of giving up odd man rushes, they'll be fine.

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Jace Coyle
In Other News Apparently Jace Coyle looked good in preseason action with the Dallas Stars. He recorded an assist, a +1 and logged the 4th most minutes on Dallas. I'm Guessing that Dallas will send him back to the Hat Tomorrow after giving him a taste of nhl action. Coyle was also a game starter.

--------------------------

Lethbridge
I focused mostly on Tigers players getting to know their styles, but here is a few things off memory.

Obviously their goalie Dylan Tait looked pretty good. Like I mentioned above, Excellent positioning, challenged the shooters, and came out to the white ice. Their were a bundle of deflections that he managed to snag by being close to the shooter and the puck hitting him in the body.

In the second period Cam Braes looked like he had quite the wrist shot. He rifled one on net and Tyler Bunz managed to get a tiny piece of it as his shot rang off the crossbar and out of play. Mike Reddington stood out on the blueline, he did a good job at clearing away rebounds and boxing out Tigers forwards. Austin Fyten always seemed to be involved in a few scrums or yapping at tigers players.

I noticed a couple plays where Cane defender Daniel Johnston made an unforced error giving the puck away hearing footsteps but I think almost all Hurricane defenders made unforced errors in the first period.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Tigers Trade 1 and Cut 1

The Regina Pats are proud to announce the acquisition of 17-year-old forward Trent Ouellette from the Medicine Hat Tigers in exchange for a conditional bantam draft pick.

www.whl.ca says the pick is a 7th round 2012 draft pick


Regina Pats General Manager Chad Lang: “We like the fact that Trent is young and fills a void in the 1993 age group. He skates well with an offensive upside and gives us a little more depth down the middle.”

----------------
The Tigers have assigned 17-year-old forward Colin Mospanchuk to the Winnipeg South Blues of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
http://www.tigershockey.com/article/tigers-trim-roster

The move brings the current number of players on the Tigers roster to twenty-four including Jace Coyle who has yet to return from the Dallas Stars of the NHL.

Pitlick and Vey Returned

Edmonton Oilers General Manager Steve Tambellini announced today the club has assigned centre Tyler Pitlick to the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League.

Pitlick, 18, played in 38 games for Minnesota State in the WCHA collecting 19 points (11G, 8A). The Minneapolis, MN native was drafted by the Oilers in the 2nd round, 31st overall, in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

Edmonton Oilers hockey is presented in part by the Rexall Family of Pharmacies, Molson Canadian, ATB Financial, TELUS, Cenovus Energy and Ford.

http://oilers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=538503
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Linden Vey Returned
Returned to Junior Team:
Jean-Francois Berube – G (Montreal - QMJHL)
Nicolas Deslauriers – D (Gatineau - QMJHL)
Tyler Toffoli – RW (Ottawa - OHL)
Jordan Weal – C (Regina - WHL)
Linden Vey – RW (Medicine Hat - WHL)

http://kings.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=538561
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Away
Jace Coyle - Indication that he will return
Tristan King - Not expected back
Wacey Hamilton - Making a decision on coming back or turning pro

Wacey Hamilton Pro or Junoir?

Very good article from the News concerning Wacey Hamilton's Future.

Wacey Hamilton is back, but he might only be here for a visit.
The Medicine Hat Tigers captain attended training camp with the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. Following the Avs intrasquad game on Monday, he was released from the club and assigned to attend the training camp of the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League, which is slated to begin this coming Tuesday.

Hamilton has also been offered a one-year contract with the Monsters. When he left for Avs camp, Hamilton was hoping to earn an NHL contract, but the AHL offer with the farm club is enticing.

Read the Full Article Here
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Tough Decision

If he goes to the AHL he could make $50-$60k and probably see 3rd/4th line ice time with the Lake Eerie monsters playing 10-15 minutes a game. He wasn't offered a 3 year entry level deal and was a first cut. They like him enough to put him in their system but it makes me think that the AV's aren't sure if he can make their roster in the future, and would use that one year contract to evaluate his future potential.


In my mind theirs no question he has at least AHL potential. I think their would be a pretty high chance that if he came back to the Tigers and had a solid year their would be a few teams looking to offer at least the same type of ahl deal if not a 3 year entry level deal if Wacey and the Tigers were to make an extended run.

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Jace Coyle's Situation

"Coyle’s status is a question mark, but Clouston said there had been “some indication” that Coyle might be coming back."
---Same MH News article

I'm guessing thats why they traded Tanner Sohn, after the "indication" came their way.
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Linden Vey

The kings had 2 games yesterday (split squad) Linden Vey didn't dress in either game.

I'm guessing that the kings will make cuts friday and Vey will be back in the Hat saturday.
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Tyler Pitlick played in last nights Oilers exhibition game against the lightning. According to www.nhl.com Pitlick had 6:49 of icetime and was a -1

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Emerson Etem on his way back to the hat

It was reported that he is in the Hat already.

Assigned to Junior Team
Emerson Etem – Right wing (Medicine Hat/WHL)
Peter Holland – Center (Guelph/OHL)
Devante Smith-Pelly – Right wing (Mississauga/OHL)
Scott Valentine – Defenseman (Oshawa/OHL)

http://ducks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=538419&navid=DL|ANA|home

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Players still away (or unconfirmed to be back)
Wacey Hamilton - Lake Eerie (One sighting that said he was in town)
Jace Coyle - Dallas Stars
Tristan King - Dallas Stars
Linden Vey - L.A (I would think the kings send him back tomorow)
Tyler Pitlick - Edmonton

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Dawson MacAuley Sent back to Midget

On Tuesday 16-year-old Dawson MacAuley was sent back to Prince Albert for a second season in midget AAA, leaving Dubyk and Tyler Bunz as the Tigers’ netminding duo for the second season in a row.

“It’s something I’m looking forward to, me and Dub’s have been together, this will be our second year now,” said Bunz, who played 57 games and had a 2.91 goals against average last season. “It would have been tough to see him leave.
“MacAuley played real well through the preseason, he gave it everything he could. It’s not as though he didn’t deserve to be here. Next year is his year.”

http://www.medicinehatnews.com/story/tigers-go-dubyk
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I think this definitely makes sense. The Tigers are looking to have a strong team and having 2 veteran goaltenders is never a bad thing. Next year he is still in a very good situation, as Tyler Bunz should be back next year and Maculey is still in a very good learning environment.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Vets on the Move

C Wacey Hamilton Lake Erie (AHL)

The Colorado Avalanche have assigned Wacey Hamilton to Lake Eerie

http://avalanche.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=538165&navid=DL|COL|home

The Av's haven't signed Wacey yet and need to do so for him to play their. Lake Eerie doesn't have their training camp dates set. I'll try to do some digging on what thier roster looks like. His odds of coming back took a slight dip, but nothing is set in stone yet.

Lake Eerie shares an affiliation with Colorado and the Oilers, so their roster may be crowded.
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Atlanta Thrashers have announced that Sebastien Owuya has been sent back to the Hat

The Atlanta Thrashers also returned defensemen Ben Chiarot (Sudbury Wolves, OHL), Sebastian Owuya (Medicine Hat Tigers, WHL) and Cody Sol (Saginaw Spirit, OHL) to their respective junior teams.

http://thrashers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=538216&navid=DL|ATL|home

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It is also rumored that Jace Coyle is back in the hat.
-----------------------

Preseason games
Emerson Etem is scheduled to be on the 4th line when the Ducks take on the Phoenix Coyotes tonight. He was a -2 with 10:59 minutes of Icetime.


Players Away At Camps
Wacey Hamilton - Lake Eerie Monsters
Emerson Etem - Anaheim
Tyler Pitlick - Edmonton (It's been reported that he will be playing in a couple preseason games so dont expect him back for the home opener)
Linden Vey - L.A has 2 games on Thursday so I assume Vey will be playing in one of them. Vey might be back at the last minute.
Jace Coyle - Rumored to be back in the hat?

Monday, September 20, 2010

Bunz sent back to the Hat.

The Edmonton Oilers made their first round of cuts Today. Heading back to the Hat is Tyler Bunz. Tyler Pitlick impressed enough to survive the first round of cuts.
http://oilers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=538134&navid=DL|EDM|home

I found interviews from both guys on the net about their camp.
Tyler Pitlick - http://video.oilers.nhl.com

Tyler Bunz Interview - http://content.libsyn.com/e/e/0/ee03576e18f4d653/hfpodcast_tbunz091510.mp3

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Still At NHL Camp

Tristan King *likely to move on, not expected back**
Wacey Hamilton **possibility of moving on*
Jace Coyle **possibility of playing in the AHL, but I think he will be back**
Tyler Pitlick **possible to move on** (There might be a chance that the Oilers try to move him up to the AHL)
Emerson Etem **likely headed back, may not be back for Saturdays homeopener*
Linden Vey * Likely to be headed back*
Sebastien Owuya *Likely to be headed back*

Depending on the speed of the various nhl camps, it could be possible that these guys will still be gone by the home opener.

Back

Cole Grbavac
Tyler Bunz

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Shaw's TV Schedule Out
Tuesday Jan. 18/11 Lethbridge @ Medicine Hat 7:00pm
Tuesday Jan. 25/11 Medicine Hat @ Regina 7:00pm
Tuesday Feb. 8/11 Medicine Hat @ Red Deer 7:00pm

Click Here for the Full Schedule

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Rebels Defeat Tigers 2-1 SO

Red Deer Rebels 2, Medicine Hat Tigers 1 - SO

First Period
No Scoring

Second Period
No Scoring

Third Period
1. Red Deer Ness (Kambeitz) 14:22
2. Medicine Hat Valk (Carr-Harrison) 19:22

Overtime
No Scoring

Shootout
RD– Nugent-Hopkins – GOAL
RD-Siwak – GOAL

MH-Shinkaruk – No Goal
MH-Grbavac-No Goal

Shots by
Red Deer 9 5 8 3 – 25
Medicine Hat 7 9 13 0 – 29

Goaltenders
Red Deer – Barnstable (65:00, 28/29, 1GA)
Medicine Hat – MacAuley (30:00, 11/11, 0GA), Dubyk (34:03, 13/14, 1GA)

Power plays
Red Deer – 0/5
Medicine Hat – 0/8
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Edit
The Tigers called up 15 year old Brennan Hunker for the game and he impressed. With Sebastien Owuya and Jace Coyle at camp the Tigers needed to call him up to dress 6 defenders.

I found a Edmonton Blog that covered the game.
http://www.oilersjambalaya.com/2010/09/night-at-rink-red-deer-rebels-vs.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Tanner Sohn Dealt To Vancouver

Vancouver, B.C. – The Vancouver Giants acquired defenceman Tanner Sohn from the Medicine Hat Tigers in exchange for a 6th round pick in the 2012 WHL bantam draft. The 1991 born blueliner played 29 games last season with his hometown Tigers, collecting 4 points and 64 penalty minutes. Prior to that he played 4 games over 2 seasons with the Saskatoon Blades.
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Roster Slowly Taking Shape
I kinda suspected Sohn would be the odd guy out if everyone comes back, as mentioned in an earlier post. Trading Sohn away leaves the Tigers with 7 defensman if Jace Coyle comes back.

Educated Guesses
It means the Tigers have either gotten confirmation that Coyle will be back in the Hat(like that anonymous poster on Tigers Roarrs and Purrs mentioned) or Coyle Wont be back and their looking to acquire another Defender. Which I dont think is the case at least at this point in time.

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Trading Sohn away also leaves me to beleive that Thomas Carr is a lock for an overager spot on defense(As they have no spares to get rid of).

Which means an uncertain future for Joey Frazer, it depends on whether Wacey Hamilton is sent back or not.
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Tigers Lost 2-1 SO to the Red Deer Rebels saturday night.
No boxscores available as of late Saturday night.

NHL Main Camps Start This Weekend.

Colorado Avalanche Main Camp gets underway this weekend. Wacey Hamilton is named to the training camp roster. Colorado had their 20 rookies on the ice at the beginning of the week and they will join the vets on Saturday for ice-time.

http://avalanche.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=537583
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Dallas Stars Main Camp Ice Sessions gets underway on Saturday. Jace Coyle and Tristan King are on the roster sheet.
http://stars.nhl.com/v2/ext/pdf/2010-11_TrainingCampGuide.pdf
Cole Grbavac isn't listed on their training camp roster SO I assume he is getting sent back.

----
Oilers Camp Ice Sessions opens Saturday. No Rosters are available yet

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Atlanta Thrashers Main Camp starts Ice Sessions on Saturday.(No Rosters available yet) They will have 3 practice groups which will turn into 2 on Sept 21, and down to one group on September 30th.
http://thrashers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=537363&navid=DL|ATL|home

Sebastian Owuya had a goal and a couple assists during rookie camp. He was noted as having very good passing skills.

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Kings Main Camp is underway on Saturday. Linden Vey is listed on their Main Camp roster.
http://kings.nhl.com/v2/ext/team/2010_training_camp.pdf
---

Todays Games
Emerson Etem had 0 points as the Ducks Defeated the Canucks 4-2
Tyler Pitlick had no points but was a very physical presence on the ice. Sharks defeated the Oilers 4-3.
Mark Isherwood - no stats
Cole Grbavac had 20 minutes in penalties getting into two fights.
Tristan King had an assist and was a -1
Jace Coyle had an assist and was a -2
Thomas Kundratek had an assist and a +3
Linden Vey's Kings were smoked 7-1 by phoenix

That's the end of rookies Camps for Tiger players. NHL teams start up their main Camps this weekend. With exhibition games starting as early as Tuesday
-----

Medicine Hat News has an article on Tigers hopeful Trent Oullette.
http://www.medicinehatnews.com/story/fighting-spot

Trent Ouellette was happy to return to his home rink. He hopes not to go back anytime soon.

On Tuesday, Ouellette’s Medicine Hat Tigers downed the Calgary Hitmen 3-1 in an exhibition match played in Strathmore. Last season, Ouellette suited up for the midget AAA UFA Bisons, whose home arena is the Strathmore Family Centre. The prospect centre was happy to appear in one last contest in that barn before family and friends.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Tigers Defeat Hitmen 3-1

There were two games on the Western Hockey League pre-season schedule Tuesday night, the Calgary Hitmen hosted the Medicine Hat Tigers in Strathmore while the Red Deer Rebels visited the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

Medicine Hat Tigers 3, Calgary Hitmen 1

First Period
1. MH: Trent Oullette, (1), (Hunter Shinkaruk, Sam Dezman), 2:40
2. Cal: Rob Trzonkowski, (1), (unassisted), 12:07

Second Period
3. MH: Hunter Shinkaruk, (1), (unassisted), 9:08

Third Period
4. MH: Joey Frazer, (1), (unassisted), 18:46 (en)

Shots on goal
Cal: 11+8+9=28
MH: 12+12+7=31

Goaltenders (shots-saves)
Cal: Michael Snider (L, 0-1) (28/30); MH: Deven Dubyk (W, 1-0) (27/28).

Powerplays
Cal: 0-6
MH: 0-7
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The Calgary Sun has an article on the game.

------
The Medicine Hat News also has an article on the game.

Tigers away at NHL camps Cont.

Re:Edit: There was a bit of confusion as to who played in net for the Oilers on sunday. I read an article from hockeys future which turned out to be incorrect. They stated Tyler Bunz played which was not the case. He did play tonight however and recorded a win.

Monday September 13th




Calgary Defeated Anaheim 8-4
Couldn't find a boxscore. Couldn't find any stats about Emerson.
Colorado's Rookie Camp starts (Wacey Hamilton)

Tuesday September 14th


Edmonton Defeats Calgary 5-3
Tyler Bunz gets the win. 34 saves on 37 shots.
Tyler Pitlick had 1 goal
Jordan Bendfeld had a fight against Riley Grantham



Tampa Bay Defeated Dallas 3-1

Cole Grbavac - 3 shots on net.
Jace Coyle - a Powerplay goal and 2 shots on net.
Tristan King - assisted on Jace Coyle's PP goal and had 3 shots on net

Minnesota defeated the Rangers 5-4
Thomas Kundratek was not dressed
Matt Mackay had 2 shots on net.

L.A Defeated Phoenix 5-4 in OT
Linden Vey was involved in 1 goal for teh kings. He centered a puck out to Jordan Weal who scored.
Game Blogger
Game Boxscore
(The box-score doesn't list assists)

Detroit Defeated St. Louis 2-1
Mark Isherwood was a -1.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Tigers away at NHL Camps

Over the weekend a few Tigers were in action playing in the various rookie tournaments. I will list the games that had members of last years or current Medicine Hat Tigers playing.

Saturday September 11th, 2010



New york Rangers won 5-4 over Columbus.
Thomas Kundratek was a -2 during the game.

Detroit handed Dallas a 6-1 loss.
Jace Coyle was a -1 with 2 shots on net.
Tristan King was a -3 with 1 shot on net.
Cole Grbavac was a scratch.

St. Louis defeated Tampa bay 4-2
Mark Isherwood was not dressed

Minnesota defeated Carolina 2-1
Former Tiger Matt Mackay was not dressed

Sunday September 12th, 2010



Minnesota Defeated Columbus 5-1
Matt Mackay had 1 assist, 1 shot, and 2 PM's

Dallas defeated St. Louis 4-1
Mark Isherwood was not dressed

Jace Coyle has no stats during the game
Tristan King put up a goal and an assist +2 rating and 2 shots.
Cole Grbavac got into 2 fights. against Michael Dorazio and Philip McRae. I didn't find any reviews for the first fight but reports say he knocked the second guy out.

Carolina defeated the Rangers 1-0
Thomas Kundratek had 2 shots and 2 penalty minutes.

San Jose defeated Anaheim 4-1
Couldn't find a boxscore but Etem had an assist on the ducks lone goal. Fans over at hfboards said that Etem looked good at times as he created some offensive chances.

Edmonton Defeated Vancouver 4-1
Tyler Bunz was the backup, and did not play.
More than one blog stated that the best player on the Ice was Tyler Pitlick. He laid out 2 huge hits and scored an empty net goal. Their were rave reviews on him on every single blog I read, saying things such as he is aggressive and really powerful on his skates, and posses a incredibly quick snap shot.
-----------
Edit:
There is an interesting comment on Tigers Roars and Purrs message board.

Coyle is heading back to the Hat after DS Camp
-Anonymous (Minnesota state based IP address)

If its true it would be a blessing to the tigers.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Tigers Defeat Bronco's 2-1

Some quick notes on today's game. The only scratch was Kale Kessey (other than the 9 guys away at nhl camps).

Despite the close score the Tigers controlled most of the play. The Tigers offense did a really good job at keeping the broncos in their own end for extended periods of time. Their systems play was way above average being 2 weeks away from the start of the season. However they weren't able to finish their chances. The Broncos didn't take it up a notch until the last 10 minutes of the 3rd period.

I was really enjoying watching all the new faces play. These coaches have a tough tough decision on deciding who to keep. Each new face looked pretty good and made a nice play or two during parts of the game. Their basically going to cut whl caliber players, their 50 PPL will be stuffed.


A couple things that stood out for me.

Deven Dubyk looked real poised in his net and didn't look like he broke a sweat until the broncos scored to make it 2-1 with 9 minutes left in the game. I beleive he was screened and the puck might have been tipped.

One player for me that stood out was #21 Colin Mospanchuck. He was hitting hard, scooping up the loose pucks, won a one sided fight, and was the first guy back multiple times.

There was one play where Curtis Valk turned Broncos Defender Graeme Craig inside out with a Tyler Ennis like move.

Reid Petryk and Dylan Bredo also looked pretty strong along the boards controlling the puck. Petryk has looked like he has grown a bit. Boston Leier played well, he reminds me a lot of Brennan Bosch. Trent Oullette I only noticed him a couple times but when i did it was because he knocked a broncos defender off the puck.

Sam Dezman is making a case to stick in the lineup. He showed tonight he has some hands, although he seems to play more of an individual game, and I noticed a couple times where he stayed out on the ice too long.

Defensman Patrik Parkkonen was caught a couple times giving up an odd man rush, but he has an awesome talent of being able to pick up the puck along the boards with his backhand.

-----------

Medicine Hat Tigers 2, Swift Current Broncos 1

1st Period
No Scoring

2nd Period
1 – MH – Thomas Carr (Matt Konan, Sam Dezman) - 8:24 PP
2 – MH – Thomas Carr (Trent Ouellette, Riley Sheen) – 10:59

3r Period
1 – SC – Graeme Craig (Jordan Peddle, Andy Blake)

Goaltenders
MH – Deven Dubyk (16/17)
SC – Austin Smith (22/24)

Shots on Goal
MH - 11,7,6 = 24
SC - 5, 5, 7 = 17
-------------------------------

If you interested in following Tigers players at nhl camps. Anaheim is streaming their prospect games live on thier website.

Pacific Time
Sunday, Sept. 12 vs. San Jose at 7:30 p.m. PDT
Monday, Sept. 13 vs. Calgary at 4 p.m. PDT
Wednesday, Sept. 15 vs. Vancouver at 4 p.m. PDT
----------
Also I found a pretty good website for keeping track of the prospects at the Traverse City Tournament ( Kundratek, Isherwood, Coyle, Grbavac, King)
http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/scoreboard.html?leagueid=505&seasonid=5958

Friday, September 10, 2010

Tigers Defeat Broncos 4-1

First Period
1-MH- Parkkonen (Harrison) ES 5:44

Second Period
No Scoring

Third Period
2- SC- Hoban (Bobbee, Vause) PP 5:40
3-MH- Harrison (Valk) ES 6:16
4-MH- Valk (McKay/Petryk) ES 12:02
5-MH- Dezman (Petryk/Konan) ES 15:07

SOG
MH: 14, 6, 8=28
SC 11, 8, 10=29

PP
MH 0-3
SC 1-4

Goalies:
MacAuley (MH) 27/28
Friesen (SC) 24/28
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Rematch Saturday night at the arena. Tickets are $10 rush seating.

Preseason Overview

Edit: Tigers reassigned reassigned F Uriah Machuga, 18, to junior A. He is expected to play somewhere in the BCHL.
http://gdrinnan.blogspot.com/
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Alright before we get into some overall preseason prediction its time to take a look at some of the potential strengths and weaknesses of next years team.

Goaltending
This position should be a pretty big strength for the Tigers this season. Tyler Bunz was still a rookie in early parts of last season and developed into a consistent #1 whl starter in the second half. The Tigers defense was victim to making a couple big mistakes every game and Tyler Bunz was making key saves look routine. He stepped up his game in the playoffs and was a big reason for the Tigers success. Look for Bunz to get on a roll earlier in the season. If he can keep his rebounds in control and the Tigers defense are able to control the crease Bunz will be capable of stealing a game on any given night.

Backup: Dubyk or Macauley? Well if the Tigers are looking to make an extended run it may be wise to go with experience over youth. However if Dawson Macauley turns out to be as good as Devan Dubyk at only 16 years of age, experience like this would be invaluable for his future and the Tigers.

Tyler Bunz should also be here next year as a 19 year old. If Macauley is the goalie of the future it would still be a pretty good learning environment next year being eased into a handful of games while going through the whl grind. It is a tough decision, Macauley will have to outperform Devan Dubyk to stay and It could be possible that the Tigers carry 3 goalies for an extended time. Dubyk could also hold some trade value as being an experienced backup that might be able to push another teams #1. Very similar to when Blaine Nuefeld was traded to Saskatoon(then vancouver) when Ryan Holfeld out-battled him. I expect this position will be heavily contested.

Defense
Jace Coyle will be a key player. If he comes back the Tigers will have an above average experienced top 4. A powerplay specialist, and defensive specialist, and 2 tough fairly mobile s.o.b's with long reaches that like to hit. Crease clearing and defensive play around the net should be a big strength. I beleive they are mobile and smart enough to keep the parade to the box to a minimum.

Then there are some good younger players to fight it out over the the last defensive pairing. Parkkonen looks like a potential pp quarterback for the future. Scott Mackay is a hard worker with above average hockey sense, still a little young on the experience side, but I like his chances to be one of those guys that come from nowhere to become a key member. I could see him pushing for ice time by Christmas.

That leaves Businius and Sohn. Both players are pushing for a consistent lineup spot. I have a feeling that the Tigers are keeping a heavy eye on Sohn. Being a 19 year old with limited experience he might be an odd guy out. It would be tough to get rid of the local kid who has worked extremely hard over the summer.

If Coyle moves on to the pros they will be missing a powerplay quarterback and may have to invest in another defensman. Parkonen being a young import rookie will probably see his fair time sitting on the sidelines unless he manages to turn heads early and often. He could also be used as the PP quarterback on the 2nd PP unit.

Coyle(20) Carr(20)
konan(19) Owuya (19)
Businius Mackay, parkonen Sohn

If Coyle is plucked off to the pros they wont have to cut anyone, but they may need to upgrade. I do hope that Willie Desjardins does us a favor and sends Coyle back for another year. The good thing about goal-tending and defense is that most of these guys are returning players with experience.


Forwards
Still a bunch of question marks here. I beleive Emerson Etem will be back for another year. At most they keep him for a few games and send him back in the middle of october. Wacey Hamilton is another big question mark. I hope he earns a contract but is sent back for his overage year. Getting him back for another year would be a HUGE blessing as the Tigers would have an incredible 1-2 punch, with their top 6 having incredible speed, skill and physical element to their game.

Their forwards may not all be here for the start of the season. At the end of last season Bredo and petryk played really well on the 4th line. The line combos down below are for depth purposes but they have many different scenarios to work with. The Tigers will have a very good top 2 lines, a pretty solid 2-way 3rd line, and a rookie 4th line that has the potential to be an offensive threat.

Vey Hamilton Pitlick
xxxx Etem Harrison
Grbavac Kessey
Leier, Shinkaruk, Petryk, Bredo, Valk, Zakaryan, Sheen, Oulette, Mospanchuck, Frazer??

This season feels similar to the 06-07 season. Lots of questions then Keetley and dorsett both came back for their overage year and proved to be team leaders. Similar situation with Coyle, and Hamilton.
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I was a little surprised that the CHL or thn writers didn't look at this years team with the potential that I did, but then I thought they probably expect both Coyle, and Hamilton to play pro. The Tigers will still need to gel as a team, and communicate effectively to become an elite team. They will need to get over that 1/2 -3/4 season slump that seems to hit them every year, however this year with players going to wjc camps at christmas its almost bound to happen.

Owuya, pitlick, and the rookies are not used to long seasons. Many vets will have long seasons from being invited to pro camps, and potential WJC camps at Christmas. Etem layed out a tweet last month that sounded like he was feeling a little hockey overloaded in the summer months. I think its important that they dont burn out and can get some time away from the game to refresh during the season.

The Tigers have potential to make some noise. I hope that the fans dont get on their case if they struggle early. It may take them a little while to gel, with all the questions and 9 players off to nhl camps. All that matters is how their playing at the end of the season. The early season is just a building block.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Tigers Make Some Cuts

From the Medicine Hat News

.....Elsewhere in the roster, Medicine Hat is carrying four California natives among its current roster of 30. Vahe Zakaryan, and Uriah Machuga, both 18, are a step closer to staying with returnees Matt Konan (19) and Emerson Etem (18).

Other would-be rookies include Drumheller’s Trent Ouellette, Winnipeg’s Colin Mospanchuk and Edmonton’s Sam Dezman, all forwards. Sixteen-year-old goaltender Dawson MacAuley is still on the list, and forwards Boston Leier (Saskatoon) and Curtis Valk (Medicine Hat) had three and four games respectively last year and hope to stick around full-time this season as 17-year-olds.

Gone are 15-year-olds Ty Stanton, Cole Sanford, Quinlan Moore, Chad Labelle, Gavin Broadhead and Spencer Jensen. Two 1994-born players were also sent back to play midget AAA this year. Jayden Hart, the Tigers’ third-round bantam pick in 2009, and Connor Garden, a ninth-round selection that year, didn’t survive the cut.


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Roster
I am 98% sure that this is right. The MH News had no mention of Dakota Zaharichuk (16) or Brennan Baxandall (18). I assume they were cut prior to the trip to Edmonton as they weren't on the trip to Edmonton and their is no mention of them in the News article.

Goaltenders(3)
Tyler Bunz (18)
Deven Dubyk (19)
Dawson Macauley (16)

Defenceman(8)
Dylan Busenius (17), Thomas Carr (20), Jace Coyle (20), Matthew Konan (19), Scott McKay (18), Sebastien Owuya (19), Patrik Parkonen (17)

Forwards(18)
Dylan Bredo (16), Sam Dezman (19), Emerson Etem (18), Joey Fraser (20), Cole Grbavac (19), Wacey Hamilton (20), Ryan Harrison (18), Kale Kessy (18), Boston Leier (17), Colin Mospanchuk (17), Trent Ouellete (17), Reid Petryk (17), Tyler Pitlick (19), Riley Sheen (16), Hunter Shinkaruk (16), Curtis Valk (17), Linden Vey (19), Vahe Zakaryan (18)

Hockey Age
20's - 4
19's - 7
18's - 6
17's - 8
16's - 3
Total=30


Clouston said the final plan is to get down to 23 players or so.
“We plan on having 14 forwards, seven D-men and a couple goaltenders, and we’ve got a ways to go,” he said.
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NHL Rookie Camps open up on Friday. Traverse City Prospects Tourney starts on the 11th, and the Young stars prospects tourney starts on the 12th. I will be trying to keep an eye out for any happenings regarding Tigers Players at NHL Camps.
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More from the Edmonton Tourney

Coming Down the Pipe an Edmonton based blog gave their recaps from the weekend tournament.

Here is what they had to say about the Tigers over the weekend.

The Tigers are a bit frustrating because they never bring their bigger names up for this tournament. The roster was missing Linden Vey, Emerson Etem, Tyler Pitlick and Wacey Hamilton for example. It did provide an opportunity to see some of the young guys in a bigger role though.

The Tiger that stood out the most for me wore #9 - Hunter Shinkaruk, their 1st pick in the 2009 Bantam Draft. That means he's eligible for this season as a 16-year-old rookie. The small skilled forward always seemed to be involved in Medicine Hat's best offensive opportunities.

Tyler Bunz was solid in the net when he faced the Edmonton Oil Kings on Sunday. At one point he was barking at Edmonton tough guy Jesse Pearson after the defenceman tried to get after a Tiger who hit him from behind - I liked it as one of the few older players on the ice for Medicine Hat was standing up for one of the young guys.

I had a good chat with head coach Shaun Clouston after the final game, you might hear that interview on TPS on Tuesday.
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According to The Pipeline's Show website they will have interviews from Tyler Bunz and Shaun Clouston airing between 7pm-9pm Today.

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Edit:

A couple other interesting tidbits of information. Apparently Regina GM Chad Lang, Vancouver GM Scott Bonner and Kamloops GM Craig Bonner were all in attendance despite their teams playing elsewhere.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Tigers Win 3-2 against the Oil Kings

Tigers Goal Scorers were Jayden Hart, Hunter Shinkaruk, and Reid Petryk scored the winner with 1:44 left to go.

From the Oil Kings twitter feed

Medicine Hat Tigers 3, Edmonton Oil Kings 2

First Period
5:29 – EDM Penalty – 11 Dylan Wruck (2:00) Hooking 0 /1
8:06 - EDM goal 18 Curtis Lazar (28 Mitch Moroz) EV
9:49 – EDM Penalty 11 Dylan Wruck (2:00) 0/2
12:48 – MH Penalty 17 Reid Petryk (2:00) Checking from behind
12:48 – MH Penalty 17 Reid Petryk (5:00) Fighting
12:48 – EDM Penalty 23 Jesse Pearson (2:00) Instigator
12:48 – EDM Penalty 23 Jesse Pearson (5:00) Fighting + Game misconduct
14:45 - MH Penalty 29 Sam Dezman (2:00) Fighting 0/1
18:01 – MH Penalty 20 Boston Leier (2:00) Hooking 0/2

Second Period
2:59 - MH Goal 19 Jayden Hart (3 Scott McKay, 36 Uriah Machuga) EV
4:11 - MH penalty - 5 Ty Stanton (2:00) Cross-checking 1/3
6:05 - EDM Goal - 14 Colton Stephenson (4 Keegan Lowe, 36 Cameron Abney) PP
10:07 into the second period goalie change – To Cam Lanigan
12:17 – EDM Penalty - 36 Cameron Abney (5:00) Boarding + Game Misconduct 0/3 1/4
13:45 - MH Penalty - 17 Reid Petryk (2:00)
16:20 – EDM Penalty - 6 Braeden Laroque (2:00) Holding 1 /5
16:58 - MH Goal 9 Hunter Shinkaruk (18 Curtis Valk, 2 Dylan Busenius) PP 5 on 3

Third Period
3:15 - MH Penalty - 3 Scott McKay (2:00) Holding 1/4
7:20 - EDM Penalty - 16 T.J. Foster (2:00) Cross-checking 1/6
13:40 – MH Penalty - 5 Ty Stanton (2:00) Roughing 1/5
13:57 – EDM Penalty - 24 Lane Werbowski (2:00) Holding 1/7
18:16 - MH goal 17 Reid Petryk (20 Boston Leier, 4 Patrik Parkkonen) EV

Goalies
EDM 31 - Laurent Brossoit (30:07) 10 saves on 11 shots
EDM 30 - Cam Lanigan (28:52) 7 saves on 9 shots
MH30 – Tyler Bunz (60:00) 28 Saves on 31 shots

Shots on goal
1st Period 2nd Period After 2 3rd Period Total
MH 9 10 19 11 20
EDM 11 4 15 16 31

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Tigers Drop Exhibition Opener 3-1 to P.G

The Tigers gave 16 year old Dawson McAuley the start and he stopped 34 of 37 shots fired his way. WHL veterans James Priestner and Morgan Clark split the goaltending duties with Prince George.

According to the Tigers Website's list of players they brought to Edmonton they only had 5 players with whl experience dressed with Dylan Businius, Scott McKay, Reid Petryk, Tanner Sohn, Dylan Bredo, last years 4th liners/rotating scratch players. Here is the game summary.


Prince George Cougars 3, Medicine Hat Tigers 1

First Period
3:00 PG Penalty - 22 Taylor Makin (2:00) Kneeing 0 /1
4:49 PG Penalty - 11 Joshua Smith (2:00) Roughing 0 /2
12:58 - MH Penalty 36 Uriah Machuga (2:00) Tripping 0 /1
14:13 - MH Goal 20 Boston Leier (9 Hunter Shinkaruk) SH
15:39 - MH Penalty 18 Curtis Valk (2:00) Tripping 1/2
16:12 - PG Goal 18 Caleb Belter (12 Nick Buonassisi, 3 Martin Marincin) PP
17:47 - MH Penalty Bench Minor (2:00) Too many men (Served by 14 Quinlan Moore) 1 /3

Second Period
7:14 - PG Goal 6 Jesse Forsberg (Unassisted) EV
14:00 - MH Penalty 16 Cole Sanford (2:00) Holding 1/4
14:22 - PG Penalty 11 Sean Collins (2:00) Interference 0/3
14:29 - PG Penalty 16 Spencer Asuchak (2:00) Cross-checking 0 /4
19:23 - PG Penalty 21 Troy Bourke (2:00) Cross checking 0/5
19:46 - PG Penalty 23 Art Bidlevskii (5:00) Fighting
19:46 – MH Penalty 25 Tanner Sohn (5:00) Fighting

Third Period
0:41 - PG Penalty 11 Joshua Smith (2:00) Roughing 0/6
5:38 - MH - 20 Boston Leier (2:00) Roughing 2/6
5:38 - MH 4 Patrik Parkkonen (2:00) Roughing
5:38 - PG 26 Parker Stanfield (2:00) Roughing
6:45 – PG Goal 8 Brett Connolly (11 Joshua Smith, 18 James Dombrowski ) PP
18:40 - PG Penalty 3 Marek Marincin (2:00) Cross-checking 0 /7

PG Goalies
30:36 James Priestner 7 saves on 8 shots
29:24 Morgan Clark 14 saves on 14 shots

MH Goalie
58:24 of ice for Dawson McAuley 34 saves on 37 shots

Shots on goal
1st Period 2nd Period After 2 3rd Period Total
PG 14 9 14 37
MH 4 8 10 22

http://www.whl.ca/whl-pre-season-round-up-saturday-p143924

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Grbavac Grabs Dallas Rookie Tourney Invite

The Dallas Stars have made a roster change for the NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, which runs Sept. 11-15. Defenseman Hubert Labrie, who injured a knee at his junior team's training camp, has been taken off the roster.

Added to the roster is forward Cole Grbavac, a gritty, physical right wing who is currently with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League. Grbavac played under Stars associate coach Willie Desjardins last season.

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/stars/post/_/id/3483/traverse-city-roster-change
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The Medicine Hat Tigers Twitter feed is reporting Bretton Cameron has a tryout invite with the Hartford Wolf-pack of the AHL.
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Colton Grant will be playing University Hockey for the Calgary Dinos
http://www.whl.ca/three-whl-grads-commit-with-the-university-of-calgary-dinos-p143904
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The Tigers Preseason starts this weekend. The Tigers will play Saturday and Sunday up in Edmonton against the Prince George Cougars and the Edmonton Oil Kings.

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The Tradition Continues
Tigers TV has a new video up titled "2010-2011 the tradition continues". It is a mashup of plays from seasons past. I enjoyed watching it and recommend you check it out.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Black and White Game Notes

If I remember correctly the final score was 11-1 for Team Black.

They had lineup sheets but with all the new players it takes a while to start recognizing some of them. I've never been to the black and white game before but team black looked very good for a split squad team. I didn't keep track of the goals.
Edit: Attendance I'd say about 300ish people.

Team Black

93 Dylan Busenius
90 Jace Coyle
90 Thomas Carr
92 Brennan Baxandall
91 Tyler Pitlick
94 Hunter Shinkaruk
92 Vahe Zakaryan
93 Trent Ouellete
91 Cole Grbavac
91 Linden Vey
92 Emerson Etem
93 Dylan Bredo
93 Curtis Valk
94 Jayden Hart
93 Colin Mospanchuk
94 Dakota Zaharichuk
93 Patrik Parkkonen
94 Mason Logan
94 Dawson MacAuley - Goalie
91 Deven Dubyk - Goalie

Team White
92 Tyler Bunz - Goalie
95 Anthony Hamill - Goalie
92 Scott McKay
94 Robert Hamilton
94 Mathew Hunter
91 Matt Konan
91 Sebastian Owuya
90 Wacey Hamilton
92 Uriah Machuga
94 Riley Sheen
94 Connor Garden
92 Kale Kessey
93 Braden Desjardins
90 Joey Frazer
93 Reid Petryk
91 Sam Dezman
93 Boston Leier
92 Ryan Harrison
91 Tanner Sohn

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Most the Vets I thought were noticeable to some degree. Two players I thought stood out from the rest.

1. Linden Vey turned on the jets a couple times cut to the inside and roofed a couple in off the crossbar. He had at least 3 goals if not more, scoring another on a breakaway.

2. Import Defensman Sebastian Owuya was very noticeable in the early going jumping into the rush and really throwing his weight around. He is a bigger guy with a long reach, he has decent top speed but he is a little slow accelerating. Linden Vey clear cut burned him in the third period to the outside. Owuya also looked pretty tired by the third period. He will need to improve his endurance and footspeed, but when his legs were moving he looked impressive.
Edit: There was one thing I forgot to add and a poster at Tigers Roars and purrs sparked my memory. I thought Owuya had a really good first pass out of the zone he made some pretty accurate tape to tape passes to a forward breaking up the ice

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Mathew Konan almost got into fisticuffs with another player after a heavy hit was thrown.

Kale Kessey was very physical out there. I thought he was trying to up the tempo of the game whenever he was on the ice with his hits. He crunched I beleive it was '94 born Dakota Zaharichuk along the boards who took a few minutes before getting off the ice.


Tyler Pitlick was noticeable, a big body presence with a couple stick-handling plays and drives to the net.

I liked what I saw from the other import Patrik Parkkonen. He is a very small player but he has some good hockey instincts.

Sam Dezman I thought looked alright. He has missed the last year and a half of hockey with concussion problems, he looked like a bigger body on the ice. Its hard to get a good judgment with only a few shifts of memory to go on. Being a 19 year old he will have to prove that he can be a consistent contributor.

I kept my eye on Hunter Shinkaruk for a couple shifts. He was extremely aggressive going for the puck and set up at least one really good scoring chance but he did look like a player who missed the last year of hockey. I understand why the Tigers GM said he may need a little time to reach a comfort level. He tries very hard in the offensive zone, I thought he had a case of tunnel vision/didn't want to get dirty in the defensive side of the ice.

Ryan Harrison looked like he has a degree of chippyness to his game. Wacey Hamilton also played with a big edge as his team was on the losing side, and he wasnt afraid of giving a shot or two after the whistle. Tanner Sohn received a lot of icetime, he was a little more mobile on the ice losing all the weight in the offseason, Still made a couple rookie mistakes. Emerson Etem burned him through the legs but failed to score.

Goalies
It looks like the backup job may be heavily competed for. Dawson MacAuley looks big agile and covers a lot of the net. Deven Dubyk didn't let in any goals during his time on the ice but he didn't face a barrage of shots either. The only 15 year old on the ice was goalie Anthony Hamil and I felt sorry for him because his confidence looked shot giving up quite a few goals.

No doubt I missed tons of stuff. If you have something to add post a comment.
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Medicine Hat News article

“Normally you expect intrasquad games to be fairly tight and for the most part they have been close,” said Vey, who leaves for Los Angeles Kings rookie camp Sept. 9. “It’s just one of those games where the puck seems to go in the net any which way.
“It wasn’t a lack of effort on their part, they worked hard and I think it was a good game.”

It was the last time for seven Tigers in a game-style situation before they head to NHL camps. The team will skew young for exhibition games in Edmonton this weekend.