Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Hitmen Defeat Tigers 5-3

I only watched bits and pieces of the game, but from the sounds of things the Hitmen really controlled the first two periods, and then the Tigers completely took over in the third period. The hitmen only managed 2 shots on net during that period.

Bunz, SHinkaruk, Lewington, Kessy, Gavin Broadhead, Spenser Jensen, were out and Rhyse Dieno left during the game and did not return.

Kenny Cameron made some real big stops in the first couple periods but couldn't hold the fort forevor.

Riley Sheen
Riley Sheen scored his first career whl goal with a nice wrist shot from the slot.

Chad Labelle
Chad Labelle also picked up his 2nd goal and added an assist. He saw a couple shifts on the top line after Rhyse Dieno went down with an injury. Chad Labelle was also rewarded with the third star.....not bad for a callup, 3 points in 5 games.

If I'm not mistaken Labelle was playing for the Calgary Northstars Midget AAA team then got called up to the ajhl's Calgary Mustangs for 5 games as an injury replacement, he then got called up again by the Tigers for 5 games.

The Calgary Northstars play their first playoff game tomorow, and Chad has hit the 5 game mark so I assume he will stay in Calgary then possibly re-called once his AAA team is done.

Gavin Broadhead
It looks like the Tigers have added Gavin Broadhead to the roster on a more permanent basis as the Midget AAA Tigers season is done, and he was listed as an addition on the whl injury report. I think Gavin is out with an injury or a flu bug.

Rhyse Dieno
I caught the Calgary broadcasters mentioning that Dieno was headed to the locker room during play. Looks like he has an "upper body" injury... that's the last thing the Tigers need.... another injury.

Dawson MacAuley
Dawson MacAuley saw his first whl regular season game action playing the Third Period. He only faced 2 shots and stopped both. He looks like a Giant in net with his 6'6 216 lb frame.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tigers are looking real tired. Etem and vets doing their best I think, but the tank is running low. Cameron made some big saves and team could not push back. Labelle will be a welcome addition next year. Need more offense.
Get your second wind Tigers, you guy's are good. Playoff push.

CatFan said...

Awful timing for the injury bug. I feel bad for the team as they are trying so hard but the hockey gods are stacked against them right now. Keep your heads up guys and hope everyone is healthy for the playoffs!

Anonymous said...

Rhyse Dieno is gone for the season. With a shoulder injury. Not what the team needs. Dieno has a Stage 4 shoulder separation.
This is awful news for our Tigers.
This team is definitely feeling the injury bug; as I am sure other teams are as well.
Shinkaruk hopefully is back soon, to take some pressure off Etem and Valk. Kessy, will be a huge help when he is ready to go as well. Let's hope they are ready to come back soon, before more players get hurt.
Our defense again, needs to be more focused on our play in our own zone. And not up ice. We still have a first unit blowing the zone with our forwards too soon. Some guys are selfishly looking to pad their own stats, as opposed to doing their job.
Bettauer and Konan, have to start waking up out there. If they want to play forward, then now is the time to go play that position. We have lots of vacancies up there. Another -4 for for our top pairing.This is unacceptable, Konan -3 and sliding fast.
Krueger, needs to wake up.If we don't make some sort of adjustment we are going to be out early in the playoffs. Parkkonen and Theriau have been our top pairing defensively for some time. Why not have them as our #1 shut down unit? And play unit? Bettauer and Konan, can still be our number one powerplay pairing. Combined as Tiger dmen they are only a + 16, where as Parkkonen and Theriau are a + 28 combined. Busenius and Lewington are a +4. How come nobody is looking at these stats?
These are the kind of adjustments this team didnt make inthe playoffs last year. That will undoubtly hurt us again this year in the playoffs.

Anonymous said...

You guys also have to look at who Busenius and Lewington have mainly been playing with too. They are mainly playing with the 4th line sometimes the 3rd forward line and they dont know how to help back and play DEFENSE as well!!!

longtimefan said...

I can guarantee you that if Theriau and Parkkonan played against the oppositions top line night in and night out there +/- numbers would change.

Anonymous said...

Tigers played hard, I like the character of the team. Hopefully we get some guys back. I agree on our "first line" d-men. I would like to see them split up so they can each play with a more defensively responsible d-man. But keep them together on the PP. looking forward to watching more of Chad Labelled. Really like Sheen too, I think he will improve with increased opportunity. Young guys are definitely stepping up!!!

Anonymous said...

For the first time all year Tiger players played for FUN, The skills competition appeared to be probably the most fun they had all year playing the game of hockey. We all treat them like they owe us something , but in the end ... What about them. Ya they play well for us sometimes, but I enjoyed watching the players as if they were having fun doing what we bitch and complain about regularly.
Tigers rookies and vets all laughed, joked and show they genuinely like each other as a TEAM.
Thanks Bunz, Etem and Tigers for bringing back reality to the GAME of hockey. These are young men aged before their time and we should all take a step back and NOT CRITIC THEM, but praise them for even showing up. For me it was refreshing and reminds me of backyard rink hockey fun. WHL is not the be all for everyone and these guy's all have lives after hockey.
MS is a life long disease, and sick people do not complain as much as Tiger fans. Good for tigers to bring back reality and support MS, with a GAME we tend to take too seriously. Love you guy's !

Anonymous said...

Well said! I agree completely and this should become a yearly tradition!!