Monday, September 30, 2013

Canucks Send Shinkaruk back to the Tigers

A couple Hours ago I noticed the Canucks no longer had Shinkaruk on their roster.

It has been confirmed by Bob Mackenzie that Shinkaruk has been sent back to the Tigers.
https://twitter.com/TSNBobMcKenzie

Shinkaruk had an excellent camp and showed a lot of hustle, scoring 2 pre-season goals.


Updated Roster
Goalies (2)   
Marek Langhamer (19)
Daniel Wapple(18)

Defenseman(8)  
Ty Stanton(18)
Tyler Lewington (19)
Matt Staples(18)
Spenser Jensen(18)
Kyle Becker(19)
Scott Allan(17)
Dylan Bredo(20)
Tommy Vannelli(18)


Forwards(14)
Hunter Shinkaruk (19)
Gavin Broadhead (18)
Steven Owre (17)
Miles Koules (19)
Markus Eisenschmid (18)
Blake Penner (17)
Curtis Valk (20)
Logan McVeigh (19)
Boston Leier (20)
Chad Butcher (17)
Chad Labelle (18)
Alex Mowbray (17)
Cole Sanford (18)
Trevor Cox (18)
Jacob Doty (20)

24 Total Players: 1 extra Overager 

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Tigers Go 1-1 on the Weekend

Tigers Fell 4-3 To the Oil Kings Friday Night

It was a game that had  every feel of an early season game. I think both teams weren't totally happy with their game play. Their seemed to be lots of unnecessary turn-overs all over the place. I think the Tigers deserved a better fate because they seemed to control good portions of the game.

Edmonton scored the go-ahead goal with 4 minutes left in the third period. Langhamer wasn't tested a whole lot but the goals that beat him seemed to handcuff him.

Tommy Vannelli
Tommy Vannelli's first game showed us an offensive side to his game. He keeps everything simple, chips the puck out, and doesn't hand on to the puck very long. I like his ability to jump up during the powerplay. He will create a lot of chances off of that.

Tigers Defeated the Broncos 3-1 Saturday Night

The Broncos came out with some good speed but the Tigers weathered the storm. They popped in 3 goals in off the powerplay.

Boston Leier
Boston Leier popped in a couple poweplay goals on the short-side, his first two of the season. It couldn't have come at a better time especially since the news that Doty has been returned to the Tigers.

Cole Sanford
Cole Sanford continued his goal scoring streak scoring #5 of the season. Sanford had another game where he could have had a hat-trick. He has looked much improved this season.

Trevor Cox
Another Tigers that I have been impressed with is Trevor Cox. I feel his game has improved quite a bit from last season in the early going.

Big Fight - Chad Labelle
Chad Labelle (5'9 172lbs) and  Tanner LeSann (6'0 168lbs) had a highlight real fight. They both knocked each other over a couple times, and it was an old fashioned back and forth face bash'athon. I'll post a link as soon as hockeyfights.com has it up, but it brought everyone to their feet. Labelle had been someone I thought was behind in the depth charts but early in the season he has been making noise and creating chances every shift.

Goaltending
Its early in the season but so far Daniel Wapple has played both home games and has looked very good in doing so. He has been the better goaltender in the early season so far. I have been impressed with his quickness. He shows good positioning, very quick  and a great mental focus so far.


Swift Current
I was incredibly impressed by the Broncos Import Juluis Honka. He was named player of the week early in the season, but he had numerous rushes up the ice and looked like a 100 point forward. The broncos found an incredible hockey player in him. I bet he is a shoe-in for Finland's world Junior Team.

Next Up
Moose Jaw visits Tuesday Night. Followed by a rare appearance by a U.S Division Team Seattle Friday Night.  Moose Jaw had a 3-2 SO win over swift Friday Night.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Doty Signs 3 yr Entry Level Contract with the Blues

According to the St. Louis Blues twitter account Jacob Doty has signed a 3 year entry level deal with St. Louis Blues.  https://twitter.com/StLouisBlues

This pretty much paves the road for Doty sticking in the pro's this year, and could solve the Tigers overage situation. Congratulations to Doty!

The Tigers are now at the league minimum 25 roster players and could keep all the players they currently have, however it is likely that 1-2 defenseman may still eventually get sent down.

Edit
Looks like Doty's future is still unknown. He may still end up back here. He could be playing in the echl, but I doubt St Louis would sign him to a contract for him to play in the ECHL.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Bradley Re-assigned

Mathew Bradley Re-assigned
http://medicinehatnews.com/sports/local-sports/2013/09/back-end-gets-even-deepertigers-get-nhl-drafted-player-from-college/

According to the Medicine Hat News yesterday the Tigers re-assigned Mathew Bradley. 

It leaves 15 forwards on the roster. With the last cut expected to be an overage forward the forward group is pretty much set on numbers.

That's essentially 26 players on the roster with one overage cut. Technically the Tigers could keep all their young defense up here, but it would be difficult to get everyone equal playing time.

Monday, September 23, 2013

Tommy Vannelli Joins the Tigers

Tommy Vannelli
Via  Twitter Tommy Vannelli has confirmed he will be suiting up for the Orange and Black.


I'll be playing for the Medicine Hat tigers of and taking classes while I'm there. Thanks to my friends/family for their support!!

https://twitter.com/Vannelli3

He was rumored to be visiting last week.

Vannelli is a 2nd round, 47th overall pick of the St Louis Blues. You can read more about him a couple posts down. It increases the Tigers Roster to 28 players counting Doty.

Defense (For depth purposes)
Bredo Lewington
Stanton Vannelli
Becker Jensen

Its unfortunate for the young guys, but once Vannelli proves he can play, it's likely only one of those 4 mentioned  below will stay. The others likely sent down because the top 6 are all core players where you don't healthy scratch them.

Schultz
Hobbs
Allan
Staples

The Tigers have quality prospects to call up should they need to if injuries occur. 

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Tigers Win Home Opener 6-2

Tigers made a few changes compared to last nights win in Lethbridge. The canes were without 3 of their top players who all played last night in Reid Duke, Macoy Erkamps, and Axel Blomqvist

Changes
In net was recently acquired Daniel Wapple. Wapple wasn't tested a whole lot but made some very sharp saves and showed his quickness.

On the back-end the Tigers inserted young-in Connor Hobbs, and took out Kyle Becker. I think when you need to take out a quality defenseman like Becker who made the main camp of the ducks to get a good young player like Hobbs some ice-time it shows the quality and depth of the back-end.

Cole Sanford
Cole Sanford continued his hot streak with another goal tonight, making that 3 on the season. 1 More that all of last season.

Depth
It didn't seem to matter who was on the ice from the Tigers bench as every line generated chances, and every line played well in the D-Zone. The transition game from picking up the puck in the Tigers zone and getting it out on the first try was pretty impressive. The defense were jumping up when they needed to for an extra guy, and the Tigers always had one forward back acting as the third defenseman.

The Tigers have so much depth in every position that its going to be a battle all year long for ice time,  and the coaches will have tons of options in every scenario.

Red Light District
12 goals in 2 games and that is without Hunter Shinkaruk in the lineup. Mind you the canes have a young D, and their #1 goalie is out with injury.

Eisenschmid
I thought euro Markus Eisenschmid even though he didn't score he had some good chances, and put himself in good spots on the ice.


Overall I thought the Tigers as of right now looked really impressive for the first couple games in. The gave the Canes all they could handle and were a few notches above them in terms of gameplay.

Hitting
One of the biggest things I noticed different from last year was that everyone was finishing their checks. It really slowed the canes down and created a ton of turnovers from it.

Next Up
Big test in Edmonton Friday Night. The Oil Kings knocked them out in 4 straight games in the second round of last years playoffs. Then they are back in town Saturday Night facing off against Swift Current.



Friday, September 20, 2013

Tigers Win Season Opener 6-1 Over Lethbridge

The canes fans brought a lot of energy to start the game.

I thought the Tigers in general looked very good.  They outshot the Canes  38-22. The canes weren't able to get much sustained pressure in the offensive zone. The Tigers were able to break up their cycle and go back the other way pretty quickly.

Marek Langhamer came up big early with a couple breakaway stops.

Cole Sanford last year only scored 2 goals all year, and he potted 2 goals in the first period
Curtis Valk was wearing the "C" while they await the fate of Hunter Shinkaruk from Vancouver.

15 seconds into the game there was a fight between Tyler Lewington, and Hurricanes Captain Josh Derko.
Lewington made headlines in the summer as he was 1st place in a number of NHL Scouting Combine strength categories among prospects in preparation for the NHL draft.

Game Summary

First Period
Logan McVeigh down low would make a quick turn in the corner. He found a sliver of room to feed the puck to Cole Sanford who went top shelf glove side. 1-0 Tigers

Lethbridge would Tie the Game a few minutes later. Jamal Watson would take advantage of a missed diving pokecheck and walked in alone on Langhamer he made a move and went far side and managed to beat a diving langhamer. 1-1 Tie

The Tigers would take the lead with a minute left in the first period. The Tigers had an odd man Rush and Trevor Cox would take his time and find a streaking Cole Sanford. Sanford snapped a quick shot beating rookie goaltender Jonny Hogue. 2-1 Tigers.

2nd Period

The second period was ALL Tigers. They outshot the canes 19-6. On the powerplay Dylan Bredo took a shot from the Point and Boston Leier tipped it in front. 3-1 Tigers

Steven Owre poked a puck away from a Hurricanes defenseman at the blueline and had a clear cut breakaway. He put a nice move on Hogue and slipped it past his far pad. 4-1 Tigers

3rd Period
Just after the midway mark the Tigers had a 3 on 1 rush. Cox lost the handle on the puck but recovered it and fed it to the trailing Ty stanton. Stanton put a shot on net through the legs of Jonny Hogue. 5-1 Tigers

Amid a big scramble in front Boston Leier poked the puck off a rushing Canes Defenceman. He fed the Puck over to Curtis Valk, who had to reach and put a low power backhand shot into a half empty net.
6-1 Tigers

Thoughts
Don't think the Tigers could have asked for a better start. Their D looked very good, and was able to break up the cycle and power the offense off on some good rushes. Cole Sanford had a very good game and had numerous quality chances.

Next Up
SEASON OPENER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday Night 7:30 PM..........Woooohoooooo. Tiger Hockey is Back!!

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Tigers Getting a New Defenceman?

The Tigers might be getting a 2nd round NHL Pick in last year's entry draft headed their way.

Tommy Vannelli an 18 yr old,  6'2 175 lb offensive defenceman, has decided to leave the University of Minnesota. The Medicine Hat Tigers hold his CHL rights. He has yet to make a decision on whether he wants to play in the CHL or play in the USHL for Tri-City in the states.

Here is an excerpt from the Gophers head Coach on his take why he left their program.

“After a few weeks of trying to balance academics and athletics, Tommy made the decision this morning that college hockey was not the best route for him at this time,” coach Don Lucia said. “We accept his decision and will move on as a team.”
http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/224139831.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter


Scouting Report

From Mckeens Hockey
http://www.mckeenshockey.com/draft-blog/minnetonkas-tommy-vannelli-exponential-path/

Tommy Vannelli (D, 2013), Minnetonka (USHS-MN) – since returning from the Hlinka tournament, Vannelli has shown why the National Team Development Program wanted him in Ann Arbor .. smooth skater and methodical two-way defender with an offensive flair .. always has his head on a swivel, demonstrating exceptional awareness and hockey sense .. impressively keeps the game in front of him – does an excellent job surveying the ice and seeking out potentially dangerous situations .. excels at the transition game – can fuse himself into the rush and also has the ability to recovery quickly .. boasts excellent puckhandling talents thanks to soft hands which allow him to maneuver around opponents .. very good passer – makes a strong outlet pass to break out of the defensive zone – and can thread a precision feed through traffic .. quarterbacks the power play, exhibiting impressive patience handling the puck combined with a sharp ability to find the open man .. possesses very quick feet – even if his stride is a bit short, which gives him the luxury to dart through the neutral zone with relative ease .. moves well laterally and is fluid in transitions and cuts .. does a good job getting pucks through traffic to the net and opening up scoring opportunities for teammates, however does not have an overpowering slapshot .. at 175 pounds, he still has plenty of room to fill in a lanky frame – and his lack of strength is a marginal issue at this level of competition in terms of competing in front of the net and in the corners when a physical response is needed .. appears to have tremendous upside with his development progressing at such a rapid pace .. looks to build on the momentum of a very productive summer and further enhance his draft stock.

Thoughts
The Tigers have a stacked blueline already. If Vannelli did decide to join the Tigers it would be likely that young players in Hobbs, Allan, Schultz, and Staples would be really hard pressed to get a lot of ice time here.
From what I read it seems like he is a player that would fit well into the Tigers systems, and they have a Minnesota connection with the training a lot of players do down there, as well as Miles Koules who played hockey down there.

Bredo  Lewington
Vannelli Jensen
Becker Stanton

Schultz/Hobbs/Allan/

To me that seems like the best defensive group the Tigers have iced since their memorial cup run.


Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Tigers Acquire a goaltender

The Medicine Hat Tigers announce this afternoon they have acquired 18-year-old goaltender Daniel Wapple from the Moose Jaw Warriors.

 In return, the Warriors will receive a 4th round pick in the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft as well as a conditional pick in 2016.

Kellan Williams and Zac Robidoux were expected to battle for the backup job to Marek Langhamer, and it appeared that Robidoux had won the job after Kellan Williams was sent down.

However Williams remained with the team and came into replace Robidoux after surrendering 5 goals in an 8-5 Tigers loss.

With the acquisition of Wapple it appears that the backup job has been solved.

Edit: On Wednesday the Tigers re-assigned Zac Robidoux to the Portage Terriers of the MJHL

Monday, September 16, 2013

Tigers On Shaw

The Shaw schedule is out. Tigers are on Shaw TV 3 Times.

Friday
Dec. 13/13
Medicine Hat
@
Calgary
7:00pm
Tuesday
Jan. 7/14
Saskatoon
@
Medicine Hat
7:00pm
Friday
Jan. 24/14
Medicine Hat
@
Kelowna
7:00pm

Friday, September 13, 2013

Tigers Make A Trade with Moose Jaw

Moose Jaw Warriors General Manager Alan Millar has announced the acquisition of 20-year-old defenceman Zach Hodder from Medicine Hat in exchange for an 8th round conditional draft pick in 2014.

Hodder, 6’0” 176lbs, was originally drafted by the Vancouver Giants, 20th overall, in the 2008 WHL Bantam Draft.  Last season with Medicine Hat Hodder had one goal and 13 points in 35 games.  Over his four year career Hodder has played in 125 games, scoring nine goals and has 38 points.

Hodder is expected to join the Warriors this weekend when they finish off the 2013 WHL Pre-Season with games against the Swift Current Broncos.

Updated Roster down below.

Tigers Cut 3

Kellan Williams, Nathyn Mortlock, and Ryley Wozniak have been re-assigned.

Looks like the goaltenders have been decided.

Goalies (2)   
Marek Langhamer (19)
Daniel Wapple(18)

Defenseman(9)  
Ty Stanton(18)
Tyler Lewington (19)
Matt Staples(18)
Spenser Jensen(18)
Kyle Becker(19)
Scott Allan(17)
Dylan Bredo(20)
Connor Hobbs(16)
Ty Schultz (16)

Forwards(14)
Hunter Shinkaruk (19)***
Gavin Broadhead (18)
Steven Owre (17)
Miles Koules (19)
Markus Eisenschmid (18)
Blake Penner (17)
Curtis Valk (20)
Logan McVeigh (19)
Boston Leier (20)
Chad Butcher (17)
Chad Labelle (18)
Alex Mowbray (17)
Cole Sanford (18)
Trevor Cox (18)

Total of 25 Players . 

Left at NHL Camps
Jake Doty - St. Louis
Hunter Shinkaruk - Vancouver


Suspension
Tigers Forward Gavin Broadhead has been suspended one game for a game Misconduct in Lethbridge Wednesday.  He was penalized for charging the goalie.


Tuesday, September 10, 2013

NHL Camp Updates

NHL Teams are starting to release their Main Camp Lists. NHL Teams have until September 30th to trim their rosters to 23 players.

St. Louis
Free Agent Jake Doty has made the Blues Main Camp. Opens up a better chance of a contract if he impresses.

The Blues have updated their Training Camp Roster to 53 players and Valk is not on the list. I assume he is on his way back to Tigertown.

St. Louis has 45 guys (limit 50) under contract.

Washington
Both Tyler Lewington and Boston Leier have made main camp.
http://capitals.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=681950&navid=DL|WSH|home

Leier made it as a free agent. Opens up a chance of  contract possibilities if he impresses. Washington has 46 guys signed under contracts(limit 50)

 His cousin Taylor Leier signed a 3 year ELC with the Flyers yesterday.

Minnesota
The Wild released their Prospect Additions to Main Camp and Miles Koules is not on the list. He should be back in Tiger Town Shortly. 

San Jose
Jensen did not get an invite to main camp
http://sharks.nhl.com/v2/ext/PDF/20130911-tc-roster.pdf

Winnepeg (Will release Training camp roster Wednesday)
Expected to be coming back to TigerTown.

Vancouver

Anaheim
Kyle Becker - Invited To Main Camp
http://ducks.nhl.com/v2/ext/TrainingCampRoster2013.pdf

Phoenix
Marek Langhamer - Not Listed in Phoenix Main Camp roster. Should be coming back to Tigertown
http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=682017&navid=DL|PHX|home


Friday, September 6, 2013

Updated Roster List

Last NHL Camp Edit: Monday 9th, 4:00 PM
(added Mondays NHL Prospect games, below)
Both Shinkaruk, and Koules scored goals.


Last Roster Update: Sunday September 8th
Dave Quenneville sent back to Edmonton

Friday September 6th
Brad Forrest(16), Brayden Uhrich (16), Jake Fletcher (16) No longer appear on the WHL Roster List

Thursday September 5th
(Looks like 19 yr old Adam Smith was released recently as he no longer appears on the Tigershockey or WHL website)

September 3rd: Re-Assigned
Mark Rassell(16), Caleb Fantillo(15), Ryan Jevne(15), Mason Shaw(15), Marshall Skapsk(15)


*** Designates at pro camp

Goalies (3)   
Marek Langhamer (19)***
Zac Robidoux (17)
Kellan Williams (17)

Defenseman(11)  
Nathyn Mortlock(17)
Ty Stanton(18)***
Tyler Lewington (19)***
Matt Staples(18)
Spenser Jensen(18)***
Kyle Becker(19)***
Scott Allan(17)
Dylan Bredo(20)
Zach Hodder (20)
Connor Hobbs(16)
Ty Schultz (16)

Forwards(17)
Matthew Bradley(16)
Hunter Shinkaruk (19)***
Gavin Broadhead (18)
Steven Owre (17)
Miles Koules (19)***
Markus Eisenschmid (18)
Blake Penner (17)
Curtis Valk (20)***
Logan McVeigh (19)
Boston Leier (20)***
Chad Butcher (17)
Chad Labelle (18)
Alex Mowbray (17)
Cole Sanford (18)
Jake Doty (20)***
Ryley Wozniak (17)
Trevor Cox (18)

Total of 31 Players 

Tigers will Need a minimum of 7 cuts before the October Deadline. Tigers still have 2 extra over-agers.
-----------------------

NHL Camp Thursday 5th
Miles Koules - Minnesota  -2 rating
Jake Doty - St Louis  9 Penalty Minutes including a fight + One Fight
Curtis Valk - St Louis  - 1 assist, 1 shot

Hunter Shinkaruk - Vancouver 1 assist 2 PM's
Spenser Jensen - San Jose   -1, 1 shot

NHL Camp Friday 6th
Ty Stanton - 1 assist, +2, 2 shots
Hunter Shinkaruk - 1 assist, 3 shots
Jacob Doty - 5 PM's  Doty Fought Corbin Baldwin (can't find any video0
Curtis Valk - No Stats
Miles Koules - Not Dressed
Spenser Jensen -  -2 rating

NHL Camp Saturday 7th
Ty Stanton - Not Dressed


NHL Camp Sunday 8th
Hunter Shinkaruk - Not Dressed
Miles Koules - 5 shots on net
Curtis Valk - 1 shot
Jake Doty - no stats

NHL Camp Monday 9th
Hunter Shinkaruk, 1 goal, 1 assist, +1, 4 shots (leads team in scoring)
Ty Stanton - 1 shot
Curtis Valk - 2 assists,
Jake Doty - TBD,
Miles Koules - 1 Goal, 1 assist, -1, 2 shots
Boston Leier - 2 PM's
Tyler Lewington - TBD

The Traverse City and Youngstars Tournament ended today. We will probably see a couple players headed back to Medicine Hat fairly shortly.

Tigers Exhibition

Checked out the Tigers VS Broncos Exhibition Game in Swift Current.

They defeated the Broncos 4-2 and outshot them 41-27.

I thought for the Tigers Mathew Bradley, and Scott Allan really stood out for me.

Bradley impressed me with this vision, and hands. Every-time he had the puck something happened. He was also like a 3rd defenceman in the defensive zone.

Scott Allan standing 6'6 had a couple big hits. Not only is he big, but he is mobile, aggressive,displays some good smarts/instincts, and won a lot of small battles in the corners.

Zac Robidoux was solid in net only giving up 2 goals.
Game Boxscore

Shawn Mullin has a recap and Bronco's Interviews on his blog
http://shawnmullin.wordpress.com/

Tigers at NHL Camps

Thursday Games
Miles Koules - Minnesota  -2 rating
Jake Doty - St Louis  9 Penalty Minutes including a fight + One Fight
Curtis Valk - St Louis  - 1 assist, 1 shot

Hunter Shinkaruk - Vancouver 1 assist 2 PM's
Spenser Jensen - San Jose   -1, 1 shot