Thursday, August 28, 2014

TigerTurf Is Back Online

TigerTurf is back from Holidays and Ready For Tiger Season!!!!!!

Developments

Jerrid Sauer hired as an assistant Coach (August 20th)
Back on August 20th the Tigers officially Hired Jared Sauer as their new assistant coach. That makes 2 ex Tigers coaching the team. Sauer completed a Kinesiology degree in calgary. From his days as a Tiger he was one of the more conditioned athletes on the team and he should have a wealth of knowledge in terms of the conditioning and strength part of the game.   I would assume Joey Fraser would receive somewhat of a  promotion now taking over the defensive line changes.

Brad McEwen Headed to the Flames (August 23rd)
The Tigers Head Scout and Assistant General Manager has been hired on as a scout to the Calgary Flames. McEwen has been a big part of bringing in some good talent here the last few years.

Tiger Rookie camp
I wasn't able to attend any Rookie Camp scrimmages or games, but from what various forum commentators have mentioned it sounds like another very impressive camp from the young prospects.

Tigers Make A Trade (August 22nd)
The Tigers sent Goaltender Zac Robidoux to the Lethbridge Hurricanes for a 3rd round Bantam Draft pick in 2015, as well as a conditional 4th round Bantam Draft Pick in 2017.

Robidoux (18) was a very late cut last year as the Tigers choose to go a different route. They picked up a great return for him.

Updated Roster List (Info taken from Small Thoughts At Large) + Tommy Vannelli Addition
Updated August 31st

Forwards(16)
Anthony Ast (95), Matthew Bradley (97),  Chad Butcher (96), Trevor Cox (95), Markus Eisenschmid (95), Caleb Fantillo (98), Zach Fischer (97), Ryan Jevne (98), Miles Koules (94), Chad Labelle (95), Alex Mowbray (96), Steven Owre (96), Blake Penner (96), Mark Rassell (97), Cole Sanford (95), Mason Shaw (98)

Defense(11)
 Scott Allan (96), Kyle Becker (94), Brad Forrest (97), Connor Hobbs (97), Tyler Lewington (94), David Quenneville (98), Ty Schultz (97), Marshall Skapski (98), Ty Stanton (95), Matt Staples (95), Tommy Vanelli(95)

Goaltenders(3)
Marek Langhamer (94), Jared Rathjen (94), Nick Schneider (97)

Estimated Cuts Left: (Min 5 cuts Needed, 2 extra over-agers)
1 or 2 Forwards 
3-4 Defenseman
1 Goaltender
2 extra over-agers on the roster.
5 - 16 yr olds ( Max of 4)

NHL Prospect Camps Open Soon
Ty Stanton - Red Wings   (New)
Tommy Vannelli - St. Louis
Tyler Lewington - Washington
Marek Langhamer - Arizona



31 comments:

Anonymous said...

Team looks good. Really excited for this season!!! Would be nice to close out the Tigers time at the arena with a banner!! I think this team has the key parts, just got to put it together

TigerTurf said...

It is difficult to predict, until we know if Langhamer and Vannelli's status.

Their Defense and goaltending should be very strong again. How well they do I think depends on how their offense can score goals, and how their small forwards can withstand the rigors of a bigger team that is just as quick. Keeping the play and pressure in the offensive zone rather than getting hammered along the boards in their own end with their speed getting cut.

They do have the smallest group of forwards ever, and they found out last year that just one big guy on the 3/4th line is nice to have but doesn't make as big of an impact as say a 1st/2nd line power forward with speed.
---

When they don't finish your hits they HAVE TO BE FASTER to create intimidation/rushed plays/ and extra space. When they meet a team that is just as fast as them, they will need to find a way to create faster team speed because their physical presence option up front seems a little muddy this season.

I think the Tigers in the past have generally overlooked the physical/slowing down aspect of the game, whereas a team like Edmonton looks for players with more of a team speed skilled passing game with a physical presence which has shown to be very effective. Passing the puck to an open guy creates more speed than skating, but their is a balance to be achieved with individual speed and smarts.

Just going for speed will win you a bunch of games games, but you need more than that for a championship.

Anonymous said...

Great to have you back! Hope you had a great holiday. Anybody hear the status of the Euro we picked this spring? Doesn't seem to show up anywhere that I have seen.

Tiger Fan 4 Life

Alan said...

Is Vannelli in camp? I don't have him on my list because my understanding is that he is not there.

If he is there after all, then I will of course add him to my roster on my blog as well.

longtimefan said...

Small, speedy skilled teams will always do well in the regular season. it's the grind of the playoffs that takes its toll on the smaller guys. You need some grit to win at any level and that's something lacking with this roster as it is now.

TigerTurf said...

I wasn't able to watch any of the Tigers camp, so I don't know if Vannelli came to camp but I Just assumed that he did. Vannelli is listed on the Tigers whl.ca roster wheras Shinkaruk is not, adn their are articles in the medicine Hat news where clouston is unsure if he will be back or not playing in the AHL.

I've also done some research on Vannelli and right now I'd say he is a 50-50 chance of being back because the Blues have a bit of depth on D but there is a sliver of space for him available if he were to have a great camp.

Alan said...

The problem with Vannelli is that the Blues don't have to send him back to the WHL. He was drafted from the USHL, so the Wild can send him to the AHL this year if he doesn't make the NHL team.

And he won't make the NHL team, so the question for the Blues is whether he's better off in the WHL or in the AHL.

TigerTurf said...

Exactly

The Blues have 7 signed Dman
(1 on a 2 way contract))

and 6 other Defenseman playing pro in their system...So their is a small sliver of room if he can play well and force someone else down or take-over for injuries/trades

Anonymous said...

Has anyone noticed Hobbs? In other words, how could you have not noticed Hobbs. Not just me, he was listed in the top 10 WHL players to watch for a breakout season. I love how responsible on the back end he is while being able to make awesome passes and chip in offensively. He is going to be a great value to this team. I hope to see him get some power play time. He has skills that can not be taught. Unreal kid!

Anonymous said...

McGrath is a bit of a surprise. He is outplaying the 20 year old goalie the Tigers picked up. Really quick and plays the puck well. Wonder if him and Schneider will be a tandem next year.

Anonymous said...

Any thoughts on what new forwards the Tigers will take on? Bradley should be a lock. I like Rassell, Jevne and Shaw a lot. I do think there are a couple vets on the Tigers roster right now who might not be pulling their weight. I would love to see a couple spots opened for young guys but also trade for a bigger power forward type of guy to add size.

Anonymous said...

Are the preseason games available for purchase?

Anonymous said...

I would like to see them trade Mowbray and Broadhead for a bigger power forward. Then give the other spot to a new kid. We do need to address the size issue up front.

Anonymous said...

Tigerturf what do you think the chances are that Langhammer is back with the Tigers?

TigerTurf said...

The Tigers have no home Pre-season Games, so no pre-ordering preseason tickets in TigerTown this year.
----

McGrath and Schneider could very well be the goalies of the future. Could very well see them both in the nets next season.

As for Langhamer I answered that in the post previous which was up for a month. To Sum up I think it is likely that he comes back to the Tigers this season, unless Arizona makes a change or someone gets injured. They have 7 goalies in their system and 3 teams = 6 goalies...

Langhamer is the only one that can slide back to junior, so contract/money wise it makes sense to send him back, unless something happens like 2 goalies go down with injuries or traded.

Anonymous said...

I agree on Mowbray and Broadhead. Bring in a bigger guy and Rassell who is 6ft. Tigers need some size

Anonymous said...

Wish the game would have at least been on the radio today seems like the tigers got a lot of pucks on net but not much for scoring. That Bradley maybe should have been on the team last year as this year he is dominating again. Does not seem like 31 had his best game but good to get one under his belt early in the season

Anonymous said...

How many guys do the tigers usually carry through the season?

Anonymous said...

Tigers are too small. I agree with Broadhead but not sure about Mowbray have not seen him enough

Anonymous said...

Broadhead is unlucky as he is 19 and the past 2 seasons had some injuries that really held him back. Not sure what will happen but he has lost a lot of development time. Not sure if he has much trade value, not likely, so not sure what they will do. Time will tell. From my understanding he is a good dressing room guy and very fit, so he may have a chance.

TigerTurf said...

How Many guys do they carry?

Typically they go with 2 goalies, 7 Defenceman, and 14 forwards. 23 Players.

The last couple years they have tried to keep everyone, so they have had more players than they usually carry, with an extra defenceman and forward.

So 23-25 players. 25 players is the max they can carry.

longtimefan said...

People clamouring for trades before the season has even started. Maybe we should chill a bit and wait and see who comes back from pro camps and how the young guys perform in the exhibition games. Also Gavin Broadhead didn't even come to camp ,so he isn't even in the picture.

Anonymous said...

Ah, trade talk, I think it is likely part of the excitement of seeing up coming guys and the anticipation of the upcoming season!
Go tigers go!!!

Anonymous said...

What happened to Gavin? I liked his energy

Anonymous said...

Ya, what happened to Broadhead? Is he unable to play because of the concussion from last year? I liked him, was wanting to see him finally get to play a full year.

Anonymous said...

Why did the new import not show up?

Anonymous said...

Broadhead is listed on Tigerturfs list. Must have been on the camp list at some point.

longtimefan said...

The new import has to honor his obligation to his club team in the Czech Republic. Next year will be the year he comes over if he chooses to.

TigerTurf said...

Well that is the roster that shows up on www.whl.ca


Well that is interesting Gavin Broadhead's name doesn't appear on the Tigers Roster on whl.ca anymore.

TigerTurf said...

SO I am going to edit him out now.

longtimefan said...

Broadhead isn't there now and wasn't there at the start, tt's list was wrong. I believe Gavin is trying out for an ajhl team, possibly Brooks.