Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Tigers Send Allan to Seattle

Medicine Hat, AB -- The Medicine Hat Tigers on Monday evening made a trade with the Seattle Thunderbirds, sending defenceman Scott Allan to the west coast.

Allan was entering his 2nd season with the Tigers after appearing in 34 games last year, recording 0 points and 24 penalty minutes. Allan came to the Tigers after playing in the Heritage Junior B League with the Banff Academy.

Allan, 6'6 and 235 lbs, appeared in 3 games so far this season, recording a -1 rating and getting into a fight in Lethbridge in the season opener.

"The Tigers would like to thank Scott for his contributions to the Tigers both on and off the ice," stated Head Coach and General Manager Shaun Clouston, "We wish Scott all the best in Seattle."


Thoughts
This is a win-win trade for Seattle. I think a 5th round pick is really good value for the potential that Allan has. He is big, mobile, not afraid to be mean. He has room to pack on some muscle. He is a little raw, but his potential is really high. He would be a perfect 3rd line guy, who could possibly come into his own, be a solid 2nd next year. Then a big #1 by his 20 yr old year. He still has a lot of work ahead of him, but the potential is there.

Defense down to 8

Lewington Vannelli
Stanton Becker
Quenneville Schultz
Staples
Hobbs

Still 1 too many. Staples hasn't seen action in 4 games. Staples is a solid 2nd pairing guy, who would be around for his overage season.  

Overage Deadline
Thursday of this week. overage Jared Rathjen is still a member of the Tigers. I feel for Rathjen a 20 yr old overage goaltender with an unfortunate condition that is tbd. Just looking around the whl it doesn't look like their will be much movement, as the big name from Kelowna got moved to the broncos.

37 comments:

04Forever said...

I don't understand this trade from a future perspective, the tigers are setting themselves up to have very little experience in defence and goaltending, they need to pull the trigger on a big forward to make this team successful for a deep run. Tigers have speed to make teams pay but in a 7 game series the Tigers will face teams that are just going to hit and will eventually slow them down.

Side note: i think fans notice now the impact Doty had, Victoria was nothing like that last year Kanzig never took any dirty runs or was running around because of Doty

TigerTurf said...

Next Season:

Gone: Lewington, Vannelli, Becker, (1 of Stanton/Staples)

Stanton(20) Hobbs(18)
Quenneville(17) Schultz(18)
Skapski(17) Forrest(18)

The tigers thinking is probably...Hobbs/Stanton first line...Young trio 2nd line.. He is still behind on the depth chart next season. Don't want a 19 yr old on the 3rd unit.

He is not going to get much ice over Quenneville/Schultz/Hobbs. It's better for his development. I hear he was well liked in the dressing room as well.

This could very well be a steal for Seattle. A 5th round pick is cheap for his potential. Their is no risk, high reward. This is the type of deal WHL teams should look for....guys behind on the depth charts that are good players.

I'm not sure if I like the move either. In the long run its probably better for his development though.

04Forever said...

100% but it seems with staples they are waiting for someone to get injured so he can step in or they haven't had the right offer to package him to perhaps upgrade the offense. Regardless if this was the route they go why not keep Forrest up and have him rotate with Schultz?

Anonymous said...

Doty and Allen are totally different players. When we got Doty he was already a feared heavy weight. Allen has size but does not belong in the heavy weight category. He never established himself and a guy who finishes his checks or will consistently drop the gloves.
I also think he was too slow to keep up with the forwards. I do however agree that the tigers need a big forward with some toughness. I do not think moving Allen from defence to forward was the solution.

TigerTurf said...

I like Schultz more than Quenneville so far. But they will both be very good, Quenneville could be another Russell in the making. Quenneville's shot looks pretty deadly already as a 16.

Allan was pretty quick and mobile for a tall guy. His overall poise with the puck compared to the others was a bit lower. The others will probably reach their potential faster than Allan. Can't compare a 5 year vet, to Allan. Allan dropped the gloves when he needed to.

Allan still needs to grow into his frame. Seattle is a perfect situation for him.

Facing Calgary 3 times in the next 4 games will be a very good test. They are both different teams since they played their first games against each other. These are must win games. These 6 points now could be massive come end of season.

Anonymous said...

Did I miss something? What did we win with Doty? I don't see any new banners.

WHLFan said...

Allan was always an instant behind a hockey play. I watched many a practise and I would see that he was just a hair away from the play during drills. This was in repetition/repetitive drills. Now to bring actual game action where instinct comes into play the separation from the play is even greater. I seen to much hesitation in his game. His growing curve to a WHL player was and will always be behind his counterparts.
Seattle needed a defensemen and bringing in one with size and some potential was good for them.
Scott was only going to see spot duty on a young tiger team and even if he was put in as an injury replacement he was still going to be at best a #6 dman.
I think getting a 5 rounder for a guy not in the teams plans was great.

longtimefan said...

Actually 04Forever, I think this trade was made with the future in mind. Pretty much guarantees that the a big part of the future defence of this team is going to be playing on a regular basis now. If Allen turns out to be a 3-4 guy on Seattle's team then the 5th round pick that came back is probably not much return. If he doesn't then it's probably not a bad deal.

Tiger Turf I have made three posts from an ipad in the last couple days and none of them have shown up. Any reason why?

TigerTurf said...

@ longtimefan

- Don't know, I don't see any comments in the spam filter....

Last post: 10/11/14

TigerTurf said...

Tigers move up one spot to 5th in the CHL Rankings. (Largely cause Brandon lost to Edmonton and Calgary)

04Forever said...

Could be but a 5th round draft pick is hardly a player with how much of a guess the bottom rounds become with development
I think Allan is rare enough with his size and speed that teams would be intrigued what they could do and potentially we could of got a active player for him

Anonymous said...

I agree with WHLFan, Allen was always a hair behind the play. His size, awesome, but with a team like the tigers he has to be able to keep up with the play. I am happy with a 5th round pick and waiting to make a trade that makes sense for the tigers. The tigers also have lots of picks to toss around. Hopefully they will see a guy who will not cost the future but will elevate the current team.

Anonymous said...

It just amazes me how the tigers get ignored year after year. Not one tiger on the team WHL list. Sandord leads the league in goals, both goalies are in the top 5, we likely have the best defence in the league, yet not one guy is being recognised. Really shocking!

Anonymous said...

Wow, Rassell is the only Tigers who can win a face off. We need to improve at that!
Come on boys, lets get a better second going!!!

Anonymous said...

The tigers did not play their best against the hitmen but should have won that game hands down. Shields was good but the tigers missed so many open shots in front of the net. Bad luck with the last goal but hey, at least they got a point out of it and need to head to Calgary and show them up there. THere is no way the Hitmen were the better team. Their shots on net were embarrassing. But they had luck i guess.

Anonymous said...

Who picks the stars Owre got pushed around all nite. Stanton had the biggest heart for the tigers tonite

Anonymous said...

Owre is terrible in the faceoff circle. The tigers need to tighten up in there. Owre was also not moving his feet like he usually does. Can be an effective player but tonight was not his best night.
Sanford did not have his usual night and Cox seems to be off to a slow start. He has not scored like I expected him to. Still the start of the season, things will work themselves out.
Not the tigers best game, actually, probably their worst but still thought they were by far the better team

TigerTurf said...

I thought Stanton played a very good game.

They ran into a hot goaltender. Lots of chances but shields made the saves look easy.

Hope Penner is alright. He didn't play the last period. Tiggs don't have any extra's up front with Ast injured.

Anonymous said...

Good luck tonight tigers! Hoping the bounces go a bit more your way! Go tigers go!

Anonymous said...

Good redemption game in Calgary Labelle, Staples and Mowbrey gave em hell.Nice rebound goal by Owre, I wish Cox and Bradley would quit worrying about getting hit and get the puck to the slot for shots instead of dumping it in or losing it. Good team game tonite!!

Anonymous said...

Way better game today. Especially the third. Keep it up tigers!
How many times did the Hitmen try to run Langhammer? Seemed like a stupid plan. But they seem to do that year after year.

Anonymous said...

When our top line goes into the zone 3 on 2 and makes the quick passes Sanford always burys it. I think Sanford would be a good team representative for team whl this year! Vanelli too!!

Anonymous said...

The tigers kinda remind me of the Kooteney Ice where they dont panic and are patient for goals. Good game.
Cox is really cold, hope he can find his hands

Anonymous said...

Good third period, really good, crappy second and ok first. Tigers need to remember that they need to play a full 60min. PP has cooled off, tigers gotta get back on getting that clicking.
Overall, they still look good for the beginning of the season. I still think that they are missing someone up front. Time will tell if somethign needs to be added there. I do not like Staples on forward. Would really like Ast back.

Anonymous said...

I thought Staples played awesome last nite, fight, assist, throwing the body.That line clicked.

TigerTurf said...

I thought Staples did well up front too.

The Tigers first and third periods were real good. 17 goals against in 11 games is pretty outstanding.

Anonymous said...

So thoughts on keeping Staples as a forward? I like Staples. I think he is the victum of being on a team with some of the best up and coming young defence. I like Staples as a player a lot. But I am not sure that because he is a good defence player that when you run out of spots there then just move him to forward. Now time will tell, maybe he will turn out to be a good forward. I would guess that an offensive minded defenceman would make a better forward but maybe he can make the switch easily. If he is willing to be that versitile player like Sauer and Bredo then maybe it is worth keeping a guy who can fill in on forward and defence. The problem is that both Bredo and Sauer were getting in on every game. I am not sure, especially when Ast and Penner are back if Staples will get every game. And it seems like a waste having him on the bench.
In all i am saying, I like Staples, awesome player, but where does he fit?

Anonymous said...

I thought Staples played with a new edge like he had turned to the Dark Side. I even liked his play more than Penners on that line!

TigerTurf said...

I wouldn't mind seeing staples up front for another couple games. The Tigers could use his physicalness/size up front scoring garbage goals.


Anonymous said...

Heres to a successful recovery to Ast. Tiggs will need Staples when Vanelli is gone to World juniors>

Anonymous said...

Ast will make a big difference when he is back in the line up. I thought he woudl have a break out year this year as he works so hard, is aggressive on the puck and was finally with a team that plays his style of hockey. I hope he recovers well and is still able to put up new record numbers!

Anonymous said...

Love to see Sanford, Quenville, Butcher and Shaws grit and tenacity, wish Cox would hit the net>

Anonymous said...

What a weekend to be a tiger fan! Great job tigers!

Anonymous said...

I like that the Tigers not only hung in with the bigger teams in Calgary and Moose Jaw, but also beat them. They lead the whole way, never gave up and burned them with speed. I think this team can compete with any team.
Go tigers go!

TigerTurf said...

I was highly impressed by Schultz in the Calgary game. The more I watch him the more I am impressed by his overall game.

He has even started a couple rushes up the ice, and was Defensively sound against some talented calgary forwards.

Anonymous said...

Markus E has really lit it up this year his breakaway speed is exciting to watch. Future Nhler for sure!!

Anonymous said...

Hey TT how about adding @hockey fights and @mark_rassell to your twitter side?