Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Tigers Defeat Giants 8-4

Tonight's game was pretty close through most of the it, but the Tigers managed to pull away in the third period. It was good to see them avenge their loss from a couple weeks ago in vancouver which Rogers Sportsnet had broadcast the game.

Thoughts

Trevor Cox
I liked Trevor Cox's game. I thought his one on one approach offensively looked real dangerous.

Dryden Hunt
I thought Hunt struggled through 2 periods. He seemed like he was having a tough time keeping his speed up, and the puck wasn't following him. All off a sudden in the third period he came within inches of a hat-trick. He sure has a good hard shot. Give him the puck and let him rip it.

Markus Eisenschmid
2 Powerplay goals. A couple quick shots from the high-slot.

Ty Stanton
A little rusty in his first game back. Looked a bit uncoordinated at times. Looked a bit shaken up on hard hits.

David Quenneville
First career whl fight.   5'8 179 lbs took on Alec Baer 5 '10 175 lb. Quenneville laid out a lickin on Baer, Was surprising to see that side of the game from Quenneville.

Nick Schneider
A bit of a surprise start. Langhamer had a nagging injury and wasn't ready to go quite yet. I thought he was just ok. Probably would have liked to have played a little better.

Overall
It felt like the Tigers finally got their groove back tonight. They were in a bit of a fade the last few games. Vancouver came out really hard in the first couple periods. The Tigers depth shown through and as the Giants started wearing down, the Tigers managed to step it up and put the game out of reach.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

3 Tigers Named in NHL Mid-Term Rankings

North American Skaters


144
BRADLEY, MATTHEW
MEDICINE HAT
C
5' 11.25"
18
160
HUNT, DRYDEN
REGINA
C/LW
6' 0.0"
199


Goaltenders
8
SCHNEIDER, NICK
MEDICINE HAT
R
6' 1.75"
16


In the November Rankings both prospects were listed as "C" prospects. Schneider is the highest ranking whl goalie.  (I believe only 6  CHL goalies were taken in the last draft)

Interestingly enough Dryden Hunt was 144th overall last year. He wasn't selected in the draft but did get called for camp with carolina.

I thought Ty Schultz might have had a chance at this list, but I felt his play wasn't as strong as it was during the first handful of games when the players were still sorting themselves out. Hopefully he comes out with a strong 2nd half and garners consideration.

Former Tiger Connor Hobbs is listed in the 100 spot.

Edit: Initially missed Hobbs as he was on the list as a member of Regina. This is his 2nd go-round.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Tigers Go 2-1 On Trade Deadline Weekend

Early in the week the Tigers made a blockbuster deal with Regina picking up Kyle Burroughs, and Dryden Hunt. The Two flew to Victoria to await the rest of the Tiger team.

55 Hour Bus Ride
Their were a couple avalanches on the road and the Tigers were stuck out in revelstoke. I guess they basically camped out in the Bus. Seeing as how the next morning arrived and they kept pushing the time back to when the road would be opened they found a hotel and stayed the night. The next morning they made their way to Victoria and met up with their new teammates.

Victoria
Pretty much played with a new lineup as this was Markus Eisenschmid's first game back from the world juniors. First games for Dryden Hunt, and Kyle Burroughs. Blake Penner was back from injury. That was almost a whole line.  I thought the Tigers controlled big parts of the game. The broadcaster mentioned that this looked like  Detroit Red Wings game where they controlled the majority of the puck possession. The Tigers won 3-2 but that score flattered Victoria.

Vancouver
I didn't get the chances to watch this game. The Tigers always have a good rivalry with Vancouver and always seem to loose against them at least once no matter what the skill Vancouver has. I was a bit surprised though that Vancouver came out with the 5-3 victory.

Kelowna
This could very well be a preview of the whl championship final if both teams have their way.
A hard fought game. It was the Tigers 3rd game in 3 nights, with a brutal bus-ride. The Key moment in the game was when the Tigers scored 2 shorthanded goals in the same penalty kill. Kelowna had taken the lead, and the Tigers bang-bang took it right back. The Tigers controlled the first period, it was a fairly even game throughout the rest, although I might give a small edge to kelowna in the second half. Kelowna will only get better as they gel with their new players. The Tigers won 5-3.

New Faces
Hunt has 4 points in 3 games.
Burroughs has 3 points in 3 games, and a +3 rating.


Just watching both these guys play, I can't believe the value the Tigers got without giving up a significant prospect(minus hobbs who was never going to play for the Tigers again)

Burroughs is so smart in his own end. He fought Tyrell Goulbourne of kelowna standing up for Tyler Lewington, after Lewy took a big hit.  Even though Goulbourne wasn't the guy that hit lewington, Goulbourne had been a thorn in the side, and I thought that was a key moment for the Tigers.

The Tigers still have Owre, and Stanton out with injuries, both key players to the lineup.

Next Up Regina Pats

Looking forward to the matchup against Regina on Wednesday. I'm sure it will be fairly emotional for Burroughs and Hunt. Wouldn't be surprised to see if either of them go into the wrong bench once.

 I agree with longtime fan who posted in the comments "I would hope that people don't boo Connor Hobbs when Regina plays here on Wednesday. As I've said previously he's a young man that I think he got some bad advice."




Monday, January 5, 2015

Tigers Make BlockBuster Deal with Regina

Well It's Official. Their have been some strong rumors about a deal involving Connor Hobbs last week.

reginapats.com/article/pats-and-tigers-complete-blockbuster

Regina Pats Head Coach and Senior VP of Hockey Operations John Paddock announced today the team has acquired defenceman Connor Hobbs (’97), a 2nd Round pick in 2016 and a 3rd Round pick in 2015 in exchange for defenceman Kyle Burroughs and forward Dryden Hunt.

http://www.tigershockey.com/article/tigers-acquire-hunt-burroughs-from-regina

“We are very excited about adding Dryden and Kyle to our roster,” stated GM and Head Coach Shaun Clouston. “We look forward to welcoming them to the Tige


My Thoughts
My Initial thoughts are: "I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS DEAL". Burroughs was Regina's Captain. Hunt was an assistant Captain and a  1st line player. Hunt is very strong on the puck and can muscle bigger opponents off the puck.   He is another point per game player to add to the mix. That gives the Tigers 6 PPG forwards in their lineup.

Burroughs is a top pairing Defenceman. A smart, mobile 2 way Defenseman. He will likely go pro next season.  Hunt is possibly likely to be back next season.

The Tigers get 2 very good quality 19's. From the Tigers standpoint this could be considered an exceptional deal as Hobbs isn't going to play as a Tiger again,  they didn't give up a 1st round pick, and they had an extra 2nd rounder from Regina in a previous deal, so it didn't dent the cupboards.

 I think their must have been some competition for Hobbs, as Hunt, Burroughs for Hobbs and a 2nd, 3rd seems like highway robbery.

With this deal the Tigers were already the oldest lineup in the WHL and they just added more experience. Regina and the Tigers have developed a pretty good trading relationship the past couple years.


Depth Charts

Defense
Lewington(20) Burroughs(19)
Vannelli(19) Becker(20)
Stanton(18) Schultz(17)
Quenneville(16)

Forwards
Sanford(19) Owre(18) Cox(19)
Eisenschmid(19) Hunt(19) Butcher(18)
Bradley(17) Ast(19) Penner(18)
Staples(19) Labelle(19) Mowbray(18)

Fischer(17), Rassall(17)

That is one heck of a defense. They have close to 5 1st line defenceman, and one of the best goaltenders in the league.


Next Season's 20's
Eisenschmid
Ast
Labelle
Sanford**
Cox**
Vannelli - Will Play Pro
Stanton**
Staples
Hunt**

As you can see Clouston will have a busy Summer with all these guys eligible to be back. Are they done?  Well If your going for it, it doesn't hurt to pad players, but  I don't forsee them making another move now.

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Rumours Are A Flying

Last Edit: Sunday 9:36 PM
Check comments for recent trade news...1 credible hockey writer tweeted that the Tigers made a trade.

Rewrote this post

Thursday night on Brandon's Radio broadcast it was mentioned that Connor Hobbs from the Tigers had been traded.  Guy Flaming from the pipeline show on his twitter account confirmed that Hobbs has been dealt, but no other specifics were mentioned. Nothing was announced from the Tiger Camp either.

Yesterday the whl fans were abuzz with rumors that Morgan Klimchuk was also up for grabs and wasn't going to be a Regina Pat much longer.....   It seemed plausible for a couple hours that Hobbs and Klimchuk would be swapped, until yahoo's Kelly Friesen tweeted that Klimchuk had not been dealt to the Tigers, but would not remain a Regina Pat for much longer.

Edit: Kelly has since tweeted that the Tigers have indeed made a deal with the Tigers.

So people were putting 2+2 together, but in the wrong order.

Klimchuk To Brandon
Friday Morning Klimchuk was dealt to the Brandon Wheat Kings for 17-year old left-winger Jesse Gabrielle.

What About Hobbs?
Well this is still speculation, but Guy Flaming from the pipeline show has tweeted that Hobbs has been traded but the deal can't be announced yet https://twitter.com/tps_guy


So let the speculation continue....The Tourney ends Monday Night.

Trevor Cox Named CHL Player of the Month
http://www.whl.ca/article/tigers-cox-whl-player-of-the-month

Trevor had quite the Impressive December. He was moved to quarterback the powerplay and that helped powered him into the WHL Scoring Lead. He put up 28 points in just 10 games, which is just shy of a 3 Point Per Game pace.