Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Tigers Deal For Goaltender

http://www.tigershockey.com/article/tigers-acquire-johnson-from-portland

 In what should be a busy offseason, the Medicine Hat Tigers made their first deal, acquiring 19 year old goaltender Evan Johnson from the Portland Winterhawks over the weekend.

--------

This likely solves the "2nd goaltender spot". ( Notice I didn't say backup) I would imagine that Johnson will push Nick Schneider for the starters job.

 This does create more competition, depth and provides a solid position in the net for a pretty cheap price.  Incoming goal-tending prospects may be hard pressed to make the team this upcoming season.



17 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like this move. Making goaltending stronger as we can anticipate that we will be weaker on defence this year. Will also be glad to see Schneids in the net a lot, I thought he was excellent last year.

TigerTurf said...

Exactly

WHLFan said...

A competent backup is always welcome....Takes the pressure off Scnhneids to be at top of game every night. Tendy is a tough position especially in this town. Gonna be many transactions leading up to season starting.

Anonymous said...

We have prepped Schneider for the last year and a half to be the our goalie this year. You don't bring a 19 year old in to be a back up. You give that job to a prospect from your list who you think can become a WHL goaltender. If we haven't found that guy in the last 1 1/2 years then our scouting let us down. Should have used the draft pick for defence not goaltending.

TigerTurf said...

I both agree and disagree with that.

1. Confidence/Mental game is just so incredibly powerful with goalies. You guys have seen it with Tyler Bunz, Marek Langhamer, when they are on their game, they are very difficult to beat. When they aren't on their game its 3 goals on 6 shots....or a blueline floater.

If the Tigers defense is indeed weaker with their high turnover rate, and they let in a bunch of goals, having a veteran goalie to help split that time with will be greatly beneficial. The younger goalie won't feel a burden of pressure that he is letting the team down by himself, at the same time he will be motivated by competition to perform better to be the starter in the #1 spot. Of course he could feel underwhelmed that his spot maybe taken over, but in competitive sports 99.5% of the time it motivates the player to be better and push himself.

2. That pick was conditional. While we don't 100% know for sure what that condition is, it is highly likely based on if the Tigers keep or trade him. It means that if the Tigers have a good young standout prospect come to camp and win a spot over the veteran goalie they lost no value, or could possibly trade him and gain value. It creates more competition, and more options which should create more than a 6th round picks worth of value in the long run.
---------

However at the same time rental players are usually a short term fix, for long-term oversights. If this pick was say a 3rd I'd be uncertain, but in this case I agree with the deal.

Anonymous said...

Any updates on the new arena? Is it on time to open?

TigerTurf said...

Only update was that they decided to keep negotiations private.

Anonymous said...

Thought we might see another move by now. Really wanting to see a couple defence coming onto the tigers. Defence with a bit of size.

TigerTurf said...

I think this is why the the Scott Allan trade was a bad move.
Even though he was raw last year, and they didn't have room. He would be a good option for a 3rd pairing guy

Anonymous said...

Are the tigers moving to brooks?

Brooks Bobcats said...

Hey fans just think of all the money we are saving on the interest of the money we would have gave up this june on pre paying for season tickets!! WTH ;(

Anonymous said...

I am seriously considering taking my family on a short vacation in August with the money I would have spent on season tickets this year. What a complete amateur hour this whole ordeal has been. Come the September opener, the Hurricanes will be in the visiting dressing room and the Tigers will be in an ATCO trailer out back. Wow.

sammy12 said...

If there is much of a price increase coupled with a parking fee I'm sure there will be lots of people who won't renew and people will cherry pick the games they want to see and if they don't drop seasons tickets the first year after the honeymoon effect of first year opening there will probably be a huge drop in attendance via season tickets in the 2nd year of operation.

Rroary for pres said...

How do they expect the team to be all business if the mgmt. cannot even come to terms all these years after it was first announced we would have a new arena, come on you dinasaurs sign the damn deal already!!! SHEESH AND SHAME!!!

longtimefan said...

I was told this morning that the paper work was signed on Friday for the lease of the new building.

Podiatrist Specialist said...

What, I don't believe this is happening. OMG

Anonymous said...

Call me crazy, if I am negotiating an expensive lease agreement, I am not going to jump and what they put in front of me. I would negotiate and negotiate until I got as close to what I wanted to pay as possible. I do not see anything wrong with what the Tigers are doing. Clearly people commenting have not been involved in business before. All the fans know it will get signed, tickets will be sold and the season will go on. Why do you need your tickets in late June anyways??? The season does not start until September.