Tiger Turf
Fan Blog About the Medicine Hat Tigers
Friday, September 23, 2022
This Blog is going to End....again.
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
Season Preview
I'm going to keep the reviews fairly light, because I'm rusty. I've barely watched the Tigers let alone the WHL very much the last 2 seasons.
Brandon Wheat Kings
Their 19 year old age group had 2 extra 2nd round picks, but they didn't work out. Their 18 year old group has 3 first round picks and an early draft order. Those extra picks in those age groups suggest they should be making noise at forward this season. They also have 3 first round picks in the 16 year old group, so it suggests they should have some really young talent stepping up. It suggests that they should be near the middle rungs and pushing up.
Overall
My first instincts is that this looks like a team that will be fighting for the middle rungs of the playoff ladder. Their offense looks too good to miss the playoffs. If their defence was more experienced I'd push them up a notch or two.
Edmonton Oil Kings
Goaltending: C+
Red Deer Rebels
Goaltending (C) They had a big unfortunate and unexpected blow. Expected starter Chase Coward(19) did not report to camp with a congenital defect to his lower body. They made a trade in the off-season to shore this area up, but have 2 goalies with no whl experience. It's uncertain if chase will return this season. If he does it boosts this rating to an A-. If that doesn't happen this position will be volatile and could be a weakpoint.
Defence is a big strong point for the rebels. They have some depth. Christoffer Sedoff, Tanner Brown and Blake Gustafson are 3 OA's. The rebels will likely part with 1 of them.
The rebels have another pair of strong 18's in Mats Lindgren, Jace Weir and Hunter Mayo That gives them 5 strong defenders. They also have a young 17 year old import stepping in freshly drafted.
Their forward core looks average on an initial graze through, but IMO has a lot of potential. I think this will be a hidden strength for them. They have some guys who broke out last season. (Kalan Lind, Kai Uchacz, Jhett Larson) who could be poised for big years. Combine that with Ben King and some older veterans in Jayden Grubbe and Craig Armstrong and their is the makings for a very solid group with a good mix of ages. Maybe I'm over-rating them, but with an older defensive group I think their is some hidden scoring by committee potential. I could see them getting stronger as the season goes on.
They have 2 overagers for sale. Their goaltending situation could be their Achilles heel. They have some dark horse strength, but goaltending may hold them back.
Their 16's through 19's had early draft positioning. They did do some tinkering, but their draft positioning suggests they should be at a place of strength right now.
They have strong depth and skill in their lineup. I just get a feeling that they may start slow and finish very strong with the uncertainty in the goaltender position and some players who maybe ready to take a step forward in their game.
If they can shore up the back-end they will be near the top of the East, but it's a big enough hole that could sink them further back into the middle rungs.
Moose Jaw Warriors
They have some heavy young firepower and a good compliment of 19's. Jagger Firkus will be 18 and he put up 1.21PPG last season as a 17 year old. Brayden Yager is 17 and he put up almost a PPG last season. Complimented with 19 year old Eric Alairie who should be a ppg player, 19 year old Atley Calvert and a couple of import picks with Robert Baco and Martin Rysavy who will be at or near that figure. You could say their forward group is similar to Red Deer.
Prince Albert
Regina Pats
Saskatoon
Winnipeg
Calgary Hitmen
Lethbridge
Swift Current
Medicine Hat Tigers
Tiered Standings
Goal Scoring Index
Brandon 216
Medicine Hat: 209
Edmonton 199
Projected Point Per game Players
Thursday, September 15, 2022
Working On A Season Preview
Working on a season preview post with rankings. I will release before season starts. It won't be as big or as specific as past seasons as I haven't watched much WHL the past 2 years.
Tuesday, August 23, 2022
Sykora sticks with HK Nitra
This is a bit of a blow losing the top overall import selection.
*Just for depth Purposes* Some of the prospects I have listed might be wrong/outdated.
Forward
Tyler MacKenzie(18) Oasiz Wiesblatt(18)Ashton Ferster(19)
Defence
Rhett Parsons(19) Pavel Bocharov(18)
Reid Andresen(17)(.35) Josh Van Mulligen(17)(.2)
Goaltending
Ethan McCallum(16) (.865)
Ben Vatis(16)(.865)
Friday, July 15, 2022
Adam Sykora Signs with Rangers
This will kick in a clause called the NHL-IIHF transfer agreement.
If the NHL team decides to send Sykora to any minor league team (including the Tigers) his home club back in Slovakia has the right to call him back since he is still under contract.
Sunday, July 10, 2022
CHL Import Draft - Adam Sykora
The Tigers draft Adam Sykora 1st Overall
Sykora is listed as 5'11 174 lbs and plays Centre/Left Wing. Last season he played in the Slovakia's mens league, recording 17 points in 46 games and added 5 points in 19 games in the playoffs. His team lost in the Slovakian Finals last season. Sykora will be in his 18 year old season next year.
He has not signed with the Tigers and hasn't committed. He is on record saying he will play where the NHL team that drafts him wants him to play.
NHL Draft
Adam Sykora was picked late in the 2nd round 63rd overall by the New York Rangers.
Scouting Report
He is listed as on the "raw side" with the online scouts predicting a bottom 6 potential in the NHL due to his offensive game being a bit raw. His compete level alone could see him playing in the NHL one day.
Important Intangible's
Because Sykora was not signed by the Tigers he isn't under the CHL-NHL agreement. That means he can play AHL at 19. Like I mentioned in the previous post, Picking a player who is 18 next season came with the risk of having a 1 year player who is gone at 19.
Since Sykora's scouting reports list him as raw and a defensive forward, it seems unlikely he would make a jump to the Pro's at 19. The Rangers traditionally give their prospects lots of development time.
The Tigers have had a couple Imports drafted by the Rangers and they have played with the Tigers as 20 year old Imports (Roman Psurny 5th round, and Tomas Kundratek 3rd round). Kundratek played 30 games in the NHL with washington and played 5 seasons in the AHL.
Derek Dorsett a former Ranger seems to be the most comparable Tiger to Sykora with the compete level, although Sykora doesn't take many penalties.
Where Will the Rangers Send Him?
Willie Desjardins - He is known for developing small, fast speedy players. This seems like a match made in heaven for Sykora.
We don't know yet where he will go. It sounds like he will look for a recommendation from the Rangers and go where they recommend.
The Slovakian's Mens' league used to be highly rated, just behind the swedish elite and german elite leagues but that was prior to the KHL. The hockeywriters.com website lists the AHL and OHL as higher quality leagues now.
If you look at the slovakian leagues top canadian players you see a couple former CHL'ers who were mostly 2nd/3rd line players and some players who played Junior A and went the NCAA route. Their are a few players who had good points in the CHL but they've also hopped leagues every couple years with most of them not playing in the swedish/german/russian elite leagues or minor pro in the AHL.
I would think playing in the WHL would give him a better opportunity to develop this offensive game and strength but we will see what the Rangers recommend to him.
Sykora has only played in the Slovakian Junior and men's league within the HK Nitra organization so having him branch out to a different organization could be a good thing for adaptation to the pro's.
The New York Rangers Development Camp
The Rangers just announced their prospect development camp and Sykora is listed on the Roster. We may find out more information after camp on where they want Sykora to play.
I think the chances he comes over are very high. Their Prospect camp concludes July 15th, so it's very possible we'll know more information about this immediate future after camp.
Friday, June 24, 2022
Interesting Memorial Cup Observation - Defenceman & CHL Import Draft
Memorial Cup
I was running through the rosters of this years' memorial cup teams and I noticed Hamilton had 3 Overage Defenseman. I thought that was interesting and it peaked my curiosity, so I started looking more into championship teams and the age of their defenseman.
2022 Memorial Cup
Edmonton - 5 of their top 6 defenseman are 19 or older. Average age of 19.2
Hamiltion - Their top 5 defenseman have an average age of 19.4 ( 3 OA defenseman)
Saint John - 5 of their top 6 defenseman are 19 or older average age of 19.2
Shawinigan - Average age of their top 5 defenseman is 19
Previous Memorial Cup Winners. (Average Age of Top 5 Defenseman)
2018 - Acadie-Bathrust - Avg:19.2
2017 Windsor - Avg: 18.8
2016 London Knights - Avg: 18.6 (OA Goalie)
2015 - Oshawa - Avg: 19.6 (3 OA defenceman)
2014 - Edmonton Avg: 19
Sunday, April 17, 2022
Season Thoughts
Season over
I'm not nearly as active as I used to be but this season didn't really matter a whole lot. We knew the Tigers were going to have a down year. We hoped that they could still be competitive, but when Cole Sillinger stuck in the NHL, it made a youthful team even younger.
My thoughts are I really don't care if they win 23 games or 5 this season. This is not their year. To be honest, neither is next season. They are a full good year of seasoning away before this youth starts maturing.
For this season, It's always nice to win some games and make the playoffs, but with the youth they had on the roster, it just wasn't going to happen.
Protip: If you know someone that says the Tigers coaching staff is washed up or they won't last long, they are outing themselves as having zero hockey knowledge. Read on to find out why I say that.
Age Is King
In the WHL age groups are king. As an example of this, let's look at the WHL leading scorer Arshdeep Bains. He finished this season with 112 points in 68 games.
As a 16 year old he had 7 points. As a 17 year old he had 18 points.
Let me re-iterate that. The WHL scoring leader had 18 points as a 17 year old.
If Red Deer had a whole team full of Arshdeep Bains' they would have been terrible 3 seasons ago. A team full of this type of player would have set records for scoring. This is something that many WHL GM's don't fully realize, let alone fans.
What I Care About - Improvements
The Tigers made a couple trades. In total they picked up an extra 1st, 2-2nds 3rd, and Pavel Bocharov.
When a team is going through a down year, attempting an upgrade and giving away assets is very tempting, but it is also the wrong thing to do for long term success. You are fighting gravity and their is no point in battling it. Desjardins stayed the course and picked up some improvements. It's a good season in that regards, because buying in a down year is the sole destroyer of future championships.
More Interesting Stats
I pulled this from a couple years ago when I tracked all points among player age groups. The following shows us how much of a scoring difference their was per age group in 2017-2018.
2017-2018 (72 game season) Forwards
20 Yr Olds = 1.02 Pts/Game = 73.4 Pts
19 Yr Olds = 0.76 Pts/Game = 54.9 Pts
18 Yr Olds = 0.58 Pts/Game = 41.98 Pts
17 Yr Olds = 0.32 Pts/Game = 23.26 Pts
16 Yr Olds = 0.30 Pts/Game = 21.82 Pts
Lets Remember the current whl scoring leader at 17 years old, had 18 points as a 17 year old in a 72 game season, compared to the 68 games that are played this season.
3 - 19's (1 goalie, 1 player on pace, 1 slightly below pace) 50% on pace
Team Summary and Outlook
Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Trade Deadline Comes Early
Tigers Make 2 Big Trade
First off I haven't followed the whl very much the last 2 season. I used to feel a ton more knowledgeable on happenings, player talent levels etc, but you can quickly loose key insights into the league and players if you don't pay attention. As such my comments are basically trash.
Lukas Svejkovsky
Their biggest trade piece has left the table. Lukas Svejkovsky has been traded to Seattle in return for a 2022 first round pick, conditional 2nd round pick in 2023, and conditional 3rd round pick in 2025.
The Tigers ended up filling that slot by signing a player that was let go earlier in the season to OA numbers. Carter Chorney. He had .5ppg as a 19 year old in the WHL and this season was near a ppg player in the AJHL.
Coming to the Tigers
Brendan Lee(19)
2025 5th Round Pick
In Total
Their lineup changes quite drastically with the addition of 2 older players, and the loss of scoring leader as well as 3 younger players.
Their is still 41 games left in the season. The WHL playoff format has changed back to a conference formatt. The conference is very top Heavy which means the majority of teams are around the .500 mark. The Tigers only have 14 points in 27 games, and are 13 points back of a playoff spot.
These big changes as well as lots of time remaining in the season means their is still lots of time for them to catch up.
Friday, December 3, 2021
Tigers Losing Streak
Normal Expectations
Being completely honest I don't think this losing streak is anything out of the ordinary. You have a team that pretty much lost all their scoring power over the past 2 seasons.
The Covid Cancelled Season
The covid year really put a dent on the Tigers talent as they had numerous overagers expiring and they couldn't get any value from them. This is an area Willie Desjardins is really great at. Recouping those late round draft picks and extracting value.
The covid year also cut short a team that had merit to go on a whl finals run. It was the first time in a long time I had felt that way. Especially as they had laid a beating down on Edmonton late in the season who were the Favorites.
The Covid Shortened Season Last Year
Last season they still had a pretty strong team, but it didn't matter. The season was super short, and their was no playoffs. The Tigers had a split roster of very mature players and a very youthful contingent backing them up. Their were very few trades last season so it was basically a poor year to have an older core.
One of the Few teams who suffered Worse than the Tigers.
Edmonton is also a team that has suffered a lot because of Covid. They had been basement dwellers and had been recovering with 4 of 5 seasons of missing the playoffs. The past 3 seasons and this season was their prime. They lost out to a Dominant PA team in their first Up season. Then Covid basically cancelled their last 2 seasons. This could be their last shot before their "up" cycle runs out of juice for championship contenders...*This part was written before their last big trade**
If we compare their current roster to the Tigers roster; 12 of 15 Edmonton forwards are 18 or older. Half of them are 19 or older. When you have a core of 19's playing against a core of 17's, it's too much of a gap.
Medicine Hat - Young Team
Come Trade Deadline Time it's possible we see some movement. Lukas Svejkovsky could be an attractive Overager should a team need some veteran scoring. He would demand a 1st rounder Plus extra's. If their is demand for Overage scoring we possibly might see Hopwo generate some interest. I think he may be less likely to go but it's a possibility.
Season Progress
Typical progress of an above average core player is often something akin to 0.5-0.2ppg as a 16 year old. 0.2-.4ppg as a 17 year old. 0.4-0.65 as an 18 year old. .7-1ppg as a 19. 1ppg+ as a 20.
As the Tiger forward core is 16 and 17 their numbers are in line with that. It also means their scoring isn't as high as it's been the past few years.
Positive Progress
Tyler MaKenzie has quintupled his point production going from 2 points in 19 games to 10 points in 17 games as a 17 year old.
Ashton Ferster(18) has roughly a .5ppg pace after going pointless in 10 games last season.
Oasiz Wiesblatt(17) is up .15ppg to a .37ppg pace as a 17 year old.
Teague Patton(18) has doubled his goal totals from last season. (Current .26ppg pace)
Cayden Glover(17) has tripled last seasons 1 point in 15 games to 3 points in 10 games. (.3ppg)
Tigers have a 16 year old defenseman who's played 30 whl games already. His plus minus of +1 this season is very solid when you factor in the Tigers as a whole are -26 at the time of writing this.
Their Import defenceman Bogdan Hodass and Gleb Ivanov have some skill and they could both be around next season.
Their are some players who have had their production drop off including Dru Krebs and Oren Shtrom, but they also do not have the supporting cast they were playing with the previous season.Shtrom has had some minor Injury issues as well as he has only appeared in 16 of 21 games. Krebs in the few games I watched had a weird game where He was terrible for the first half, but played well the second half. To be honest though, the 18year old season is usually the toughest season for players. It's filled with ups and down so that is a bit normal.
My Armchair Thoughts
I haven't watched the Tigers very much and when I turned on the webcast I was expecting a team that was losing battles and in general slower team speed, but that isn't what I saw against Winnipeg even though they were down big in the game.
It's obvious their is some skill in the Tigers lineup. They win lots of small battles a LOT more than I expected facing the top team in the league. They were trying and skating hard. They also make some nice outlet plays out of their zone. Speed or skill isn't their issue, experience is.
Their finish around the net seemed "panicked' or "youthfull" What I mean by that is it looked like they would run out of ideas at the net. Like they had to be perfect in order to score. Looking for a lot of cross icepasses with 3 defenders in the way.
Last minute shots that would miss the net or passes that went to nobody in prime scoring areas of the slot. A sign of youth. A feeling they need to be perfect to score goals or rushed opportunities.
I saw One Main Issue