Tigers lose 3-2 to Brandon

In tiger tradition, after having a week layoff and playing their first game after entering the CHL top 10, the tigers came out and tried thier best to look like future underdogs.
(a.k.a they played crappy)

Brandon controlled the game from the get go, and was the better team through the whole game.
The tigers did however show a few offensive spurts and did have a couple real nice scoring chances. In one way keeping the game close besides struggling for most of the game could be a potential positive.

When the tigers tied the game with only 3 minutes left, I was thinking they were damn lucky. Karma has a way of catching up unfortunately, and Brandon's game winner with 12 second left was unfortunate for Holfeld, who had another strong game.

I thought tonight the Tigers transition game was non-existant. Brandon took a page out of Kootenay's book, and when an opportunity to break out of the zone presented itself their was either a stray pass or the Defensman would bobble the puck.

The isherwood/coyle pairing has started to struggle, and struggle badly.
Mcue played pretty quiet, but sometimes that tends to happen when playing former teamates.
I thought cody carlson looked like he was playing injured. To me it looked like a leg or a groin problem was hampering his skating. I thought the only Dman that played well tonight was Tomas Kundratek.

One question to ask is this the type of effort the Tigers will show when Willie D is gone for the world Junoirs?

Fight: Mark Isherwood vs Matt Calvert
Dont know how this started but only second into the game they drop thier gloves. They grab ahold of each other isherwood throws a couple punches and Calvert falls to the ice. Not really sure if one of those punches connected and dropped Calvert, or he just lost his balance. Very short fight. Decision:Isherwood

Edit: One other note. John stampohar made his return tonight recovering from a broken hand/wrist.

Edit2: Fixed the gamesheets section. I missed 2 earlier games and added them In.

A couple happenings in Tiger land

The Tigers managed to crack the top 10 in this weeks chl rankings
Full rankings are here CHLTOP10.

Tyler Ennis picked up a goal at the ADT russia Challenge prospects game
Willie Desjardin coached the team to a shutout.


Derek Dorsett had an intense fight with fellow NHL superpest Daniel Carcillo of the Phoenix Coyotes. Apparently they had a bit of an argument during warm-ups.

Edit: Dorsett was injured in this fight with a broken finger.

Tigers get the bounces, Defeat Regina 4-1

Regina came out hard and strong in the beginning of the game. The Pats were rewarded with a couple Iffy powerplays on top of that, and the Tigers were pretty lucky to escape the first period tied. Zdenek Okal put on a heck of a display driving to the net and scoring on his own rebound.


I thought the game tonight was a pretty close game, but both teams made too many neutral zone turnovers. They'd each hand the puck to each other 3-4 times before one team would gain control. I thought Regina played a pretty physical game, they finished allot of their checks.

I thought Isherwood should have behaved better after cross checking a Pat right in front of the ref twice. Isherwood was given a double minor and a game misconduct. Yes the ref should have probably called Regina Matt strueby for the first hack, but isherwood should NOT have layed out that second crosscheck right in front of the ref.

Jayce Coyle had his worst game of the year, coughed up multiple pucks, and was missing passes all night.

Holfeld once again played outstanding. He looked so focused and sharp. Stopping 2 breakaway in a row on (Eberle?) was the TSN turning point. Eberle made some nice moves and was dancing with the puck, Holfeld stayed right with him. By the time Eberle was done his dance he had no room to shoot.

Regina won the first period, but the tigers won the last 2 periods.

Kundratek looks like he has a little trouble handling the puck sometimes. He reminds me a little of JayBow by the way he skates. He layed out a good strong hit on Colton Tuebert along the boards when Tuebert was admiring his pass.

Okal is definitly the suprise player of the year. Before the season started we knew nothing about him, but he has been dynamite. I would believe that he would have a chance at getting drafted in the later rounds if he keeps on playing consistent. For a small guy his physical game has really taken stride lately

Tigers beat Lethbridge on the Road

Unfortunately, I dont have shaw..so i had to listen to the radio.

Ryan Holfeld stood on his head tonight stopping 40 of 41 shots and earning the win, as well as the first star. The Hurricanes outshot the tigers by a mile 41-23.

Mark Isherwood, and Zdenek Okal were the tigers goal scorers.

Listening the the Canes broadcasters it sounded like Holfeld played a HUGE game and gobbled up anything sent his way. The win halts a lethrbidge 3 game winning streak and puts them back 1 games under .500. Prior to the game lethrbidge was 9-3 at home.

Thier were many angry lethbridge fans sending in emails after the game ended frustrated that the Canes so far havn't met their expectations from the pre-season.

On another note

Former Tigers Steve Regier scored his 3rd goal in 2 games tonight in St. Louis. He was sent down earlier in the week but was immediately recalled.

Derek Dorsett was a benefactor of an injury in Columbus. He was called up today.
Dorsett remains 3rd in the league in penalties despite playing 6-7-8 less games than the top PM guys

Tigers trade Kozyra

TIGERS TRADE KOZYRA TO PRINCE ALBERT
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Medicine Hat, AB - Medicine Hat Tigers announced this afternoon they have completed a trade with the Prince Albert Raiders.

Going to the Raiders is 19-year-old defenseman Pat Kozyra and a 6th round pick in the 2009 bantam draft. In return, the Tigers receive a 5th round draft bantam pick in 2009 and a 6th round bantam pick in the 2010 draft.

Well something eventually had to give. I was wondering if someone would be sent down a couple weeks ago.

Kozyra started the year on the first defensive pairing but after a while it came apparent that his foot speed was a little slow, and he had a soft demeanor on the ice.

I think this is a good trade. It leaves us with six defenceman, + thomas carr. Kozyra will probably be somewhere in the league as a 20yr old, and i thought the tigers may have been able to squeeze a little more value out of the deal, Like a 4th rounder. With the emergence of Mcue, Kozyra became expendable.


Edit: changed a couple numbers, it leaves the tigers with 6 defenceman plus thomas carr

Former Tiger Steve Regier..

Former Tiger Steve Regier potted his first and second career nhl goals yesterday with the St. Louis Blues. It was his 19th NHL game, but first game as a Blue. He recorded about 6 minutes of ice time.

St. Louis lost the game 3-2 to Montreal.

Tigers take 5 of 6 points on the Weekend

A decent showing overall. Being all 3 games were intra divisional games, they were pretty important points.

However with this slew of games in November the injury bug has started bitting again. Tristan King missed 2 games with a groin injury. He already missed a good chuck of time with a groin injury earlier in the year. Joey Frazer has a "Head Injury" they don't think its a concussion but kept him out just in case. And of course Wacey Hamilton will be gone for 4-6 weeks with a broken collarbone.

With all those injuries the tigers were able to dress everyone and put Thomas Carr, and Mathew Konan at the forward position.

The tigers have points in 6 of thier last 6 games, and are 6-3-0-1 in thier last 10. Tigers take on Prince Albert on Tuesday.


For tonights game players that stood out for me were:Ryan Holfeld, Linden Vey, Tyler Ennis, Matt Mcue. I thought Travis Dunstall had a poor game.

Tigers win 2nd shootout in a row 3-2

..against Edmonton again.

The medicine hat news is reporting Wacey Hamilton is out for 4-6 weeks after suffering a broken Collarbone. I was wondering why he wasn't on the ice last game.

That will create a spot for koper/carr/ the extra Dman to join the lineup again, until stampohar is back.

Ennis, Bosch were the goal scorers. While in the shootout is was Ennis, and King scoring again, while Brendan Dowd was the lone Oil Kings sniper in the shootout.

Mark Isherwood fought Czech Thomas Vincour. And Tyler Bunz was in net stopping 28 of 30 shots.

Tyler Ennis has broken back into a tie for top 20 scoring wise.

Tigers drag out 4-3 SO win

Well the tigers found a way to win but it wasn't pretty.

After a dominating first period the tigers were eased to sleep in the second then passed out in the third. Thankfully they still had enough of a rush waking up, to win their first game in a shootout this year.

Oil King Brett Breitkreuz scored with 19 seconds left in the third period to tie it up. It was no suprise as the Oil Kings put up a couch in the tigers zone in the third period, as they were were watching the tigers run around trying to get the puck out.

I missed part of the first period, but I didn't see Wacey Hamilton out there at all. Ryan Holfeld made a number of good saves tonight.

I thought the tigers did a HORRIBLE job of getting the puck out of their end. They needed at least 2 or 3 tries before it worked. I was very unimpressed @ Isherwood's play tonight. Sooner or later his lackadaisical effort will cost the tigers a big goal. He took a very dumb penalty in the second which led to the oil Kings second goal.

I thought Torri Jung played pretty well in the Oil Kings Net as he made a number of good saves as well.

Tigers Defeat Lethbridge 4-1

I thought the tigers played a pretty strong game for the most part. They gave Lethbridge little room to move, and pounded their defense into quite a few turnovers. They rolled 4 lines, and each line is somewhat of a threat.

Some Forward Line Combos used tonight
Cameron Hamilton Ennis
Okal King Vey
Dunstall Bosch Ringrose
King Ennis Vey
Gal Grant Frazer


Lethbridge started playing better in the last half of the second but it seemed the tigers were always a half step faster than them tonight. Lethbridge seemd to be struggling a little bit. They were expected to be a powerhouse this year but that loss puts them at .500. It wouldnt suprise me in the least if all of a sudden they explode and rattle off an 8 game winning streak. IT was almost this time last year where they were in similar situation and started winning a slew of games.

Tomas Kundratek played at home for the first time this season and played well. He is a smooth skater, a solid player on the back-end. I'm sure he will get better as he gets better adjusted to the physical aspect of the whl style game.

Linden Vey's line really created havoc with their passing skillz.

It is nice to see a Tigers team also lay put some punishing hits. Even the 5'8 joey frazer has been running a few people over. Mcue has certainly brought an edge as well. I heard he is gunning for the smash of the night every game, and if his hit tonight was bit earlier he may have won it again.

Everyone played pretty well so its hard to pick someone who stood out tonight. Holfeld got the first star, and Travis Dunstall got the second star. Dunstall layed out a couple real good hits, and had the smash of the night leveling a canes player in thier own end.

I would like to see a little more out of Wacey Hamilton. I think he's capable of doing more offensively.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Lethbridge's Boychuk on next weeks top 10 plays of the week clip. Shorthanded he walked around a couple Tigers Dmen, and managed to score as Holfeld went down early.

Fight Mark Isherwood Vs Carter Bancks

They seemed like they both hated each other. They were really trying to land bombs. Alot of punches thrown. I was at the opposite end of the rink.
Edit: Watched the replay and it looked like it was fairly close. It looked like Isherwood landed 2-3-4 punches at the start. Bancks landed about 3 punches near Isherwood's eye, and the fight ended with Bancks throwing punches at the back of Isherwood's head. Edge to bancks

Quirky Side Facts
This time last year the tigers had 62 goals, this year they have 74
Tigers gave up 57 goals, this year they have given up 61.
last year they had 26 points.This year they have 24 points.

Very little difference so far, except for the fact that scoring is up.

Injury Watch: Last Week Tuesday the whl site had John Stampohar out 2-3 weeks. So his status is probably around 1-2 weeks now. I noticed Former Tiger Shayne brown is out indefinitely after suffering a hip flexor injury.
EDIT: The new whl inury report that came out today still lists Stampohar out for 2-3 weeks

Tigers split Road Games

Tigers split a pair on the road.

Losing to Regina 4-2, then whipping the Brandon wheat kings 6-2.

Matt Mcue had a goal and assist as well as a +4 rating against his old team. He was named the game's first star.

Tyler Bunz was in net for the game against Brandon stopping 18 of 20 shots.

Their next game is at home Monday vs the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

Plays of the Week

Take a look at this weeks "WHL plays of the week" videos.

I though play Number 3 and play number one Were very high quality Moves.

Play Number 3 had Kelowna's Jamie Benn rip down the right side looking to go wide. Then as soon as The d-mans feet turned, Benn one handed the puck to the middle with his right hand, and cut across into the open ice. A move I see done often by the tigers players, however they can never seem to set up the play properly. Study that video and watch him set the play up, Its a beautiful Move.
1. Take a small step to the inside
2. Burst to the outside real fast to try and make it look like your going wide
3. As soon as the defenceman turns his feet, you cut to the inside
The key for this move is to be going fast enough where the Defensman needs to turn around to catch up. Also dont try this move on a Phaneuf type Defender player:)

Play Number 1 Had an Uber "No-Look" behind the back type pass from a Kamloops blazer player, which hung canes goaltender Juha Metsola out to dry.

Tigers find some Offence vs Struggling Warriors

It was a night the tigers dominated both physically and scoring wise.

Matt Mcue was involved in 2 fights. Promptly hammering Ryley Grantham and small guy Brain Sommers.

Linden Vey had a hat trick
Zdenek Okal, and Mark Isherwood had 3 assists.
Tyler ennis scored twice and added an assist.
Taylor gal, Triston King, and Wacey Hamilton were the other goal scorers.


Ryan Holfeld stopped 16 of 18 shots faced, Former Tiger Thomas Frazee did not pick up any points.

Moose Jaw falls to 5-11-0-1
The tigers improve to 8-6-2-2

The tigers have a slew of games approaching 11 games in 16 nights including tonights game.

Interesting Note: The tigers must have outright released 16 yr old Scott Brkich, he was picked up by the Prince George Cougars, and has played 2 games for them.

Tigers Road Woes Continue

The Tigers offense couldn't get much going tonight, and the Hitmen came out with a 2-1 win.
The tigers drop to a 1-5-2-1 record on the road.

Ryan Holfeld was named the games third start.
Brannan Bosch was in the lineup.

Mark Isherwood is still the teams leading goal scorer.

The tigers are having trouble scoring, maybe they should try to develop a; give it to the point and blast it type game. TO try and develop a couple rebounds and/or tip ins.

Kootenay Downs Tigers 4-2

Sean Ringrose scored a goal only 8 seconds into the game which was a regular season record.

There was some bad news however as Brennan Bosch left the game in the second period, with a knee injury and didn't return to the game.

From the highlights it looked like the tigers had their chances but had a couple defensive breakdowns which cost them.

I was very surprised that linden Vey, and cody carlson, mathew konan were scratched.

Previous Trades Update
Thomas Frazee of the mj warriors is tied for first for getting a penalty and having the opposition score on that powerplay.(Tied with 5, prior to last nights game).
But he also has racked up 12 points in 15 games.

Shayne Brown has 5 points in 11 games, a -1 and 19 pms