Saturday, January 31, 2009

Tiger fights caught on tape

Heres the 3 fights that happened in Kelowna.
The stampohar and Bo Montogmery fights were very quick and nothing really landed.

McCue laid the beatdown On Google



Bo Montgomery


John Stampohar

Tigers go 1-3 on the road

The tigers took a 6-4 loss in Kamloops.

IF there was a positive it was that the tigers managed to come back from a 2 goal deficit to tie the game briefly in the third period.

Calgary comes to town on thursday, Hopefully the boys get a couple days away from hockey to refresh thier minds.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Tigers get smoked 10-1

Well it cant get any worse than that.

I made the trek over to a friends house to watch the game on shaw tv only to have the feed freeze after 10 minutes. So we decided to watch the flames instead.

After checking in to see the tiger game score was a blowout we decided to do something else, and didn't bother listening to the rest of the tiger game.

I noticed looking at the plus/minus section at www.whl.ca that willy was switching up the line combos right from the start. In the 10 minute part of the first period that i did see, the new guy (Bo montgomery), took a swipe at the puck and missed only to have Kelowna come down on a 2-1 and score.

The tigers play Kamloops tomorrow. I don't have a good feeling about that game :(

It sorta feels like there is a rift on the team. I don't know how to explain it but something doesn't feel right. The leaders need to step up.

I still believe that the tigers have loads of talent on their team. When they start showing it and play a full 60 minutes they will surprise people. I firmly believe that the tigers have not played their complete "A" game yet this season.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Tigers lose to the Giants 4-3

Their was a 15 minute delay to the game as 2 panes of glass broke during the pre-game warmups

The tigers started out strong scoring a couple of quick goals. The tigers got up to a fairly quick 2-0 lead just ten minutes into the first period. Vancouver slowly crawled back into the game getting a pair of goals in the second period to the tigers one. Then Vancouver scored 2 goals in the the third to tie and take their first lead of the game with just 2 minutes remaining in the game.

Tristan King fought James Henry

Vancouver outshot the tigers 34-22.

The Giants Broadcast second period guest was the writer from McKeen's scouting service. He mentioned Linden Vey as one prospect who really stood out in tonights game.

3 stars were
1. Vancouver - James Wright
2.Tigers - Tyler Ennis
3.Vancouver - James Henry

Tigers had a better effort. Your guess is as good as mine as to if the tigers play with the same type of effort for their next couple games.
Good news is lethbridge also lost, bad news is Brandon and swift each gained 2 points.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Tigers win battle of the cats

I thought the tigers started the game out pretty slow in the first period. They weren't moving their legs and the forwards were doing a poor job of not getting sticks in the passing lanes.


Fight: Travis Dunstall vs Art Bidlevski

The fight was all Bidlevski as he fed Dunstall shot after shot. The only thing that saved Dunstall was that he still had his helmet on which probably deflected a few punches.

That fight seemed to create a spark for the tigers. After that they started moving thier feet, and playing better hockey.

I thought sean ringrose had a good game for himself. He has been one of the few guys who have kept moving thier feet every game, and tonight he was rewarded with a couple goals.

I thought tristan king, Tyler Ennis, and Linden Vey, Colton Grant, Tyler Bunz also had pretty good games for themselves.
Tomas kundratek had a wobbly first period, but played much better in the last 2 periods.

I thought Thomas Carr looked comfortable back on the point. (Minus the minor bloop of punching the puck into his own net)

Cody carlson is struggling, I would like to see him get a couple games off to rebuild his confidence level. He is letting the opponents get position on him in his own end.

Travis Dunstall is one player I still dont like. I sorta wonder why he is getting so much Ice-time. He doesnt move his feet, and he only plays well when both of his linemates have really good games. He should watch game footage of himself, every time he gets the puck he starts gliding.

The tigers game took a step forward tonight, hopefully they can continue that bond and gel together out on the road next week. Lethbridge lost to Red Deer so that makes up the ground that we lost to them earlier. Brandon beat Kelowna in a shoot-out so the Tigers remain 6 points back of them.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Suspensions announced

Tiger Suspensions
Matt McCue received 2 games for his part for re-engaging in the second fight.

Lethbridge Suspensions
Dwight King gets 5 games for jumping off the bench
Craig Orfino gets 3 games for jumping off the bench
Lethbridge's Coach Micheal Dyck gets 5 games and a $500 fine for letting his players off the bench
Lethbridge as a team was fined $500 for having players leave the bench

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Canes-Tigers Brawl....video included

I was expecting allot worse reading the white board.

What mcCue did to Scevoir is exactly the same thing as to what Ben Wright was doing to Jayce Coyle. Both players were in the scrum both were targeted and had to engage in a fight.

The canes fans have a point that mcCue picked on a player that doesn't fight. But neither does jayce coyle. Not really honorable but if your in the scrum you gotta be prepared.

McCue looked pretty winded after his first fight, and Dwight King was tossing him around


Not only did Beach instigate the whole fight, but he went after another player when the linesman was escorting him to the box. If that doesn't happen McCue doesn't go back to help out, and 2 canes don't jump off the bench.

Suspension Gueses
I would guess that King, and Orfino (the players who jumped off the bench) Will get a handful of games for their actions. The nhl has a 10 game suspension rule. The outcome to as who won the fight should have no implication to the amount of games they get. Both players should get the same penalty. I would guess the whl will give out a 6-8 game suspension.

McCue I briefly checked the records and i think that his is first 2 game misconducts this year. He may get a game suspension for re-engaging in the scrum after his first fight.(If it is indeed his 3rd GM of the season he will probably get 2 games)

Kyle BEach may also have some discipline handed to him for instigating the whole ordeal twofold. He should get a similar punishment to what mccue gets, unless Beach's (repear-offender status) will add another element to his punishment. I would guess one game + whatever the whl gives him for repeat offender

no doubt both teams will get fined $500+ for their part in the brawl. Lethbridge may get an increase fine due to players hoping over the bench.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Tigers lose 7-5 to the canes

I predicted a 5-3 canes win. I was 2 goals off on each side. :)

I was listening to the canes broadcast and I cannot stand their color commentator. Constantly interrupts the play by play guy and looses his cool during emotional times in the games.

The tigers gave up 4 leads and the Canes overtook them in the third. The canes Outshot the tigers 18-5 in the third. Thats 4 of the last 5 games where they've apparently failed to show up in the third period. Maybe some conditioning should be in the works.

BIG Brewhaha in the third

The Tigers/Canes rivalry was awakened tonight. From what I've gathered on the radio from the canes side, Lethbridge's Kyle beach started showboating after he had a wide open breakaway empty netter.

The tigers took exception, someone threw a stick trying to stop the breakaway, McCue went after Beach, Colton Scevior stepped in and McCue promptly pounded him into the ice, and there was blood everywhere. The tigers had an extra man because they pulled thier goaltender, so two hurricanes players stepped off the bench and took on McCue. (Dwight king, Craig Orfino)
Apparently King got the better of McCue at the end.

McCue ended up with 2 fighting majors and 2 game misconducts. I cant remember off the top of my head but if McCue has had a game misconduct in a previous game he would be suspended 1 game for accumulating 3 game misconducts.

No doubt the whl will review this. Suspensions and fines could be handed out to some degree.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Tigers squeak out a 6-5 SO win

I don't mean to sound so negative but I have been really disappointed in the tigers overall defensive game during the last few home games. The amount of mistakes their making is not tiger- hockey like.

Not only are the defense making horrible pass decisions, but quite frequently someone will get out of position and leave their area of coverage open + a variety of other mistakes. I hope they look at their video and work on a solution to fix things because they are playing pretty horrible in their own end.

Tigers play Lethbridge tomorow
I am gonna guess a 5-3 Canes win.

The canes have just barely lost to the blades and giants in overtime, the tigers will have thier hands full.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Tigers beat Rebels 5-1

I thought the tigers put forth the same effort they did vs Saskatoon, they got lucky with some weak play by the rebels net-minder in the first period. The young rebels lineup really only have one line that is a threat on the ice, and to boot their leading scoring was out with an injury.

It was about time that Bosch was put back on Tyler Ennis' line. Bosch has been underperforming/struggling. Prior to tonight he had only had 2 goals in his last 20 games. I am wondering if his job as "captain" is affecting his on ice performance, Or if playing with a floater(dunstall) has something to do with it.

Dunstall has been struggling pretty badly as of late as well. 1 goal in his last ten games, doesn't cut it for a 19yr old. He needs to get his ass in gear and learn to skate when he isn't in the offensive zone.

Joey Frazer has been catching my eye. He has been battling pretty hard, and his skating has improved allot. He has been an exciting player to watch, winning allot of one on one battles. He sort of reminds me of Brandon Kozun of the Hitmen, a small but powerul forward.


The Isherwood vs Cullen Morin fight was a pretty good one. It was a fairly lengthy bout and both guys got some good punches in. The linesman stepped in too early. Isherwood has been playing better defensively than he had been playing before Christmas. I could hear a roar from each bench whenever a player landed a good shot.

McCue had another bad game tonight, he is taking too many unnecessary penalties.

Game on Tuesday vs Chilliwack.
Chilliwack just suprisingly knocked of calgary!

Friday, January 16, 2009

Tigers bloodied by the blades 5-0

Well I was pretty fed up with the tigers play, so I left halfway through the third period. They made tons of bad puck decisions, and Holfeld was left out to dry for the second Home-game in a row.

I saw allot of players developing lazy habits, like not back checking, waving at pucks. Defenceman making poor decisions as to where they should be on the ice. The forwards aren't crashing the net but skating around the perimeter.Some players are trying to skate the puck in the zone by themselves.

Cody Carlson, Brennan Bosch, Matt McCue, Zdenek Okal, all played terrible. IMO

-When will they convert a 2on1?
I have been watching them for a while, and the last few games they haven't been making good decisions.

The players ends up waiting and letting the oppositions defenceman get set, the forward runs out of room, and the tigers make a low percentage pass, which gets picked off.

The defenceman's job on a 2v1 is to angle the puck carrier out, while making sure a pass does not get through. The tigers are making it too easy for the opposition. Why not make a couple quick passes just after the blueline to make the defender lose his center ground, or to at least get the goalie moving.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Tigers vs Giants thoughts

Well i was looking forward to this game for a long time, and it didn't disappoint. It was kinda unfair that Kane wasn't dressed because of the prospects game.

The game was really close the 6-2 score showed how rattled the tigers got at the end of the game. I thought both teams showed alot of poor sportsmanship at the end of the game. Both teams were mouthing off. Thats all I'll say about that.


Why is vancouver so good?

Play away from the puck - Their like a receiver in football, they try to gain any advantage possible to get open for a pass. Their by far superior to any team ive seen this year in that department. The defensemans outlet pass is only as good as thier forwards ability to get open.
(I liked how thier dmen went D to D then circled backwards a few steps to get open for another pass if need be)

Puck side Attack - They all converge onto one side. They are fast enough , and have enough sticks in the passing lanes that a pass across the ice isn't that dangerous, 3 fowards against 2 forwards breaking out wins them alot of battles.

Skating and puck smarts. - They bolt apart as soon as they get puck possesion. Thier feet never stop moving. They keep thier sticks in passing lanes, pokecheck efectively, and lean on players for body posistion. They also have a variety of set plays that hepl them get an edge


I thought Linden Vey, and tyler ennis were on fire tonight. I wish for them to play that way every night. To me it looked like Vey was a pro playing in a boys league.
(That game alone bolted his ranking up a good 10 players)
I thought Mathew Konan, tristan king, and taylor gal, john stampohar, joey frazer also had pretty good games. Holfeld had a decent game. Nothing spectacular, but he played decent enough.

If these boys can play as good as they did tonight, thier is no way they dont have Home-ice in the first round. They set the benchmark for the rest of the year. Anything less than an effort they showed tonight is a night of wasted potential.


Edit: Wacey Hamlton Will be out for a while recovering from a broken ankle.

Monday, January 12, 2009

2 Tigers on nhl central scouting lists

These are North American Skaters Only

108 VEY, LINDEN
197 KONAN, MATTHEW

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Derek Dorsett

Scored his second goal this year for the Columbus Blue Jackets. He finished off a nice 2 on 1 play last night during a 4-2 Win over the Minnesota Wild.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

TIgers beat the broncs 5-1

I thought that in tonights game the bounces went all the tigers way. Swift was kicking the tigers left, right, and center during the opening 10 minutes.

Ennis was left wide open in the slot and scored the first goal, Joey frazer scored a nice shot of the face-off, and ringrose went shelf daddy on the powerplay, and a bad period suddenly turns into a pretty good 3-0 lead.

Again in the second the Bronco's were all over the tigers, outskating and winning 75% of the battles. Then MCUE layed out the BOOM on keegan Danserau in the corner, remade him into the tigers newest advertisement along the boards. Bronco forward matt Tassone took exception, and instigated a fight. It didnt last long as MCCUE got the tko landing a couple hard punches that sent Tassone to the ice.

That shift changed the momentum big time in the tigers favor, the tigers potted 2 more goals during the next couple minutes of play, and were in control of the game.

Joey Frazer really impressed me tonight. He won quite a few battles. I thought Sean Ringrose came out and played a pretty solid game as well. Of course McCue also had a good game with that bone crunching shift in the second. I thought Cody carlson had bit of a rough game out there, it seemed like his mind was somewhere else. I also thought Stampohar looked a little lost.

Edit: I heard on the radio that Ridley mentioned something about getting a good look at the new guy Bo Montgomery on Monday. I just caught the trail end of his bit with Tyler Ennis on the radio.

Tigers Make One trade

The Portland Winter Hawks have acquired a 5th round conditional draft pick in the 2010 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft from Medicine Hat in exchange for the rights to defenseman Bo Montgomery.

From what I've heard he is a tough character with potential who isn't afraid of sticking up for teamates. Not much else is known. I looked up stats for Regina University mens hockey team but he is not listed their. He may not join the team until next year.

Do the tigers make trades with anybody else except portland?

I don't think the Broncos will have their latest additions Negrin, or strickland in time for tonights game. Its possible that Morgan Clark is in the lineup tonight, but i haven't heard anything about it.

Turns out we didn't lose much for trading away Shayne brown earlier in the year. Brown played 11 games for the silvertips before suffering a hip Injury. Apparently he has suffered a rehabilitation setback and will require season-ending surgery.

Trade deadline day is over......Time to route the broncos

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Mcue Returns

Today one of the radio stations is reporting Mcue is on his way back to tiger town.

The word on the street is that Anaheim's injury situation took a turn for the better, and they decided they will not need McCue up this year. It is excellent news for the tigers.

Edit: McCue was having immigration issues which were preventing him from playing with the Iowa chops. Anaheims Ahl affiliate is still having injury problems on their blue line, having to call up a career Echl Minor league player as a result of the injuries. www.Tigershockey.com is reporting the same thing

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Trade Deadline around the Corner

The question remains what will the tigers do?

Tomorrow it will finally allow Willie D. TO come home read his notes on other players and contact his scouts for opinions. I'm sure Clouston has been talking to other teams and finding out what exactly is on the market, and the prices.

Most likely the tigers will be looking for an 18 yr old defenseman, perhaps a 17 yr old with potential who is a victim of the numbers game on another team. Ridley mentioned tonight that the tigers appear to have something on the table, depending on the next phone call.

I thought about the tigers trading a guy like Dunstall. Perhaps it happens if someone overpays for him(vancouver,spokane,tri-city,saskatoon,kelowna) I dont see Ennis getting dealt unless someone is offering a deal of the century.

Edit: Tigers took their 3rd game vs red Deer in the centrium into overtime.
Tiger Shooters
Tristan King: No Goal:No shot
Bretton Cameron: No Goal
Mark Isherwood: GOAL!- squeaked out of rebels glove
Rebels Shooters
Landon Ferarro: No-Goal:Post
Willie Coetzee:No Goal:No shot
Brett Ferguson: No Goal

TIGERS WIN 4-3!

Some Portland Winterhawks fans are irate at the Medicine Hat News. The MH news were the first to report that Former tiger goalie Tomas Vovrada was coming to portland after the WJC. It Sparked alot of rumours that winterhawks goalie Mucha was being dealt. Turns out all portland did was list him in case of an emergency situation.Vosvrada returned to teh czech republic

It appears that 15 yr old Dylan Busenius was sent home after playing in 3 out of the 5 maximum games allowed. 15 yr olds can only play 5 games until thier teams get knocked out of the playoffs. Plus Those 5 games cannot be played when there is a scheduling conflict of thier primary team.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Canada WIns Gold!

Canada saved their best game for the end. Anything I say here about the game will probably be a repeat of the thoughts said by tsn, so I wont bother! :)

I thought Tyler Ennis didn't have his best games. He made a couple good plays, and hit the post in the gold medal game. He looked a little hesitant and not sure where to go. Every time he had the puck he was clobbered pretty good. I imagine its hard to get your feet going when your used to playing 20+ minutes a game whereas in these tournaments he was playing about 4 shifts a period, when no penalties were being called. However 7 points in 6 games is still pretty awesome. I am extremely excited that one of his dreams has come true winning a gold Medal at the 2009 World Junior Hockey Championship.

I liked how during an end game interview Tavares Mentioned Willie D. on doing a great job with Canada's penalty kill as they had their work cut out for them against sweden!


Zdenek Okal had a bit of a sour ending to his tournament. First he scored a goal at the beggining of the third period. But He picked up a 2 minute penalty and 10 minute misconduct with a two minutes left in the third period of a 2-2 tie game for a hit to the head. The U.S.A eventually won the 5th place game winning 3-2 in overtime.

Okal finished the tourney with 3 goals 2 assists for 5 points in 6 games as well as 18 penalty minutes and a -2 rating.

Tomas Kundratek was one of the Czech's better players on the ice. First pairing/Powerplay/Penalty kill. He finished the tourney with 6 assists for 6 points in 6 games with 10 minutes in penalties and a +0 plus/minus.


Tiger Game on Saturday vs the Broncos. I wouldn't be suprised if everyone that played at the tourny will still be resting.

Willie Desjardin however will get no time off. After he flies home he will be busy with trade deadline deals before he gets any down time.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Tigers call Up 1st round puck Dylan Busenius

Earlier the tigers said they were gonna call up someone for a short term fix on their blueline.
That call up is 15 yr old 1st round(16th overall) Defensman Dylan Busenius.
Busenius plys for the J. Ennis kings in the Alberta Midget hockey league.

The tigers dont play their next home game until January 10th in what could potentially be his last eligible game before he reaches the maximum as a 15 yr old.

Assistant Coach Darren Kruger said in the MEdicine Hat News that they will definitly bring someone in, its just a matter of time to see who they can get and when they can get him.


I was just thinking on what kind of team the Tigers could of had if everybody had reported.
-Star NCAA Forward Colin Wilson
- Potential first/second round nhl pick Dylan Olsen
-Andrew Macwilliam(former ajhl star, and 6th round pick of the Leafs)
- Tyler Gronn - 19 yr old former ajhl star forward

Thursday, January 1, 2009

BIG win for team Canada

After going down 3-0 I'm sure Many Canadian fans were getting a little worried. But what A COMEBACK. The first period was the best period of hockey i have watched in 2008, and in style being the last day of the year. HEck the whole game was a blast to watch. The flames/oilers game afterwards just didnt have the same energy level.

I initially suspected Ennis had some type of injury and thats why he wasn't playing much in the first, but their were also allot of penalties called. When Ennis had a really good shift Quinn decided to double shift him a few times in the second period. He played a regular shift in the third period. I think he is playing with a "lower body" injury.

Ennis has quietly been racking up the points and sits 9th overall in the tourney with 7 points in 4 games

TSN MILLIONARE SHOOTOUT
-Unfortunately the guy only managed 13/20 pucks in the net. He needed 15/20 to win the million. However he still managed to win a truck for himself and his 2 friends who were with him. I understand he had been practicing 1-3 hours a day for the last couple weeks. After shooting the last puck he threw up his arms and shrugged, but remained expresionless when the camera zoomed in on him. I wouldn't doubt he's beside himself tonight. I know if that was me I'd probably be pretty pissed and angry for the next few days/weeks.



Czech Republic
Thomas Kundratek has been one of the best Czech Players on the ice. He has been their go-to guy on Defense playing first line minutes and first unit on the powerplay. Kundratek has 6 points in 4 games all assists with a +2 rating.

Zdenek Okal has been doing O.K as well. He has 2 goals and 2 assists in 4 games with a -2 rating.
Okal has been playing on the Czech's 4th line.

Team Canada
Zach Boychuk of the Lethbridge Hurricanes was checked hard into the boards during the third period of the U.S/Canada game. He came back played one shift then left the game. Afterwards he was seen walking out on crutches and a boot. The way he fell looked pretty bad, his leg was snapped back to the side. No word on the extent of the injury.


Tigers Defense

The news reported that the Tigers brass will be evaluating on what route to take to fill the overager/defensman slot in the next few days. In the mean time the tigers will call up a list player to fill the void. A specific player hasn't been named yet.


Jesse Dudas from the broncos, to fill the Overager spot??
At first it doesn't seem like the price for Dudas would be very high because ultimately he is an injury prone 20 yr who has been out all this season.

Kelowna needs an overager, and regina has a spot open. If kelowna/regina/Tigers get involved perhaps that 5th round pick he's probably worth may turn into a 2nd/3rd rounder. I assume the broncos first choice however would be to deal him to somebody not in their conference.