Tigers Defeat Brandon 4-3

I missed half of the game, but here's what I saw.

I thought the tigers played phenomenal on defense tonight. Brandon's last two goals were from good bounces on point shots. Devan Dubyk played pretty well, but might have liked a goal or two back.

Brandon I thought played very physical and were extremely aggressive in all situations. They don't let a team breathe in their own zone, but sometimes the tigers caught their forwards in deep and developed an odd man rush. Brandon also got caught being too aggressive and taking some offensive zone penalties. Their defense looks really tall, and I was impressed by some of their fine line passes out of their zone.

When Brandon had the momentum rolling I noticed a span in the second period where they threw out the Schenn line followed by the Glennie line, and then played the two lines immediately again. Brandon also seemed to do a lot of changing on the fly to get their match ups out. It cost them in the third period when they took a too many men penalty with only 2 minutes left in the game.

The tigers I thought did a very good job at going on the offensive after a Brandon charge up the ice. I was actually a little surprised on how well they held the fort in the third period. Yes they gave up a goal but everytime Brandon went into the tigers zone, the tigers would find a way to not only get the puck out but go up the ice with a chance of their own.

I came into the game thinking Brandon had the superior team by far, but I came away from this game thinking the tigers could compete with them in a 7 game series. Brandon came to play and I thought for the most part the tigers frustrated them.


CSS Preliminary Lists
NHL central scouting mentions two tigers in their preliminary lists.
The CSS lists players by league.
They list Emerson Etem at 4th spot in the whl.
They list Tyler Bunz as the 4th ranked Goalie in the whl.

Full List here: http://www.nhl.com/league/ext/Central%20Scouting/2010/PrelimRankingsDomestic.pdf

John Stampohar on the Move
After managing just three assists in 10 games with the Kamloops Blazers, John Stampohar was reassigned on Tuesday to an American junior hockey league.
http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_thompson_nicola/kamloopsthisweek/sports/blazers/news/70301887.html

Apparently John was in and out of their lineup lately. I am not surprised by the move. Trying not to be rude but I didn't think he had the hockey smarts or the talent to play at the whl level. He didn't really adapt and learn the tricks of the trade and his potential flattened out.

I thought in the preseason he looked like he had improved, but it was evident he couldn't carry that on against tougher competition in the regular season. IMO if he wants to play pro hockey he has got to take on the tough guy role, learn to make punishing but legal hits, and use his size to his advantage.

SO in hindsight the trade with kamloops was kinda even, as both players left their new teams.