Tigers Defeat Canes 3-2

Small Recap.

Tigers called up Gavin Broadhead for the game tonight.

I thought the Canes kinda shot themselves in the foot. The game winning goal was scored after the Hurricanes Coach Rich Preston went beaking off to the ref and got tossed. Their lack of discipline cost them the game. The Tigers scored right away on that Powerplay, and at that point it gave the Tigers a 3-1 lead.

It was nice to see some "other" goal scorers tonight with Kale Kessy, Jayden Hart, and Curtis Valk scoring goals. Jayden Hart was given a penalty shot and will probably get some ribbing from his teammates after falling over on the attempt.

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Brad McEwen
I was able to listen to the radio broadcast during one of the intermissions. One of the Questions Ridley asked Tigers GM Brad McEwen was: Are the Tigers going to be "buyers or sellers" and how did the prospects look at the macs tournament?

Paraphrasing his words...


Tiger Prospects
McEwen mentioned that he got a good viewing of quite a few Tigers prospects at the macs tournament. A couple names he mentioned that impressed were alex mobray, chad labelle, ty stanton and there was one from shattucks I didnt quite catch his name.

He also mentioned that the Tigers brought a couple players up to have some time with Tigers developmental coach Jeff Ovens.

Trading Front
Regarding the trading front McEwen mentioned along the lines that quite a few teams were still uncertain a bit into the direction they wanted to take and were kinda waiting a bit to see how things played out.

Brad McEwen didnt mention specifically that they were going to be buyers but hinted that they would look at thier prospects and depth charts see where they could strengthen an age group, but also warned that making one move doesn't guarentee a championship team.
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With the precedent set last year with the high prices for Cody Eakin and Brayden Schenn a couple teams who would be sellers may be trying and waiting for likewise returns on this years players.

The trading Deadline is January 10th.

Tigers Defeat Royals 4-2

Last game before the Christmas break.

First Time the Royals have visited the Arena. The Tigers faced them earlier in the year where they split back to back games in Victoria.

Tonights game was also the first game without Emerson Etem in the lineup. With Etem gone a couple other players would have to step up.

I thought Hunter Shinkaruk stepped up big-time for the Tigers. He was given a ton of ice-time and played an inspired hockey game. In just his second season in the whl he is tearing up the scoresheet. Their are some players you can just tell are destined for the NHL.

I saw good things from Kale Kessy. I thought he got a couple extra scoring chances from which he positioned himself in good spots. I thought Boston Leier came out with a very strong work ethic. Rhys Deino looked like a veteran on the Ice. I liked the poise of Reid Petryk at forward.

Patrik Parkkonen looked good tonight. I liked the goal that Scott Mckay scored. It looked like Victoria's netminder Jared Rathjen had the puck covered in his pads, but Mckay gave a little poke and pushed the puck into the net.


Trevor Cox also received a lot of icetime. I remember early in the pre-season when after watching the intrasquad game he looked a little out of place. He has come a looong ways from that. This kid is gonna be a gonna be a star for the Tigers one day, his future looks really bright.

Their were two major parts where the Tigers had a little trouble in their own zone, and in one occasion it cost them a goal. With thier new style it will take some time to get the kinks out.
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From Victoria's side of things. They have a couple players who can really fly and are capable of scoring against any team. However what Killed them tonight was their inability to get the puck out of thier zone. They made a number of self made errors that kept the play in their own end. The reffing didn't really go their way early on either.
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Happy Holidays Everyone!

Edit: Away on holidays...probably wont be back untill the december 30th home game.

Bunz Cut From Team Canada

The Final Cuts are still being made but TSN has announced that one of the Cuts is Tyler Bunz.

Medicine Hat Tigers netminder Tyler Bunz and Louis Domingue of the Quebec Remparts were sent back to junior, leaving 2011 returnee Mark Visentin as the starting goaltender and Plymouth's Scott Wedgewood in the backup role.

On the blue line, Alex Petrovic of the Red Deer Rebels, Kitchener Rangers defenceman Ryan Murphy, Portland's Joe Morrow and Ottawa's Cody Ceci didn't make the final cut.

Ottawa 67s winger Tyler Toffoli, Portland Winterhawks Brad Ross and Ty Rattie, Michigan winger Phil Di Giuseppe, Christian Thomas of the Oshawa Generals, Victoriaville's Phillip Danault and Brett Bulmer of the Kelowna Rockets were among the forwards sent home on Wednesday morning.

http://www.tsn.ca/chl/story/?id=382708

Bunz will probably be back in Time For Tonights game. But he has played 4 games in 4 nights so it is unknown on whether or not he will play tonight.

Bunz vs CIS

In the third game Bunz let in 2 goals and stopped all 4 shootout attempts. Both goals were scored on the powerplay. He played the first half of the game.

The CIS team didnt get a shot on goal untill about 8 minutes in. Moments later they had a 5 on 3 where the first goal was scored off of a deflection and the second goal was off a quick rebound in front by Former Tiger Taylor Gal.


His counterpart on the other Side Scott Wedgewood let in 3 goals and stopped all the shootout goals as well.

We will find out who makes the Team Wednesday Morning! It will be interesting, as Goalie Scott Wedgewood has played a pretty strong game as well. It appears to be a 3 horse Race

Bunz Survives First Cuts

Canada's world junior team cut seven players from its selection camp in Calgary on Tuesday morning to bring its roster down to 35.

The cuts included 17-year old Red Deer defenceman Mathew Dumba, Rimouski blueliner Jerome Gauthier-Leduc, Brenden Kichton of the Spokane Chiefs, Mark McNeill of the Prince Albert Raiders, Brandon forward Michael Ferland, Saint John Sea Dogs forward Zack Phillips, and Kootenay forward Max Reinhart.

http://www.tsn.ca/chl/story/?id=382625---------------------------


No Goalies Have been cut. Final Cuts Come Wednesday Morning. Team Canada has a game tonight vs the CIS All-Stars in Calgary.

Former Tiger Devan Dubyk Goes To Red Deer

The Rebels keep getting more bad news as thier #1 goaltender Patrik Bartosak is rumoured to be done for the season. He suffered an "upper body injury" in Swift Current.

The Rebels have picked up 20 year old Former Tiger Devan Dubyk who was playing for the Humboldt Broncos.
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World Junoir Camp Update
Bunz stopped 3 of 4 shootout attempts. TSN says Bunz let in 1 goal on 28 shots, but I wondering if that was a typo for 18 shots?


"All four goaltenders played really well and I thought there was more jump than last night," Canada's head coach Don Hay said. "Obviously we'd like to see more goal scoring, but the goalies played really well.

First Cuts Tuesday Morning.

Team Canada...Bunz Update

Team Canada held thier first scrimmage tonight.

Bunz played the first half of the game for Team White, who went on to win 3-2.
Bunz let in 1 goal off 15 shots. The goal came in from a bit of a tough angle, from near the outerline of the faceoff circle down low.

Bunz stopped 2 of 4 in the mini-shootout.
Ryan Stone outdeked Bunz
Zack Phillips deked Stopped by Bunz.
Ty Rattie deked Beats Bunz glove side.
Brandon Gormley deked and Bunz flashed a nice glove save.

Don Hay has mentioned that the #1 spot is Visentin's to lose.

One more Game Monday Night. First Cuts will be announced Tuesday Morning.

Kootenay Defeat Tigers 3-2

Short Recap

I thought the Tigers put in a pretty good effort tonight. They have changed up thier systems a little and it is working well for them. I thought It was a very close game and the Tigers deserved a better fate.

Kenny Cameron's first game in net at home and I thought he looked a little nervous at times. Their were 2 long goals he would have liked to take back, but he also came up with some very good saves including a nice stacking of the pads save early in the game.

Rhyse Dieno had a very good game and Spencer Jenson has really improved quite a bit over the last month. Thought Reid Petryk also played a good physical game. I thought Matt Konan played a nice physical game in the first half of the game.

I really like that the Tigers have bumped Trevor Cox's ice time up. He always seems to create good plays in the offensive zone. Trevor scored a very key goal to tie the game up at 2-2 after a bit of a momentum breaker when Kootenay scored off a long range slapper.

Thier were some real hard hits in the first period. I thought for sure thier were going to be some fights in this one but none developed.

Emerson Etem scored the Teddy Bear Toss goal halfway in the second period. He has one more game left before leaving for the World Juniors.

Tigers Defeat Ice 6-4

Tigers handed the Kootenay Ice thier 4 straight loss, as the Ice just returned from a 9 game road trip.

Scoring Summaries

1st Period
On the penalty kill Hunter Shinkaruk would poke a puck into the nuetral zone. Shinkaruk under extreme pressure from a Kootenay Defender on his back would drive across the net and flick a shot passed Nathan Leiwen to give the Tigers a 1- 0 Lead.

Kootenay Would respond seconds later on that same powerplay as Jesse Ismond would crawl into the slot area. The puck eventually squirted out right to Elgin Pearce who one timed it short side shot past Tyler Bunz. 1-1 Tie and the Teddy Bears would rain from the rafters, as both teams would get a quick break.

Tigers would respond a couple minutes later as Cole Grbavac had a mini breakaway in close but his weak shot on net was stopped. Reid Petryk had lots of time to scoop up the puck turn around and fire a shot low stick side against Nathan Lieuwen 2-1 Tigers.


2nd Period
The first ten minutes of the period was ALL Tigers. They probably spent 8 out of the first ten minutes deep in Kootenays Zone.

Cole Grbavac stole a puck at Kootenays Blueline. Trevor Cox would take control do a little toe drag and fired a shot top shelf glove side. 3-1 Tigers.

On the Powerplay James Bettauer would walk the line on the point, hesitate for a split second and fired a low wrister passed a partially screened Liewuen. Shinkaruk was on the doorstop and may have tipped it. 4-1 Tigers

THe Tigers 5th goal came off of some good work on thier powerplay powerplay. THe Tigers spent a good 3-4 minutes straight in Kootenays Zone, putting on all kinds of pressure. After the PP expired The puck would come out of the zone real briefly and 3 Ice headed off for a change as they were dead tired. The Tigers would quickly pounce on the opportunity and developed a 3 on 2.

Busenius would make a nice short pass to Riley Sheen who made a nice short Pass to Scott Mckay and buried it to to give the Tigers a 5-1 Lead. This goal would chase Kootenay's Starter Nathan Lieuweuen in favor of Mackenzie Slapski.

Kootenay would get a very quick one back as they started to push back late in the period. Dylen McKinley fired a shot on net and the rebound came right out Brendan Hurley on the tape who fired it in on a partial open net. 5-2 Tigers
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3rd Period

Jesse Ismond on the Powerplay would win the faceoff in the Tigers end, pass it back to Max Reinhart who fed a quick pass over to Joey Leach who fired a wrist shot on net. Bunz wouldnt see it with traffic in front. 5-3 Tigers

The Ice would make the game very interesting as thier was a Massive scrum in front. 7 players whacking and slashing at a loose puck. Dylen Mckinley would pot his second of the game as he managed to get a back-hand shot off that bounced in off of Tyler Bunz shoulder.
5-4 Tigers.

With the goalie pulled the Ice called a timout with a faceoff in the Tigers end. Kootenay would fire a one-timer that missed. The puck would come back to the point as Scott Mckay managed to battle Joey Leach for the loose puck and come away with it. He had a 2-0 breakaway but kept it simple and scored his second of the game to salt the Victory 6-4 Tigers.

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Thoughts

It looked like the Tigers changed up thier style a bit, and fed Kootenay Some of their own medicine. In the first period they completely sat back in the neutral zone, and pounced on Kootenay's Mistakes. In the second period when Kootenay ran into penalty troubles they were all over the Ice and played pretty aggressive. In the third period, the Ice really pressured the Tigers, and scored on a few rebounds/shots with traffic in front.

A very good road win. Arguably one of their better games in the last 10-15 game stretch. The Tigers second period had been thier downfall but they came out with fire and really opened the game up. I think only the 2nd victory when Emerson was held off the scoresheet.

I thought the Ice obviously didn't come out with thier best effort in the second period and it cost them.

Tyler Bunz played his last game before Heading off to the World Junoir Camp Saturday. The camp runs from the 10th-14th. THe Ice will also loose Max Reinhart for tomorows Re-match in Medicine Hat.

It is also Teddy Bear Toss night. Fans are encouraged to bring stuffed animals, gloves, mittens, toques and scarves to the game. Fans are also encouraged to bring a food donation to the game as well which will go to help feed those less fortunate at this time of year.

Tigers Defeat Hitmen 2-1

Tigers came out with fire again, and were all over the Hitmen in the opening Minutes. Curtis Valk would give the Tigers a 1-0 lead after Emerson Etem coralled a puck down low, and fed it to Valk in the slot who buried his shot top shelf glove side.

After that the Hitmen slowly started spending more time in the Tigers zone. The Hitmen started hammering shots on net and Tyler Bunz played an outstanding hockey game.

In the secod period Hitmen forward Calder Brooks would drive to the net and somehow squeak the puck past bunz as a big pile developed in front of him.

The third period was largely a repeat of the second, However Emerson Etem fed Curtis Valk on a 2 on 1 and made a nice backhand move to beat Hitmen goalie Chris Driedger.

The hitmen would press after that but Bunz played a phenominal hockey game. Bunz would stop 38 hitmen shots. THe Hitmen outshot the Tigers 38-17.

Thoughts
Tigers played an ok road game. Tyler Bunz was amazing in net, and was a huge reason why the Tigers won. I think the Tigers were a little lucky to come away with the 2 points, but it was a much needed win. Boston Leier was scratched after suffering an inury last night. Patrik Parkkonen is still out with a knee injury. Kale Kessy served the final game of his 4 game suspension

The Tigers have 2 huge games next weekend with a home and home against the Kootenay Ice.

Spokane Defeats Tigers 6-3

Well the Tigers played a strong first period building a 2-0 lead, but after that it was back to old habbits as Spokane brought much more intensity in the second period. The Tigers failed to give any pushback untill it was much to late in the third period, as Spokane scored 1 goal in the second and then piled on 5 goals in the third. Tyler Bunz played well but he couldn't hold spokane off the scoresheet forevor.

This team baffles me, they are a Dr. Jykyl, and Mr Hyde where each period is a different story. One period thier passes are crisp they are outworking the opponent down low, thier defenseman are breaking up cycles, and the forwards are hitting. The next period thier is no physicality from the forwards, the defense are a step behind, and no one can make a pass or hold onto one. Despite the Tigers literally falling from the sky I still think they have the tools to go far but....

I think a shakeup is needed. Perhaps even assigning a new Captain. Grbavac seems overwhelmed as his high energy aggressive forecheck has been non-existant. I liked his fight in the first period, but the second was out of pure frustration.

Thats All I'm saying for now....going out, perhaps later I'll add more but Just thinking about how the Tigers are playing is getting me quite angry.

Blades Defeat Tigers 2-1 OT

Blades looked like the better team through 2 periods of play, but the Tigers finally snapped back into focus and played a very good third period of hockey. The Tigers defense were making good pinches and the forwards were skating with some oomf in thier game. They had a chance to win the game but couldnt capitalize.

Quite the chess match where Saskatoon was trying to Get Defenseman Dalton Thrower and Duncan Siemens out against the Etem/Shinkaruk line.

The refs for the most part let them play, but with 3 seconds left in the third period Matt Konan took a High-Sticking penalty which meant a 4 on 3 disadvantage to start overtime. One minute into overtime Josh Nicholls potted a wrister past Bunz from the slot area for the Game Winner.

Total shots were 45-24 for the blades. Despite the disparity on shots I thought Prime scoring chances were both teams were relatively equal. The Tigers Emerson Etem was stopped on a breakaway and Trevor Cox had an open net but missed again. Boston Leier had a prime chance in the slot but tripped himself up. THe team seems to be holding thier sticks a little too tight.

I liked what I saw in the third period. Its something to build on for tomorows game against Spokane. Jayden Hart, Riley Sheen, and Rhys Deino saw more ice-time than usual and they flourished with it.

Fight
After Tigers Defenseman James Bettauer knocked over blades goaltender Andrey Makarov, Dalton Thrower engaged Bettauer in a fight.

From what we've seen at the arena this year, it hasn't mattered who throws off the gloves first or if their is small talk before the fight. The instigator has still been called.

Anyway they dropped the gloves, circled each other and Thrower threw quite a few rabbit punches in which knocked Bettauer down to one knee. Bettauer would get back up and the refs jumped in lickity split as soon as bettauer went down to one knee.

What was unusual is the refs gave both players a double minor for roughing which negated the potential instigator, and gave the blades the powerplay. The blades didnt score however that double roughing was clearly a fight.

Around the WHL
Calgary has been exploding lately. They have been getting some really good goaltending. THe Tigers have played 2 more games than the Hitmen however The hitmen could actually catch the TIgers in the standings if they were to win those games. They have already overtaken Red Deer who has fallen off the map since Rebel Adam Kambeitz has been out with injury. Regina has also slowed down considerably from thier very hot start.

5 points seperates 1st to 6th. It was tight last year, but this year there is no room to move. 1 loss and you fall 2 places in the standings.

Whos Next?
Saturday Night the Tigers take on Spokane a team that has also hasn't been at thier best lately. Spokane Got off to a white fire hot start, but has cooled off. Tomorow should be an intense battle of two teams trying to get back on a winning streak. The cheifs lost a 3-2 OT decision TO Calgary on Friday

Canes Outwork Tigers 4-3

Lethbridge was playing thier 4th game in 6 nights, and were coming off a 3 -1 win in red deer the night before. Hurricanes had numerous players out with injuries/suspensions. Their team has also been recently ravaged by the flu/cold bugs.

EDIT: Changed

Re-watched the first two periods and realized my original opinion on parts of the game was a little off-base. Tigers controlled the majority of the 1st and second period minus that 4 minute 3 goal offensive spurt by lethbridge in the 2nd. I counted prime scoring chances at 14-6 for the Tigers. Tigers still made a few too many giveaway in thier end for my liking.


Hurricane players were on Etem and Shinkaruk all night, hitting them every chance they got and some small stick work after the whistles to get them off thier game. Their was little reponse from the Tigers bench, physically.

It was inspiring to watch a team like Lethbridge that had been down in the dumps not to mention injury and flu ridden rise up as a team and physically beat someone that had more than double the points in the standings. I give kudos to lethbridge they showed an amazing display of teamwork and heart. Hopefully this is something the Tigers can learn from.

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On a postive note the Tigers did have spurts of offensive activity and James Bettauer keeps impressing. I thought the Tigers individually were trying hard, but as a team they looked a little selfish in thier play, thier transitional play from D to O looked a lot slower than what I saw 3 weeks ago before thier road trip. They gotta start burrying those open nets and easy tip ins. Their offense lost them the game with thier failure to capitalize.

Hopefully this weekend the TIgers come out with an improved and inspired effort.

Kale Kessy Suspended 4 Games

The suspension was just updated on the whl discipline page.

He was given 4 games for his hit on Rebel Joel Hamilton. You can view the hit a couple posts below. Earlier in the year he was suspended 5 games for a checking from behind double minor.

2010-2011
1 game for cfb double minor
2 games for checking from behind

2009-2010
1 game for boarding

Thoughts
I didn't think the hit was that bad, mind you the camera angle really sucks. The last suspension He got I fully agreed with his penalty of 5 games.

To me this hit looks more like a case where a tall guy hits a small guy, although the onus is on kessy to avoid contact with the head.

Bunz Invited To Team Canada Selection Camp

You can find the full list here.

http://www.hockeycanada.ca/index.php/ci_id/75137/la_id/1/season_id/177039/profile_id/178507/team_id/82853/ss_id/56000/

TIgers Defeat Rebels 4-1

The Rebels had two key players out in Turner Elson and Adam Kambeitz, as well as Daulton Siwak. Tigers had Defenceman Patrik Parkkonen out with a knee injury (1 week)

I thought right from the start the Tigers really layed a licking in terms of positional play. The Tigers probably played their best road game of the season. The rebels were frequently in the box due to the Tigers speed, and the majority of the game was played in the rebels zone.

I thought the Tigers powerplay looked really good as the Tigers defenceman laid out quite a few quality shots from the point. Guys like Reid Petryk and Cole Grbavac stepped up thier play. Kale Kessy had a strong first period untill he got kicked due to a 5 minute major (more on that later)

Scoring
Rebels killed off a 5 on 3, but during the 5 on 4 their was a scrum along the boards. Jayden Hart tried to poke a puck back to the point as James Bettauer was pinching, the result was a 2 on 1 back the other way where Rebel Chad Robinson hung onto the puck and snapped a shot blocker side passed Bunz. 1-0 Rebels

Tigers would even the game 2 minutes later on the powerplay as James Bettauer received a pass from Mat Konan who faked shot, passed over to Bettauer who slap/wristed a shot top corner.

In the second period Matt Konan fired a shot on net on the PP it hit Cole Grbavac in the back but the rebound bounced off the boards right to Curtis Valk who backhanded the shot, and Boston Leier poked the puck over the line. 2-1 Tigers

Then on the powerplay a minute later Emerson Etem fed a pass cross crease to Jayden Hart who tapped the puck in. 3-1 TIgers

Emerson Etem would salt the game away with an empty netter.


Notes
Riley sheen was hauled down on a breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot. Sheen came in with speed, slowed down, made a number of moves and fakes, and had the goalie sliding the other way but partially lost his balance and missed the net with the shot. He looked like he may have potential in the shootout down the road, he gets that shot off and he would have had a good chance to score.

The powerplay looked really good. The Tigers spent most of it in the rebels zone, and were including the defenceman who shot a ton of pucks with quality chances.

I thought guys like Cole Grbavac and Reid Petryk played really well. Most the whole team played pretty welland the rebels didn't have many quality scoring chances. I thought with all the powerplays the Tigers had, they could have done more damage, but the rebels goaltender looks pretty mobile and played a good hockey game.


Kessy Hit
Kessy received a 5 minute major for checking to the head. The angle is really tough to judge upon but this is largely a case where a bigger guy hits a smaller guy. Joel Hamilton is 5'9 Kessy is 6'3. I dont beleive Kessy deserves a suspension. But may get one for being a repeat offender.

Also for reference I'll included the hit where Alex Petrovic's shoulder Hits Boston Leier in the chin, and a fight develops. Fortunately both Hamilton and Leier continued the game.

Here are the videos judge for yourself.
Kessy Hit and Fight



Alex Petrovic Vs Cole Grbavac
-No Audio

Oil Kings Drop Tigers 3-0

Tigers are falling pretty hard right now. 4 points in thier last 7 games. They've faced some tough competition keeping the games close, but have been outchanced lately. Tomorow a tough game in Red Deer before they end thier tough road trip.

I understand that Tyler Bunz was recently sick and the announcers mentioned that Matt Konan was a game-time decisions against the Oil Kings as he was also sick. Parkkonen scratched for 2nd night in a row.

I was pretty frustrated watching the Tigers on TV, they aren't playing to thier capabilities.

Notes
Etem looks a little Off. Team are keying on him yes but it looks like he is trying to gain incredible speed off his first stride and he loses balance. He is sticking to a north south game with some small fakes and needs to perhaps put a little more east/west movement in his game. He is having a tough time trying to find any open space. Opponents are on him like flies on poop.

I know Cole Grbavac can play better. His best trait is playing aggressive along the boards with the puck, sometimes looks like he is hearing footsteps.

4th line is playing really well. Might be time to give cox a promotion.

Boston Leier has been the hardest worker along with Bunz.

Kessy is playing a little better, he needs to be a physical presence every game. Doesn't need to fight ( although he should every 3-4-5 games to keep people honest) just make clean contact every chance possible.

Reid Petryk - When he is carrying the puck into the zone I feel like he gives the puck away to often. I'd like to see him hit the blueline with with speed, slow down or loop, then try to hand it off to a trailer.

Bettauer - HAND THIS MAN THE PUCK ON THE PP. His one timer is pretty darn accurate and hard, reminds me of Vey last year.

Scott Mckay - Still think he is a better Dman than forward but too many Dman not enough Omen means he will play forward.

Tigers Vs Oil Kings On Sportsnet One Tonight

Reminder that Tonights Tigers Game will be broadcast live on Sportsnet One at 7:00 PM mountain Time.

http://www.whl.ca/article/friday-night-hockey-live-on-sportsnet/107570

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/juniors/2011/11/25/oilkings_tigers/

Tigers Snap Winless Streak

Tigers Defeat P.A 6-1. A win they needed badly after a 5 game winless skid.

Interestingly enough Emerson Etem was held without a goal for each game that the Tigers lost during thier winless streak. One positive to come out of this was that 4 of the 5 loses were 1 goal games(minus the empty netters)., 2 of them were in Shootouts.

During the last two games the Tigers were really experimenting with thier line comboz on both Offense and Defense. They split up the Bettauer/Busenius combo and Lewington and Jensen received lots of ice time, and Scott Mckay saw the odd shift on the point. Patrik Parkkonen was scratched Wednesday Night. Not sure if he is injured or a healthy scratch.

The forwards were juggled throughout the P.A game and saw some juggling during the saskatoon game.

Curtis Valk has been on fire lately scoring 7 goals in his last 7 games. Shinkaruk also has 4 goals in his last 4 games. Rhyse Dieno scored his first ever whl goal against Saskatoon.

CHL Top Ten
Tigers were dropped from the honorable mention spot, but thats not suprising.
http://www.whl.ca/article/3-whl-clubs-in-bmo-chl-mastercard-top-10

The Tigers still have 2 tough Road Battles against Edmonton and Red Deer this weekend before they take on a struggling Lethbridge Hurricane Team at home on November 30th.

Honorable Mention in CHL Top Ten

Top Ten
1 London Knights (16-3-0-1)
2 Saint John Sea Dogs (19-6-0-0)
3 Tri-City Americans (15-5-0-0)
4 Quebec Remparts (16-4-2-1)
5 Sarnia Sting (13-3-1-3)
6 Saskatoon Blades (15-6-0-1)
7 Red Deer Rebels (14-4-0-2)
8 Plymouth Whalers (13-6-2-1)
9 Shawinigan Cataractes (16-7-1-2)
10 Victoriaville Tigres (16-8-0-1)

Honourable Mention:
Medicine Hat Tigers (14-6-1-1)
Ottawa 67's (12-6-2-1)
Brandon Wheat Kings (14-6-1-1)

This time last year the Tigers had 1 more point 22 games in. The Tigers dropped games to both Tri City(SO loss) and Saskatoon last week.

The Tigers are now on a 6 game Road Trip playing 3 sets of back-to-back games against some tough competition within the Conference.

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Tyler Bunz
Tyler Bunz tweeted today that He wont be starting tonight against the Russians. He took a puck to the cheek while sitting on the Bench during the first WHl game against Russia.
http://twitter.com/#!/tylerbunz

Americans Bounce Tigers In the Shootout 4-3 SO

Short Recap... Long Weekend....

Thoughts
Very entertaining hockey game. I thought both teams have very similar styles and both teams looked fairly even. Tri-City has better overall depth from thier forwards(not often we see that,) Tigers have a better goaltender, and top line. Tri-City also made use of their special teams going 2 for 3 on the PP.

The Americans have a very strong forecheck and their Defenseman step up and pinch quite frequently.

I thought the Tigers 4th line played amazing tonight. They saw hardly any ice in the 3rd but played a very strong hockey game. I like how the Tigers are rotating Patrik Parkkonen into the 2nd or 1st line Dman shifts every once in a while. I think this keeps fresher legs and Parkkonen is a good enough player to do this.

Curtis Valk stepped up tonight with 2 goals.

Tri-City Goals
Gotta be lucky to be good...

I thought all 3 Tri-City's goal were results of favorable bounces. A puck bouncing off the boards behind the Tiger net, right through everyone in the crease and right onto an American Stick, with a half open empty net.

Also after Bunz made a couple nice saves an American Shot was deflected 100 miles an hour top corner from the high slot.

Tri-City also had a shot from the point that floated along the ice that Bunz just didn't see.

I think Tri-City's Team is a hair better than the Tigers at this point in the season.
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Tigers still have guys like Grbavac,Valk,..who haven't shown us thier true potential.

Tigers could have been a little more physical but the way the refs were calling penalties that might have been dangerous. I still believe the Tigers are 1 scoring forward away from solidifying thier forward depth.....I think a game like this showed why...even though the game was very close and ended in a shootout.

Saskatoon Tomorow..Should be another gooder.

Tigers Crack CHL Top Ten

3 WHL CLUBS IN BMO CHL MASTERCARD TOP 10Wednesday November 09, 2011 Toronto, ON – The Canadian Hockey League today announced the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings for week 8 of the 2011-12 season. The weekly rankings of the Canadian Hockey League’s Top 10 teams are selected by a panel of National Hockey League scouts.

BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings – Week 8


1. London Knights (15-2-0-1)
2. Saint John Sea Dogs (16-6-0-0)
3. Tri-City Americans (12-5-0-0)
4. Victoriaville Tigres (16-6-0-1)
5. Sarnia Sting (12-2-1-3)
6. Kootenay Ice (12-3-1-2)
7. Quebec Remparts (14-4-2-1)
8. Miss St. Michael's Majors (10-5-1-2)
9. Medicine Hat Tigers (14-5-1-0)
10 Shawinigan Cataractes (14-6-1-2)


Honourable Mention:
Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (12-7-0-0)
Kamloops Blazers (12-5-0-0)
Halifax Mooseheads (13-5-1-0)


http://whl.ca/article/3-whl-clubs-in-bmo-chl-mastercard-top-10



Hunter Shinkaruk was also named CHL Player of the week.
http://www.whl.ca/article/tigers-shinkaruk-chl-player-of-the-week

Tigers Defeat Thunderbirds 6-3

Very short recap.

The first period was entertaining, some wierd goals scored. What was being hyped as a goaltenders battle turned out nothing like it. I thought Boston Leier showed a lot of hustle tonight, picked off numerous Seattle breakout passes.

Emerson Etem made up for his lack of goal scoring against Regina with 2 goals tonight. He increased his point lead to 6 points, as Brandon's Mark Stone was held pointless. Hunter Shinkaruk has vaulted to 7th with 3 points. Shinkaruk has 14 points in the last 4 games. Teams have been keying soo much on Emerson Etem and Hunter Shinaruk has no qualms about that with some extra room.

That line has scored 57% of the Tigers goals and together have scored more goals than 3 whl teams. Impressive, but also a little worrysome, regarding production from other lines.

With the win tonight the TIgers lead the whl in points with 29 but have games in hand on other teams.

The TIgers play 2 very good teams this weekend in Tri-City and Saskatoon. Both games will be Big tests.

Tigers Pick up 3 of 4 points on the Road

Saturday Night In Brandon
The Tigers came out and had a very strong first period getting out to a 2 goal lead in the first period. However after the first Brandon started to control the game.

Cole Grbavac took a 5 minte major interference penalty and game misconduct as he crashed into the goaltender in the first period. Grbavac had attempted a move to get around a defender and partially fell over on one foot. He crashed full speed into the Brandon Anderson. Grbavac didn't make much of an effort to get out of the way or stop. To me it wasn't intentional at all and he was drving to the net, however the onus was still on him to move out of the way. I think the One-Game he has already served is more than enough punishment.

For the second and first half of the third period the Tigers were on thier heels, as Brandon started controlling the play. Consequently Brandon came back and scored 3 straight goals to take a 3-2 lead.

Late in the game Brandon took a checking from Behind penalty and the Tigers made them pay tieing the game up with 3:51 left in the game. Hunter Shinakruk scored all 3 regulation goals and scored his 2nd hat-trick in 2 games at this point.

In Overtime Emerson Etem was fed a cross ice pass from Dylan Bredo. Brandon's Mark stone was actually in between the two but missed batting the puck away and Etem had a partially open net to score the Winner.

Thoughts
Tigers were fortunate to win this one. They played well for good portions of the game, but Brandon really controlled the play in the second period. I thought Brandon deserved a better fate.

Sunday Night in Regina
Similar game to the previous night in Brandon. Strong start in the first, sat back in the second, but played a much better third period. Regina scored two powerplay goals late in the first and second periods to take a 2-0 lead.

The Tigers scored 3 goals less than 5 minutes apart in the third period, and had another goal called off after a Tiger players skate clipped the pad of Regina's Goaltender Matt Hewitt at the edge of the crease, and Kale Kessy's rebound goal was called off.

Regina's Morgan Klimchuck would pot the winner in OT off a goal mouth scramble.

Overall
The Tigers had pretty good first and third periods. But the second periods in both game were not thier best. The Tiger powerplay came alive on the Road and were extremely key. 2 for 3 in Brandon and 3 for 4 in Regina. Thier PP has moved from 18th to 7th.

Both games Emerson Etem wasn't given much room at all, and Shinkaruk was more than willing to skate with the puck. The Tigers first line was very heavily shadowed against. Brandon's Mark Stone line and Regina's Jordan Weal line was on the ice evertime Shinkaruk and Etem were on the ice.

I think it might be time to experiment with seperating the Shinkaruk/Etem combo on two different lines. They are the two leading scorers in the whl with Etems 23 and Shinkaruk with 18 goals respectively. I think with them seperated they could keep Bredo's production on the first line but also open up more points for a guy like Scott Mckay or Cole Grbavac on a second line.

Hunter Shinkaruk Player of the Week
http://www.whl.ca/article/tigers-shinkaruk-whl-player-of-the-week

Everett vs Tigers Fight Night Videos

Their are 5 videos. The Medicine Hat Tigers are leading the league in fighting Majors with 24. Everett is 2nd with 23.

Tigers Defeat Silvertips 10-2

Short Recap, Weeknight.

Silvertips had a flu ravaged dressing room, they had 4 regulars scratched.

Tigers had very strong jump right from the get-go, and never let up. Everett was keeping a very close eye on Etem, but he still managed to get 5 points. Shinkaruk was hanging on the puck a little too long in the first period, but managed to score 3 in the third period + 3 assists.

New Tiger James Bettauer scored a howitzer from the point on the powerplay, hes got a cannon back there.

It was nice to see Rhyse Deino step up for Patrik Parkkonen when Parkkonen was hit from behind into the boards.

The young guys got a little more ice-time and even some powerplay time with the score well in hand. The silvertips were getting frustrated and things started getting rough later in the game. If the fights pop up on hockeyfights I'll post them here tomorow.

THe Tigers will play two games this weekend in Brandon and Regina. Regina beat the TIgers in an earlier matchup at home, and the Game between Brandon 2 weeks ago was a very high spirited/emotional game. SO this weekend will be a good gauge on how they have improved entering the second month of the season.

Bad News
Adam Rehak has left the team to take care of family/personal issues back home. It is unknown how long he will be gone for.

Tyler Bunz
Earned CHL Goalie of the week

Emerson Etem
Earned WHL Player of the Month

Tigers Defeat Broncos 5-0

Posting this after a few drinks.....probably shouldnt' but here goes...

Tyler Bunz with another shutout. Emerson Etem with a natural hat-trick including 2 short-handed goals.

What a treat to watch this kid play and do his thing. The opposition coaches have been line matching against him and he has 21 goals in 15 games. Its absolutely absurd that Etem has failed to get a goal in just one of the regular season games.....and in that game he managed 4 assists. Thank you Anaheim for sending him back to juniors, thier mistake.


I thought the Tigers controlled the play for the first two periods. Lots of good scoring chances, and Tyler Bunz stood his ground. After two periods the Tigers held a 3-0 lead but that was a bit generous as to how the broncos were playing.

The Broncos picked up thier play in the third period, they started hitting everything that moved. They looked like a completely different team, but fortunately for the TIgers the Broncos were a little too aggresive, and ended up taking some penalties, which the Tigers made them pay for, with 2 late powerplay goals.

After the first period I think the Tigers were told to keep thier gloves on. Different Broncos players were trying to instigate fights through much of the second and third periods but the Tigers kept thier gloves on, despite quite a few hostile scrums.
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I am increasingly liking the play of Tiger Defenceman Dylan Busenius. I think he has finally gotten his shit together, and had been the most consistent defenceman in the last 10 games. Keep playing consistent and winning the small battles and you will get a contract, perhaps even a late round draft choice in next years nhl draft.

Dylan Bredo has also been a bit of an unsung hero. I think he has improved a lot already. Before the season started I thought playing alongside emerson etem didn't really fit him. But I give credit to the coaches because Bredo is a very smart player and has fit in well with SHinkaruk and Emerson.

I thought Tonight Shinaruk held onto the puck a little too long. However I saw an opportunity where I think the TIgers could pounce on. Developing set plays where they go behind the net and pass to an incoming player in the slot. Their were tons of opportunities tonight against the Broncos where a quick pass out front and a player coming in late (Bredo decoy: Etem) could have resulted in more scoring opportunities.


Boston Leier had limited Ice time tonight but when he was on the Ice he played like a little spark plug.

I thought Adam Rehak had a tough first period. But after that he had a good game. It is very rare to see a euro that is talented in the fisticuffs department. Rehak had a fight with Bronco Daniel Dale and Rehak won the fight.


IMO this defensive group for the TIgers has been the best group since the Russel, Sauer schlemko days....

Something To Improve Upon
Finishing hits/team physicality. Thier were occasions tonight where players did not finish thier checks. I'm not sure if this played into the strategy of not dropping the gloves and trying to frustrate the broncos, but when you dont finish your hits it gives the other team more space to make plays, and more confidence. Dont need to cream the guy, just put him into the boards, and slow his momentum.
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Eastern Conference
So far this season the Eastern Conference looks incredibly tough. The 8th place team is holding a .679 winning percentage. I dont think I've ever seen it that high before. IF this trend continues we might see a 3 or 4 way tie for playoff home ice come march.

Tigers re-assign Kyle Becker

Medicine Hat, AB - The Medicine Hat Tigers announced today the reassignment of 17-year-old defenseman Kyle Becker to Cowichan Valley of the BCHL.

"Kyle had surgery on his wrist in August and he is now fully rehabbed and ready to play," said Tigers' general manager Brad McEwen.

"We feel it's best for him to play some games and there is an opportunity for him in Cowichan Valley to do that. He will go there and get the ice time he needs and we look forward to Kyle being a big part of our program as we move forward."

http://tigershockey.com/article/tigers-reassign-becker-to-bchl

If Becker had been healty from the start thier probably would have been more of a chance to see what he could do. I think he will have a very good chance next year at getting a roster spot.

This gets the Tigers down to 7ish defenceman with Mckay playing forward, and solidifies the roster for now.
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Team whl was announced this morning. It is largely used for Team Canada scouts to get a look at players possibly competing for spots for the World junoirs. Tyler Bunz was the only Tigers to make the list. Bunz will be in both game on November 16,17.

Tigers Defeat Portland 4-2

Short Reviews on weeknights :)

I thought the Tigers were the better team in the first period, Portland was the better team in the second period.

In the third period the TIgers were awarded two poweplays late in the game. Portland really spreads thier guys out on the kill and plays pretty aggressive. THe first powerplay the Tigers had a real tough time gaining entry to the zone, and offensive opporunities were non-existant. The 2nd poweprlay was almost over when the Tigers were finally were able to take advantage of portlands wide PK as Cole grabvac fired a quick one timer from the slot on a pass from curtis valk.

Portland really likes to step up at the blueline or anywhere else on the ice and they have a bunch of guys who are capable of throwing open ice hits. EMerson Etem scored a goal, had a breakaway in teh first period, and portland was really gunning for him standing him up on the blueline. Etem was oooh so close numerous times in getting prime opportunities, but portland managed to just nudge him enough off the puck. I thought Dylan Bredo played real well tonight, and Scott Mckay played very well up front at forward, winning a lot of puck battles.

I thought Adam Rehak struggled a bit tonight. Rehak since his hot start has really cooled off, and took a couple offensive penalties.

James Bettauer
He looks like a very smart player on the backend. Good first pass, and does all the little things right. Puts the puck in good positions on the ice. He has a nice shot from the point and is capable of stepping up on the rush.

I thought his overall speed was a little below average and it looked like he wasn't used to the ice time/conditioning could be better. It was only his first game but I mostly liked what I saw.

His overall forward skating speed is a little slower and it also looked like he wasn't used to how much playing time he received.

Tochkin Traded to P.A (re-edited bottom section)

Medicine Hat, AB – The Medicine Hat Tigers announced this afternoon the acquisition of 20-year-old defenseman James Bettauer and a 6th round bantam draft pick in 2013 from the Prince Albert Raiders. In exchange, 20-year-old forward Kellan Tochkin will be going to the Raiders.

A native of Coquitlam, BC, Bettauer is in his third WHL season and second with the Raiders.

“We are excited to be getting a veteran defenseman who is off to a real good start this year,” said Tigers’ general manager Brad McEwen.

“James will fit in well with our team as we were looking for an older defenseman to add to the group. He brings some offense with him, which will help on the power play and is able to play in all situations. James is going to add some more depth to our team.”

“We thank Kellan for his time in Medicine Hat and wish all the best in his future endeavours.”

http://www.tigershockey.com/article/tigers-acquire-james-bettauer

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Tochkin got off to a really slow start this year, but hopefully this move helps solidy a Defense that has made big progress lately. I think with the strong play of of the 3rd and 4th lne depth players it made Tochkin Expendable.

However this move puts the Tigers at nine Defenceman, and only 1 spare forward so something more is probably on the horizon. Kyle Becker has yet to play this season due to injury, but he is apparently very close to being healthy. Scott McKay could move up to forward if need be. They have a few options to run with.

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Edit: 9:45 AM Tuesday
With this trade the Defensive depth looks like this. Changed from line depth to a an overveiw depth

Theriau Konan
Bettauer(still to be evaluated), Busenius, mckay
Parkkonen
Lewington
Jensen
Becker(still to be evaluated, may move up)

With Scott Mckay either playing forward or pushing the rookies off the top 6 charts and being interchanged somewhere on the 2nd or 3rd defensive lines. Either way there is an abundance of Dman. It is likely that 1 or 2 of Lewington/Becker/Jensen gets sent back down. It is likely the Tigers will go with 2 extra defensive spares because of thier depth and the ability of scott mckay to be rotated to forward.


If mckay plays forward it leaves two healthy spares on forward. Mckay is a better defenseman than forward, although he would probably fit in very well as a penalty killer or a player to throw in defending late leads, and the next couple games he will probably be playing forward to further evaluate the younger Tigers Rookie Dmen.

I should add that if Lewington/Becker/Jensen step up and show they are consistent and capable of being on the third line then we will see mckay moved up on a more permanent basis, but at this point in time mckay holds the edge over the rookies.

I think that the Tigers may be in the market for a forward down the road an extra punch to go with Emerson Etem up front but this is something they dont need to rush on, and they have time to evalute how the current group of forwards produces. If the current group can continually provide secondary scoring, the need for another scorer would be diminished although another scorer never hurts :)


James Bettauer
The interwebs is fairly quiet on scouting reports. He played his 17 year old season in chilliwack, then was sent down to Burnaby Express in his 18 year old year. He played last year with P.A.

So far this season he has had a very hot start with 9 points in 15 games. From everything I've read he seems to be a solid 2 way player that can pick up some points as well as a guy who likes to stick up for teammates. Bit of a late bloomer

Tigers Go 1-1 on the weekend.

Looks like their is a flu bug agoing around in the Tigers dressing room. Despite this I give the Tigers a B+ for their pair of weekend games at the Arena.

Friday night against Brandon was a very high electric and intense hockey game, playoff type atmosphere. Saturday night against Kamloops in comparison was a bit of a snoozer.

I thought during Saturdays game against Kamloops the Tigers had no legs and looked pretty tired mentally as they were fumbling the puck in the offensive zone and were sometimes putting pucks in disadvantagous positions on the ice. They didnt play bad but thier was limited "oomf" in thier play. I thought the Tigers forwards took a night off, but they did manage to keep the game close and had chances to win it.

Despite the tigers "off" game I thought they had a chance to win as Cam Lanigan made some real big stops in the third period to keep thier team in the lead. The Difference in the game was kamloops JC Lipon scoring a short-handed goal and Cam Lanigan coming up big in the third period.


Thoughts

The Tigers overall defensive play has improved leaps and bounds from early in the season. Dylan Busenius has stepped up and is playing a very strong game. Patrik Parkkonen has also stepped up his game and had been winning a good chunk of his battles on the ice.

The play of Matt Konan has also stepped up, he has been playing well on the poweplay, and his pokehecks have been more efficient. The combination of those 3 defensman playing smart and consistent as well as the forwards doing a better job at committing in the d-zone is a large reason as to why the Tigers went on that winning streak. Of course you cant leave out the goaltending of Tyler Bunz either.

We saw signs of Cole Grbavac shaking his slump during the Brandon game, he was getting chances and scored a goal, wasn't as noticable in the kamloops game.

10 Games into the season Kellan Tochkin still has not scored a goal. IMO He has largely been invisible so far at home and I could see the Tigers exploring the option of an upgrade if his work ethic doesn't pick up.

Jayden Hart continues to impress. He has been given more icetime lately.

I liked that Kale Kessy since his return from suspension is being much smarter in his physical play. We saw him hold up when a player had his back turned but when the opportunity presented itself he threw that big hit.

Fights From the Kamloops Game
Tim Bozon vs Dylan Busenius


Josh Caron vs Kale Kessy

Tigers Crack CHL Top Ten

CHL Top Ten

1. London Knights
2. Miss St. Michael's Majors
3. Baie-Comeau Drakkar
4. Saskatoon Blades
5. Saint John Sea Dogs
6. Quebec Remparts
7. Regina Pats
8. Sarnia Sting
9. Medicine Hat Tigers
10. Victoriaville TIgres

Honorable Mentions
Ottawa 67's
Kamloops Blazers
Shawinigan Cataractes


http://www.whl.ca/article/3-whl-clubs-in-bmo-chl-mastercard-top-10

The Tigers have been playing well recently and are 8-2 in thier last ten games. They face a couple more tough tests this weekend playing Brandon and Kamloops.

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Also Jayden Hart's First Career WHL Fight

Tigers Defeat Kootenay 2-1

The Tigers played a very high tempo first period, probably their best game at home so far.

The Tigers took it to Kootenay for the first period, they fired a lot of high quality shots on net and penned Kootenay in thier zone for the first couple minutes. Patrik Parkonen made a good decision to jump into the rush and fired a quick snapshot that startled Kootenay's goaltender Nathan Lieuwen on a 4 on 2.

The Tigers added to thier lead when Emerson Etem scored on the powerplay.

I thought after that the game slowly turned momentum into Kootenay's favor. Once the Ice settled down they started getting thier 1-2-2 forecheck going and made it a lot tougher for the tigers to create chances. The Tigers still got a chance here and their but it was more spread out and isolated.

Jaydyen Hart came to the Defense of a teammate and fought 17 year old Kootenay defenseman Jeff Hubic, both of them were going all out offense on the fight. I'll post the fight link when the video comes available. I'd give the decision to Hubic but I liked Jaydens courage and willingness to stand up.

I thought the instigator that the Refs added to Jayden minutes was a little iffy call. Yes Hart fought after a big hit(which in the rule book is a penalty, but the two players talked for a bit and I'm pretty sure the Kootenay Ice player dropped his gloves first. Last year we saw quite a few occurances where situations such as this warranted no instigator.

Anyway despite Kootenay Defenceman Joey Leach scoring a dribbler that barely made it over the line I thought the fight was a good decision as Kootenay was starting to throw thier weight around at the time, and the Tigers had a 2 goal lead at that point.
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Game Thoughts

Tonight I liked Matt Konans game. His smart deicions to pinch in or rush up on the powerplay are perfect examples on how to create more offense from the backend, without sacrificing defense. He makes a quick pinch then gets back to the point. Good Work keep doing that! I like seeing a player add another dimension to his game.

I still see potential in Konan for the pro's but he is too passive on 1 on 1 defensive plays. Example their was a play tonight in the third period where he could have rode a player into the boards, but instead he partially missed a pokecheck and the Ice player got a low quality shot on net and thier was a faceoff in the Tigers zone...Little things like that

I thought Kale Kessy played a very strong first period. He was skating faster and it allowed him better angles into throwing hits.

Etem was good as always. He threw a couple big hits knocked 3 Ice palyers off thier feet.

I thought the Rookie Spenser Jensen made a couple little booboos during the game that just showed inexperience, and eagerness.

Cole Grbavac I feel like he has to start upping his physical game. When a player hits a slump a good way to get out of it is to up your physical game. Doesnt have to fight, just make solid hits and it usually revs a player up and increases thier confidence.

I liked Valk's work ethic.

Adam Rehak has slowed up a bit. Needs to get that aggressive game going again.

One thing that I noticed that Kootenay does very well is after the whistle blows during a play in thier own zone. Thier whole team, jumps right in front of thier goalie and boxes everyone out. Not only does it send a message to the opposition that you arne't touching the goalie. But it also creates a 5 on 3 situation where if rough stuff breaks out your teammates are going to have your back.

Plus if the other teams defenceman jumps in, it means a faceoff outside your zone.

On another note thier were quite a few scouts in the stands tonight. I saw a couple whl scouts thier as well.

Overall a tough win. The TIgers could be fighting with Kootenay for playoff position, so tonights win goes a long way.

Next Game
The TIgers have two tough tests on the weekend as they face Brandon on Friday and Kamloops on Saturday, both games at the arena.

Notes
Emerson etem is still tied for the lead in points. The Tigers are tied for first in the Eastern Conference!

Kellan Tochkin was out with a mild concussion. I hear he should be back this weekend.

Tigers Defeat Hitmen 5-0

Player Notes
Kellan Tochkin was out with a suspected concussion.

Kale Kessy was sitting the last game of his 5 game suspension he should be back on Tuesday against Kootenay.

Scott Mackay was playing up at forward.
Trevor Cox played his first regular season game at the Arena.


Summary
Tigers started off the game a little bit on thier heels as they didnt get a shot on net untill at least 12 minutes went by. Despite this the Tigers defenceman did a real good job at clearing away any rebounds and most of the hitmen shots were coming from the outside.

The momentum changed on a delayed penalty when Hunter Shinkaruk did his patented quick wrap-around to score his 8th of the season.

In the second period the Tigers came out with a bang scoring 3 straight goals in the first 4 minutes of the second period to take a commanding 4-0 lead, chasing Calgary's starter Brandon Glover. Tough game for him as he had a very calm first period then a flurry of activity in the second.

Dylan Bredo fired a sneaky bad angle shot with 9 seconds left in the game to cap the Tigers scoring at 5 goals.

The Tigers took a couple penalties late in the game but Tyler Bunz stood tall to get his first shutout of the season.

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Emerson Etem with his 4 assists tonight is now tied for the scoring lead with 21 points with Brandon's Mark Stone.

Hunter Shinaruk'sis now tied for 2nd in the league in goals with 9.
Etem is first with 13.

Thoughts
I liked the play of the rookie Line of Rhyse Dieno, Jayden Hart, and Trevor Cox. Dieno had one hiccup during the game but all 3 of them are smart players with skill. The TIgers have pretty good offensive depth with those guys as thier 4th line.

Earlier during a pre-season game I mentioned that Trevor Cox looked out of place during that game, well Today I know why the Tigers have kept him. Despite his size he plays a dirty shirt style of hockey always fighting for the puck, is very quick, good offensive and defensive instincts, and shows a good deal of skill.

I liked Matt Konan stepping up and looking for offensive opportunities on the powerplay. I thought Dylan Busenius is starting to show the smarts and consistency of a 2nd line defenceman. Hope he keeps playing smart in his own end.

The Tigers still have trouble clearing the zone on thier first attempt. It seems to be a common theme the last 3-4 years where they need 2-3 attempts to clear.

Cole Grbavac looks like he is slumping a little bit. He needs to keep his feet moving, keep throwing those body-checks, and simplify his game.

I liked Scott Mckay's physical presence at forward. He was consistent with his checks, and was very repsposnible in his own end of the ice. He had a couple hiccups offensively with a pass or two but no major mistakes.

Etem's 2nd Career WHL Fight Video

Emerson Etem vs Jordan DePape



Somewhere in the ruckus Jordan DePape reinjures his bum shoulder, as he never returned to the game.

Kessy Handed a 5 game suspension

Kale Kessy was handed a 5 game suspension for his hit on Victoria Royals Defenseman Zach Habscheid. You can see the hit on the post below with the video entitled Kale Kessy vs Steve Hodges.


Kale has already sat out 2 games for the hit.

http://www.whl.ca/page/WHL-discipline

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Also missed posting Round Two between Adam Rehak and Tim Traber during the 2nd of back to back matchups against the royals. Rehak comes out with the win again.

Tigers vs Royals Fight Videos

Game One

Adam Rehak vs Tim Traber


Decision: Rehak One Punch KO

Kale Kessy vs Steve Hodges


Decision: Draw
Cole Grbavac vs Keegan Kanzig


Decision: Kanzig KO (For Kanzig's first whl fight as a 16yr old I'd say he did pretty good taking on a Grbavac who is well versed in fighting, although Kanzig has 30 pounds and 3 inches on grbavac)

Grbavac sat on Friday's game. He may have a concussion from this fight.

Backup Goaltender Battle Decided | Aasman sent to Spruce Grove

Dawson MacAuley will be going to Yorkton to play in the sjhl. Kenny Cameron will be the backup goaltender for the Tigers this year.

Kenny Cameron(18) showed a real strong ability to never give up and make the 2nd and third saves as well as a very good ability of controlling the puck down low and in tight spaces.

He tweeted this earlier today:" 15 hours later and have finally arrived in victoria. Also relieved that the process is over and am officially a Tiger. Gunna be a great season"

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Also defensman Ryan Aasman was sent down to spruce grove of the ajhl.

The Tigers roster stands at 14 forwards, 8 defenseman and 2 goalies. 24 players total.
It will be interesting to see if the tigers keep 8 defenseman or let Lewington, Jensen and Becker fight it out for the last spot.

Kyle Becker(injured) and Trevor Cox are the only players who have not yet dressed for a regular season game.


Link

Moose Jaw Puts Dubyk On Waivers

http://www.mjtimes.sk.ca/Sports/Hockey/2011-10-03/article-2765834/Warriors-acquire-Siemens/1

Dubyk played 3 games recording 2 wins and a loss with a 4.00 GAA and .900 save percentage.
I believe he has gone back to the Humboldt Broncos.

Tigers Defeat Oil Kings 4-3 SO

Tonight was a funny game. The Tigers almost scored the first goal of the game on a delayed penalty. The puck was slapped down the ice and it hit the side of the net.

I thought the Tigers defenceman as a whole played better than the first two games at home, yet they gave up a lot more shots on the score-clock.

Edmonton Looks like they have gotten a bit bigger and a bit faster this year, however we saw them slip back into old habbits as they took some bad penalties(9 straight) and sat on their heels with a 3-0 lead. The Tigers scored 2 goals 42 seconds apart late in the second period by goals from Emerson Etem(goal mouth scramble) and Dylan Busenius (seeing eye shot from the point). Kale Kessy then sniped a shot over the shoulder of Edmonton Tender Jon Groenhyde on a 2 on 1 early in the third to tie the game 3-3.

Shootout
For the First Oil King shot Bunz was lucky as Kristians Pelss didn't get good wood on his shot as he missed trying to put the puck over a stretched pad.

Second Oil King shooter Curtis lazar lost the puck stickhandling at the blueline and didnt get a shot.

First Tigers shooter Hunter Shinkaruk scored. Second Shooter Emerson Etem had the puck flip over his stick and only managed a bad angle shot. Third Shooter Curtis Valk put a backhand deke past Jon Groenhyde for the two points.

Game Thoughts
I thought the Tigers Defenceman played a much better hockey game, despite their troubles handling the puck on the powerplay, and the shot disparity.

When they get more help from the forwards to clear their zone on the first attempt their shots against will go down.

Tyler Lewington played in back to back games and I liked his smarts and play on the ice, despite him being on the ice for the oil Kings first two goals. Watching one game between Aasman, Jensen and Lewington I liked Lewington's game the most, as he looks smart on the ice and fairly composed. Still has some learning to do but I think he is the type to catch on quickly.

I liked Curtis Valk and Reid Petryks game. I think its just a matter of time before Reid Petryk starts producing more points, he's patient and is smart offensively. The more I watch Jayden Hart the more I like his game. Very high Hockey IQ and supports his line-mates real well. We saw him take a few shifts on the 2nd line.

Powerplay Troubles
Edmonton Took 9 straight penalties and the Tigers played the last 10 minutes of the game virtually on a powerplay.

I noticed two things:
1. When the Defenceman didn't pass the puck until after their blueline they almost always lost control from sticks in passing lanes and the puck ended back in their zone.

2. When the Tigers did get puck possession they would make a pass then hold onto it for a few seconds letting the oil kings get re-set, then make another pass, hold the puck, let the Oil Kings get set, and on and on..... They only made noise when the Oil Kings allowed a forward to walk into the slot from down low.

I think they need quick movement to open up holes in the box for those short diagonal or cross ice passes. Or rapid fire from the point and generate rebounds and tips. Perhaps Bring back that swinging defenceman power-play that creates open space.

Oil Kings I noticed
I kept my eye a lot on the Tigers rookie D man Tyler Lewington so I wasn't particularly keeping a close eye on the Kings but...

Keegan Lowe took 3 penalties all which were unnecessary.

Klarc Wilson hit Dylan Busenius from behind. I think a contributing factor to as why Wilson received a 5 minute major and not a minor penalty is because aftewards he sat on Busenius' back for 10 seconds then gave him a shot when he got up.

Michael St. Croix is very quick and shifty on the ice.

The line of Josh Lazowski, Rhett Rachinski, Tristan Sieben had very good first period. They managed to create some offense in tight with short accurate passes, and scored their teams first two goals.

Their penalty kill was working hard and pretty effective. Out of the 20 minutes in the third period the Oil Kings were shorthanded for 13 of them. They gave the tigers fits entering the zone and about 10 of those 13 minutes were spent firing the puck down the ice.

Gavin Broadhead Sent to Midget AAA Tigers

With the return of Emerson Etem, Gavin Broadhead was sent down to the AAA Midget Tigers this weekend. That means the Tigers forward group is pretty much set with 2 spares up front unless trades are made.

Keeping Broadhead with the "AAA" team also gives the Tigers quick access to possible call-ups if and when injuries occur.

This leaves the Tigers with 26 players on their roster. I believe they have until October 13th to cut down to a 25 player limit.

The Tigers are still carrying 2 spare defenseman and an extra goalie. With the 3 games in 4 nights its possible we might see MacAuley or Cameron get a start in net. both of them have rotated back-up spots for the opening two games.

Pats Drop Tigers 5-3

The Tigers did their best impressions of Dr Jykel and Mr Hyde with the Regina Pats in attendance.

First Period

The tabbies played very well in the opening ten minutes of hockey creating lots of offense and upping the tempo of the hockey game. An unfortunate hooking penalty to Emerson Etem midway through the first period erased that strong momentum, as Regina changed gears and started to test the Tigers defensive firewall. I thought the Tigers played ok defensively in the first they just had troubles breaking up Regina's cycle and making passes out of their zone.

2nd Period
In the second period it didn't take long for Regina to get on the scoreboard as the talented third round NHL draft pick Jordan Weal sniped a laser top shelf past Tiger Goaltender Tyler Bunz. From their it was ALL Regina in the second period as they piled on 14 shots and built a 2-0 lead as Dyson Stevenson would pot his 2nd of the season.

The Tigers really struggled from the top of the circles and down. It looked like the Tigers were playing perimeter hockey letting Regina swallow in to the inside and also having a real tough time communicating between transition from down low to up high in their own zone. Regina had plugged up the holes and did an outstanding job at penning the Tigers in their own zone. Regina's strong second period is what won them the hockey game.

Fight
Matt Konan decided to drop the gloves after a short pushing match behind the Tiger net with Campbell Elynuik. Konan must not have wanted to fight after a couple missed punches from both players, Konan grabbed Elynuik's leg and tackled him to the ice. Konan was given an extra 2 minutes and a game misconduct. dumb decision, if Konan didn't want to fight keep the gloves on.


Third Period
third period started off the exact same way as the second period as Jordan Weal potted his second goal of the game. The momentum would take its second rapid change of the game as Regina Pat forward Campbell Elynuik would get called for slashing.

After some strong pressure Cole Grbavac rocketed a one timer top shelf past goaltender Matt Hewitt on the power-play. The Tigers didn't stop their as they hemmed the pats on their own zone for a couple very lengthy shifts. Scott McKay's shot from the point bounced off somebody in front and beat a screened Matt Hewett for the Tigers 2nd goal in 2 minutes. 3-2 Pats

The Arena was rockin and Regina called a Timeout to settle their troops. Two minutes later Emerson Etem was sprung on a partial break and managed to tuck the puck between Hewitt's pad for the tieing 3-3 goal. Wow what a game. Unfortunately the Momentum would shift one more time.....

14 seconds later Dylan Busenius misplayed the puck attempting to pass it behind the net to Scott Mckay, however Mckay was no-where near the attempted pass. Dyson Stevenson would eventually send a pass into the slot area as Morgan Klimchuck teed it up and blasted a howitzer passed Tyler Bunz ans stunned the crowd.

Minutes ago everyone was celebrating a rapid 3-0 comeback, and now the Tigers were in the hole again. Curtis Valk came oh so close to tieing up the game as he wristed a shot off the crossbar.

A Kellan Tochkin penalty would put a temporary hold on the Tigers charge. The Tigers did manage to control the puck in the Regina end with the goalie pulled however some nervous passing gave Regina a chance to clear and score the empty netter to cement their Victory 5-3


Positives
First ten minutes, Last ten minutes.
Boston Leier, Alex Theriau and Emerson Etem were the best Tigers of the night.

Spenser Jenson played well on the back-end. He made one little mistake as he lost his balance with a Regina forward one on one and slashed the guy near the neck, other than that I liked his game.

Curtis Valk had a couple real good shifts at the beginning and end of the game.

The rapid Comeback scoring 3 goals in 4 minutes.

The play of Emerson Etem. Regina was aware and keeping a close eye on him.

Reduced their penalties to 5 disadvantages

Negatives
Besides Alex Theriau the defensman had troubles.

Matt Konan was too liberal with his stick he is getting caught reaching and poke-checking where he should be rubbing guys out on the boards. Pokechecking is fine and should be a defenceman's first weapon however once you start reaching it gives the forwards an opening.

Tigers need to find a way to get out of trouble and clear their zone to put an end to momentum changes. I'm not sure if its communication with the forwards, or players not getting in position for passes something needs to be tweaked in their own end.

Busenius and Mckay were -2 on the night. (they were 2nd line defensive partners for a chunk of the game)

The Tigers only have one defensive pair playing consistent.
Too many shots against.


Regina Players I Noticed
Jordan weal who scored 2 goals was very noticeable.
I thought Dyson Stevenson played a dynamite of a game for the pats. 2 points and a +3
Brandon Davidson their captain is very smart defensively. I wish the TIgers had a guy like him.

-----------
Side Note*

Ryan Aasman was a scratch for tonight's game, with Jensen getting inserted.
Haven't seen Trevor Cox, or Gavin Broadhead dress yet. Riley Sheen was scratched for emerson etem.

Kyle Becker is listed as injured for 3 weeks on the whl injury report.

Links
http://www.whl.ca/schedule/show/game/60201
Leader Post blog

Next Tigers Game
They play a home and home with Edmonton this weekend (Friday in Edmonton, Saturday back here)

Emerson Etem sent back to the Tigers

Didn't expect him to be sent back so soon. I guess Anaheim felt that he wasn't quite ready for the NHL. Nevertheless he will be a much welcome addition to the Tigers team as goal scoring looked to be a bit of an issue in game 1.

---------------------
The Ducks made the following roster moves today:

Assigned to Syracuse (American Hockey League):
Mark Bell – Center
Mathieu Carle – Defenseman
Matt Kennedy – Right Wing
Jake Newton – Defenseman
Richard Schofield – Center

Assigned to Medicine Hat (Western Hockey League)
Emerson Etem – Right Wing

Anaheim now has 37 players remaining on its 2011 Training Camp Roster – 21 forwards, 12 defensemen and four goaltenders.

http://ducks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=589832&navid=DL|ANA|home
-------------------------------------------------

A re-run of the fights from last nights game.


Blomqvist vs Grbavac


Yakubowski vs Leier


---------------------

I fudged up the score on my post from last nights hockey game. My post said 3-1, but the score was 4-2.....fixed.

Tigers Drop Home Opener 4-2 to the Canes

The Tigers also dropped last years home opener by the same score.

Positives

Konan, and Theriau were absolute walls playing defence. They looked good together. Boston Leier showed great hustle and got into a very spirited fight in the first period. Theriau has great lateral movement on the powerplay.

Hunter Shinkaruk generated the most offense and was using his speed, very dangerous throughout the night. (only 17 and the best forward on the ice!!!!)

Tyler Bunz let in 1 weak goal through the legs but stopped a bunch of quality scoring chances.

Adam Rehak (the new euro) showed an aggressive spirit. He is not your typical euro, has that dirty shirt style of play and continued his scoring ways from the pre-season.

Negatives
I thought Cole Grbavac, Kellan Tochkin, Curtis Valk could have played better. Despite being a local kid and I hate to say this but I don't think Ryan Aasman is the right guy the tigers need on the back-end. I'd like to get a look at how Lewington, Becker and Jensen play during a regular season game.


I liked the TIgers top defensive pairing but they need someone else to step up and join Scott McKay to complete a solid top 4. I felt like they didn't quite get that. If the Tigers can solidify their top 4, with Bunz on the back-end defense can be a strength this season.


Start
The Tigers started off the game in control, however the Hurricanes pushed back quickly and I felt like it caught the Tigers by surprise, as the Canes pounced on Sloppy defensive coverage from the Tigers to take an early 2-1 Lead. From their on in it was a see-saw parade to the penalty box.

The game was marred by penalties galore from both teams. Mark it up as a learning experience for the refs and the players as the refs were extremely loose with their call selection.

The Tigers had their chances, but they went 0 for 9 on the PP. While giving the Canes 10 PP chances.
---


Grbavac Fight
Their was one play with 5:39 left in the game that I didn't particularly like, but it was entertaining at least.

Kale Kessy was hit from behind into the boards and Cole Grbavac charged in and gave Albin Blomqvist a whoopin'. Now Kessy is a big boy and the hit wasn't overly raunchy, and anytime other than the last few minutes of a game where your behind by a goal I would 100% support Grbavac's decision to fight.

However that fight took a potential powerplay situation away late in the game (with the instigator). Even Moreso that Lethbridge took back to back penalties soon after and the tigers could have had a few more minutes of quality power-play time.


Etem Watch
Etem was a scratch for Anaheim's preaseason game against Vancouver. The Ducks play their 3rd game in a row sunday against L.A

Links
WHL Gamesheet
Hurricane watch

Next Tiger Home game is Wednesday against Regina

Tochkin Assigned Back To the Tigers

http://canucks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=589575&navid=DL|VAN|home

Tochkin's pre-season rookie camp play earned him a second look at Canucks camp, but the Canucks decided he would be best served playing another year of junior.

No word on if he will make it in time to play in Saturday's Home Opener.

So the only Tiger Left At Camp is Emerson Etem.
-------------------

Etem Watch
Anaheim lost to the Sharks 5-1. Etem had no points, 3 shots on goal, and 13:43 of icetime

------------
Captain
Cole Grbavac has been named the Captain for the Tigers 2011-2012 Season.
http://twitter.com/#!/tylerbunz

Owuya Odd Man Out

The MH News just broke the story

http://www.medicinehatnews.com/local-sports/tigers-decide-on-imports-rehak-and-parkkonen-are-in.html#.Tnvf3pv5LrM.twitter

Well no surprises here. A 2 spotter being a euro and a 20 yr old was writing on the wall. Sebastien Owuya has cleared waivers so he could be picked up by anyone.

Leaves the door open for Tochkin to come back. If he doesn't return the Tigers would be in the market for a 20yr old.

It looks like the canucks are giving Tochkin a long look to see whether he would be better fit in junior or the AHL/ECHL. From what I've read he had a very good pre-season rookie tournament and the Chicago Wolve's head coach Craig Mactavish really liked his play. However the Canucks fans says he wasn't that noticeable during the nhl exhibition games and practice. Tochkin was scratched for tonight's pre-season game, which leads me to believe the Canucks have already decided what they want to do with him.

Tochkin also gave off this tweet: "has a feeling fate will be found out tomorrow"

The Canucks also have 2 pre-season agme on saturday and sunday so they may wait to make some more cuts.

Kale Kessy Returns from Phoenix

http://coyotes.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=589446&navid=DL|PHX|home

Phoenix Coyotes General Manager Don Maloney announced today that the Coyotes have returned three players to the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) while also reassigning 18 players to the Portland Pirates (AHL) training camp. There are now 35 players remaining in Coyotes training camp.

The following players have been returned to their respective junior clubs:

Player: Position-Team-League:

Louis Domingue: Goaltender-Quebec-QMJHL
Kale Kessy: Forward-Medicine Hat-WHL
Mark Visentin: Goaltender-Niagara-OHL
------------

So that Leaves just Emerson Etem, and Kellan Tochkin who have yet to come back.

Emerson Will have a shot to make Anaheim so he wont be back for a while, IF he comes back at all. The Canucks just signed an echl affiliate deal with the Kalamazoo Wings so they have more pro spots open up.

Tochkin did not dress for tonight's exhibition game against Edmonton

Sebastian Owuya sent back to the Tigers

http://jets.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=589369

That leaves the Tigers with 3 Overagers and 3 euros right now + Kellan Tochkin who may get sent back as well, as his future is uncertain.

Left at Camp
Emerson Etem
Kale Kessy
Kellan Tochkin

My Thoughts
I like Owuya and how he can create a little bit of space whena player is right on his butt. has a long reach and occasionally when the mood hits can bring a real physical demeanor. He has two switches and when he is playng with no fear he is one of the best Dman on the ice. This is an extremely tough decision as owuya has the potential to log a lot of minutes if he can play like he did last year in the playoffs.

But to keep him you would likely have to trade Parkonnen and (konan/tochkin) IF tochkin comes back. If tochkin doesnt come back I think parkkonen could be an odd man out, but the Tigers would want to bring him back next year.

I could see tochkin as a point per game player this season, and Parkonnen is poised for a breakout year. So I could forsee the Tigers applying for an extension past the october 13th date if Tochkin does indeed return. Overall as a junoir player I like Owuya's game but him coming back puts question marks on everyone as the Tigers have some options to run with.

Bunz sent back to the Hat

Bunz had a very good camp with the Oilers, so hopefully he can continue that play into the beggining of the season with the Tigers.

http://oilers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=589230

Left At Camps
Kellan Tochkin
Sebastien Owuya *didnt play duing the Jets split squad yesterday
Emerson etem
Kale Kessy - Phoenix has a split squad game tonight and Kessy might get another chance to play a preseason game, against Linden Vey. He will probably be sent back very shortly.
-----------------
Last Edit 10:00 Pm Sept 21

I don't see any of the above mentioned on the nhl game-sheets this evening. I expect Kale Kessy to be sent back Thursday or Friday

Players at NHL Camps

last Edit: 10:30 PM PM Sept 20th

An New update on players at nhl camps. Kale Kessy and Tyler Bunz survived the first rounds of cuts at thier respective nhl camps.

Alex Theriau has been sent back to the Tigers

http://www.defendingbigd.com/2011/9/20/2437979/gameday-preview-dallas-stars-montreal-canadiens-6-30pm-cdt

Cole Grbavac has been sent back to the Tigers.

http://www.medicinehatnews.com/local-sports/busenius-grbavac-back-in-camp-09202011.html

Todays Tiger Edition Pre-season Games
Anaheim(Etem) vs Phoenix(Kessy)-- Etem is playing tonight, Kale Kessy is with Phoenix roster travelling and could play tonight and/or tomorow. Also Former Tiger Ryan Hollwegg is trying out for Phoenix.

Calgary vs Vancouver(split squad)(Tochkin) --Tochkin playing in the game televised by sportsnet pacific

Edmonton(Bunz) vs Chicago and Minnesota split squad) Bunz will be backing up Khabibulin against the wild.

Winnepeg(Owuya) vs Columbus (Split Squad)

Left at NHL Camp
Tochkin
Owuya
Kessy
Etem
Bunz

Kessy and Bunz should be returning fairly soon as nhl exhibition starts. NHL Teams Sometimes like to reward good camps with playing in an exhibition game.

Also wanna say thanks to the Medicine Hat Tigers facebook page for linking to TigerTurf.
----------------------

Devan Dubyk has reported to Moose Jaw

http://www.discovermoosejaw.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18948&Itemid=402

-------------------------------------
Day Game Stats

Wild 4 Oilers 3
Bunz played 28 minutes and stopped 10 of 11 shots.

Vancouver 4 Flames 3
Tochkin received 8:43 of ice-time, no points

Phoenix 7 Anaheim 4
Kale Kessy -1, 1 charging penalty, 8:42 of ice-time

Emerson Etem 1 assist, -1, 2 penalties, 1 shot, 12:11 of ice-time

Tigers Defeat Rebels 3-1 Exhibition

Last Edit: 8:35 Monday Sept 19th

The Tigers soundly defeated the rebels 3-1 in their last tuneup game before the season starts. According to the game-sheet the Tigers outshot the rebels 46-10.

Scott McKay, Adam Rehak, and Rhys Dieno all scored for the Tigers. Dylan Busenius was back from Minnesota's camp and played in the game. Kenny Cameron picked up the win in net.

The Tigers finish the pre-season with a 4-1-0-1 record.

Away At Camp
Their are still 7 Tigers Away at nhl camps:
Kale Kessy, Alex Theriau, Tyler Bunz are all expected back (From all accounts Bunz and Theriau have had very good rookie camps. Can't find very much info on Kale Kessy other than 1 twitter user saying they have become a big fan of his, so you know he is throwing his weight around)

Tochkin, Owuya and Emerson Etem's future are all uncertain.


Cole Grbavac has made the stars main camp as a free agent which indicates they have some interest in him. Hopefully they sign him and send him back for another year of junior. If Dallas signs him its possible he plays in the AHL this year.
If he does get signed hold your breath that he comes back.

Vancouver has a new AHL affiliate this year(Chicago Wolves) and their is a bit of uncertainty as to where everyone will fit. Their was a rumor earlier in the year that the Canucks wanted to send Tochkin back for another year of junior. Tochkin was one of the better forwards at Canucks rookie camp, and interviews with him during the camp said that he isn't sure where the Canucks plan to play him.

Sebastien Owuya has made the Jets main camp. I watched a couple periods of their rookie camp games and he didn't look out of place. Having only 1 year of junior as a euro, and where it took him a while to get adjusted, it would be wise to send him back for another season of junior however, that may throw a wrench at the Tigers roster situation, depending on the other overagers.

The Tigers open the season at Home Saturday September 24th against the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
-----------------

Edit
The Phoenix Coyotes first cuts are expected Wednesday following thier pre-season game. (Kale Kessy is in camp for phoenix)

Edmonton Oilers have said thier first cuts may possibly come today.(Tyler Bunz in camp with the Oilers)

Tigers Cut Defenceman

The Tigers cut 16 year old Ty Stanton earlier today.

http://www.tigershockey.com/article/tigers-trim-roster

I didn't like his Intrasquad game, but I really liked his last couple periods against Lethbridge in the exhibition game, where the Tigers won 10-1. If Stanton can develop his defensive ability and get stronger he could have a good shot at making the team next year.

Defense
Defense(10)
Ryan Aasman (19)
Kyle Becker (17)
Dylan Busenius (18)
Spenser Jensen (16)
Matthew Konan (20)
Tyler Lewington (17)
Scott McKay (19),
Sebastian Owuya (20)
Patrick Parkonnen (18)
Alex Theriau (19)

So roughly 3 cuts to make.

I have learned that Sebastien Owuya has made the Jets Main Camp
http://illegalcurve.com/2011/09/16/winnipeg-jets-2011-training-camp-primer-complete-roster-included/

Tigers Cut Wheaton King

Last Edit: Septmeber 16th, 9:25 AM

Thier roster now sits at 30 players.

Forwards(16)
Dylan Bredo (18)
Gavin Broadhead (16)
Trevor Cox (16)
Rhys Dieno (18)
Emerson Etem (19)
Jonathon Gaudet (19)
Cole Grbavac (20)
Jayden Hart (17)
Kale Kessy (19)
Boston Leier (18)
Reid Petryk (18)
Adam Rehak (19)
Riley Sheen (17)
Hunter Shinkaruk (17)
Curtis Valk (18)
Kellan Tochkin (20)

The Tigers have about 1-2 more Forwards to cut however they will probably stick at this number for a while depending on if Kellan Tochkin and/or Emerson Etem are sent back, as currently they only have 1 spare forward.

Alex Theriau has made main camp with the Stars. Cole Grbavac is listed on Dallas main camp roster. Dylan Busenius who was not listed on minnesota's main camp roster is back.
http://stars.nhl.com/v2/ext/pdf/2011CampRoster.pdf

NHL Camp - Tiger Edition

Jets 2 Vancouver 0

Kellan Tochkin -1, 1 shot, 2 PM's
Sebastien Owuya +1, 1 shot.


King 3 Coyotes 3
Linden Vey scored at least one goal and one assist. Full Boxscores aren't available at time of post.

Kale Kessy had at least 1 assist

Still No Fight videos available from last night.

Players Status Updates

Dylan Busenius wasn't listed as a try-out players who made main camp for Minnesota so I assume he is on his way back.


----
Kale Kessy is listed on Main Camp With phoenix which starts on Saturday

--------
Cole Grbavac not lsited on Main Camp so I assume he is returning to the Tigers.
-----
Alex Theriau ihas been invited to Main Camp
----
Emerson Etem. The ducks didn't have a rookie camp but their main camp opens Saturday 17th and of course Etem is listed on it.

-------------
Tyler Pitlick it has been confirmedby a twitter user that quoted Edmontons's GM saying that he wont be sent back to junoirs for an overager season

-----------
Linden Vey has had a very good rookie camp playing on the Kings rookies top line. Pretty much guaranteed to stick n the Kings farm system this year.

-------------
Tyler Bunz
Oilers kick off their Main Camp on Friday and Bunz is still in Edmonton So I assume he will take part in it.

-----------------
Sebastien Owuya The Jets listed their roster for training Camp yesterday and Owuya is not on the list. However they played their last prospects game today(thursday) so its unknown if they plan to invite a few more players to main camp.
------------
Kellan Tochkin The canucks made 8 cuts yesterday and Tochkin was not among them.