Was busy this weekend plus my internet was down, but here are a few notes from this weekends exhibition game.
The Tigers simply played like a team full of players still looking to grab a roster spot. Lethbridge Came out and played more physical early in the second but they couldnt withold a Tigers Surge.
2 players Jared Wilson and Kyle Becker were not listed on the Tigers Gameday roster sheet, everyone else including the gameday scratches were listed. Haven't heard anything news wise about them being released, but it may be the case?
EDIT Kyle Becker is injured.
Notes On New Players
Ty Stanton(16) - Very smart, and very quick. As a 16 year old he has lots or room to fill out his frame but this Dman could be a stud for the Tigers down the road. He looked very good
Tyler Lewington(17) - Reminded me of Former Tiger Thomas Carr - Very steady work ethic, made all the right plays. Lewington and Stanton played the majority of the game together, and they looked very poised and confident all night.
Spenser Jenson - Big body but looks like he hasn't 100% adjusted to the whl speed, which may not be a great thing when it comes to regular season play. He could possibly be an odd man out.
Rhys Dieno - Reminds me of Bretton Cameron, but with quicker acceleration. Finishes his checks, works hard, and also displays some skill.
Adam Rehak - 4 goals. This kid loves to shoot. He was on a 3 on 1 and shot the puck from the high slot(of course he scored). Has an aggressive nose for the net, and tried to go after a hurricane player after he knocked over his linemate in the corner, has a fiestyness to him.
Riley Sheen - displayed a couple nice offensive moves. Has nice hands in tight however while he wasnt bad defensively he wasn't winning some of the puck battles that the other players were winning in his own end.
Trevor Cox(16)- Small speedy but with the forwards left he could be an odd man out.
Jonathen Gaudet - He got into a fight early on was behind the paly but the opposing player got an instigator. Gaudet pounded on him. Gaudet, Grbavac, Kessy - could be the most feared(intimidation wise) line in the league if they happened to play together. Although it might be better to spread their toughness out.
Ryan Aasman - Got into a fight after he was tangled with a Hurricane player who was looking to go all night. The Tigers have two rookies who have looked pretty good. If the Tigers want him to stay they will likely either have to cut a young rookie in lewington/stanton or trade someone like Mackay.
Overall a very good showing by the rookies. By my account they have roughly 1 goalie, 4 defenseman, and 4-5 forwards to cut. Although they might not get down to the numbers for a while.
Goaltenders - Both played half the game. MaCauley let in one goal. As it stands the goaltending battle is still very close, with Bunz a key prospect in the Oilers system one of these two might be the starter for the Home opener in two weeks. Right Now its too tough to call.
11 comments:
Out of the group of players you go through in this post, which forwards do you think are on the bubble?
Right out the only one i can think of is Trevor Cox, however i have yet to see Cole Sanford, Chad Labelle,gavin broadhead, or wheaton King play in a real game situation.
I havent gotten a good read on every player yet so untill I do I'd rather not speculate but I'd put: Trevor Cox, Riley Sheen, Jayden Hart, Spenser Jensen as players who may be on the bubble.
On defense Tyler Lewington Ryan Aasman, and Spenser Jensen are competing for that last spot assuming Owuya doesnt come back, if he doens that opens up a whole 'nother can of worms. IMO lewington has the edge, but Aasman is right thier with him.
Keep in mind most of this is all based off of saturday, 1 game is not really a good indicator of who to keep for a whole season.
Kyle Becker had wrist surgery over the summer.He has been in a cast all summer and just got the cast off last week. That is why he has not played in any games. Now he is working on gaining his strength and range of motion back since he can now hold a stick.
you are right you haven't seen much
Ahh thanks for that info about Becker, I was starting to get worried they cut him. I remember thinking this guy could potentially play a big role on the team last year when he filled in for a few games.
Like i said it was 1 game and a 10-1 game isn't really an optimum game to watch.
I've heard lots of people talking about sheen, and the Tigers like the small speedy guys so he could easily be on their safe lists.
On both fronts the Tigers have a choice to go young or go experienced, so it will be interesting to see what way they choose to go.
Fortunate enough too see all 3 exibition games.
Hart is on the team, best rookie forward by far.
Lewington will be in the whl this year. I hope it is with the Tigers.
Stanton has out played Jensen for the 16 year old spot on the team.
However, I really like Jensen too. not sure if we go with 2 16 year old dmen? and 2 17 in Becker and Lewington?
I really like Lewington, they will brek my heart if they cut him.
None of the 16 year old forwards have evn come close tomaking the team.
Sheen may stick, still not sue about him.
Hey thanks for that. I agree with a lot of your comments from what Ive seen.
I regret making that bubble comment earlier because I was purely speculating. I didn't have a good read on a few players, and just sorta threw some names out.
Only 2 players on Saturday looked like they weren't quite up to whl speed with Jensen and Trevor Cox, however like you said Jensen shows potential.
I'm not quite sold on Sheen, or Aasman
The defence situation is really interesting as some of those young guys could be very good players down the road if not this year
Check out WHL preseason stats, http://www.whl.ca/stats/show/type/top_scorers
Tigers very well represented with a mix of rookies and vets, Hunter will be a force with good support, including a rookie goalie #1. A pretty good start to the year.
Go Tigers Go.
wow in retrospect I was waaaaaaaaaaaaay off on bubble players. All those players made it.
Although Only watching 1 game isn't a good indicator at all. I'll keep that in mind next year, and maybe take in more sessions to get better reads.
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