It was a wild affair down in Tiger Town. Lots of hard hits being thrown by both teams. Early in the game Kale Kessy levelled Graham Hood twice with hard open ice hits. Emerson Etem knocked 3 or 4 guys over with hard hits. Lethbridge double teamed both Hunter Shankaruk and James Bettauer with hard hits. Every couple minutes another body was hitting the ice.
Hunter Shinkaruk came very close to getting his 50th goal of the year. He scored a hat-trick by the mid-point of the game, and couldn't convert on an empty net 2-on-1 pass in tight, late in the game.
You could say the Tigers took a bit of a gamble late in the third period.
The Emerson/Shinkaruk/Bredo line was gassed with a faceoff in the Tigers end with the goalie pulled. The coaches kept the Shinkaruk line out. It didn't turn out so well with lethbridge scoring but when Calgary clinched the 3rd spot before the third period started, might as well try to pad some stats, on the other hand it cost Bunz his 40th win of the season. It also marks the first time in 10 years the Tigers failed to reach 20 wins at home.
The Hurricanes Graham Hood tied the game with 16 seconds left off a mad scramble in front, and Russel Maxwell who also scored a hat-trick in the game, potted the shoot-out winner.
Thoughts
The Tigers had troubles on their PK. The defensive play was no-where near as good as against Edmonton of Friday. I was disappointed that Kyle Becker was not dressed he does a lot of the little things right. The Tigers put Spenser Jensen back on the point.
Over the last 1/4 of the season lethbridge is a .500 team. They return a lot of guys next season and might have some tough 20 yr old decisions to make.
Playoffs
Edmonton(1) vs Kootenay (8)
Moose Jaw (2) vs Regina (7)
Calgary (3) Vs Brandon (6)
Tigers (4) vs Saskatoon (5)
I might do a series preview if i have time sometime later in the week. I know that Saskatoon has some guys banged up with injuries as well.
Coaches on the radio said that Tyler Lewington and Trevor Cox will probably be back in the lineup for Game 1 against Saskatoon. Jayden Hart at the earliest wouldn't be available until at least the middle of round 2 if the tigers were to get that far.
Also perhaps its a good thing the Tigers didn't get 3rd place. Brandon is a lengthy road trip and they have been one of the hottest teams in the league to finish the season.
Poll Results ( Were you satisfied with the moves the Tigers made at the trade deadline?)
Should have sold Etem and Bunz - 45 (35%)
I wish they had been buyers --------47 (37%)
Satisfied-------------------------------34 (26%)
Mahoney
The band Mahoney was playing songs during stoppages in play and in the first intermission. As someone who dabbles in guitar I was impressed with their talent and song repertoire. They did a great job and had fans crowding their area during the first intermission. I did miss the goal horn in the first period, but I think the Tigers should bring them back for another gig, they put on a very good performance.
9 comments:
As much as I wanted to see Hunter get 50, they seemed to spend the third period trying to get him this.....costing the game. Reffing again was poor, which makes for frustration. What really lost the game was penalty troubles. I too wanted to see Becker on the ice, he plays a solid simple game. The good thing is, these are fixable (other then the refs). Some good practices will be good for the retur Ning players who seem to be a bit rusty still, but high hopes for round 1!!!!!
Thought our defensive zone coverage was very poor last night. They had lots of trouble keeping the Canes away from the front of the net which forced Bunz to have to fight traffic all night long. Penalty kill is going to have to get much better than it has been lately. Bunz will have to at his best and another line is going to have to step it up or this will be a very short playoff season.
Tiger Turf,
THANK YOU for all you did this season with providing updates and a place for all us armchair coach's/nonWHL worthy players a place to spout about what we think we know and to let us have this place to vent, then chill till the next hockey impulse.
I think it is good for us tiger fans to have a place to vent and release tiger fan energy. (praise)
Thanks ,
NOW LET'S GET READY FOR PLAYOFFS.
GET OUT OF THE WAY WHL; TIGERS ON THE LOOSE.
Agreed with that!! I love this site, go to it after every game! Thanks for the great site!
Cheers
And Go Tigers Go!!!!
Let's hope the fans wake up and stop with all their negative energy when the boys are playing on the ice. Do they really expect the players to respond, when the fans are so loud about their miscues on the ice? These kids will respond to positive energy in the rink. Most fans wouldn't know a hockey play book if they had one fall on their heads. Yet they are so critical during the game, of the players mistakes.
Please just show up and be positive, and be loud for all the right reasons. Your players will respondmuch better at home.
Let's Go Tigers!!!!!So come on people
Yep let's all send positive energy to the Tigers.
Tiger fans sure are passionate about this team, This will show during playoffs.
Win or Loose you guy's put on a good show.
and Congrats to Bunzy for signing 3 yr entry level contract with Oilers.
Let's support the changing of the guard next year and give Bunz a loud proud send off in the playoffs.
Wow! Excuse my presence here, but I just have to say... Good for you fans who have identified that booing the home team is classless and immature (not to mention counter-productive).
I have been hard on ALL Tiger fans because of the many experiences I have had in your rink with the many drunks and ignorant fans that have surrounded us EVERY time. We don't come anymore because it is just such a lousy experience.
I can't BELIEVE how often I have heard the home team booed in that rink; whether in person or over the radio.
Very classy comments by you (rare?) fans here.... Maybe there is hope for that rink yet if you convert a few idiots every year? We HATE losing to the Tigers in Lethbridge, and we (unfortunately) seem to do it LOTS, but you won't hear us booing the home team in our rink - Richie.
It's good to hear feedback from the competitors, Right on.
And to a few of us it is disappointing when the home team get's booed, It hurts.
More disappointing to me is reports of arena sold out and all the empty seats, I don't get that. Give up your tickets to those who really want to see the game, not show up just IF they make playoffs.
Best game in town, year round.
That is what's good about Tiger Turf - it all comes out, and yes even the drunks show up booing.
Cheer Loud, Have Fun, be a good fan, the boy's do hear us.
Thanks for all the comments, I'm glad to hear everyone is liking the site. I love reading comments that aren't player bashing.
and yes their are a few idiots in the stands that like to pick on their favorite player...
Post a Comment