Thoughts
First Period
I thought the Tigers got off to a very good start. They started the game outshooting Edmonton 7-0, with a 1-0 lead, before the Oil Kings showed up to play hockey.
Some good linematching led to the Tigers first goal, as the Oil Kings top D pairing was tired, and out came the Tigers top line. Valk got his stick on a point shot tipping it past Tristan Jarry.
2nd and Third
I thought the second and third periods were controlled largely by the Oil Kings. They finished every hit, and went out of their way to make sure they finished every hit, and it really slowed the Tigers forwards down.
Instead of coming out 3 strong....it was 1 or 2 against 3 and a dump in. You could see it on the ice they were struggling in the 2nd and had no legs in the third period. Perhaps it was because of their 3rd game in 4 nights, but I think the Oil Kings finishing their checks also had a lot to do with it as well.
Overall
The Tigers have been playing decent hockey as of late, but tonight wasn't a good night for them.
This loss further pushed a nail into a coffin with their hopes of getting first pace. It puts the Oil Kings 7 games ahead, with 21 remaining in the schedule...The Tigers do play the Oil Kings 3 more times.
The Radio guys were giving a lot of credit to Tristan Jarry, and while he did play well, the Oil Kings also hit 3 posts, and they held the edge in the flow of play.
28 comments:
You can not win if you go not have a goalie. I thought the players tried hard. Chad Labelle was awesome. They needed to pull the goalie after the second goal. You could see that more were going to go in. Crap goaltending.
Blaming the goaltending for the loss tonight is laughable. The second goal he maybe could have challenged a bit more but other than that one he had no chance on any of the others.
The 2nd, 3rd and 4th goals were ones that a rookie goaltender should have. If you can't make those you should not be between the pipes in the WHL. There needs to be some re-evaluation of our goaltending, the last few games has proven we do not have a starter.
The Oil Kings goals were all good goals. The one that looked bad was Lazar's shot from the slot with a screen.
Langhamer played alright. Yea he could have been a bit better, but the loss was not the fault of him. He stopped a breakaway, and a cross ice almost sure goal, and a couple other really good saves.
He was coming out and challenging the shooter, but his butterfly seemed like he was crouching too much and makes the upper part of the net available even though he is challenging.
All of todays goalies give shooters the top of the net, its the style they play now.
To many turnovers in the neutral zone last night trying to make cute little plays instead of getting the puck deep and using there strength which is getting in on the forecheck.
I disagree. I thought 3 of the 5 goals for sure he should have stopped. It seems the Oil Kings knew to shoot high and it worked. I would like to see Schneider play a few more games and see if he could start for us next year. I'm not sure that Langhamer is showing enough improvement to warrant coming back as an overager next year.
Don't usually do this but seeing that most people are putting the loss on the shoulders of the goaltender lets look at the goals scored and share some of the blame:
Goal 1: Lewington takes an ill advised instigator off of a clean hit to put them down a man, Bredo loses the face off cleanly, shot from the point gets deflected to an open man, tie game.
Goal 2: Labelle and Penner lose a puck battle along the boards, Oil King player goes roof, 2-1 Kings
Goal 3: Tigers on a pp, puck gets chipped out of the zone, Petryk beats Bredo like a rented mule and scores what I thought was a beauty of a goal top shelf.
Goal 4: Screen shot through Vanelli's legs, probably one Langhammer should have stopped.
Goal 5: Screen shot from the point that Langhammer stops, Edmonton player is standing in front where no Tiger defenceman feels it's necessary to take his stick or the body and he's got an easy tap in for the final goal.
After looking at the game highlites I will agree with TT that Lazars shot is the one he probably should have stopped, after that don't think the loss is on his shoulders after all how many did the home team score?
A hockey game consists of winning and losing battles, if not it would not be much fun to watch. We just hope our team wins more than it loses. Just because a forward or a defenseman loses a battle it does not automatically make it a good goal. The goaltender is still there to make the stop on the shot. The goalie made some great saves but he also lost some of his own battles. The Tigers are a team and take wins and losses as a group. Finger pointing is left up to the many armchair critics that deem themselves so knowledgable.
The initial post spoke of diminishing chances of first. We have been sliding down for a while now and have to hope we finish in 7th as opposed to 8th. The likes of Brandon and Kootenay will be past us in the next couple of weeks.
anon 7:37 good post. Players and coaches don't put the blame on one person for losses nor do they give credit to only one when they win. Some fans should take note.
Exactly. Anon 7:37
Point I was trying to make was the loss wasn't solely Langhamer's fault.
They weren't good goals from a Tiger standpoint... Probably make a case for all the goals scored coulda/shoulda been prevented before they got to Langhamer in the first place.
Had a few comments I didn't publish because people were quick to put all blame on the goaltender.
I agree that you can not lay blame on one for the loss. BUT you need to evaluate each player on his play. There were a number of tigers who could have played better and Langhammer would be in that group. Evaluating his skills as a goalie over his last few starts makes me think he is not a starter in this league.
In this loss tho, I really feel that Labelle showed why he is with the team. I liked his play overall. He stood out as working very hard and tried to make things happen.
Langhammer must be judged, like the rest, and he is not a strong point on this team. Look at replays of games past, many weak goals.
Tonight's Game:
Medicine hat Tigers vs Former Medicine Hat Tigers
Boston Leier
Daniel Wapple
Logan McVeigh
Dawson MacAuley
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4 points Separates Home Ice advantage from 8th place.
This race is real close.
Was nice to see the good Langhammer who controls some rebounds was in net for the tigers against Regina. Have to admit, still like the guy at the other end better!
Nice to see Leier play again, miss him on the tiger team!!
Nice game by Valk!!!! Go tigers go!
Heard from a buddy in Saskatoon that Hobbs will be joining the team soon. Hope he gets some ice time good player. Interesting he is getting called up infront of Schultzthe first rounder.
Good game today. Nice to see a road win.
Strange stat for me is even with our perceived weak goaltending the Tigers are second in the conference and fifth overall in the league for goals against. That is a real head scratcher.
That makes sense, Hobbs plays on a team that is going to miss the playoffs. Hobbs last game is on the 23rd of this month. Schultz on the other hand plays on a team that is really good and should have a very good chance at playing in the finals.
This is the best defensively solid group the Tigers have had since their memorial cup run, and they play a passive defensive system, designed to block a lot of shots and clear out the danger areas in front of the net.
One of their weaknesses in past seasons was the gap between forwards and defense, which opened up cross ice passes through the slot, which they have done a much better job at preventing this season.
They have also improved a whole lot on turnovers in their own end, being able to breakout the first or second try, rather than getting hemmed in for long periods of time...They have guys like Lewington, becker who are great at breaking up the cycle, and Vanelli, Bredo who are great at escaping high traffic situations and skating the puck out.
Also I think even though they are tiny, having guys like Valk, and Cox who show a really good 2 way game, and despite their size are good at getting the puck out of their zone really helps. So I am not surprised about being one of the better GA teams.
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My opinion about Langhamer is that His positioning/lateral movement is very agile and quick. This is still his first full year as a butterfly tendy, so he doesn't have the experience/instinct base built up completely to go blocking/reactionary/ or possible hybrid butterfly style on all shots.
His long shots have been getting better the past week. Sometimes he doesn't pick the puck up right away on medium length shots and defaults into the blocking butterfly, which sometimes burns him. I haven't watched to closely but he seems to be doing great coming out and challenging the shooter.
Sometimes I think he chooses the wrong style of butterfly to go into but I've never been a goalie so I don't have that 6th sense
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IMO Langhamer is still showing potential to improve at this level. If he can get a good handle on the medium length shots on a consistent basis he will rival Matt Keetly in one of the better goal-tending prospects to come through.
Even a goaltender like Tyler Bunz a couple years sometimes struggled on those medium type shots.
Not sure what you mean about choosing the wrong style of butterfly. I would hope he is only trying to play one style. The one thing I do see with him at times is that he gets forward in his crouch which causes him to be not as tall as he would like to be when he is down, which gives shooters a bit more of the top of the net.
worded that weirdly...different style of butterfly??
I mean like
blocking Butterfly - Stand up tall and keep arms and glove low against the body...suited for low shots, howitzers in close.
Reactionary - gloves up, suited for shots where you can depend on reflexes....Or active vs blocking...whatever you want to call it.
I think its more related to not picking the puck up off the stick so he goes blocking.
I agree that sometimes his crouch is a little low.
He's put on a couple back to back solid performances!!!
Brandon has been a dominant team at home
Not bad for a guy not capable of being a starter. Perhaps he plays better on the road because he doesn't get booed like he does at home on occasion.
Schnieder with another good performance. I like his rebound control. Good to see the young guy getting some games!
Also, loving Ast on the team! He wore Saskatoon down!
Go tigers go!
Tigers are gaining ground with this roadie. Go work guys, showing this team has what it takes.
OMG Koules......puck in the slot with an open net, and skated by and completely whiffed on it....lol
OMG they should have had that one in PA. 2 open nets and no luck.
I thought the take down on Valk was from behind, not touching the puck and should have been a penalty. Glad he is ok tho.
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