One of the common themes during this slump is giving up the first goal of the game real early, and it continued this weekend.
PG worked up a 3-0 lead just 7 minutes into the game. Tonight's game against Calgary the Hitmen took advantage of their powerplay and scored in the first 6 minutes.
Positive Road Ahead
All negativity aside tonight was the first game in a long time where I saw a very good effort through most of the game. They were taking care of their own end, and their forwards were supporting taking away the trailers entering the zone late. Langahmer made some big-time stops.
I saw a lot of good things with players without the puck getting into position for a good pass. Looking at the stats I didn't realize how much of an impact missing Steven Owre had in the lineup. I thought he played a very good game.
Tonight I also liked how the Tigers were finishing more of their checks, although that is usually not their game and probably more of a result of frustration.
I liked how the coaches kept Bradley up on the 2nd line, and put Butcher on the 3rd line. Bradley has been flying the last couple weeks.
They miss Becker and Vanelli a ton back on the point. Coaches said pre-game that Becker might be good to go as soon as next weekend.
Next up: Monday afternoon in Swift Current a 2 oclock game. I'm hearing that the Tigers will have a good fan contingent following them up for the long weekend.
62 comments:
This loss really hurt! We played a pretty good game, worked hard, the goaltending was good, we got 45 shots and still lose. We need some changes on the power play, but I feel like 9 times out of ten we win that game.
That's as physical as this Tiger team has been all year. They deserved a better fate tonight but did a lot of things right which is a real positive.
Have a feeling the league will look at the Cox hit from behind, maybe another suspension coming.c
First goal, yet again frustrating BUT was a good goal and if we were not in this slump would not really be worth mentioning.
Guys played hard, were in the game, were tough and with this effort would have won the last few.
We really need Becker. He has some physical net presence, in our zone and has been good when they put him down low on the PP.'I thought the PP was improved, just did not convert.
People are calling for Clouston to be fired, not sure why as he has an unbelievable record. I do think he is stretched thin and Sauer for Kruger may not be a great idea at times like this. We are lacking experience on the bench. Should have kept Kruger or if he wanted to move on the bring in experience.
Lastly, maybe GM and coach is too much. Maybe bring in a GM.
Trevor Cox was given a tbd suspension on hitting Hitman Captain Kenton Helgeson into the boards Saturday.
Despite the loss the Tigers played great in Swift.
Owre was a dominant out on the ice., and Hunt picked up a hat-trick taking Trevor's spot.
Swift couldn't get out of their end for the second period, and half of the third.
Unfortunately Brett Lernout hit Owre up high right in the jaw late in the game. I thought it should have been a penalty because it was a high hit partially from behind. Lernout was giving Owre some facewashes earlier in the contest. No penalty was called on the play.
I hope Owre is alright.
Does anyone think it might not be a bad idea to split up Cox and Sanford for awhile? They have been struggling a bit so maybe a change of linemates might make a difference?
Great game today. Full effort! Tomorrow is a HUGE game, basically a must win. We need Calgary off our back. They are far too close, will be tense right until the end. Getting those two points will be critical. I hope Becker is back and I hope we play the same game as today.
Also hope we start Schneider. He played well today, let him keep rolling.
Catfan I am surprised they haven't experimented with it.
Those lines they used in swift were clicking pretty good I thought. Even the Mowbray, Labelle, Staples line had a ton of chances but couldn't bury.
maybe something like:
Hunt Owre Sanford
Cox Bradley Eisenschmid
Staples/Mowbray Labelle Butcher
Rassal Mowbray/Staples Fischer
I think Cox and Sanford work pretty well together, and in general you don't mess with what works. It couldn't hurt though to mix things up when a small shakeup is needed to get the team going.
If that 3rd line were to start scoring, it would create a headache for the opposition in their line matchups. Butcher has scored before and Labelle has picked up his game a notch offensively and has been playing very well but a bit snakebitten.
I would keep them on the same line, but If the team needed an energy jolt, or a kickstart I wouldn't be afraid to make a change.
Posted this on the white board as well.Having ahard time figuring
out how the league makes its decisions on its discipline issues. On Saturday night the Tigers Trevor Cox is penalized two minutes (which he should have been) for a hit from behind on the Hitmens Helgeson. The Calgary player is injured and leaves the game and Cox is subsequently suspended for three games for the hit. Helgeson is listed as day to day with an upper body injury. In the same game Tigers forward Anthony Ast is cross checked from behind into the boards by the Hitmens Travis Sanheim, who receives two minutes for the infraction. Ast is now listed as week to week (concussion) and Sanheim walks away free. One was called hit from behind, the other cross check. What the hell is the difference, injury resulted in both hits.
longtime... in my opinion it's a case of big market vs little market Calgary coach jumps up and down and yells and screams so the league responds. Med Hat coach complains and gets ignored.
So many examples but the problem is the league commissioner is the one that hands down the discipline and answers to no one. So it, ripe for conflict of interest or special interest bias
Ast was not dressed for the game versus Calgary on Saturday.
I don't believe he lasted a full game and re-injured himself vs PG. on their last road trip.
IDK. Maybe the hitman sent the tape in to the league.
I'm not sure if this still exists. But I know that a team "could challenge" a play and send in a fee and the tape for the league to review.
I don't know if the Tigers didn't send a tape in and the hitman did?
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I've tried to guess suspensions many a times and always seem to be wrong.
My bad anon 9:17. You are right, he was hit from behind into the boards in Friday's game and didn't return. My point remains the same though, no difference between that hit and the Cox hit. Injuries resulted from both.
Interesting that Helgeson was back playing and got an assist on the winning goal for Calgary last night and the leading scorer is still suspended because of the severity of the injury
If I didn't know better I would say its a conspiracy by the league to look after "home town" Calgary!
It was a cheap shot by Cox that injured Helgesen. If someone does that to Cox or Sanford, you would expect the same suspension to the opponent.
Get User to second place, Calgary won their game. Cannot believe that we let this good sized lead go to nothing!!!
And we are in second. Certainly takes effort to blow such a lead. Shocking failure. Fans have every right to be upset.
This Edmonton game is embarrassing!!! Do the players not want to be there? Do they care? It is so frustrating to watch as a fan. Not sure what to think, I guess now all we can hope is that this fall from the sky results in a high draft pick. I bet we lose out on playoffs, just my guess, we will come in 9th.
Prior to this losing streak i would have said a 3rd round/ whl championship appearance would be labelled a successful season. Nobody wants to see these young men fall. I watched them dominate in swift and a week later they have troubles winning one on one battles in edmonton. They need a rest or a shakeup
It would appear that teams have found a weak spot on Langhammer. Getting beat on a lot of shots that are high stick side. I'm sure there will be lots calling for Schneider to take over but I'm of the feeling that he needs to play to get himself back playing the way we all know he can. And I'm certainly not placing all the blame on his shoulders, there are so many other things to fix at this point. Defensive play, power play, and the offence has dried up.
I can't stand watching. Is it the players? Is it coaching? I can't help but feel having two inexperienced guys on the bench is not helping now. When things are going well Frazer and Sauer seem like good choices. But they bring no experience to fix things. I have always thought Clouston has done a good job, they guys have won under him, but we need the coach to pull them out of this!
I also wonder about leadership in the dressing room. Does not seem to be much passion on the ice. We don't have a Dorsett type player that would sell himself shift in and shift out for the team.
Too many problems. Not sure where they even start.
Not a good time either. People will not be as worried to re new season tickets. Lots of seats will be available for purchase each game. Just buying per game seats will save you the pain of paying for crap games like these last 10.
Sucks being the bottom feeder of the league. Literally, they can not even beat Lethbridge, Lethbridge for Gods sake!!! Tigers are the laughing stock of the WHL.
I think we need a GM and different assistant coaches. Clouston can coach but he can't have full control of everything.
If they watched the video of the edmonton game of their mistakes, it would take them a week to get through it.
They gotta go back to basics. Their game is built upon speed. Ignore everything else, defensive play, goaltending, powerplay. penalty kill. Even though I don't 100% agree with their systems play, they gotta get back to a simple game creating speed.
The sportsnet guy said it best about the Tigers. You can't create speed standing still.
I don't want to say it, but its damn near panic time. If the Tigers fail in the playoffs I will publicly call for clouston to step-down in one of his positions. (preferrably coach, I like him more as a GM)
I really hope that 1-2 months down the road I will laugh, and think all these comments are ill-informed. I think they should bring back Kruger behind the bench.
I am honestly considering not buying playoff tickets for the 1st time in many years of attending. I am sick of the same old in everything. The team doesn't seem to care anymore so why should I? The promotions are a joke, do the Tigers have anyone capable or good marketing?? No more Subway races, shooting the puck in the net, Timbits hockey, blah blah blah. I go to games to be entertained and lately I am yawning and wanting to go home half way thru. We need some changes big time, or next year will see a nice new arena half empty every night. Maybe we need owners that care about the fans and are willing to do something about the sad state of affairs that is the Tigers right now. (Oh, and isn't is time we had new jerseys?? Isn't 45 years with the same logo long enough????)
I would be happy with Kruger and 2 new assistant coaches with experience, real experience.
IF they can fix this disaster, and I mean IF, it actually might make them a better team. I have always though, those who walk through with no adversity dont learn how to deal with it and overcome it. Those who face adversity, tough it out and overcome it will be better in the end. This sounds inspiring as I read it back, but let me be clear, this is a IF they make it through this.
I have 12 comments in the queue I've decided to withold since yesterday afternoon.
I know were all disappointed in how they are playing.
Edmontons 3rd and 4th jerseys are awesome!!
Really? You like the ugly green and black jerseys? I would rather stick with our one Jersey then wear something like that!!!
Would like bringing back the old orange retro Jersey.
so since the stat of the new yea the team is .500 and most of that in the last 10 games!!, the team has had a tonne of key injuries and I think the playing time is catching up with the top 6 forwards and the older D men who play against top lines every night, I still believe in this team and coaches, they have 12 games to figure it out, and mostly burying the chances they get , cause for last 10 its been tough
I have to feel for the players. I think playing short handed with so many injuries have finally caught up with them. Now they are lacking confidence. I think they should bring in a sports psychologist for group and maybe individual meetings to sort out the mental aspect of the game. A lot of athletes and pro teams do this. Maybe this would speed up the process. If the boys can get hot again, look out. Go Tigers go!
Really!! I remember when I played hockey and we had a color conflict and got to try new jerseys it fired us up and we would get a lift and win games!! Change is good experimenting is fun and the jersyes are good for raffling off for charities so in my mind its fun and win win!!!
One thing I've noticed in the last while is that teams are standing the Tigers up at the opposing blueline and the team seems unwilling to dump the puck past them which is resulting in a lot of turnovers in the neutral zone. Think they can out a lot of pressure on the opposing teams defence with their speed if they would do a little more of it.
Yea Longtimefan the Oil Kings coach mentioned their gameplan to get the Tigers to dump the puck in instead of carrying it.
Big Game against Brandon tonight.
Kale Clague lower body, weektoweek
Reid Duke lower body, week-to-week
Alex Moodie upper body, day-to-day
Nolan Patrick upper body, day-to-day
Ivan Provorov upper body, day-to-day
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Tigers
Ast and Vannelli out
Perfect Time to Come out of the Slump and start a new streak!
Another day, another game. Another 5 goals
They have 11 games to experiment and figure it out.
Have been watching this team since the beginning and I can't recall a year when we had a good team and the wheels fell off like they have this month. Say what you want about the defensive game but the goal scoring has dried up. 26 goals this month in 11 games and 11 of those goals were scored in the only two wins.
There is no reason why the team is struggling. At the deadline we brought in two valuable pieces to make a run and yet it hasn't.
I have seen players turn pucks over time and time again. Initially I put the blame on the players. But now I put the blame on the coaching staff.
The Tigers are to one dimensional. I say that in meaning that they are too predictable. Teams know what they are going to do and they already have a plan to stop it.
Imagine trying to win a football game when the opposition knows what play you are going to run.
Coaches must make changes and adapt to what other teams are doing. Winning teams make subtle changes that win games and championships.
Clouston and his inexperienced staff have not adapted. Coaches need to coach to win.
I typically wouldn't support a coaching change but I sure has heck do now.
Maser needs to prove to me that he wants to be a willing owner one who will make the hard choices to be a winner. It wasn't to long ago that his family could care less about being a winning franchise. Doing everything on the cheap and sacrifice the team for their financial gain.
I sure as hell wont be paying higher season ticket prices to watch a bumbling franchise.
Ticket prices will rise to offset the loss in revenue from the new barn. Concession prices will soar. Gonna be a costly venture to attend a Tiger game next year.
The team is playing with less intensity and no attitude out there. Just going through the motions at times. Trade deadline is over. So last thing left is a firing.
Go watch a practice that clouston runs. The way he treats these kids, I wouldn't want to win a game for him either. A coaching change is needed.
One thing that this streak is showing is how much the team and staff misses Darren Kruger behind the bench. I believe he was the glue that held things together. Clouston from all accounts is not an easy guy to get along with and doesn't treat people with much respect. It's quite possible that it's starting to take its toll on the people around him.
As far as firing him, His overall body of work as a coach is pretty good so I don't think you fire him based on one month of a season. As a gm it might be a different story. This Tiger team is one of the oldest in the league averaging 19.3 years old I believe. With a chance of having only two returning defenceman next year he's going to have to pull a couple of rabbits out of a hat for this team to be respectable next year. Personally, and I've said this before, I think they should have constructed the team to be a force for a couple years after moving to the new digs.
speaking of the new building it would be foolish to think that prices won't rise next year but how much is the million dollar question. I'm hoping they don't do what a lot of other teams are doing in eliminating adult, student and child based ticket pricing and basing the cost on where you sit in the building. In Regina some ticket prices have more than doubled in what are deemed the prime seating locations. Depending on what kind of lease is eventually signed and whether it's revenue based or not will determine in a big way what Tiger fans will pay.
I have watched many a practise and have never seen or heard any yelling or anything that appears negative to any player. I have seen players mess up a drill and it is run again.
The only thing I find from what I have seen from other teams practises is that they work on individual player things after working on team drills. Similar to what a golfer would do.
I hate to compare Clouston to Willy but this team would not have this record if Willy was hear. I give credit to Clouston only for the fact that at the start of the year no one in the league wide media expected the team to be battling for first. The only ones that could see that we had a good team was us fans that see these boys day in and out.
The team is gonna be hard pressed to bring in the preferred seating pricing. Our senior fan base is gonna lash back. Same as the families that bring kids to the game.
If you read my posts pre-season I made comments/posts where I thought pre-season this could be a year to go for it. I expected them to challenge. They had a stacked defense and goaltending. The question was size and scoring depth.
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Longtimefan is right. I am not a supporter of outright firing of clouston. His track record the last few years is very good.
I would however be a fan of a change that splits up his duties.
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On paper this team looks very good. I feel that even when they were winning they haven't been playing up to their full potential. They are battling themselves and confidence right now.
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The one game in swift 2 weeks ago was like watching 2 different teams. They dominated the game for 50 minutes. Then had troubles all over the place.
I would say that SC and MH are in the same sort of in the same boat.
Both with a HC/GM doing 2 jobs and a skilled lineup in all areas playing below their skill levels.
The difference being that SC has been inconsistent entire year and MH being top level at start and horrible now.
In the long run this 2 job system doesn't work. Some aspect of job gets left behind.
Throw Clouston upstairs and bring in Kruger. Not many games left to get ship righted. As of today facing Red Deer in playoffs doesn't make me feel confident.
Think I can pretty safely say that the current GM isn't going to make a coaching change at this point in the season.
Clewy has never had respect in the room....ever...period. Win or lose, that is a fact. I love the Tigers and I want all the best for them. Integrity, dedication, commitment and work ethic are two-way streets. Clewy uses those words after he Googles motivational things to say. Great coaches never even think about it because they live those traits every minute of every day.
Burroughs was huge!
Anonymous6:54 How can you make that post? Are you one of the players in the room ? If you don't like the coach/gm that's fine but don't make a comment that you can't verify.
Give Burroughs the C
Wait for the Fight Highlights.
Quenneville KO'd a guy twice his size, after he hit Schultz from behind.
Nice to see 2 games that were good wins back to back!! I hope this is the guys getting back on track!
Anyone know about this rumour going around that Clouston has been canned? Seems really wrong, he has an excellent record, team canada took him on staff this summer....:why get rid of him completely. Restructure, I can see that! But not fire!!! I would have liked to see someone with experience rather then Sauer as assistant. To me that was a very bad decision.
I can't see Clouston being fired this late in the season. And from what I heard in a Ridley interveiw at some point, Sauer is mainly in charge of strength and conditioning which is his expertise.
Personally I dont want him fired. I think he is a good coach. Did the tigers go on a slide, yes, but compared to other teams, we have been in playoffs his whole time coaching, we have faired very well. He has selected excellent guys for the team, made us a force every game. He is a good coach. I would rather see him stay on as coach and get a new GM. I am not sure he can do both and I agree with some others, I think we needed experience in the assistant coaching position, not just another old tiger.
Excited about the future of this team. Was looking at some of the guys coming up the pipe, Hamblin, Fantillo, Jevne, Skapski........I like the talent that is coming! Should be some more good years coming up!
Can we not get a new blog post so that we dont have to keep looking at the title "Tigers slump continues". Lets help turn the page on the slump!
Totally on another topic. Interesting to see that Hunter Shinkaruk has not been pulled up to the injured line of the Vancouver once. Now they have acquired Barsheti in a trade. Seems that they do not feel he will be fitting in any time soon. His numbers are nothing exciting in the AHL. I recall TigerTurf posting that returning to junior would be best for him as he only plays a North-South game, looks like you were right. He seems to be struggling to make it in the AHL right now.
I feel that their is a hump in Shinkaruk's game that he needs to get over to become a consistent NHL player. He didn't learn the defensive or east/west basics in junior, and it is just that much harder to learn in the pro's.
I feel that in junior he ignored on what he needed to work on, and hoped that improving his strengths would get him to the NHL.
Nobody taught him the defensive part of the game, and understanding the defensive part of the game is the first step to understanding how creating offense works.
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I will try to put up something tomorrow or Wednesday after the Rebel game.
Anonymous 6:21 This has become a message board and isn't much of a blog anymore. All it's becoming is a place for disgruntled fans to rant about the coach or select players.
I have made it known that I would be toning down my posts due to time commitment, so your right in the sense that this place is becoming more of a message board than a blog.
I have good news in that I do plan on picking up posting again come playoff time, like I have in the past. I do plan on playoff game recaps. I am also thinking on a player by player arm chair GM scouting report.
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Taking Science of the brain into effect people are more likely to put more weight on 1 negative opinion, than 1 positive opinion. If you judge each comment on even this post on a positive vs Negative scale their are more positive, or constructive positive comments than negative ones.
It is very true though that comments were trending in a negative way, when the Tigers hit a losing streak so that is 100% understandable, and would re-inforce perceptions that this is a message board to rant against certain players and coaches.
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When the team starts winning this is a place to rant about how good they are doing. I encourage ranting as long as you keep the language in check and provide facts to support your rant. Positive or Negative. I think in general the people who aren't regular posters tend to post more often when something hits a nerve, or something amazes them. Lately it has been the negative kind.
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Call me crazy, from the time sport started, one the other most enjoyed past times was bantering about the game, the team, the coaching etc afterwards. That is what this is. Anon 9:58 you clearly have not stood around the boards at the Kinplex or other rinks across Canada. This IS hockey talk. Dont read it if you dont like it.
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