Looks like the Tigers found their form tonight blanking the Rebels 4-0.
The Rebels had Key Forward Conner Bleackley out with an injury, while the Tigers had Vannelli, and Stanton out with injuries. Looks like Stanton may be out for a week or so, I hear Vannelli has near the same time frame.
Rebels Early Penalty Troubles
The Rebels got into penalty troubles early in the first period and the Tigers jumped out on the board first with an early power-play goal.
Trevor Cox found himself in the slot a little off-balance but managed to get solid wood on a puck that beat February's Goalie of the Month Rylan Toth over the shoulder. 1-0 Tigers
Physical Play Ramps up
The game was getting pretty chippy in the first period and it continued into the second period. I thought this jump-started the Tigers to get back on their game. Multiple scrums and shots after the whistle.
Matt Bradley would get credited for the Tigers second goal, and I'm not quite sure how it bounced in, I didn't get a good look at the play. 2-0 Tigers
Minutes Later Trevor Cox would turn on the afterburners leaving rebel defenceman in his wake going in on a breakaway. He was hauled down, and awarded a penalty shot.
On the penalty shot he made a nice deke and slid a puck past Toth's pad's as he was going the other direction. 3-0 Tigers
Third Period
I thought their period was by far their best period prior to the Rebel goalie being pulled. The key to their offense is breaking out with speed, and everybody was in solid position making quick passes to get out of their own zone. This enabled them to come out 3 strong, with defensive support instead of 1 or 2 strong,
The rebels pulled their goalie early and the Tigers spent a good minute in the rebel zone before Chad Labelle would eventually make a couple nice moves to get into some open space and fired the puck into the net. 4-0 Tigers
Thoughts
They are back on a winning streak, we can all exhale. Langhamer played a phenomenal game in net picking up his first shutout of the season. He like the rest of the team got stronger as the game went on. I thought towards the second half of the game, their ability to do what they do best, breakout with a ton of speed to create chances was back in full force.
Next Up: Tomorrow Night in Moose Jaw.
14 comments:
IT is just a different team and a different Langhammer. He played simple goal, which when he does he is excellent. When he goes back to the floppy euro style it is a nightmare!
Tigers play as a team, good passing and hard forecheck!
Loved it! Loved having my old team back!!!!
Really happy seeing tigers hockey is back to normal. The fans were frustrated watching some other brand of hockey. Nice to see the guys string together a few. Lets keep it rolling.
Bradley chipped at the puck, off his stick, off his own skate then off a defender's skate and past Toth! Finally a bounce going the Tigers way!
I noticed that too. When they were able to carry the puck and make the past the hashmarks, or make a couple quick passes to get out of their zone without taking a hit, they were able to breakout with full speed and created chances.
Great to see the boys back on a roll. THIS is Tigers hockey!
On another note, it's great to see former Tigers, Bredo (UofA), Busenius (UofC) and Leier (Acadia) all playing in the CIS hockey championships next week. Also playing are former Tigers Carr (UofA) and Grbavac (St. FX).
Great to see the boys back on a roll. THIS is Tigers hockey!
On another note, it's great to see former Tigers, Bredo (UofA), Busenius (UofC) and Leier (Acadia) all playing in the CIS hockey championships next week. Also playing are former Tigers Carr (UofA) and Grbavac (St. FX).
And back to crappy team effort in MJ with below average goaltending. Sawchenko for MJ is giving a goaltending clinic. A young tendy.......showing up a signed 20 year old. A point of embarrassment
It would seem most people base their comments on, wins=good game, losses=bad game. I saw a lot of the same things last night that have been happening for the past few weeks except the fact they got some fortunate breaks that turned into goals for a change. There were still to many turnovers and they still are reluctant to dump the puck into the defensive zone which lead to some real good chances for Red Deer in the third period.
Langhammer picked it up big time in the 3rd while the team slows down. The tigers players are not even moving.
I thought the hustle with which they played was terrible compared to the last two games. Hustle turns into wins for us. We can be a small slow team, as we could see from tonight, it does not work.
As for good game = wins, well, I guess that is often how it works. You play well and often get rewarded.
longtime fan I agree with you during the whole 1st period, first part of the second period and the last part of the third period.
Their was a lot of negativity lately so I tried keeping most of it out of the main post.
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They still have a long way to go, too many mistakes. I think the coaches harp on carrying it into the zone vs dumping and chasing, even if its a 1 on 3.
You are right anon 8:25 most of the time when you play well you win but on occasion you don't (the 2-1 loss to Calgary comes to find). Conversely you sometimes win when maybe the other team deserved a better fate. My point was there were a lot of glowing comments after the Red Deer game about Tiger hockey being back but in my mind there wasn't a whole lot different from February games. Still lots of turnovers leading to some good scoring chances.
Its also funny how some people see the game. Comment above that Langhammer should be embarrassed about being out played by Sawchenko but a comment from a Warrior fan suggests that Marek kept the game respectable with some great saves. Putting a zero up on the scoresheet usually doesn't equate to wins regardless of how your goalie played.
Their issues they need to fix:
1. Playing as a team for 60 minutes. Sometimes they get selfish and take shortcuts, which results in 2 or 3 players getting hit, instead of just 1. Also give more minutes to the grinders that provide a different dynamic and a crash and bang type style, so their offensive players don't tire out or take shortcuts in their own zone. I like that the coaches have been rolling everyone more often lately.
2. Transitions out of their end.
- Their positioning away from the puck. Their forwards have a tendency to cheat up high, and no passing lanes are open and the only option is to dump up the boards where a 1 vs 1 battle takes place. Likewise they need to read the play better so they can time their passes and activate the defenceman to utilize as a 4th passing option. For the first 3/4 of the year this was a big strength. It has been very inconsistent during the second half. Getting Vannelli back will help.
3. Too much outside play
- They have a tendency to stay to the outside, and try to pass the puck around the outside until they get some open ice on the outside. Driving to the net causes open ice. So does very quick passes that incrementally take players out of position to the point where it opens up a cross ice pass.
When someone takes a shot, they should be driving to the net to recover rebounds. Not only to recover the puck, but it opens space up for the defenceman to contribute as the opposition will be covering the incoming forwards, and the opposition forwards will have their backs turned towards the net in support, giving more ice/time for the defenceman to wheel when the puck is recovered. They have a tendency to get lazy making a pass and hesitating, making a pass and hesitating. At least 2 forwards should be crashing the net everytime they take a shot.
4. Turnovers
- When the Tigers have their transition working, their speed naturally creates open ice and they don't often have this problem. When their transition game is not working, they only have 1-2 guys trying to penetrate the zone against 3-4 players.
Attempting to carry the puck in and getting poke-checked will create odd man rushes the other way. If they were to create set plays that have them running at full speed while dumping the puck (as a backup solution, to carrying the puck in) they could create lots of pressure that the opposing defenceman would be rushed to get rid of the puck, as long as the first forward in is on that defenceman's ass asap, with the 2nd anticipating the play to the next player.
They need to flip the table when they only have 1-2 coming down the ice, because it means the opposition has 3-4 guys coming the other way. They need to create presure. Dumping the puck in and having that first guy in asap with support creates pressure.
5. Intimidation
- Playing against a team that doesn't hit, and sits back opens up confidence. Their are 2 type of intimidation. Solid body checks, and pressure/speed. The Tigers need to create pressure and speed on every play. For every play they do not, the opposition gains confidence.
Too bad Tigers could not have brought a full effort against MJ. With Calgary losing they could have taken back 1st place.
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