Friday, September 20, 2019

Opening Game In Lethbridge

I can't believe in this day and age the WHL still uses a potato to broadcast whl games. I wish they could provide better quality. 1080P shouldn't be too difficult in this day and age. /EndRant


Thoughts
I thought overall the Tigers play looked quite scrambly, but they got a lot better as the game went on. Willie D was saying pregame that he wished he had a couple more exhibition games. 

I was pretty impressed with the Hurricanes providing they were down at least 3 and potentially a 4th key veteran and they had a ton of new faces in their lineup. There was only 7-8 names I recognized from the previous year. I thought they played pretty well.

The Hurricanes scored the games first two goals and the Tigers didn't really turn on the jets until their first powerplay in the 2nd period. 

Unfortunate Goal To Go Down 3-1
The Tigers were pressing pretty hard and had a big edge in territorial play until they ran into an unfortunate hiccup. On the powerplay, A blocked shot/pass was chipped over a jumping Tiger defenceman at the point and 17yr old Jacob Boucher was sent in on a breakaway and buried an impressive shot past Mads Sogaard. At that point in the game, it was 3-1 hurricanes and it was a bit unusual to see Mads Sogaard looking angry.


The ComeBack
It was started by the new Import Jonathan Brinkman. Brinkman made a beautiful play out of nothing. It was a 1 on 4 and slipped past a couple hurricane defenders wide and sent a pass out to Lockner who just skated into the zone and was unguarded.  Lockner one-timed it past Tetachuk in a bang-bang what the hell just happened type of play.

A minute later it was the Tigers turn for a lucky bounce. A shot by Trevor Longo at the point and Ryan Chyzowski was battling hard in the slot for positioning on the rebound. He outmuscled his man down low and was able to slap the backhand passed an outstretched Tetachuk. TIE GAME

Moments later the Tigers had a pair of breakaways but Tetachuck stood tall. What a turnaround

OT
The hurricanes had the better of the chances but nothing was solved.

Shootout. 
The first 4 shooters all scored. Hamblin, Kemp for the Tigers, D-Jay Jerome and Dino Kambeitz for Lethbridge.  Zach Stringer was stopped by Sogaard and Chyzowski was able to pot the winner. 

Player Thoughts
Brett Kemp stood out for me. After the first period, he was routinely dangerous in the offensive end. He made a beautiful no-look, behind the back pass, out front to Cole Sillinger for his first regular-season goal. 

James Hamblin was also good, but perhaps a bit of a slow start out of the gate.

Jonathan Brinkman - He impressed me.  He is very slick and seems like the playmaker type that will make things happen. I loved his first game. Imports sometimes get off to very quick starts, followed by a lull. I look forward to seeing some more games from him but I was really impressed. Really good puck control and an ability to make some plays in tough situations. 


Parker Gavlas - I'll need a few more viewings. He seems solid, but I feel like he could be a bit stronger on the puck at times.  He was involved in a fight after a strong hit, he got a couple punches in, lost his footing momentarily and overpowered his hurricane opponent quite quickly. I think he should be a decent fit on the 2nd line.

Brown & Preziuso - I was a bit disappointed because I didn't notice much of an improvement from either. They didn't look any-more dangerous than last season with perimeter outside plays.  Preziuso had a lot of shots and some outside speed, but I do expect a bit more from a 20.

I think ostir deserves a game in the lineup.

Sillinger - Looked very strong on his feet. You can just tell he is going to be an impact player because he wins the majority of the small battles and he is exceptionally strong on his feet for a 16.

Defense - It was sometimes hard to tell who was on the ice due to the poor potatoe quality webcast. After a bit, I could start to see who was who. I don't remember seeing any major gaffes, although I'm sure if you watch video there are things they could do better. I think they gave up a few odd-man rushes from players not knowing how to recover, but I think that onus is more on the forwards.

Goaltending - Mads had a tough game because the Hurricanes were in his face the entire time they were in the offensive zone. Hurricanes were doing a great job at just skating in front of him as a shot was taken. I felt like only 1 shot really beat him clean. The 2 other goals were a mass of players in front of him where a shot ping-ponged around the scrum. 

Krebs looked bigger than the 5'11 167lb's he is listed at.

After the first game here is my armchair coaching lines I like
Brinkman Hamblin Kemp
Sillinger Chyzowski Ostir
Brown Lockner Hopwo
McCarry Anderson Wilms/Danielson

Backer Clayton
Longo Gevlas
Krebs/Agyeman/Watson Van Impe

Who do you like?

89 comments:

Anonymous said...

Canes faired pretty well for dressing 10 rookies. Tigers took over though as the game went on. Are you sure Ostir is still with the team? I've heard he's left to go to school.

TigerTurf said...

I Don't' know. He's still listed on the roster so I assume he was still there.

Anonymous said...

First impression - and nowhere near as precise as Tigerturf... They played tonight like most of them just met this afternoon. No flow to speak of - and sadly, the general speed and playmaking is on par with my 16 year old nieces' team in Swift. I'm sure the talent is there - but Joey Fraser's post-game take on things is always more accurate than Rid's... They have a lot of team building to do...

Anonymous said...

Last years home opener had more fans .. I thought Willie was supposed to bring more fans

Anonymous said...

it's those stupid red seats. hardly any one sits in them because of the price.

The crowd was good last night. They really wanted to cheer. The team will come together and be fine. It's early in the season, will be in fine shape as the season wears on.

Anonymous said...

also nice standing ovation for Willie. Welcome back!

Anonymous said...

In regards to the red seats - yes the price is higher but I believe the price is worth it. Unfortunately, the red seats were not available to purchase through Ticket Master online. The only way to get those seats last night was to purchase them as a season ticket holder or you could get them at the door when you got to the game. I'm not sure why they were not released on Ticket Master like they were last season?

Anonymous said...

Ostir left the team to go to school with the newly Edmonton player brought in as a 20yr old

TigerTurf said...

I liked Gevlas last night. Seems pretty solid and threw some good hits. I feel like he will be a defensive favorite if he keeps doing that.

I felt the Tigers and canes switched with who played better and the poorer team won both games.
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Some differences I noted

Tigers trying to challenge the first guy with the puck as fast as possible and have support available on a turnover. The players also shot a lot more and from everywhere.
I seem to notice more bodychecks as well. I'm not sure if that is intended or if the guys were just excited.

Lockner as the 3rd line centre. Lockner is more of the defensive forward type so it makes a lot of sense using him there. I'm not sure if Clouston would have acquired Gevlas, but so far I like him and I think it was a pretty good move.

Younger guys: Players such as Caleb Wilms, and Dru Krebs were on the ice in the last 4-5 minutes of the game when they were down a goal, and that's something that never happened at all during cloustons' reign.
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After the first two games:
I feel like the forwards maybe aren't used to having a bit more freedom on offense. It may take a month to unbind their systematic play to a more controlled creative style.
I think it's refreshing to see Desjardins back.
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It looks like Clouston is having a tough start over in Kamloops. They were perfect in pre-season and ranked 5th in the CHL pre-season top 10. They are starting the season 0-3, so they have some work to do.

Anonymous said...

The home opener was messy yet I still like some things. I feel like this is suddenly a more exciting team to watch. I think there is potential. I always liked the way Willies teams played in comparison with Cloustons. I like when the guys are a bit free to fly, I like that the D get involved. I think it bring good success. I can see the team is struggling, at this early stage to switch to Willies systems, but they will get there. This year will be the hardest as they get use to all new systems. But I think it will be worth it!

Was happy to see Willie getting a standing ovation. He is awesome for bringing the community and the tigers together. He gets everyone involved. He talks to people more - whether in the Tims line up or post game comments. He is a community guy - Shawn was never this. I think with Willie the team has the potential to get more support behind them. It will take time for some to get interested again in the tigers but I think it will happen. I am sure looking forward to this season and those to come!

Go Tigers Go!!!!

Anonymous said...

Thought I would mention, I already feel Sillinger has outplayed Brown and Preziuzio (I am sure I spelt that wrong). I am unexcited and unimpressed by them in the first 2 games. Was hoping they would bring more. Here is hoping they wake up. As vets they need to be leading on the ice and on the score sheet.

TigerTurf said...

anon @ 1:28 - I understand what you are saying because I had similar thoughts on the opening couple games. I'm sure they are trying hard, but I feel both of their games have plateaued.

Brown needs to work on his puck control under pressure. He is very easily knocked off the puck. I feel like every practice he needs a guy to push on him while he tries to protect the puck. He's listed at 5'10 173 but he plays like he's 5'8 160.

Preziuso - He has a ton of speed, I feel he isn't confident in his puck handling ability. I feel that he visualizes the game on a North/South level and he doesn't visualize how going East/West can create space & opportunities. His game is essentially a lesser skilled hunter shinkaruk who was predominantly a north/south skater.

One easy trick to pull off the rush, is to fake going to the middle, then immediately bust your ass and go wide. The key here is to overwhelm a defenceman to the point he feels he might get beat. As soon as that Dman switches to skating forwards you immediately cut to the middle or pull back.

Preziuso is so quick that worst-case scenario he manages to draw in a defenceman to him and hand the puck off to an incoming forward for a good chance.

TigerTurf said...

I should add it is only 2 games so it's still early, but I'm hoping to see some more oomf out of them this season.

TigerTurf said...

Hurricanes received Dylan Cozens back from the NHL so that is huge news for them.

Anonymous said...

Are you sure about this?

TigerTurf said...

https://whl.ca/video/dylan-cozens-returning-to-lethbridge-hurricanes
Yes.



TigerTurf said...

Any bronco fans know what happened so Shawn Mullin? He was one of my favourite whl broadcasters in the league? Curious on why he's not back this year?

Anonymous said...

Boom, love a blow out! Good to see the guys clear the front of the net well in the 1st and 2nd. Sillenger is going to be one heck of a player! Fun to watch! Bjorkland played a good day! Was a fun game to watch tonight!

Anonymous said...

Tiger Turf - Shawn Mullin left in the summer time. Swift had a disagreement with their radio station and went to an online platform for their play by play this year. It was a big controversy, I am not sure how well its doing with the fans

TigerTurf said...

I would think getting rid of one of the premier whl broadcasters wouldn't sit well with fans, thanks for the info.
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The Tigers definitely played a strong game. It's nice to see some good hockey moves happening behind the coaches bench, I missed it!

3 new players I've been highly impressed with so far are Jonathan Brinkman, Dru krebs, and Garin Bjorklund.

Anonymous said...

10 goals Saturday to 0 tonight ? Maybe we just looked good against a weak team Saturday?

Anonymous said...

3 games in 3 nights, ending with the strongest team and a reasonable amount of travel. I am not too worried. SC is weaker, for sure, we all knew that, Calgary is stronger, yep, we all knew that. Will be more exciting to play Calgary at a better time, a bit better rested.

TigerTurf said...

Calgary is missing their 2 top offensive guys. Malm was injured and Kastelic was sent to the AHL as an unsigned player who may or may not come back.
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I thought the Tigers were the better team in the first, but they had troubles getting quality shots on net. Calgary has some very strong defenceman and their PK was really good.

longtimefan said...

Calgary was also playing their third game in three days.

Anonymous said...

Finally, finally the tigers have come out of the sticks to finally wear pink jerseys. It is a small thing that the fans love and it shows some respect for those affected by cancer. Why did this take so long? Willie is so much better!

Anonymous said...

So Dman Ryan Watson is no longer listed on the Tigers roster.

Down to 7 dmen with only Agyeman yet to play a game.

Anonymous said...

Cole Sillinger off to a great start. It's early but he is 14th in league scoring with 7 points in 6 games. Very impressive for the 16 year old.

Also congrats to Caleb Willms with his 1st ever WHL goal tonight.

TigerTurf said...

The goal Wilms scored was impressive. He had a partial break and had to fend off a defender then went around the goalie to score.

Sillinger's start is pretty impressive. It's cool to see him put up a 3 point game in his hometown.

Didn't really expect guys like Lockner, brinkman, Sillinger, van Impe to be some of the team leaders in scoring at this point. That statement alone makes me love Willies presence behind the bench.

Anonymous said...

Even though the Tigers lost tonight, boy did they ever outplay the rebels.
Rebel goalie was the only reason that the game wasn't 10-3 for the Tigers.

CatFan said...

Does anyone else think that Mads isn't quite on his game yet? He seemed a little shaky tonight and he was losing his cool after the 1st period. I haven't seen him lost it before.

Anonymous said...

They finally did pink jersey's to try and get some fans in the building, plus help a great cause!

Anonymous said...

Mads wasn't very good last night. looked like he was off right from the start. There were long periods of inactivity for him last night so might have been difficult to stay focused which is something he would have to work on.

So much for the notion that Clouston was the problem with the lowering attendance figures and that Willie would "bring them back". Pitiful crowd for a Saturday night. Be interesting to see what the first weekday game of the year will draw on Tuesday.

Anonymous said...

Willie was brought back to change the attitude on the team. The canalta center is partly to blame as it is very expensive to eat or drink at a game. The owners still market the team like it's the 70's .

TigerTurf said...

Mads is adjusting his style a bit trying to play further back in net as wanted by Ottawa.
It might take some adjusting. He is also seeing a ton of traffic in front of him which means he should be playing out more...so there is a bit of a conflict and he'll just have to spend a few games to see what works for him.
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I love the Tigers overall game so much more with Willie at the helm. It's just a better style of game with more development time for younger players. Some of the young guys were seeing Icetime with 2-3 minutes in the game and it's so nice to see a coach who knows how to develop players.
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Low attendance - Well maybe it will take some time. Sometimes people just need a year or two off before it starts biting them again. I feel like as the season goes on they will see more and more fans come. I also feel like the economy is partly to blame.

There was an article in the Medicine Hat news which stated Medicine Hat has the highest percentage of low wage workers in Alberta and that gap is growing. I'd imagine more people would be willing to go to a hockey game if that wasn't the case.

Anonymous said...

Tigerturf you are so clueless as to how the WHL works. It is a 19-20 year old league. There is maybe 5-6 16 year olds league wide that play regular minutes ( Guenther , Lambos , sillinger , Stankoven , roulette) maybe a couple more. And even 17 year olds. You have to be a Jake neighbours or a Seth Jarvis to be playing 1st line minutes. For the most part , the guys LEAGUE WIDE playing the most minutes are 19-20 year olds. With the exceptions of the Bowen Byrams and Kirby dachs of the league. It’s painful to hear you talk the WHL like you actually know anything. I wish you would reveal your name so everyone could see you have 0 credentials.

CatFan said...

Anon 6:22. And just what are your credentials?? I for one enjoy reading Tigerturfs comments and he is the reason we even have this blog! I would say you should get a clue yourself!!!

Anonymous said...

I do enjoy some of the content. But some is just straight comedy. Sometimes we have to realize we are just passionate fans and not WHL coaches.

TigerTurf said...

Thanks, CatFan.
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I always struggle with keeping comments short, vs a long drawn out comment that explains things better. There are a few people that only post to pick apart mistakes I make so over the years I have started to keep comments shorter and more generic. Then I get situations and comments like this one, where short generic comments don't fully explain my point of view.
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At anon @ 6:22 - It's more of an 18-19yr old league supplemented by OA's, but everyone knows this is common sense. If you have been following my blog you should know I'm well aware of that fact. I wouldn't be surprised if you reading this blog taught you that.

Sillinger isn't getting first-line minutes, so I'm not sure where that statement is coming from.

The Oil Kings a few years ago were able to win the league with a good core of 18's and if there is a time to do that again, it's this year where the crop of 19's statistically is sub-standard.
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But getting back to the point of my comment you are referring too...

I'm pointing out a difference in coaching style and development.

Clouston rarely ever had a 4th line. If they did, the players saw 2-4 shifts a game. This is well known and 85% of Tiger fans would agree with that.

The ice time would only come during times of the game he considered safe. Big leads really, otherwise they rode the pine. IMO that is the real reason why a lot of players had demanded trades. They weren't being challenged, they were playing in certain roles the coach wanted them to play, not necessarily roles the players wanted to play.

Sitting on the bench and playing an extremely minor role until your 18-19 without understanding why is not healthy.
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When I talk about young guys I'm talking about all the young kids. Sillinger, Krebs, McCarry, wilms. Putting these guys on the ice with 3 minutes left in the game; willie is challenging them in a way that is strategic and optimal for long term development and success. He may not do this every game, but he is putting them in situations they don't normally play to give them a taste of where they need to get too, as well as keeping the game fresh and exciting.
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Another example of challenging players....

Statistically speaking Lockner is doing a great job at centre. He sits at 54.7% which is higher than browns lifetime of 44%. Lockner saw 20 faceoffs last year. Willie is still giving the odd faceoff to brown when he is playing well, as it will push brown to be better. Moves that like are squeezing out extra oomf and players understand why and push to get better.

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Josh Williams was given top-line minutes out of the gate in his rookie year under Clouston. Has Willie given Sillinger top lines minutes right out of the gate? no. I think he is getting 3rd line minutes
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One of the things that struck me with Willie is when he mentioned expectations on kids that come in with high potential. He said something along the lines of it only seems like these kids can fail. If you reach those expectations great, you are where you are supposed to be, but if you can't reach those expectations it will seem like you failed.

The fact that he's aware of that is mentally comforting. I'm really glad Sillinger wasn't on the top line to start the season as that would have been a lot of pressure if 4-5 games into his career he didn't have a point like Williams who felt like he struggled in his first year. (IMO he just wasn't in a proper position to succeed)
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How about clouston giving Quenneville a late-game defensive defenceman role, when that was not his strength at all. Willie probably would have seen Quenneville play a few defensive shifts to challenge him, but having him on the ice all the time in the late game was far from ideal.
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Those types of moves are what I'm talking about. Smart hockey decisions, with development time in appropriate situations. It adds up to a better overall team in 2 months, in 5 months, and next season.

Anonymous said...

What the heck ^. You just turned around and made this whole thing about Clouston. I don’t care about him. He’s gone, move on. Stop comparing the two. I was talking about you and your knowledge . Sillinger is playing with Chyzowski and Kemp . If playing with the 2nd and 3rd best players on the team isn’t top line minutes than I don’t know what is. This blog is painful and sums up the 2900 fans who come to the games.

longtimefan said...

Like your post tt, the big difference between Willie and Clouston is Willie is more of a teacher and I expect the younger guys will benefit more from him being here than they would with Shaun. Pretty sure Krebs wouldn't be getting the ice time he his with last years coach and there's been marked improvement in his game since the start of the season. Having said that while we may applaud Willie for playing 4 lines more consistently it's also one of the contributing factors that got him fired in Vancouver. He was vilified in the press and social media for not riding his top six more late in games.

I will disagree with your Cole Sillinger comment. He's playing with Chyzowski and Kemp on a line that is 1a or 1b and is on the first power play unit so he is getting top six minutes.

TigerTurf said...

Thanks, Longetimefan.
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You're right though it's not entirely accurate about my statement of 3rd line minutes.
I feel the Tigers were going with more of a 1a,1b,1c combo though. Switching up Hopwo and Brinkman on 1a and 1c.

I was just trying to relay there is a difference in development between the coaches. Williams was getting 25+ minutes a night for the first dozen games or so which was over his head at the time.
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@ anon 5:59

I still don't get the point of your original post though.

I talked about mads, why I liked Willie D's style and the development of some of the younger players with a late shift in a close game.

I didn't even name Sillinger so I'm confused about why you went off about oppositions young stars. I think you saw younger players and assumed I meant Sillinger?

I was talking more about krebs, wilms, McCarry and would assume that Sillinger be left out because he was playing a lot more than those guys.

I'm pretty sure you misread my comment, but your stab at tiger fans was uncalled for.
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Anonymous said...

Tiger Turf - just a question for clarification and total transparency to those who post anonymously on this blog. Since you are the admin of this group, I was told that you actually see account names (like google accounts) of those that post anonymously...is that true?

TigerTurf said...

Blogger is pretty bad at tracking comments.

I don't see account names unless someone decides to sign in with their Google account and then it's available for everyone to see and it will show up with their comment, like the TigerTurf Account I comment from.

If you post anonymously I don't know who you are.

Anonymous said...

The game last night was incredibly exciting. It won't be long before fans start coming back. The quality of hockey is soo much better compared to that boring shit we were forced to watch for 9 years.

Anonymous said...

Great game! We are starting to see more of the rookies which is awesome! The fans love seeing the future of the team getting some ice time. I liked the forward rookie line of Wilms, McCarry and Danielson. They each have their strengths and I am totally impressed. We are sure going to miss the vets next year that age out or have to be traded due to numbers but the future of the Tigers looks very bright.

Kevin W said...

I agree with last two posters... The game last night was exciting! Several players have noticeably improved like Baker and van Imp and Sillinger is absolutely wicked! Kemp played last night the way he should always play... engaged, physical and dangerous.

They are playing a better possession game and more confident overall!

I really like what I'm seeing!

Anonymous said...

Got to say, I like what I am seeing! Every guy seems to be buying in. They are fast and getting faster. Everyone in doing the same thing and guys are getting rewarded. Up and down the line up guys are scoring, what a difference from the Clouston era!!! Really happy watching these games. I feel like the love and work ethic are back in this dressing room!!!

Anonymous said...

I'm no Clouston fan per se, but Willie walked into what was going to be an "up" year, if we're being honest.

I'm not saying Willie isn't doing a good job, but this team would be good even if Clouston was still here. Counting Sogaard, they have eleven 19/20 year olds dressing every night.

Anonymous said...

The difference is Willie has them playing together, for each other. Clouston could never do that. He had 4 or 5 guys that would play together but never the whole team.

I also really love the minutes the younger guys are playing. Putting trust in them at key moments helping them learn how to succeed.

TigerTurf said...

Anon @ 11:46. You are right that they were going into an "up year", they've also had a bit of an easier schedule with a bunch of home games. I feel like that is only a half-truth though.

I feel like their first 5 games compared to their last 5 games have been a night and day difference.
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I see a noticeable change on the forecheck with a better cycling rotational system that includes the defenceman. Clouston also had that way of attacking but I feel it is way more refined under Desjardins.

I've also seen the forwards implement a lot more east/west movement or looking for opportunities to go across the grain. There are also a bundle of set bang, bang plays on offence they have been performing. The type of plays where they perform them so quickly it has to have been practised upon.
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Saskatoon will be a great test on Tuesday as they just rocked the hitman Monday night and the Tigers are probably riding high on confidence. We will see if it's a reality check or if they can take it to them like they did with portland.

Anonymous said...

Clouston has his up years as well. I just like what I am seeing a lot better. I appreciate the easier schedule and loaded with 19/20s but to me, this team is playing with all 5 guys on the ice. There seems to be a bit more aggressive structure that is giving us results. I also think it looks like the players are out there enjoying to play. The young talented guys are earning ice time and points rather then rotting on the bench. Willie will get more guys drafted as they are able to contribute and be seen before their 19 year old season. This is a better game for the team on the ice and a better game for us watching in the stands!!!

CatFan said...

Too bad there aren't more people in the stands. The team is much more entertaining to watch than the last couple of years. They may have had some success in those years but they weren't very fun to watch in my opinion.

Anonymous said...

Tigers are #7 on CHL rankings this week! Way to go! Don't think we made the rankings at all last year...

TigerTurf said...

Looks like Hayden Ostir has been claimed and signed by Swift Current via the WHL Waiver Wire.
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Lots of accolades this week.

Chyzowski was named to the WHL/Canada Russia Series roster.
Cole Sillinger named to the Under 17 tournament.
Tigers Crack the CHL Top Ten and land at the 7th spot.
James Hamblin was named to the CHL team of the week & WHL On The Run Player of the week.

TigerTurf said...

Tough game against Calgary. Tigers had an amazing start but I felt like after that when Calgary turned up the heat the Tigers started to make some unforced errors and they weren't able to consistently make the bang-bang plays we've seen in the past few games.

Calgary and the Tigers have a very similar playstyle. I feel the loss showed some important things to learn from.
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Cole Sillinger has been placed on Team White for the under 17's

Anonymous said...

So Shaun Cloustons brother Corey is now his assistant coach in Kamloops. Would hate to be a kid in that dressing room.....

Anonymous said...

Just a friendly reminder to all of you that are still obsessed with Clouston. He is no longer here. We need to move on. This is a Tigers fan blog not a 'Lets Continue to Obsess Over Clouston Blog'! He has moved on, the Tigers organization has moved on, now I suggest those of you who feel the need to constantly bring up anything Clouston related need to also move on. We have an incredible team this year - lets talk about them! :)

Anonymous said...

Anon 9:16 - thank you for putting this out there! We do need to move on! We have a great coach now and a team playing some exciting hockey! Let's enjoy that and move on!

Anonymous said...

He has only been gone for 4 months and was here for 15 years, chill out.
Kamloops coach Daryl Sydor took a leave of absence from the team and they don't know how long that will be.






Anonymous said...

Anon 2:36...I interpret your comment to mean that you think because the coach that I shall not name was here for 15 years we should continue to heap scorn and criticism on him for the next, what? 15 years? Is that what this blog has devolved to? The "bitch about the coach who isn't here anymore" blog? Really?

Anonymous said...

I thought this was a blog where we can discuss the team. Topic which often includes past players and coaches. In fact, this blog often has posts, even from Tiger Turf, where past players and coach’s are. Did anon 9:16 take it upon himself to lay down the rules? Anon 9:16, is this your role? If not, and if you don’t like when people post about old players, teams or coaches, then dont read it.

Anonymous said...

OK so I'll start by changing the conversation away from the past to the present! There are some young rookies that are standing out to me and it is exciting to see them start to really fit into the team. Some haven't had as many games but that will come as the season goes on. I'm loving the speed of Willms - he reminds me of a young Preziuso. I really like Krebs as well - I initially thought he might need another year of AAA Midget but he has really taken to his role here and fits right into the WHL at the young age of 16. Noah Danielson is another one I really have my eye on. He hasn't been given many games yet which is disappointing but as I said this will come as the year goes on. Danielson sees the ice really well - just watch the kid - that is a talent not all players have. He reminds me of a mix of Quenneville and Lockner. Then we have Sillinger who is hands down NHL bound. The kid is amazing! Then our young goalie Bjorklund - wow he is super talented! He is fast and yet still has some good size for 17 years old. He is also one that I think will end up getting NHL drafted. The present and future is bright here in MH!

Anonymous said...

Tigers looked off against Edmonton. Something was just not clicking at times. Madds looked a bit better but I still think he looks uncomfortable and less confident then last year. I understand Ottawa wanted him to play a bit differently, I wonder if that is playing into it at all. On to the next game, hope they are able to click.

TigerTurf said...

I thought the Tigers D zone coverage didn't look that great. They were over-aggressive at times and it caught them out of position.

All 4 of Edmonton's goals were cross-ice bang bang feeds. It's hard to fault sogaard on those

The short-handed goal the Tigers gave up, no-one really recognized that Hamblin had the wind knocked out of him and he needed some support.

It wasn't really any 1 persons' fault but a combination of Hamblin being hit hard earlier in the shift, kemp being the last guy back and getting pokechecked, no proper support behind the last man back back Perhaps you could throw in a coaching decision of using 5 forwards with the 5th forward being a 16yr old (WHL gamesheet is wrong on the plus/minus).

Clayton blew a tire and gave up an odd man rush that led to a goal. Tough one, but I feel like his game is stagnating a bit. he has a nonchalant attitude when breaking the puck out of the zone.

Gavlas was turned inside out going for a pokecheck completely out of reach that made him look a little foolish.
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The Oil Kings are a good team and I feel like the Tigers were over aggressive and got caught a few times.



CatFan said...

I would like to see Bjorkland get a few more starts in a row and see how he does. I really like his style and you gotta love seeing a rookie stop all 3 shots in a shootout!

TigerTurf said...

He has performed very well so far! Very quick at reacting to rebounds. I'm happy with the icetime he has been getting so far. He is definitely pushing sogaard.


Their was one goal last night I didn't particularly like because it was borderline goaltending interference. The hurricanes player was standing a centimeter off the crease and moving in sync wherever the puck was. He wasn't interfering yet was a pretty big nuisance and the reason why the hurricanes scored a PP goal even though he may not have had a point on the play

CatFan said...

What has happened to Sogaard? He just doesn't seem the same this year.

TigerTurf said...

He is definitely struggling a little. The last 5 games he has a .875 save percentage, which is definitely not his normal game.

I'll watch him closer tomorrow. He does seem like he is not as nearly as mobile as he was last season. It feels like he is being too patient and not aggressive enough and shots are catching him off-guard and deeper in his net.





longtimefan said...

Looks to me that he's lost confidence in what he's doing. The Vancouver game he was over aggressive and was over playing shots getting outside of his crease and last night he was the opposite and not aggressive at all. No question Ottawa wanted him to change some things and add to that he's working with a new coach here so I think he's struggling to figure out his game right now. To those thinking he should be on the bench I don't agree. He needs to figure it out and play his way out of it. Sitting him would only lower his confidence level even more.

CatFan said...

Just a side note: I guarantee that Medicine Hat will not be getting any major sporting events here anytime soon. The ticket sales have been horrible, and it was embarrassing seeing all those empty seats in the Bronze Medal game when Canada was playing. I think it is a mistake to broadcast a game on TV in the city where the game is being played.

TigerTurf said...

Meant to post this yesterday.

The Tigers looked nervous against Kamloops. They didn't play like they normally do. They had numerous turnovers in bad spots. Round 1 to Sean Clouston. His players came out and played pretty hard for him.
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They missed Cole Sillinger up front and he should be back on Friday. Also, parker Gevlas has served 2 games of a 4 game suspension for a checking to the head suspension in Prince George. It was a reactionary/accidentally type play but a clear hit to the head.
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In regards to Sogaard..... I hope he can figure it out soon.
my conclusions maybe wrong but here are some of my observations.....

I feel like he is trying to play perfect and it's causing him to over-adjust and get away from the basics..


Sometimes his crouch seems almost too low and he's not standing up tall, his hands are moving up or down as the shooter is taking a shot. I feel like sometimes he is telegraphing where he thinks the shooter is going and some shots he is reacting twice. He's also seeing a ton of traffic in front of him. In the last game his own defenceman was blocking his view on the 2nd goal. The 1st goal was off a turnover. So he was down 2-0 on plays that weren't his fault but on shots, he knew he could have stopped.

To me, it feels like he is playing way more reactionary than anticipatory. Constant last-second, micro-adjustments, rather than just moving as a whole and flowing with the puck. I feel like he isn't properly set on a lot of shots. His body is always moving at the last second and often times it's his hands and he's reacting surprised.

I feel like he needs to just work on flowing with the puck and keep his hands still.

I feel like his brain is overthinking and causing him to constantly micro-adjust. I feel like this happens a lot in hockey right after a big hot streak.

His strength is his big frame and mobility down low for a big goaltender. I feel he is playing too reactionary with micro-adjustments rather than using his strengths.

I also feel like the Tigers are blocking a lot more shots and some of this is also causing him to constantly micro-adjust.

Some of my raw thoughts...

Anonymous said...

Sogaard looking good tonight... While team is flying too!

Kevin W said...

I thought the Tigers turned in a solid performance last night. It was an enjoyable game to watch. Players up and down the line played well. Sogaard looked like last season Mads... His season will go well if he continues to build off last night's performance. If we can avoid injuries, it's going to be an exciting season!

TigerTurf said...

I felt like the last couple of games, since Kamloops, the Tigers were a bit "off". They definitely looked good last night. Amazing to see Sogaard playing back to his regular self.

The game was a big 4 point game as Edmonton was sitting in 2nd place in the WHL.
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Anonymous said...

Heard Lockner might be out a while.

Anonymous said...

Is anyone out there still? Hello? Hi Anon 12:16!
The Tigers took down not one, but two top ranked teams this week! Wheres the commentary? C'mom peeps! I mean, you want grit? Hamblin got in a fight last night with a much bigger guy! And won!

The team is showing some grit and pushback. Good to see that. Playing fast hockey...4th in the league!

How is there nothing to talk about? Lol

Anonymous said...

I was thinking the same thing Anon 10:35! The Tigers are doing amazing so no chatter on here. I have noticed the only time lots of talk happens is when the team isn't doing well. There are lots of "fans" that only like to discuss when players are doing poorly or complain about coaches that are no longer here and so on.... Anyways, yes we have an incredible team this year and the only thing missing is filling those seats at the Canalta Centre. Lets toss around some ideas on here as to how the Tigers/Canalta can get more people coming to the games. I have heard lots of great ideas and maybe if we put some down here - the message will get back to the "powers that be" and those seats will start selling. I'll start things off: 1) More minor hockey nights! In my experience those are the nights that the Canalta is bumpin'! The kids/teens have all sorts of energy and well....they are loud and that's what we need to pump the team up. They also constantly eat and drink so good for the concessions too! Any other ideas?

longtimefan said...

Loved the effort on Saturday against the raiders and most of all how they played for and stood up for each other. Be interesting to see what they do as the trade deadline approaches. I feel they need another scoring forward and a defenceman who can quarterback the power play. I'm not a big fan of the 5 forward grouping.

Think we can put to bed the notion that Shaun was the reason people were staying home as it's certainly hasn't changed the attendance figures so far this season. Personally don't think they do a very good job of marketing the team and I'll just give one example though there are many. It's the 50 year anniversary of the team this year and they have only "ONE" item in the souvenir store signifying the milestone, a scarf. No hats, tshirts, hoodies, third jersey or anything else. In my view they're missing out on a huge opportunity.

CatFan said...

Some ideas: Cheaper tickets for kids and youth. The crowd is too old and quiet, we need some young energy again. We used to have all the bantam teams in the tournament at the games, even had them parade on to the ice. That doesn't happen anymore. Get people from Ralston and the base at the games. They make lots of noise and get people going. And yes, for god's sake do some marketing. I'm thinking the Masers don't free up much moola for marketing so whoever is doing it is very limited. Just a few thoughts.

Anonymous said...

Completely agree with the above posts! Marketing is a major problem! A special 50th Anniversary jersey would be awesome and they would sell like hotcakes! The Hitmen have a beautiful Anniversary jersey and their store is full of new team gear all the time. Our store is simply...sad! I am a pretty big guy and I like to have a team hoodie from each year. I looked on Sunday and there are no sizes bigger than a large and the large is honestly more like a medium fit - get some larger sizes and some more selection please!!! I would love to know who is in charge of marketing...I would be interested if their hands are tied in regards to how much they can market and bring into the store due to budget constraints directed by the owners. Do the owners realize if they spend a bit more money on things like special jerseys that they will get that back plus more???!! Also, something that has bothered me for years....why don't we have our bus wrapped with a Tigers emblem and colors??? I don't know for sure how many of the WHL teams have a 'wrapped bus' but most of the teams do. Is this terribly expensive to do or again are we just too cheap?

Anonymous said...

I would love to see a Military Appreciation night! Many of the WHL teams do this with a special jersey that is auctioned off after the game. We have a Canadian and British military base so close and also a Canadian Reserve base right in town. The team could offer those with a current military ID and vets discounted tickets to that game. Yes all of this costs money but each person that gets into the Canalta for a game even if they are spending less on a discounted ticket are also going into the store and buying stuff, they are spending money at the concessions and if they have a great time they will come back! Sometimes it takes a bit of a loss to get a gain!

Anonymous said...

Love this idea - I hope some of these ideas get to the right people! In my opinion we are lacking big time in 'atmosphere'! Would love to see more of a pre-game intro with more lights and special effects. It doesn't have to be NHL worthy (I am well aware we do not have that kind of budget) but some more effort in that would be awesome! Fans would like to come to not only enjoy a great night of hockey but they also would like to be entertained otherwise everyone will sit at home and watch the game in the comfort of their own homes on WHL Live. Our game hosts do a great job so thanks to those guys! I'm sure they would love to see some more lights and things too!

Kevin W said...

Great ideas folks! What about a First Responders night? I know they do, or have done in Calgary...

The PA game was awesome.... Saw them play as a team in a way I haven't seen here for a long time. The last time Lethbridge was here before the U17 break really bothered me...lethie was acting like it was their ice, chippy and in the Tiger's faces with really no pushback. PA tried the same thing... With different results! Loved it!I hope they keep up this far, edgier style of play.

To that end, I agree that they could use a wee bit of tuning as identified above but I'm really happy with how different players have progressed this year...

Please Masers...I would buy a 50th Anniversary Jersey.... Bring one in!

Libertarian said...

It's time local sponsors pool their resources, home lotto, fund raisers and alike and bring the Memorial Cup here! Enough is enough always seems to be the same WHL teams hosting it.

Anonymous said...

Tigers have traded a 2021 conditional 6th round pick for 19 year old forward Cyle Mcnabb from Saskatoon.

Anon 10:42 must have been right about Lockner.

Anonymous said...

I want to buy more tiger stuff! I wish they brought back the retro orange jersey! I loved that one!!
As for their play, I love it. They have confidence! I feel like for many years only the star players did well and we did not have a kid who was a deep pick surprise us. Hopwo is a surprise to me! Lots of guys are shining! We are rolling 4 lines and they are all productive! Such great hockey!!

CatFan said...

We will never get a Memorial Cup. Look at the response to the World Under-17 - pitiful attendance. WHL Live should blackout home games as this does nothing to boost attendance when you can watch your home team from your house.

longtimefan said...

Cat fan, going to agree disagree with your comments. Agree that we most likely won’t ever host a memorial cup only because I don’t think the current ownership would ever make a bid nor could they even pull it off. With new owners, who knows.

Your second point about the attendance for the under 17’s yes some of the games were not good but the overall attendance for the week was second amongst host cities since the tournaments inception.

Anonymous said...

I agree with CatFan 100%. All sports teams and leagues in major cities black out games in the local market until the there is a sell out. I can get a game on WHL Live for about $8. Why would I buy my family 4 tickets, plus food and drinks and other stuff.