Tigers thrash the Blades 7-1

I missed the first period with other commitments, and unfortunately It meant missing one of the better periods of the year so far.

Maybe a rest is all the Tigers needed? With a break from practice yesterday, they came out flying and played a pretty good hockey game, flattening the blades at the start and making them loose interest in the game early.

The Tigers defensively played WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAy better than they have been playing. That plus a strong presence on their powerplay did the Blades In. The tigers had a bit of a lapse in the second period, however the blades didn't manage to score, with the defense holding the fort.

The blades might have taken the tigers a bit lightly tonight because of their last 2 shutouts against them. The tigers were motivated after individual player-to-coach meetings this week to discuses their lack of effort lately.

The power plays definitely favored the tigers at the start, but most of the blades penalties were hard trips or obvious hooks.
(Except the one call, against Zahn in the second, was a weaker call)
The blades also shot themselves in the foot with 2 delay of game penalties.

Game Summary

The tigers jumped on the blades early scoring 3 goals within the first 6 minutes chasing starter Braden Holtby. The tigers were all over the blades hammering them in their end. Tiger Killer Sam Klassen took out his second tiger in as many games. Bretton Cameron challenged him to a fight.

The big strong Klassen managed to throw Cameron to the ice a couple times, and get a few punches in. Bretton Cameron had some damage to his shoulder of the result of that, and had to leave the game. Initial estimates are that he will be out for 2-4 weeks. (Not another injury Yikes!)

The second period seemed a little slow paced, and the blades managed to get their game flowing. However Saskatoon's luck didn't get any better. Late in the second with the tigers on their heels Saskatoon took another penalty and the tigers took advantage with a goal From Linden Vey and regained the momentum.

In the third the blades got their only goal from a nice Tip-In shot. Hulak was perfectly positioned to the side of the net and Ryan Holfeld was out challenging. The blades D-man Neimi half slap passed a hard shot wide, and Hulak tipped it in the net.

All in all it was a breath of fresh air. The tigers came out with a shellacking of on of one the top teams, with 5ish guys out with injuries. They played relatively physical for the whole game, and the depth players weren't getting stepped on.

Next Game

Kamloops tomorrow. I think we'll see another big win. From Reports on the radio tonight, Cody Carlson is likely to play tomorrow fully recovering from a shoulder injury.

A couple Big Games this weekend!

The tigers face the blades on Friday.
In the regular season games the tigers have been outscored by the Blades 13-2.
The blades have hit the 30+ shot total each game while limiting the tigers to 23,24, and 26 shots.

I think the tigers game plan should be to limit Saskatoon's shot total, and finish their checks. They need to be doing the small things in their own zone, and for 3 full periods.

Then on Saturday they face Kamloops. A team that has some explosive offensive capabilities but a weaker defense.

I am hoping for 2 wins this weekend ;) - But these days winning the lottery may seem more probable.

-I'll try and remember to provide a complete game summary for Saskatoon game!!

Tigers Lose In OT To P.A 6-5

Updated Standings

Team -------Games left---Pts-----Pct---Projected total

Swift Current   14       66     .569     82
Tigers          14       65     .560     81
Kootenay        15       62     .544     78
Lethbridge      14       61     .526     76
(-Tigers drop to 5th place)

Tigers 5 @ Prince Albert 6 OT

25 seconds into the third period the tigers managed to get a 5-2 lead. However it didn't last long as the raiders scored 3 straight goals to tie the game. Former Tiger Jordan Hickmott would come back and bit the tigers in the rear as he scored with 50 seconds left into overtime. A very Disapointing Outcome. The opposition coaches are all starting to say that their is a certain way you have to play against the tigers, hopefully the tigers can make that harder.

Tigers Cut Up By Blades

The tigers may have lost Forward Tristan King for a period of time. King was levelled reaching for the puck and Blades D-man Sam Klassen crunched him with a clean hit.

King tried to get up but fell unconscious and had to be helped off the ice on a stretcher. He was taken to the Saskatoon hospital for observations.

Early word from the dressing room is that he is okay, but has a severe concussion. No word on how long he will be out for, But hopefully he can recover quickly.

Game Summary

The tigers hit a few posts, and they just couldn't get it past the Saskatoon Netminder Braden Holtby who was named the games first star. The tigers still gave up too many shots, as the blades fired 35 at rookie goaltender Tyler Bunz. IT also looked like the tigers didnt give it thier all in the third period, as they only mustered 2 shots.
The tigers went 0-7 on the powerplay.

From what ive gathered, it sounded like the tigers played a pretty good game through 2 periods, but the puck luck wasn't thier. Then after the blades got thier 3rd goal the tigers fell back a little.

Sean Ringrose has been emerging as a leader for this tigers club. He had another strong game tonight, and was an honorable mention for a game star.

Interesting fact: Tyler Bunz is now 2 PM's shy of Tyler Ennis. Bunz has racked up 10 minutes over 18 games. (Ennis has 12 PM's)

Injuries

Wacey Hamilton - Ankle - 2 weeks
Triston King - Concussion
Joey Frazer - Hand - Day to Day
John Stampohar - Shoulder - Day to Day
Cody Carlson - Shoulder - Day to Day

Race for fourth!

Games this past weekend (Friday Saturday, Sunday)(total points)

Tigers 2/2
Lethbridge 2/6
Swift current 2/4
Kootenay 3/6



-----------Games left -- Pts ---Pct ----Projected total
Tigers----------16------64-----.571-----82
Swift Current---15------64-----.561-----81
Lethbridge-----14-------61-----.526-----76
Kootenay-------16------60-----.536-----77


Next Week
2 - Lethbridge plays at home against Kamloops Red Deer
4 - Tigers play Saskatoon (x2)(1 is a home game) , (H)Kamloops, (A)Prince Albert
3 - Swift Current plays Regina(H), Prince Albert(H), Saskatoon(A)
3- Kootenay plays Edmonton(H) and Red Deer x2(1 home game)


Every week I'll update this list and repost it at the top!

Willie's comments in the paper

“All along, I believed we were a pretty decent team.
“But, you can only believe that for so long until we are that way. We are getting outworked every night 1-on-1.”

-Quote from Willie Desjardin in the Medicine hat newspaper

Thats exactly what I was thinking after the game vs Calgary. I thought that game made the tigers look like a team that isn't as good as what i thought they were.


I think that was a very interesting realization from the coach. Willies body language on the bench during the last game was like "sheesh I don't know what else to do".

I am predicting that if McCue/Bosch/Dusntall have good games the tigers will win tonight against Moose Jaw.

Moose Jaw has a poor record but they have an uncanny ability to turn it up for a random period of time, and I expect a close game. It will be nice to see Frazee back in the hat so we can see how much he has improved this year.

Hitmen pick off the tigers 8-4

I thought the Hitmen showed tonight why there the number three ranked team in canada.
The Hitmen were pretty good at doing all the small things right.

IT made the tigers look like a team not good enough to make the playoffs.
Mind you they played well in the first period.

The tigers completely forgot to finish their checks in the second and third period
Its an opposition players dream to play a small team that doesnt hit. "No hearing footsteps" means more confidence for the other team.

Calgary's offensive system has their defense pinching in while the far third forward covers their spot. That made it incredibly hard for the tigers to get out of thier zone.

One thing I picked out is the tigers defenseive play has them playing really tight. It gave the hitmen all kinds of time to set up on the outside(or shoot with screens), they co-erce a player out of position, and it opened up all kinds of holes.


It was my first time watching Bo Montgomery and he looked pretty good. A big body who is not afraid to step up and deliver a hit.

Game against Moose Jaw on saturday.

Calgary Predictions

Well I actually got a prediction right (lol) guessing that the tigers would lose to Kamlooops a couple nights ago.

Home game vs Calgary on Thursday

Calgary is no slouch of a team, and has played us pretty tough.
I am going to guess the Tigers will come out HARD and really show some promise tomorrow night. However I think Calgary will still squeak out with a win.

Last game I saw calgary's shooters were pretty deadly in picking the corners, and thier offence has been on fire lately. If there is a weak spot its that thier goaltending has been a little inconsistent.

The tigers will need to be blocking shots, LIMITING calgary's powerplays to 2 or less, chipping pucks out past the blueline consistently, and get some timely scoring to have a shot at winning.

I'll say 6-4 calgary with an empty netter.

Interesting Fact: Colton Grant has put the tigers shorthanded 8 times in the last 7 games.

Finish Expectations

At 54 games the tigers have 62 points...In the olden days the tigers would be 2 points above .500.(No points for overtime losses)

Can they get 2nd place?:Extremely Unlikely.

Mathematically the tigers would have to win the rest of their games while saskatoon could only win 8 or less of their remaining 18, and brandon could only win 12 or less of their remaining 18 games. Not very likely.

Can the tigers get 3rd place?: The tigers would have to make up 6.5 games on brandon over the remaining 18 games.

Say the tigers won 15 of their last 18. Brandon needs only to win 8.5 of their last 18.(Brandon gets the tiebreaker hence the tigers would need an extra point). It looks like 3rd place is already highly unlikely.

Can the tigers get 4th place?: Possibly..4th place looks to be a battle between Tigers, Broncos, Kootenay, Lethbridge.... Everyone is within 5 points of each other.
GL PTS
Tigers---18--62
Broncs--18--60
Leth---18---57
Koot---19---57

The tigers have 5 of 18 games vs those teams above.Which are must wins.
13 of 18 are at home
6 of 18 against teams with a .685+ wining .pct
7 of 18 against below .500 teams
16 of 18 against conference opponents

kootenay x3
calgary x2
lethbridge x2
Moose jaw x2
saskatoon x2
Prince albert x2
red deer
regina
kamloops
brandon
Kelowna

Lethbridge gets Sbisa back

The philadelphia flyers returned 18 yr old defensman Luca Sbisa to the Canes Today. Sbisa played in 39 regular season flyer games. It should be a very welcome addition to the canes. Their team is looking scary good when everyone is healthy. Losing Sbisa at the start of the year seemed to take pretty big blow to the canes defense.

I would not be suprised at all to see the tigers in a death race for that 4th and final home playoff position, with lethbridge.