Tigers Make A Big Trade

The Prince Albert Raiders have acquired 19-year-old defenceman Dylan Busenius and 18-year-old forward Jayden Hart as well as a 6^th round selection in the 2014 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft from the Medicine Hat Tigers.

 In exchange, the Raiders  have traded 19-year-old defenceman Zach Hodder, 18-year-old forward Logan McVeigh, prospect Connor Hobbs and a 2^nd round draft pick in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft to the Tigers.

http://www.raiderhockey.com/article/raiders-acquire-busenius-and-hart 

Logan McVeigh - 6'1  195 lbs  23 points in 38 games with the raiders.

McVeigh is a hard worker who will finish is checks, even when he doesn't score he makes an impact on the game. Has some skill, can play the wing or center.

Zach Hodder - 5'11 180 lbs  3 points in 25 games. 16 PM's 

- P.A fans were saying he was trade bait all year.

Alex Theriau
Theriau announced yesterday he has officially retired from the whl as he still has complications from his Hip Injury. http://www.reginapats.com/article/alex-theriau-retires-from-junior-hockey 

Jayden Hart

Shocking News

Chat TV's facebook page has just reported that Jayden Hart has decided not to rejoin the Tigers, and is at home awaiting a trade.

Hart has 10 points in 18 games, and is first time draft eligible this year.

Sean Rooney's twitter Feed says that Hart's Agent told the Tigers he wouldn't be back on December 22nd.
The Tigers have a limited window to Move Hart as the Trade Deadline is January 10th.

A gutsy move doing this in your draft year. I wonder what the reasoning behind it is.

Edit: Sean Rooney  Sports Editor at the Medicine hat News did a phone interview with him today and Jayden Hart told him he was leaving due to "personal reasons"

Tigers Defeat Blazers 7-6 OT

I thought the Tigers played very well tonight. They kept up their physical play and for once I thought they actually outhit the other team.

 The Tigers changed up their line combos and it looked like Hunter Shinkaruk was playing through some sort of injury. Tyler Lewington was also out with an injury.

 Ty Stanton
Ty Stanton really stepped up for the Tigers tonight. He was making crisp passes and doing all the little things right in his own end, and it led to a big 4 point night.

I thought the Tigers deserved to win this in regulation, and Kamloops was lucky that Marek Langhamer had a bad night in goal.

 I am very excited about the game they played tonight. I saw a lot of positive signs. They kept up their physical play and their penalty kill looked a lot better. I hope they can continue to play that way after they come back from the Christmas Break.



 5 Minute Major
Kamloops Blazer forward Aspen Sterzer could see a suspension after Hitting Trevor Cox in the head on a nasty hit. Luckily Cox wasn't injured on the play.

Kamloops was without the leagues 2nd leading scorer in J.C Lipon who made the world junior team.

Kelowna Defeats Tigers 5-2

 First Period

I thought the Tigers played really well in the first period despite getting outshot 14-4. They were hitting and they were being aggressive. The only thing not going for them was the zebra's. A different ref and it could have been the Tigers with the powerplay advantage in the first period.

The only bad thing in the first period was when the Tigers got caught with bad positioning on their Penalty Kill for the first Kelowna Powerplay Goal, as well as their inability to get zone time on their powerplay.


I thought after the first period the Tigers stopped hitting on their forecheck, and Kelowna upped their game another notch, and started spending more time in the Tigers zone.They eventually broke away in the third period

I think Trevor Cox needs to pick up his play. He looks like he is a bit intimidated on the ice at times, and watches away from the play. A guy like Blake Penner outplayed him badly tonight.

TigerTurf's Players of the Night
I thought Dylan Bredo, Ty Stanton, Jacob Doty, Blake Penner, Kyle Becker,  all had really good games for the Tigers.


Fights
Jake Doty had a highlight reel marathon fight against Colton Heffley of the rockets.  Both players did some damage.

Curtis Valk showed signs of being frustrated against Kelowna as he got mugged by Madison Bowey and threw down his gloves. Bowey threw a few extra shots after valk was on the ice. Bowey had 5 inches and 30 pounds on Valk.

 Thoughts on Kelowna
I loved kelowna's Penalty Kill. They were aggressive, forced the Tigers to the outside, and gave them all sorts of trouble stacking up at the blueline and making it impossible for the Tigers to carry the puck in.

I also liked Kelowna's play in their own end. A guy like Curtis Valk who likes to get fancy was nailed multiple times. Hunter Shinkaruk was also targeted early and besides the first couple of shifts, Kelowna's team Defense was able to neutralize him. Kelowna had very strong efforts in the second and third period.

Doty Vs Heffley

Shinkaruk Cut from Team Canada

Cuts are done

Team Canada Final Cuts
Frank Corrado - Defenceman (Sudbury Wolves OHL)
Laurent Brossoit - Goaltender (Edmonton WHL)
Daniel Catenacci - Forward (Owen Sound Attack OHL)
Mark Mcneill  - Forward (Prince Albert WHL)
Ryan Sproul - Defenceman (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds OHL)
Tom Wilson - Forward  (Plymouth Whalers OHL)
Hunter Shinkaruk - Forward (Medicine Hat WHL)
Matt Dumba - Defenceman (Red Deer Rebels WHl)

Darn Shinkaruk was the last forward to be cut.. He should be a shoo-in next season.

Selection Camp Update Day 1

Team Canada held their intra-squad game last night.

Hunter Shinkaruk scored the lone goal for team white as they lost 3-1 to team red.
Shinkaruk's goal came off of a rebound.

I didn't watch the game but multiple fan reports from Calgary are saying that Shinkaruk stood out for team white. You can watch the game highlights at tsn.

Apparently http://www2.fasthockey.com/login.php broadcasted the intrasquad game and will also be broadcasting the next 2 games against the Alberta Golden Bears
(Wednesday at 4pm eastern, Thursday at 2 pm eastern)
The site requires an email for signup.

Shinkaruk Survives First Round of Cuts
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/story/2012/12/12/sp-hockey-canada-world-junior-camp-cuts-121212.html

Estimated 5 forward cuts left to be made. The Final Roster Will be announced Tonight.

Tigers Defeat Hurricanes 8-7 SO

What A Game!
First Period
The Tigers get some bad calls go against them early. Elgin Pearce received a feed in the slot with a shot on net and then got hit into the goalie Ty Rimmer.  Pearce would get called for Goaltender Interference.

The Tigers would kill the penalty off, but soon after Blake Penner would get called for boarding after finishing his check near the Hurricanes Bench on another questionable call.

On the Hurricanes Power-play Ty Stanton had a couple of chances to poke the puck off off Russell Maxwell's stick near the blue-line but missed both chances.  Russell Maxwell was then able to burn a flat footed Stanton to the outside. He shoved a shot low blocker side which beat Lanigan.
 1-0 Hurricanes

The Hurricanes would score again 5 minutes later shorthanded. Elgin Pearce overskated the puck in the slot, I'm not sure where the other Tigers defenceman was but it led to a Hurricanes 2-1 rush down the ice.   Jaimen Yakubowski would hold on to the puck, hesitate to get some space, then ripped a shot past Lanigan glove side.
2-0 Hurricanes

2:12 left in the 1st period some Hard Work by the Hurricanes would create a turnover in the tigers end. The puck would come out front amid a massive scramble and Jaimen Yakubowski would fire the rebound past Lanigan who was sprawled out trying to cover the puck.
3-0 Hurricanes

The tigers should seriously consider pulling lanigan here to shake it up. Lanigan is not getting much help but he is not sharp either.


2nd Period...yikes
The Tigers would break up a 2 on 1, Dylan Bredo would hustle his butt down the ice to get a step on the defender Lenny Hackman. Jake Doty fired a perfect hard pass over to Bredo who redirected it  past an outstretched Ty Rimmer. 3-1 Hurricanes

Lethbridge would get their 3 goal lead back almost immediately. The Tigers created a couple turnovers in the offensive zone, but Trevor Cox made a dumb decision to cross check a surprised defenceman from behind...

On the powerplay Joel Topping would fire a shot from the high half wall. Amid a mad scramble in front the first rebound shot would squeak past Lanigan's pad. Then Sam Mckechnie would pot in the second rebound. 4-1 Hurricanes

 The Tigers Ty Stanton would take a high stick by 16 year old Tyler Wong. Wong receives a 4 minutes high sticking penalty.

On the powerplay Miles Koules fed Curtis Valk in front. Valk would take a second and make a pass over to Shinkaruk. Shinkaruk took a second to coral the puck and fired it past a diving Ty Rimmer

4-2 Hurricanes

Just after the Hurricanes killed off the rest of the penalty Elgin pearce would thread a small pass over to Shinkaruk who threaded another nice pass over to Valk who buried it Past Ty Rimmer.
 4-3 Hurricanes

2 Minutes later Kyle Becker would fire a flip shot out of his zone over everyone's head. The Tigers would scoop up the puck. Shinkaruk went to the net and Elgin Pearce passed over to Curtis Valk who one-timed it past an outstretched Ty Rimmer. 4-4 TIE

Unfortuntely the momentum would drastically change again.


Cam Lanigan would stop a point shot but was unable to cover the puck up. Jamien Yakubowski would get his 3rd goal of the game off the rebound. 5-4 Hurricanes

The Hurricanes would strike again with 1 second left in the period. Axel Blomqvist would put a harmless shot on net but Lanigan couldn't cover up the rebound and Jamien Yakubowski would poke the puck in past Lanigan for his 4th of the game. 6-4 Hurricanes

Lanigan is having trouble covering up any rebounds.....Yakubowski has scored 3 goals off of rebounds.

3rd Period

The Tigers would pull within one. Jake Doty fired a shot on net. Rimmer would save the shot then knock away the rebound, however he put the puck right on Miles Koules stick. Koules went top Shelf. 6-5 Hurricanes

Hurricanes would get their 2 goal lead back on a controversial play. Lanigan saved the initial shot but the puck squirted loose of his hold. Recognizing this he spread out as far as he could, however the puck was still open in the blue paint. Jamien Yakubowski would frantically whack away at the loose puck 3-4-5 times and would score his 5th goal of the game.
 7-5 Hurricanes

5 minutes left in the game Miles Koules would find Hunter Shinkaruk behind the net.Shinkaruk quickly wrapped the puck around beating Ty Rimmer. 7-6 Hurricanes

TIE GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME

Dylan Busenius undressed a Hurricane defenceman at the blueline, he would loose the puck trying to get past the 2nd Dman, but Elgin Pearce picked the puck up and Wristed one past Rimmer blocker side. 7-7 TIE


Overtime
Boston Leier would get a goalie interference penalty. Leier tried to jump out of the way but the Hurricanes Dman was right their guiding him into the goalie.

The Tigers would get the best chance as Kyle Becker and Dylan Bredo had a 2 on 1. Becker kept the puck but fired wide.

Shootout
The Tigers ended this one early. Lanigan stopped both Russell Maxwell and Jamien Yakubowski
Both Hunter Shinkaruk and Curtis Valk scored for the Tigers.

Shinkaruk Named to Canada's Selection Camp

Hunter Shinkaruk was named to Team Canada's Selection camp this morning.

You can find the whole list here

Shinkaruk is one of 5 forwards that haven't been drafted to the NHL as of yet in the selection camp. With the NHL lockout and the quality of forwards available is pretty high, Shinkaruk will be in tough to make the roster.

The Camp beings on December 10th, and The Full Team will be named on December 13th.
Good Luck Hunter!

TIgers Defeat Wheaties 2-1 SO

 The Arena was a bit empty tonight. Officially it was a sellout but It looked a little over half full.

Brandon was without their top blueliner Ryan Pulock out with an upper body injury.

 Quick Summary
The Tigers Dylan Busenius scored on the powerplay with a rocket of a shot top corner to give the Tigers a 1-0 Lead late in the second period.

The lead would stick until 52 seconds left in the game with the goalie pulled, Brandon's Eric Roy would let a high shot go from the point. Amid the bodies in front, the puck beat Langhamer and forced the game into overtime. Neither team managed to score.

In the shootout Hunter Shinkaruk, and Curtis Valk beat Corbin Boes, while Elgin Pearce's shot rang iron. Nick Buonassisi had Langhamer beat but hit the post, Alessio Bertaggia scored stick side, and Jayce Hawryluk shot was stopped by Marek Langhamer's glove...and with the Victory Marek Langhamer pulled out a Teemu Selanne....throw your glove in the air and shoot it with the stick type celebration.

Thoughts
It was a bit of a dull game.

I thought the Tigers forwards did a real good job back-checking. The Tigers probably should have won the game outright as they developed quite a few good scoring chances in the third period, but were getting a little too fancy trying to score on perfect plays.

The Victory leapfrogs the Tigers over Saskatoon into 8th place.

The Tigers have 4 games left before the christmas break, with the only road game in Lethbridge which comes this Friday.

World Juniors
The Players for the Selection Camp will be named on Monday.

Tigers Defeat Canes 2-1 SO

Tigers snap their 8 game winless streak. They look liked they won a 7 game series by their celebrations after winning the shootout.

Thoughts
Goaltenders battle tonight. Both 'Tenders played really well.

 The Teddy Bear Toss goal came courtesy of Dylan Busenius with his half court shot from center ice. The puck took a wicked hop over Ty Rimmer to tie the game 1-1.

The Tigers sure missed Jayden Hart when he was out of the lineup. He brings so much poise and makes his line-mates better.

I liked the physicality Curtis Valk showed tonight. I wish more of their forwards would finish their checks instead of taking  half-assed swipes at the puck.

Their was one shift where Ty Stanton knocked the puck out of mid-air 3 times in the same shift, I thought that was impressive.

 I was impressed with Lethbridge Overage Defenceman Daniel Johnston. He was a physical force and knocked a dozen tigers off their skates. He also made 4 rushes up the ice(including 1 in overtime) and each rush was a scoring chance.

Next Up
Brandon comes to town. Brandon has plunged in the standings and has lost 5 straight games.