GAME DAY PREVIEW DECEMBER 13 @ SASKATOON
LAST GAME: 6-3 L Vs Moose Jaw Warriors: Thanks to a brilliant 11 save effort in the 1st period by Tigers goaltender Beckett Langkow, the Tigers would build to a 3-0 period lead on the Warriors before finally coming through with a 6-3 win at Co-op Place. Shane Smith, Cayden Lindstrom, Pasha Bocharov, Brayden Boehm, Brenden Lee & Tomas Mrsic would tally for Medicine Hat and Tigers Head Coach & General Manager Willie Desjardins would win his 400th game as a head coach with the Tigers organization.
VS SASKATOON: It’s the 4th and final meeting of the season between the Tigers and the Blades with the first meeting happening at Co-op Place with Saskatoon winning 2-1 on October 28.. Tyler Parr would score back to back power play goals in the third period to lead the way for Saskatoon while Tyler Mackenzie would answer for Medicine Hat. Blades goaltender Austin Elliot would make 28 saves in the win while Tigers goaltender Evan May would 29 stops in the loss. In their last game at SaskTel Centre November 18, it was Andrew Basha, Brayden Boehm & Brenden Lee would score in an eventual 4-3 overtime loss when Egor Sidorov found the back of the net at 1:11.
On December 3rd it was the Blades spoiling the Tigers Teddy Bear toss with Vaughn Watterodt and Jayden Wiens scoring for Saskatoon in a 2-1 loss for Medicine Hat as Oasiz Wiesblatt would score for the Teddies to fly at 14:57 of the 3rd period.
Head to Head since 1996-97, the Tigers have a 51-42-8-3 record along with a tie and a 24-20-6-2 record in Saskatoon including the one tie in their record.
HEAD TO HEAD
2021-22 2022-23
Oct 15 @ SAS (4-0 L) Oct 28 @ MH (2-1 L)
Oct 30 @ MH (4-2 L) Nov 18 @ SAS (4-3 OTL)
Jan 21 @ SAS (9-2 L) Dec 3 @ MH (2-1 L)
Apr 5 @ MH (4-0 L) Dec 13 @ SAS
TALE OF THE TAPE
MEDICINE HAT TIGERS (11-15-4-1) 27pts
4TH in Central Division
9TH in Eastern Conference
PP – Overall 30/140 – 21.4% – Away 15/69 – 21.7%
Vs SAS – 1/5 – 20.0% @ SAS – 2/3 – 66.66%
PK – Overall 107/140 -76.4% – Away 54/71 – 76.1%
Vs SAS – 7/10 – 70.0% @ SAS 3/4 – 75.0%
SASKATOON BLADES (21-5-0) 42pts
2nd in East Division
3rd in Eastern Conference
PP – Overall 31/108 – 28.7% – Home 16/49 – 32.7%
Vs MH – 1/3 – 33.33% @MH – 4/5 – 80.0
PK – Overall 87/102 – 85.3% – Home 42/50 -84.0%
Vs MH – 4/5 – 80% @MH – 7/10 – 70%
2022-23 REGULAR SEASON STAT LEADERS
Goals – Lee (17) Assists – Basha (23)
Points – Basha (32) +/- Parsons (12)
PIMS – St.Martin (47) Wins – Langkow (11)
Shutouts – N/A Save % – Langkow .892%
GAA – Langkow (3.07)
PLAYERS TO WATCH
– Andrew Basha 30 GP: 7-23-30 PTS – Oasiz Wiesblatt 31GP: 12-13-25 PTS
– Brenden Lee 31 GP: 17-15-32 PTS (11 PPG) – Brayden Boehm 31 GP: 12-9-21 PTS
– Tyler MacKenzie 31 GP: 10-10-20 PTS – Dru Krebs 30 GP: 3-14-17 PTS
– Reid Andresen 31 GP: 5-13-18 PTS – Cayden Lindstrom 24GP: 7-6-13 PTS *06 Born
MILESTONE WATCH
Dru Krebs – 2 points away from 60 in his career Beckett Langkow – 5 GP from 60 Career GP Hunter St. Martin – 5 GP from 50 career GP Owen MacNeil – 2 points from 50 in his career
NEWS & NOTES
Mr. 400: Tigers Head Coach & Willie Desjardins notched his 400th win as a Head Coach with the Medicine Hat Tigers December 10th in a 6-3 win at home against the Moose Jaw Warriors. Desjardins record in his 11 seasons coaching in the WHL has his record at 783: 410-309-64. Desjardins first win as Tigers Head Coach was a 4-3 win on September 24, 2002 against… The Saskatoon Blades.
Busy Beckett:Tigers Goaltender Beckett Langkow leads the WHL in minutes played with 1408 including a stretch of ten straight starts from September 24 to October 2.
Latvian Leap: Second year defenceman Bogdans Hodass will represent Team Lativa at the upcoming World Junior Hockey Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia for the second straight year. In 24 GP this season, Hodass has 4 goals and 11 assists for 15 points. At this summer’s World Juniors in Edmonton, Hodass had 1 goal and 1 assist in 5 games making it to the Quarter Finals.
Defenders Attacking: The Tigers defence core of Rhett Parsons, Bogdans Hodass, Dru Krebs, Pasha Bocharov, Josh Van Mulligen, Reid Andresen & Josh Van Mulligen have contributed to 81 points (20 goals, 61 assists)
Silver Lining: Tigers forward Tomas Mrsic returns to the Tigers after taking home a silver medal at the World U17s in Langley, BC. Mrsic had one goal and one assists for Team Canada Red. Cayden Lindstrom also participated in the U17s as a member of Team White scoring two goals and two assists in the tournament.
The Lindstrom Lightning: Tigers Centre Cayden Lindstrom is in the Top 15 in WHL Rookie scoring with 13 points (7 goals, 6 assists) in 23 games played.
From Cessford with Love: Tigers Rookie Forward Shane Smith is 3rd in Rookie goal scoring with 9 goals.
Go Shorty: Going into tonight’s game in Red Deer, the Tigers are 9th in shorthanded goals for in the WHL with 4, (Smith, St. Martin, Bocharov, Boehm)
Lee’s Laser: Coming into action tonight, Tigers forward Brenden Lee is 2nd in the Western Hockey League with 11 power play goals but also 2nd in the entire Canadian Hockey League.
MacNeil’s Navy: The Tigers announced their leadership group for the 2022-23 WHL Season, Owen MacNeil was named the 39th Captain in Tigers history, while Rhett Parsons, Dru Krebs, Tyler MacKenzie & Dallon Melin will all wear alternate captain’s A’s on their jerseys this season.
HOW THE TIGERS WERE BUILT
WHL Draft (9): Andresen, Parsons, Wiesblatt, MacKenzie, Krebs, St. Martin, Boehm, Van Mulligen, Mrsic, Lindstrom, Basha, McKenna
Trade (5): Bocharov, Lee, MacNeil, Smythe & May
CHL Import Draft (1): Hodass
Listed/Signed (2): Langkow, Hanas
Waivers (1): Melin
ROSTER AGE BREAKDOWN (* indicates rookie):
Alberta – 11 –Parsons, Wiesblatt, MacKenzie, Krebs, Langkow, St. Martin *, Smith *, Melin, Van Mulligen *, MacNeil, Basha
BC – 5 – Smythe, Lindstrom *, Mrsic *, Boehm & May
Saskatchewan– 1 – Andresen
Yukon-1–McKenna*
USA – 3 – Lee, Hanas & Bocharov Latvia – 1 – Hodass
PREVIOUS THREE GAMES NEXT THREE GAMES (all times MT/SD
Tue Dec 6 @ Edmonton Oil Kings (4-2 W) Fri Dec 10 Vs Moose Jaw Warriors (7pm)
Wed Dec 7 @ Red Deer Rebels (5-2 L) Tue Dec 13 @ Saskatoon Blades (6pm)
Fri Dec 9 @ Lethbridge Hurricanes (5-3 L) Wed Dec 14 @ Prince Albert Raiders (6pm)