GAME 3: TIGERS @ SASKATOON BLADES
VS SASKATOON: The Medicine Hat Tigers are up 2-0 versus the Saskatoon Blades in the best of seven WHL Eastern Conference Quarter-finals. The Tigers have outscored the Blades 10-5 and outshot them 70-59 in the series. Emerson Etem (3G,4A) leads the way for the Tigers with seven points in the series. Goaltender Tyler Bunz (2-0-0-0) has allowed five goals (2.50 G.A.A.) on 59 shots (.915 SV%) in his two starts. Medicine Hat is 4 for 11 with the man advantage (36.4%), while having killed off 2 for 3 (66.7%) Saskatoon power plays.
1st ROUND SERIES SCHEDULE:
#1 – Medicine Hat 5 – Saskatoon 2
#2 – Medicine Hat 5 – Saskatoon 3
#3 – Medicine Hat @ Saskatoon, Tuesday, March 27 (7:00 PM)
#4 – Medicine Hat @ Saskatoon, Wednesday, March 28 (7:30 PM)
#5 – Saskatoon @ Medicine Hat, Saturday, March 31 (7:30 PM)**
#6 – Medicine Hat @ Saskatoon, Monday, April 2 (7:00 PM)**
#7 – Saskatoon @ Medicine Hat, Wednesday, April 4 (7:00 PM)**
** If necessary
LAST GAME: The Tigers beat the Saskatoon Blades 5-3 in Game 2 on Saturday night. Emerson Etem had a big night with two goals and three assists. Hunter Shinkaruk was a goal off Etem’s pace with a goal and three assists. James Bettauer and Curtis Valk also scored for the Tigers in the win. Tyler Bunz had another solid game in net making 25 saves to give the Tigers a 2-0 series lead.
2011-12 WHL RANKINGS:
- Record (42-24-2-4)
- Central Div. – 3rd
- Eastern Con. – 4th
- Home (19-14-1-2)
- Away (23-10-1-2)
MILESTONES: This season has seen a number of major milestones. Emerson Etem continued to score at an unbelievable pace. He cracked the 100 point plateau for the first time in his career and became the WHL first player in 11 years to score 50 goals in 50 games. Matthew Konan had a fantastic 20-year old season and played his 300th regular season game in a Tigers jersey. He was only the 7th player in franchise history to reach that mark. Tyler Bunz had another huge season in net for the Tigers. He recorded his third straight season with 30+ wins. At the conclusion of the regular season he had won 115 regular season games in his career which broke the old franchise record of 106 by Matt Keetley. Long-time Tigers broadcaster Bob Ridley recently hit an unbelievable milestone announcing his 3000th regular season game. He’s only missed one game during the entire history of the team.
STREAKS: Matt Konan has been solid on the back end posting a positive plus/minus rating over the past twelve games. Over the streak he’s had a rating of +9. Emerson Etem and Hunter Shinkaruk have both been played excellent lately collecting points in 9 and 7 of their previous 10 games, respectively. Etem (11G,7A) and Shinkaruk (8G,10A) have tallied 18 points each over their streaks.
2011-12 CLUB LEADERS:
- Goals (3) Emerson Etem
- Assists (4) Emerson Etem / Hunter Shinkaruk
- Points (7) Emerson Etem
- PIM (4) Emerson Etem / Hunter Shinkaruk
- Plus/Minus (+2) Alex Theriau / Patrik Parkkonen
- Wins (2) Tyler Bunz
SPECIAL TEAMS:
- POWER PLAY: 4 – 11 – 36.4%
- PENALTY KILL: 2 – 3 – 66.7%
TIGERS ROSTER MAKEUP: The Tigers currently have 26 players on the roster – 3 goaltenders, 8 defencemen and 15 forwards, including 9 rookies.
AGE BREAKDOWN: 3 – 20 year olds, 5 – 19 year olds, 8 – 18 year olds, 6 – 17 year olds and 4 – 16 year old.
NHL DRAFTED / SIGNED PLAYERS: Kale Kessy (Phoenix Coyotes), Alex Theriau (Dallas Stars), Tyler Bunz (Edmonton Oilers) and Emerson Etem (Anaheim Ducks).
