GAME 32: TIGERS @ CALGARY HITMEN

VS CALGARY: This is the fifth of six meetings this season between the Tigers and Hitmen. Medicine Hat has posted a 3-1-0-0 record versus the Hitmen (2-0-0-0 at home and 1-1-0-0 in Calgary). Trevor Cox (2G,1A), Hunter Shinkaruk (1G,2A), Steven Owre (1G,2A), Logan McVeigh (2G,1A) and Tommy Vannelli (3A) lead the Tigers with three points each. Marek Langhamer (1-0-0-0) and Daniel Wapple (2-1-0-0) have split the starts in net for the Tigers. Langhamer has allowed four goals against (4.00 GAA) on 30 shots (.867 Save %) in his only start. In his three starts Wapple has allowed six goals against (1.94 GAA) on 106 shots (.943 Save %). On the power play the Tigers went 5 for 16 (31.3%), while killing off 9 of 12 (75.0%) Hitmen chances.

 

2013-14 WHL RANKINGS:

• Record (19-9-3-0).        
• Central Div. – 3rd.    
• Eastern Con. – 4th.         
• Home (12-3-2-0).    
• Away (7-6-1-0).

 

VS CENTRAL DIVISION: The Tigers have played well against Central Division opponents so far this season posting a 6-4-0-0 record.

 

LAST GAME: The Tigers defeated the Calgary Hitmen 1-0 in overtime at the Arena on Tuesday night. Logan McVeigh scored the overtime winner from Curtis Valk and Dylan Bredo. Daniel Wapple picked up his first shutout of the season and took over the team lead in wins with his 10th. The Tigers went 0 for 2 on the power play and didn’t take a single penalty in the game.

 

MILESTONES: Curtis Valk recently reached an impressive career milestone and is quickly approaching another.  He picked up his 100th career assist in the 4-3 loss to the Kelowna Rockets and is now only four points away from 200 in his career. In 229 games with the Tigers, Valk has scored 91 goals and assisted on 105 others for 196 points. Trevor Cox also recently hit an impressive assist milestone. He collected his 50th career assist in the 2-1 loss to Red Deer. In 159 games, Cox has 34 goals and 51 assists for 85 points. Dylan Bredo has been an ironman during his tenure with the Tigers. Bredo reached a milestone in his previous game that only seven other former Tigers can claim when he played in his 300th regular season games with the Tigers. Ben Thomson holds the record at 352 games played and if Bredo plays the remaining 41 games in the regular season he will finish in third behind only Thomson (352) and Mark Polak (351).

 

ATB TIGERS SKILLS COMPETITION: The Tigers and ATB Financial are proud to present the third annual Tigers Skills Competition on January 8th. Tickets are now on sale at the Tigers ticket office and ATB Financial locations. Tickets are $5 and all proceeds go directly to the MS Society.

 

ATB PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Tommy Vannelli was named the ATB Financial Player of the Week for the week ending Dec 8th. It is his first player of the week honour of the season. Over the past week, Vannelli scored three goals and posted an even plus/minus rating over two games. Over the week the Tigers went 1-1-0-0. 

 

CLUB LEADERS:

• Goals (16) Cole Sanford                          
• Assists (24) Trevor Cox                                                     
• Points (33) Curtis Valk
• PIM (45) Tyler Lewington                        
• Plus/Minus (+16) Cole Sanford/Trevor Cox                    
• Wins (10) Daniel Wapple

 

SPECIAL TEAMS:

• POWER PLAY: 27 – 133 – 20.3% – 17th
• PENALTY KILL: 88 – 106 – 83.0% – 5th

 

TIGERS ROSTER MAKEUP: The Tigers currently have 25 players on the roster – 3 Goaltenders, 8 Defenceman and 14 Forwards, including 4 rookies.

AGE BREAKDOWN: 3 – 20 year olds, 6 – 19 year olds, 11 – 18 year olds and 5 – 17 year olds

 

NHL DRAFTED / SIGNED PLAYERS: Jacob Doty (St.Louis Blues), Marek Langhamer (Phoenix Coyotes), Tommy Vannelli (St.Louis Blues), Tyler Lewington (Washington Capitals) and Hunter Shinkaruk (Vancouver Canucks).

 

ATB FINANCIAL – TIGERS BROADCAST: Listen to legendary Bob Ridley broadcast all Tigers games on CHAT 94.5 FM. Bob Ridley has called all but one Tigers’ Game in Team history since the Medicine Hat Tigers came into the league in 1970.

                                                                              

TIGERS SCHEDULE:

LAST FIVE:	RESULTS:
Vs Red Deer Rebels	2-1 Loss
@ Calgary Hitmen	4-1 Loss
Vs Prince Albert Raiders	4-3 Win
@ Edmonton Oil Kings	2-1 Loss
Vs Calgary Hitmen	1-0 Loss

NEXT FIVE:	TIME:
@ Calgary Hitmen, Fri. Dec 13	7:00 PM (MT)
Vs Victoria Royals, Sat. Dec 14	7:30 PM (MT)
Vs Regina Pats, Sun. Dec 15	6:00 PM (MT)
@ Red Deer Rebels, Tues. Dec 17	7:00 PM (MT)
@ Lethrbridge Hurricanes, Fri. Dec 27	7:00 PM (MT)