GAME 40: JAN. 8 VS. SASKATOON

@ BLADES: Tonight marks the third of four meetings between the Blades and Tigers this season as the clubs have split their games with Medicine Hat taking a 3-2 overtime victory in game 3 of the season back in October. It has been an even battle so far this year between the clubs as both games have been one goal games, however multiple Tigers have multiple points with Chad Butcher and Mason Shaw leading with 3 points each this season.

 

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP:

• Since the Blades visit to the Canalta Centre on October 24^th, Saskatoon has only won 9 of their 26 games since with 5 of those wins coming in the past 10 games
• Tigers forward Matt Bradley has points in 9 of his last 10 games; however his 5 game goal streak came to an end on Tuesday vs. Moose Jaw. Over the 9 games Bradley has recorded (7G, 5A)
• Tonight will see Braylon Shymr and Colton Waltz play their second game with the Blades since coming over in a trade with the Brandon Wheat Kings earlier in the week

 

2015-16 WHL RANKINGS: Record (14-21-3-1).       Central Div. – 5th   Eastern Con. – 10th   Home – (8-11-1-1)   Away (6-10-2-0)      

 

TIGERS FAST FACTS:

• Saskatoon has the second lowest win total at home in the Eastern Conference, tied with Swift Current with 7 wins in 22 games, additionally, Saskatoon is 2-2-0-0 on their current 5 game home stand
• Tigers forward Mark Rassell plays in his 100^th game of his career tonight, he is the 247^th player in franchise history to do so
• Mack Shields is back home tonight, the Saskatoon native is 3-1-0-0 at SaskTel Centre with a 0.891 save percentage

 

JANUARY 8^TH TEAM HISTORY: Back in 2006, the Tigers took on the Lethbridge Hurricanes for a Sunday night matchup at The Arena. Medicine Hat took advantage of a shorthanded Hurricanes team and on the heels of Darren Helm’s hat trick and 4 points won 7-4. Derek Dorsett chipped in with a goal and Matt Keetley made 30 saves for the win.

 

THIS DAY IN TIGERS HISTORY: On this day during the 2012-2013 season, local product and rookie forward Blake Penner scored his first career WHL goal against the Vancouver Giants in a 4-0 victory

 

ROOKIE LEADER: Max Gerlach has had a great rookie season and can be considered for a Rookie of Year candidate for the Tigers with his team leading 21 goals. Gerlach also leads all rookies in the WHL in goals (21) and power play markers with 11. Max currently sits 4^th in team scoring. Gerlach’s 21 goals are the highest for a US born rookie since Emerson Etem.

 

TRADE DEADLINE APPROACHES: Medicine Hat is not known for pulling off blockbuster trades at the annual January 10^th deadline. In fact, the Tigers have made only 5 trades on the final day of dealing in the past 6 seasons, with the biggest deal landing current starting goaltender Nick Schneider from Regina. Schneider ended up starting his Tigers career with 11 straight victories.

 

GAME TO REMEMBER: On Tuesday night, Chad Butcher reached the 200 game played milestone in his WHL career and capped the night off with a goal and an assist to take over the overall team scoring with 39 points. If Butcher plays the remaining games this season and a full season next year, he is set to move into 8^th all time in franchise history with 306 games

 

2015-16 CLUB LEADERS:

Goals (21) Max Gerlach, Cole Sanford     Assists (28) Chad Butcher   Points (39) Chad Butcher

PIM (88) Connor Clouston         Plus/Minus (+3) Connor Clouston      Wins (8) Nick Schneider

 

SPECIAL TEAMS:

• POWER PLAY: 32/169 – 18.9% (ranked 14th in WHL)
• AWAY – 10/80 – 12.5% (ranked 21st in WHL)

• PENALTY KILL: 122/161 – 75.8% (ranked 20th in WHL)
• AWAY– 70/89 – 78.7% (ranked 13th in WHL)

 

TIGERS ROSTER MAKEUP: The Tigers currently have 22 players on the roster – 2 Goaltenders, 7 Defenseman, 13 forwards

AGE BREAKDOWN: 3 – 20 year olds, 5 – 19 year olds, 7 – 18 year olds, 5 – 17 year olds, and 2 – 16 year olds

 

NHL DRAFTED / SIGNED PLAYERS: Matt Bradley (Montreal Canadiens), Nick Schneider (Calgary Flames)

 

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 REGULAR SEASON	RESULTS:	NEXT FIVE:	TIME:
Dec. 27 VS. Lethbridge Hurricanes	5-4 OTL	@ Saskatoon Blades Fri. Jan. 8	6:05 PM (MT)
Dec. 29 @ Lethbridge Hurricanes	5-2 LOSS	@ Prince Albert Raiders Sat. Jan. 9	6:00 PM (MT)
Dec. 31 VS. Moose Jaw Warriors	6-2 WIN	VS. Kamloops Blazers Wed. Jan. 13	7:00 PM (MT)
Jan. 2 VS. Edmonton Oil Kings	5-2 WIN	VS. Edmonton Oil Kings Fri. Jan. 15	7:30 PM (MT)
Jan. 5 VS. Moose Jaw Warriors	4-2 LOSS	@ Kootenay Ice Sat. Jan. 16	7:00 PM (MT)