Game Day Preview October 29 vs Victoria
October 29, 2022 – Western Hockey League (WHL) – Medicine Hat Tigers News Release
2022-2023 TIGERS RECORD: 4-6-1-0 Home: 2-3-0-0 Road: 2-3-1-0
LAST GAME: 2-1 L vs Saskatoon Blades: Tigers Goaltender Evan May & Saskatoon Blades goaltender Austin Elliott were brilliant in a tight knit game between the Blades & Tigers, The game would stay scoreless till the 3rd period Friday night at Co-op Place where Tyler Parr would score two power plays to give the Blades a 2-1 victory, while Tyler Mackenzie would notch his fifth of the season and his 1st career WHL Power Play Goal.
VS ROYALS: This will be the only meeting of the season between the BC Division’s Royals and the Central’s Tigers, but you have to go all the way back to November 2, 2019 for the last time these two faced off against each other in a 6-3 Tigers win in Victoria. The last time Victoria visited Co-op Place was December 29 , 2018 with the Tigers winning 4-2. The All-time record for the Tigers over the Royals/Chilliwack Bruins franchise since the 2006-07 season is 16-8-3 with a home record of 9-4. The Tigers are 2-3 in overtime games with the Royals and 2-0 in the shootout overall.
TALE OF THE TAPE:
VICTORIA ROYALS 2-10-2 (6pts) MEDICINE HAT TIGERS (4-6-1)
5th – BC Division 4th – Central Division
10th – Eastern Conference 9th – Eastern Conference
PP – Overall 8/62 – 12.9% – Away 3/26 – 11.5% PP – Overall 16/52 – 30.7% – Home 7/26 – 26.9%
PK – Overall 43/55 – 78.1% – Away 22/30 – 73.3% PK – Overall 37/51 – 72.5% – Home 20/26 – 76.9%
2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS:
Goals (6) – Lee Assists (10) – Hodass
Points (11) – Hodass
PIMS (25) – Oasiz Wiesblatt Plus/Minus (10) – Rhett Parsons
Wins (4) – Beckett Langkow Shutouts (0) – N/A
Save % (.935) – Evan May Goals Against Average (2.08) – May
WHO’S HOT
– Bogdans Hodass: 11 GP: 1G 10A – 11 PTS
– Andrew Basha 11 GP: 4G 6A – 10 PTS
– Brenden Lee 11 GP: 6G-4A – 9 PTS (6 PPG)
– Oasiz Wiesblatt 11 GP: 5G-3A – 8 PTS
– Dru Krebs 10 GP: 0G-8A – 8 PTS
MILESTONE WATCH:
Dallon Melin, 2 games away from 200 career GP
Oasiz Wiesblatt, 1 games away from 100 career GP
Beckett Langkow, playing in career game 40 career
Willie Desjardins, 7 wins away from 400 as Tigers Head Coach
NEWS & NOTES:
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.
Lee’s Laser: Coming into action tonight, Tigers forward Brenden Lee leads not just the Western Hockey League with power play goals but also has the Canadian Hockey League mark of 6 PPG.
O’ Canada: Tigers forward Tomas Mrsic will represent Team Canada Red at the World U-17’s in Langley BC in November, Mrsic has 5 points (2g, 3a) in 6 GP with the Tigers this season.
Tiger Trades: The Tigers were busy on the trade front last week, acquiring G Evan May (04) & a 5th Round Pick in the 2025 WHL Draft from the Everett Silvertips for Oren Shtrom and 8th Round Pick in 2023 & a 9th Round Pick in 2024. Wille Desjardins wasn’t done there as he made a separate move with the Portland Winterhawks acquiring Kurtis Smythe (02) for another 8th Round Pick in the 2023 WHL Draft.
From Jelgava With Love: Tigers defenceman Bogdans Hodass is in the Top 5 of WHL defencemen in scoring 11 points through 11 games.
Busy Beckett: If he plays Tigers goaltender Beckett Langkow has started the first ten games of the Tigers season. Sporting a 4-5-1 record with a .885 Save Percentage and a 3.44 GAA,
Parsons a Plus!: Tigers defencemen Rhett Parsons improved his +/- rating to 10 through 11 games, including a +5 performance in Tri City October 12th.
Behind the Bench: This is Tigers Head Coach Willie Desjardins’ 11th season coaching the Tigers in two different tenures and is just 7 wins away from 400 while coaching the Orange & Black
HOW THE TIGERS WERE BUILT:
WHL Draft (11): Andresen, Parsons, Shtrom, Wiesblatt, Ekren-Bratton*, MacKenzie, Krebs, St. Martin, Boehm, Van Mulligen, Mrsic, Lindstrom, Basha, McKenna
Trade (5): Bocharov, Lee, MacNeil, Smythe & May
CHL Import Draft (1): Hodass (18)
Listed/Signed (2): Langkow, Hanas
Waivers (1): Melin
GEOGRAPHICAL BREAKDOWN (* indicates rookie):
Alberta – 11 – Parsons, Wiesblatt, MacKenzie, Krebs, Langkow, St. Martin *, Smith *, Melin, Van Mulligen *, MacNeil, Basha
BC – 4 – Lindstrom *, Mrsic *, Boehm & May
Saskatchewan – 2 – Andresen, Ekren-Bratton *
Manitoba – 1 – McCallum *
Yukon – McKenna *
USA – 2 – Hanas, Bocharov Latvia – 1 – Hodass
ROSTER AGE BREAKDOWN (* indicates rookie):
2002 – 3 – (Melin, Lee,Smythe)
2003 – 5 – (Langkow, Parsons, Krebs, Hodass, MacNeil
2004 – 5 – (May, Wiesblatt, MacKenzie, Bocharov, Boehm)
2005 – 7 – (Andresen, Ekren-Bratton *, St. Martin *, Smith *, Hanas *, Van Mulligen *, Basha)
2006 – 2 – (Mrsic *, Lindstrom *)
2007 – 2 – McKenna AP
Previous Three Games Next Three Games (all times MT)
Fri, Oct 21st – vs Red Deer (4-2 Loss) Sat, Oct 29th – vs Victoria Royals (7:00pm)
Sat, Oct. 22nd – vs Brandon (5-1 W) Tues, Nov 1st – vs Vancouver Giants (7:00pm)
Sat, Oct. 28th – vs Saskatoon (2-1 L) Fri, Nov 4th – vs Calgary Hitmen (7:00pm)
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