WHL Medicine Hat Tigers

Game 29: December 11 vs. Red Deer

Published on December 11, 2015 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Medicine Hat Tigers News Release


VS. REBELS: Tonight marks the fifth meeting of six this season between the Rebels and Tigers. The final two games of the season series will take place in Red Deer after finishing the series at the Canalta Centre on Wednesday. Red Deer took all three games at the new home of the Tigers, including a 6-5 victory in a shootout. On Wednesday, the line of Brandon Hagel, Conner Bleackley and Lane Pederson teamed up for 11 points and were in on all 4 goals Red Deer scored. Meanwhile, Max Gerlach had a two point night with a goal and an assist, his second consecutive multi-point game.

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP:

Medicine Hat has been outscored 40-22 in the first period, including 3 goals on Wednesday to the Rebels. Medicine Hat has only led after the opening 20 minutes once in their past 5 games

The Tigers snapped their 9 game road losing streak last Saturday in Kamloops during a 5-4 victory for their second win away from the Canalta Centre and will look to make it 2 in a row on the road tonight

Red Deer's Rylan Toth has started in 10 of the last 11 games, recording a 6-4-0-0 record with 1 shutout

2015-16 WHL RANKINGS: Record (8-17-2-1). Central Div. - 5th Eastern Con. - 11th Home - (6-9-0-1) Away (2-8-2-0)

TIGERS FAST FACTS:

After only scoring 1 goal on the power play in over 30 chances to start the season on the road, Medicine Hat has scored a power play goal in consecutive games and are out of the basement running at a 6.9% clip, better than the Kamloops Blazers

The Rebels are only one of three teams to not have lost in overtime or a shootout this season, winning all 3 games in the extra time (1 OTW and 2 SOW)

Multiple Tigers are riding mini point streaks as Mason Shaw and David Quenneville have 3 game point streaks, each recording 4 points in that span. Max Gerlach, Ty Stanton and Cole Sanford each have 2 game point streaks heading into tonight.

AWAY FROM THE CANALTA: Normally any sports team will have a better record in front of their hometown faithful than on the road, but for the Medicine Hat Tigers, life away from the Canalta Centre this season has been a bit rough around the edges. Sporting a 2-8-2-0 record the Tigers snapped a 9 game road losing streak last weekend against Kamloops, with their last victory on road coming in game 3 of the campaign. The Tigers struggles also come offensively on the road, being outscored 24-54 on the road, compared to a 63-64 edge at home. Additionally, Medicine Hat has only held the lead once after the second period in 12 road games this season, their 5-4 victory in Kamloops.

LIFE WITHOUT OWRE: For Tigers star center Steven Owre the month of December has not been the season of giving, instead it has been the season of injury for the 19 year old from California. Owre last season was hit in the jaw in back to back games, breaking his jaw and putting the center on the injured reserve for a couple of month while he was in the midst of a breakout season. This year, the December curse happened again as in the first game of the BC road trip, Owre skated in front of a David Quenneville slap shot and injured his ankle in the process. The timetable for his return is not known, but Owre ranked second in team scoring before going down and will miss some time coming up.

TEDDY BEAR TOSS: The Tigers annual Teddy Bear Toss presented by the Medicine Hat News occurs on Saturday December 12th against the Edmonton Oil Kings. Fans are encouraged to bring their stuffed animals along with winter jackets, socks, toques, mittens and scarves to help the Medicine Hat Women's Shelter, Salvation Army and the Pediatric Ward of the Regional Hospital.

2015-16 CLUB LEADERS:

Goals (14) Max Gerlach       Assists (21) Chad Butcher      Points (30) Chad Butcher

PIM (73) Connor Clouston - WHL Leader Plus/Minus (+3) Connor Clouston   Wins (5) Mack Shields (2 as a Tiger)

SPECIAL TEAMS:

POWER PLAY: 20/127 - 15.7% (ranked 19th in WHL)

AWAY - 4/58 - 6.9% (ranked 21st in WHL)

PENALTY KILL: 95/127 - 74.8% (ranked 22nd in WHL)

AWAY - 53/68 - 77.9% (ranked 14th 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.

Check out the Medicine Hat Tigers Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Western Hockey League Stories from December 11, 2015


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central