Game Day Preview March 8 at Brandon
March 8, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Medicine Hat Tigers News Release
LAST GAME 3-1 L Vs Winnipeg ICE: Shane Smith would open the scoring for Medicine Hat on the road in Winnipeg Tuesday night, but the Orange and Black couldn't solve Daniel Hauser and the ICE falling 3-1 at the Wayne Fleming Arena. Evan May puts in a quality start stopping 25 of 27 Winnipeg shots in the loss.
Vs BRANDON: This is the 4th and final meeting of the 2022-23 WHL Season with the Tigers currently up 3-0 in the season series with the most recent being at Westoba Place January 13th where the Tigers came back three different times before Cayden Lindstrom would score the eventual game winner with 3:01 left in regulation to give Medicine Hat the 4-3 victory. While Evan May made 20 saves in the win while Hunter St. Martin, and a pair of goals from Dallon Melin lead the way scoring wise for the Tigers.
Hunter St. Martin leads the Tigers in points against Brandon with 5, (2 goals, 3 assists) in all three games against the Wheat Kings. While Brenden Lee, Dallon Melin & Dru Krebs all have 4 points. Tigers goaltender Beckett Langkow is 2-0 vs Brandon this year with a 1.00 GAA and .952 save percentage.
Head to Head dating back to the 1996-97 Season Series against Brandon, the Tigers are 49-53-6-2 with 4 ties and 17-33-3-1 with two ties on the road.
HEAD TO HEAD
Oct 21 @ MH (5-1 W)
Nov 15 @ MH (6-1 W)
Jan 13 @ BDN (4-3 W)
Mar 8 @ BDN
TALE OF THE TAPE
MEDICINE HAT TIGERS (26-25-8-1) 61pts BRANDON WHEAT KINGS (24-28-8-0) 56pts
3RD in Central Division 5TH in East Division
7TH in Eastern Conference 10TH in Eastern Conference
PP - Overall 50/255 - 19.6% - Away 25/133 - 18.7% PP - Overall 54/251 - 21.5% - Home 28/119- 23.5%
Vs BDN - 4/13 - 30.7% @ BDN - 0/2 - 0.0% Vs MH - 1/4 25.0% @MH - 2/8 - 25.0%
PK -Overall 191/263 -72.6% - Away 94/131 - 71.7% PK - Overall 208/264 -78.8% - Home 91/124 -73.4%
Vs BDN - 6/8 - 75.0% @ BDN - 3/4 - 75.0% Vs MH - 2/2 -100.0% @MH - 9/13 -69.2%
2022-23 REGULAR SEASON STAT LEADERS
Goals - Lee (27) Wins - Langkow (22)
Assists - Basha (36) Shutouts - N/A
Points - Wiesblatt (55) Save % - May (.888)
+/- Basha (+21) GAA - Langkow (3.19)
PIMS - Wiesblatt (99)
PLAYERS TO WATCH
- Andrew Basha 59 GP: 15-36-51 PTS - Oasiz Wiesblatt 60 GP: 24-31-55 PTS
- Brenden Lee 49 GP: 27-21-48 PTS - Cayden Lindstrom 53 GP: 17-19-36 PTS
- Dallon Melin 59 GP: 13-25-38 PTS - Bogdans Hodass 48 GP: 10-19-29 PTS
- Dru Krebs 59 GP: 5-31-36 PTS - Reid Andresen 60 GP: 7-26-35 PTS
MILESTONE WATCH
- Owen MacNeil: 11 GP away from 200 GP - Rhett Parsons: 7 GP from 150 career GP
- Oasiz Wiesblatt: 3 GP from 150 career GP - Reid Andresen: 15 GP from 150 career GP
- Dallon Melin: 4 GP from 250 GP
HOW THE TIGERS WERE BUILT
WHL Draft (13): Andresen, Parsons, Wiesblatt, MacKenzie, Krebs, Smith, St. Martin, Boehm, Van Mulligen, Mrsic, Lindstrom, Basha, McKenna,
Trade (5): Bocharov, Lee, MacNeil, Smythe & May CHL Import Draft (1): Hodass
Listed/Signed (2): Langkow, Hanas Waivers (1): Melin
ROSTER AGE BREAKDOWN (* indicates rookie):
Alberta - 12 - Parsons, Wiesblatt, MacKenzie, Krebs, Langkow, St. Martin *, Smith *, Melin, Van Mulligen *, MacNeil, Basha,
BC - 5 - Smythe, Lindstrom *, Mrsic *, Boehm, & May
Saskatchewan- 1 - Andresen Manitoba - McCallum Yukon-1-McKenna*
USA - 3 - Lee, Hanas & Bocharov Latvia - 1 - Hodass
PREVIOUS THREE GAMES NEXT THREE GAMES (all times MT/SD
Wed Mar 1 Vs Winnipeg ICE (6-4 W) Wed Mar 8 @ Brandon Wheat Kings (6pm)
Fri Mar 3 Vs Edmonton Oil Kings (5-2 W) Sat Mar 11 Vs Regina Pats (7pm)
Tue Mar 7 @ Winnipeg ICE (3-1 L) Fri Mar 17 @ Edmonton Oil Kings (7pm)
NEWS & NOTES
5 on 5 is Fine By Them: The Medicine Hat Tigers when it comes to goals at even strength at 5 on 5 are at 137 goals for and 89 goals against.
Slip On Down To The Oasiz!: Tigers F Oasiz Wiesblatt is currently leading the Tigers in points with 55. (24 goals, 31 assists) and has suited up in every single game this season.
Defenders Attack: The Tigers defence core of Kurtis Smythe, Rhett Parsons, Bogdans Hodass, Dru Krebs, Pasha Bocharov, Josh Van Mulligen & Reid Andresen have contributed to 156 points (40 goals, 116) assists)
Just Like He Dru It Up: Tigers defenceman and Washington Capitals prospect Dru Krebs is tied for 19th in WHL Defencemen points (5 goals, 31 assists) in 58 games.
Bend It Like Beckett: Tigers goaltender Beckett Langkow is 16th among WHL goaltenders, while he's 3rd amongst WHL goaltenders with minutes played, 2670, as well as he's 2nd in games played with 46. Langkow is also tied for the league lead with shootout wins with 3.
Young Bucks: Tigers Rookie forwards Hunter St. Martin & Shane Smith are tied for first in WHL Rookie Shorthanded scoring with 3 points. While Shane Smith is 4th WHL Rookie Goal Scoring with 19 goals.
The Chetwynd Kid: Tigers Centre Cayden Lindstrom is 8th in WHL Rookie scoring with 36 points (17 goals, 19 assists) in 53 games played.
Man Down, No Problem: Going into tonight's game against Swift Current, the Tigers are 7th in shorthanded goals for in the WHL with 10, (Smith x2, St. Martin, Bocharov, Boehm x2, MacNeil, Lee, Melin, MacKenzie)
Mr. 400: Tigers Head Coach & Willie Desjardins notched his 400th win as a Head Coach with the Medicine Hat Tigers December 10th in a 6-3 win at home against the Moose Jaw Warriors. Desjardins record in his 13 seasons coaching in the WHL. Desjardins first win as Tigers Head Coach was a 4-3 win on September 24, 2002 against the Saskatoon Blades.
Latvian Leap: Second year defenceman Bogdans Hodass represented Team Lativa at the completed 2023 World Junior Hockey Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia for the second straight year. Hodass had 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists
Silver Lining: Tigers forward Tomas Mrsic returns to the Tigers after taking home a silver medal at the World U17s in Langley, BC. Mrsic had one goal and one assists for Team Canada Red. Cayden Lindstrom also participated in the U17s as a member of Team White scoring two goals and two assists in the tournament.
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.
Western Hockey League Stories from March 8, 2023
- Broncos' Rally Falls Short in Loss to Blades - Swift Current Broncos
- Tigers Shut Out In Brandon - Medicine Hat Tigers
- Blades Earn Sixth Straight Win With Victory Over The Broncos - Saskatoon Blades
- Pats Fall to Oil Kings 3-2 - Regina Pats
- Nick Jones Shuts the Door on the Tigers - Brandon Wheat Kings
- Oil Kings Dump the Pats in Regina - Edmonton Oil Kings
- Forward Will Jamieson Added as Affiliated Player - Spokane Chiefs
- Final Heritage Night features Blades hosting Broncos - Saskatoon Blades
- Preview: Cougars At Rockets - Kelowna Rockets
- Game Day Preview March 8 at Brandon - Medicine Hat Tigers
- Pats Host Last Place Oil Kings - Regina Pats
- Thunderbirds Fall in Shootout - Seattle Thunderbirds
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