GAME DAY PREVIEW NOVEMBER 25 @ RED DEER
LAST GAME: 6-1 W Vs Edmonton Oil Kings: The Medicine Hat Tigers scored their second straight 6-1 victory at Co-op Place Wednesday night defeating the defending WHL Champions thanks to six different goal scorers including Oasiz Wiesblatt, Brenden Lee (PPG), Brayden Boehm, Reid Andresen, Pasha Bocharov & Tomas Mrsic. Beckett Langkow would make 25 saves for his 7th win of the season.
VS RED DEER: It’s the 2nd of 6 meetings this season between the Tigers. The opening match-up went down at Co-op Place October 21, the Tigers would take a 2-0 lead in the 1st period thanks to a pair of Cayden Lindstrom goals but Red Deer would respond with four straight thanks to Jayden Grubbe, Ben King, Matteo Fabrizi & Talon Brigley. Kyle Kelsey would make 19 saves for the win in the Rebels net.
The Tigers and Rebels faced each other 8 times in Central Division play last season, Medicine Hat recorded a record of 3-5 against Red Deer with a win at home January 30, 2022 and two road wins January 16, 2022 and December 11, 2021 in 4-3 shootout victory. Head to Head dating back to 1996-97, The Tigers have a record of in 169 GP: 85 wins, 71 losses, 5 overtime losses, 4 shootout losses and 4 ties. With a home record of 48-30-3-2 and 3 ties.
HEAD TO HEAD
2021-22 2022-23
Oct 8 @ RD (4-2 L) Oct 21 @ MH (4-2 L)
Dec 11 @ RD (4-3 SOW) Nov 25 @ RD
Jan 16 @ MH (5-2 L) Dec 7 @ RD
Jan 30 @ MH (3-2 W) Dec 16 @ MH
Mar 1 @ MH (11-1 W) Feb 18 @ MH
Mar 11 @ RD (6-3 L) Feb 20 @ RD
Mar 12 @ MH (6-2 L)
Mar 25 @ RD (3-0 L)
TALE OF THE TAPE
MEDICINE HAT TIGERS (7-10-4-1) 19pts
4TH in East Division
8TH in Eastern Conference
PP – Overall 24/100 – 24.0% – Away 11/45 – 24.4%
Vs RD – 0/5 – 0% @ RD – 0/0
PK – Overall 82/105 – 78.1% – Away 39/53 – 73.6%
Vs RD – 4/5 – 80% @ RD 0/0
RED DEER REBELS (16-4-0-2) 34pts
1st in Central Division
2nd in Eastern Conferenc
PP – Overall 25/101 – 24.8% – Home 10/39 -25.6%
Vs MH – 0/0 @MH – 1/4 – 25%
PK – Overall 89/108 – 82.4% – Home 31/36 -86.1%
Vs MH – 0/0 @MH – 5/5 – 100%
2022-23 REGULAR SEASON STAT LEADERS
Goals – Lee (13) Assists – Basha (18)
Points – Basha (21) +/– – Parsons & Basha (+9)
PIMS – Parsons (39) Wins – Langkow (7)
Shutouts – N/A Save % – Langkow .892%
GAA – Langkow (3.05)
PLAYERS TO WATCH
– Andrew Basha 22 GP: 6-18-24 PTS – Oasiz Wiesblatt 22 GP: 9-10-19 PTS
– Brenden Lee 22 GP: 13-9-21 PTS (9 PPG) – Brayden Boehm 22 GP: 9-6-15 PTS
– Tyler MacKenzie 22 GP: 8-7-15 PTS – Dru Krebs 21 GP: 1-10-11 PTS
– Reid Andresen 22 GP:4-10-14 PTS
– Shane Smith 22 GP: 7-2-9 PT (7 Goals on the Road)
MILESTONE WATCH
Reid Andresen – 4 games away from 100 GP Andrew Basha – Playing in Career Game #70
Beckett Langkow – 1 game away from 50 GP Dru Krebs – 5 points away from 60 in his career
Braydon Boehm – 5 points away from 70 Bogdans Hodass – Playing in career game #75
Dallon Melin – 3 games away from 210 career GP
HC/GM Willie Desjardins – 4 wins away from 400 as Tigers Head Coach
NEWS & NOTES
Melin Returns: Tigers F Dallon Melin makes his return to Red Deer for the 1st time since being a member of the Rebel for over 4 seasons where suited up in 187 games.
Defenders Attacking: The Tigers defence core of Rhett Parsons, Bogdans Hodass, Dru Krebs, Pasha Bocharov, Josh Van Mulligen, Reid Andresen & Josh Van Mulligen have contributed to 64 points (11 goals, 53 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.
Smith, Shane Smith: Tigers Rookie Forward Shane Smith, leads all Tiger rookies in scoring with 9 points (7 goals, 2 assists), while the Cessford, AB product is 13th in WHL Rookie Scoring and 2nd in Rookie goals this season.
Go Shorty (You’re Shorthanded): Going into tonight’s game in Red Deer, the Tigers are 6th in shorthanded goals for in the WHL with 4, (Smith, St. Martin, Bocharov, Boehm)
Lee’s Laser: Coming into action tonight, Tigers forward Brenden Lee is tied for 1st in the Western Hockey League with 9 power play goals but also is 1st in the entire Canadian Hockey League.
OT Woes: The Medicine Hat Tigers are 0-4 when it comes to overtime games this season, falling 4-3 to Saskatoon most recently Friday, while the Tigers have also not won in a shootout as they fell to Moose Jaw Nov 11.
Behind the Bench: This is Tigers Head Coach Willie Desjardins’ 11th season coaching the Tigers in two different tenures and is just 4 wins away from 400 while coaching the Orange & Black.
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.
HOW THE TIGERS WERE BUILT
WHL Draft (10): Andresen, Parsons, Shtrom, Wiesblatt, 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
ROSTER AGE BREAKDOWN (* indicates rookie):
Alberta – 11 – Parsons, Wiesblatt, MacKenzie, Krebs, Langkow, St. Martin *, Smith *, Melin, Van Mulligen *, MacNeil, Basha
BC – 5 – Smythe, Lindstrom *, Mrsic *, Boehm & May
Saskatchewan– 1 – Andresen
Yukon–McKenna*
USA – 2 – Hanas, Bocharov Latvia – 1 – Hodass
PREVIOUS THREE GAMES NEXT THREE GAMES (all times MT/SD
Fri Nov 18 @ Saskatoon Blades (4-3 OTL) Fri Nov 25 @ Red Deer Rebels (7:00 pm)
Sat Nov 19 @ Prince Albert Raiders (5-4 L) Sat Nov 26 Vs Calgary Hitmen (7:00 pm)
Wed Nov 23 @ Edmonton Oil Kings (6-1 W) Sun Nov 27 Vs Prince Albert Raiders (4:00 pm)
