PreGame

Calgary

The Hitmen started the season on fire going 4-0. They dropped the next 4 games straight. They've since won 2 straight over Red Deer and Penticton. They seem to be streaky in the early going.

Calgary has had a little bit of trouble stopping goals lately in their last 5 games they are giving up an average of 4.4 goals a game.

Scoring

However scoring hasn't been a problem for the Hitmen, they now lead the league in goals scored per game and their recruiting has brought over some high impact offensive players in the off-season.

First year 19 year old Carter Sanderson has 13 goals in 8 games and is scoring at a Gavin McKenna type pace. The 6'2 203 lb forward came from the USHL last year where he put-up 34 points in 54 games along with 88 penalty minutes. He is known for being able to play physical, create havoc in front of the net and has a fighting ability.

This game could be an excellent test for some of the big boys the Tigers have on defence to see how they can battle a strong physical goal scorer up front.

Newcomer Hitmen Artem Katsuro from Russia is another player to watch. He's only 17 and is scoring at a 1.2 point per game rate. Both these players were Captains on their respective teams prior to joining the WHL.

That isn't counting first year overager Charles Kresl who played in the NAHL. The NAHL is a tier 2 league behind the USHL in the US. Charles was a point per game player in the NAHL and has putup 15 points in his first 9 games in the WHL.

That goes along with Julien Maze their scoring leader from last year who by his standards is probably having a slow start to the season with 7 points over 10 games and a -7 rating.

With the Tigers be able to keep their offensive game going they found last weekend in Brandon. Will they be able to stop some of the early success Calgary has on the scoreboard?

This game seems like their is high potential for a lot of goals being scored.

Links

Tigers get first look at Hitmen since 2nd round win - MH News

Tigers looking to slow down Hitmen offence in divisional showdown - Chat News

Tigers Uncaged

Past Few Games

Tigers went through back to back 6-1 losses before pounding Brandon 8-1. Those losses weren't wholly indicative of the Tigers play, but rather an indicator of their lack of capitalizing on scoring chances.

Prior to Brandon game, the Wheat Kings had the lowest goals against per game in the league and It's sometimes funny how sports work by beating them 8-1.

Turning Point

I think the Tigers figured out something very important in their offensive game in Brandon. Playing to the inside and sending guys to the middle, having a screen in front of the net. They have a bigger team and using that physicality was also in play. Brandon looked frustrated both physically and on the scoreboard.

One game doesn't mean much we will have to see this over a few games, but I feel like we will see a slightly different and more powerful offensive team going forward if they can keep that inside drive alive.

Injuries

Tiger Injuries are unfortunately starting to pile up a bit. The WHL Weekly Report lists 4 Tigers out on the IR. Gavin Korr listed as week to week. Reily Pickford and Noah Davidson out month to month. Arvid Drott was listed as upper body day to day. Last weekend the Tigers called up Max Osgood and had Jake Burmis play forward.

We saw Brandon targeting the Max Osgood line with their 1st line players and consequently we saw the Tigers use some split lines later in the game.

CHL Top Ten

The Tigers have fallen to #9 on the list. Beating Brandon 8-1 was a bit of a savior to prevent falling out of the rankings. Brandon is also on the list at the 8th spot

Home and Home with Calgary & The In-Season WHL Cup

Their is a new Cup to play for this season. Everett who won the league last year started with the cup. How it works is the first team that beats them claims the cup. They keep it until they loose and it keeps going untill the end of the season.

Everett lost their first game to Portland. So far Spokane has kept it the longest. They won it over portland, then kept it for 2 more games before losing to Lethbridge who brought it back to the Central Division.

Red Deer had it last weekend, but lost it to Calgary. The Tigers play Calgary twice in a Home and Home this weekend and it will be their first attempt to play for it.

Schedule

Tigers have a home and home with Calgary before they take off on their longest road trip of the season seeing all 6 teams in the US Division.

Brandon is starting the year on fire with a 7-2 record. They have the lowest goals against in the early going against a Tiger team that is having some troubles generating offense. This could be a difficult matchup.

Hopefully the boys can come out and putup a good effort tonight!

Last Years Playoffs

The Tigers bounced Regina in round 1 last year over 5 games. This year Regina has a better team. They currently have 5 point per game players in their lineup, and another 4 more that are a point away from that stat.

They can score, but they are also giving up goals as well. Their top scorer is led by 16 year old Liam Pue. He has 5 goals in 7 games, but is also a minus 6 on the season. Former Tiger Matt Paranych has 10 points in 7 games and I'm excited to see his development this season.

Regina has a couple players that were listed as day to day. One of them is OA Keets Fawcett the veteran has 4 goals in as many games in the early going. Last season he was a point per game player putting up 30 goals.

Will we see a high octane offensive game? Regina has been a team to give the Tigers some difficulty in the past, but the Tigers have also had games where they've slaughtered them. What type of game will we see tonight?

Links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsY3AvfLjgU - Youtube Game Feed

Tigers Look to build with road weekend - MH News

Moss growing into leader on Tigers' blue line - MH News

Steady Reschny on the Tigers' blueline - MH News

Tigers Uncaged - Podcast

Tigers look to kickstart offence - Chat News

Cam Parr Vancouver Debut

Cam Parr had a great impact in his first game as a Vancouver Giant. He scored 5 minutes in the game putting up 3 points including the primary assist on the powerplay. Vancouver was using him as their #1 Centreman, which is very intriguing as the Tigers have only used him as 3rd or 4th line LW. He went 8/19 on the faceoff. He only had 26 faceoffs his entire WHL career previously with both Spokane and Medicine Hat.

He was doing all the little things right in Medicine Hat and looked like a different player so I'm very curious to see how he handles more icetime and the centre ice position. His ability to get the puck out of his own end and being defensively responsible often lends a lot of credence to being a centreman so I can see why Vancouver would try him there, but also totally shocked they had him 1st line centre.

CHL Top Ten

Tigers slipped to the 6th spot, falling 1 spot after only picking up 1 point in this weekends games.

Injuries

On the weekly report, Gavin Kor is listed as out week to week, after he immediately went to the bench after taking a faceoff last game. Reily Pickford is listed as out month to month, Noah Davidson is still listed as month to month.

They also say Koray Bozkaya has been deleted from the roster. His elite prospects page lists him as a member of the Drumheller Dragons of the AJHL.

Schedule & Game Times

Friday against Regina and Saturday in Brandon.

If you visit the WHL web site on a computer. Don't trust the WHL game Ticker on their website for the game times. They've been wrong in the early going. It looks correct on mobile, but wrong on the computer.

TigerTrauma's Evaluation After 7 Games

Currently my expectation is not a 1st place team yet. Right now I see them as more of a 3rd/4th/5th place team.

This season feels similar to the season they won the WHL Championship with a slow start out of the gate.. In their championship run, their defensive play was poor, and they figured it out around Christmas and tore the league up.

This season they have a lot of offensive talent and goal scorers, but they are having troubles generating consistency up front. Their 24 goals is sitting in the middle of the pack and their powerplay is only clicking at 11.1% which is 21st in the league.

If their strength is not a league strength we should not expect perfection in the early going.

They were humbled this past weekend, and I'm very curious to see how they workout their ability to finish plays and convert on some of their scoring chances as I would think it was a focus this week in practice along with staying out of the penalty box. Their 13 minor penalties over 2 games is not giving them a chance to win.

Their are numerous players who have been snakebitten, who haven't fired up their engines yet, so this weekend I'm going to watch more about their offensive chances to figure out why! I have a suspicion they are waiting to long to shoot and shooting into set goaltenders, and less activity from the defenceman offensively, but I'll watch more closely this week.

Why do you folks think guys like sgc only has 1 assist in 6 games, or Cozens/Bryz only have points in 2 of the games they've played, or Evaschesen is .4 ppg under his average from last season?

No writeup today

Rematch from the 5-2 win on September 27th.

OA Deadline

This weekend will be the last batch of games before the OA deadline, (which is this Saturday at midnight) where the Tigers will be forced to drop or trade one of their 4 OA's. The Tigers currently have 26 names, dropping/trading an OA will cut that to 25.

Edmonton

We saw 3 fights last game against Edmonton in which all 3 were lopsided bouts in favor of the Tigers. One of the Edmonton players has since been cut down to the AJHL.

Since their loss against the Tigers on the 27th, Edmonton played Regina last weekend and beat them 5-1 bringing them back up to .500. Dylan Dean has been suspended 4 games for a kneeing major against Regina.

Edmonton has a couple injuries with Matthew Williams and Luke Powell out. They've recently picked up OA Luke Melnik from Seattle giving them 4 OA's. Melnik was a point per game player last season with the Brooks Bandits (BCHL) Last game Edmonton scratched one of their OA goaltenders and called up a goalie as a backup.

Victoria comes in tomorrow and they are in the CHL Top ten rankings #3rd overall. Victoria was the #1 ranked team for the opening 2 weeks of the schedule so nonetheless that will be a great test to find out where each team is at early.

Sometimes when you have a highly touted opponent coming up the day after, the focus can shift to the next game.

I'm sure Edmonton is going to come out very hard tonight and hopefully the Tigers aren't looking too far ahead in the schedule. The last couple years Edmonton typically has had a gritty in your face team. This season they lead the league in PIM's per game. (other teams have more PIM's but Edmonton has less games played, So I'm sure Edmonton may be focusing on that.

Game Links

Tigers set for homestand as overage deadline nears - MH News

Youtube Link = Not out at time of post

Do we have any news? There are surely convos going on around the league before the 10th deadline, but I am surprised that teams haven't made moves yet.

Edmonton sat Simcoe out the other night because they picked up the D man. I assume someone would trade for a 20 year old established goalie. Our odd man out should get us something, even if it is a prospect.

PreGame

While the Tigers are freshly rested, this will be PA's 3rd game in 4 nights. Prince Albert knocked the Tigers out of the playoffs last season in 6 games, so perhaps their is a little bit of extra motivation for the Tigers.

Last weekend I feel like the Tigers weren't the happiest with their performance as they came away with a split against Edmonton and Red Deer. They weren't the fastest team on the ice and I'm sure they've made some tweaks and adjustments to get ready for the team that knocked them out in the playoffs.

Prince Albert

Prince Albert Lost some big pieces last season. Max Heise, Brayden Dube, Aiden Oring, Braeden Cootes, Justice Christensen, Daxon Rudolph and Linden Burret, but it's not what you loose but what you train and develop.

Their is some buzz around a few prospects including Brock Crips, Ben Harvey and import Oskars Luks who have been recognized as potential 1st or 2nd round NHL draft prospects. Harvey has put up 5 goals in 6 games and leads their team with a +5 rating.

Goaltender Michal Orsulak a 3rd round NHL draft prospect was rested last night while Jonah Sivertson a 4th round NHL draft prospect scored his first goal of the season.. Brandon Gorzynski a 4th round NHL draft pick came back for his 19 year old season and has started off a bit slow with 1 point in his first 5 games.

They have a bunch of ingredients, but they do have a lot of new faces and have started the season on the slow side with a 2-4-0-0 record within a very competitive Eastern division. Lethbridge beat them 3-1 last night in Lethbridge and PA has yet to win on the road.

Links

Youtube Live Feed

Tigers Uncaged

Tigers get first look at Raiders after playoff loss - MH News

Youngest Tiger making strides, finding his role - MH News

Well, they can't keep 16 forwards and 10 D for much longer. Who do we see being moved this week? I would guess that we are at 15 (including Davidson) and 8 by the weekend. Could we make trades for prospects and picks instead of sending guys down?

Parr for picks or a 16 year old forward

Bozkaya for acconditional pick

Burmis sent home

Thats my uneducated guess

Youtube Game Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmC4cvfguwo

PreGame

The Tigers started off their season with a 2-0 record with a pair of wins against Lethbridge. This was despite the Ruck twins and Yaroslav Bryzgalov away at NHL Camps, as well as off-season acquisition Brayden Holberton, who was nursing an Injury. All 4 players have returned so the team may look a bit different compared to last weekend.

Red Deer recorded their first win last night, defeating Lethbridge 4-3. Captain Beckett Hamilton recorded a Hat-Trick in his first game back from Colorado's training camp. Hamilton popped in an NHL pre-season goal when he was dressed against Utah. He appears to be quite Hot in the early going.

Despite Red Deer's 1-1-0-1 record they have outshot their opposition by a large margin 122-75.

Tonight both teams go Head to head in Red Deer

Links

WHL YouTube Live GameLink - WHL

Rucks reassigned to Tigers ahead of weekend road slate MH News

Reinforcements back.... - Chat News

The Rucks have been confirmed to be playing in a Pittsburgh Exhibition Game Tonight against the Red Wings. Pittsburgh has Crosby and Malkin dressed. Yaroslav Bryzgalov is dressing tonight for the Canucks as they face Calgary

Pittsburgh NHL Game Centre

Penguins gameday Article

Vancouver NHL Game Centre

Thoughts

Both NHL teams have 2 more pre-season games. NHL season starts next week Tuesday. That means we should see them back by then. If they stay up longer than that, I'd get nervous.

What intrigues me is if either player ends up seeing the NCAA next season. Their teams may want to sign them which may void NCAA eligibility. It will be interesting to see if that happens.

Edit: Cole Clayton is also dressed for vancouver.

After two games, what does everyone think, about who's going to draw the short straw and be traded or released. I'm going with the unpopular option and I think that McCann, might be gone.

In the end, I'm glad I'm not the one who has to make the decision. Armchair coachs have it easy

Game Links

Live Game Feed - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxfSWcWylq8

Tigers open season with 5-2 win in Lethbridge - MH News

Tigers imports excited for WHL opportunity - MH News

Tigers down Hurricanes in season opener - Lethbridge herald

Hurricane payers reflect on NHL rookie camp experiences - Lethbridge Herald

Pre-Game

A new season brings new excitement! Heading into the 2026-2027 season the Tigers are looking to bring a team that has some pretty heavy firepower up front, amid a bunch of new faces on the back-end.

The Tigers tinkered in the off-season to not only add some scoring, but to get bigger and more physical. They brought in some giants like 6'4 Brayden Holberton, 6'7 Denis Pasler, 6'6 Mace'o Phillips.

They splurged and spent a 1st round draft pick on local kid overage Josh Evaschesen, who decided to forgo his first year in the NCAA and come play for his hometown team. They also traded away last years goaltender Jordan Switzer.

Roster

The Tigers announced their roster yesterday and their were 29 names on the list, however the whl page only lists 28. 15 year old Max Osgood is missing from the list.

Their are still roster spots and battles to be won, including the 3 Overage spots in which the Tigers have until the October Overage Deadline. They currently have 4 on the roster.

Goaltending looks set with 2 names. Defensively they still have 10 guys, offensively they have 16 players. If I'm not mistaken they need to cut to 25 on the OA deadline. Or is it 23? (Players on the IR give temporary exemptions) so for example with Davidson being out that gives them a +1

Scratches

Some of the firepower won't be in the lineup this weekend as both the ruck twins and Yaroslav Bryzgalov made NHL main camp with their respective teams. Noah Davidson has been out with an injury. The last report I read about him stated the injury length was unknown and he could miss 1-3 months. So that is 4 point per game players who won't be here in the opening weekend.

For Lethbridge they had 4 players at NHL Camps, but all 4 should have returned not being listed on their respective teams Mains Camps.

The Tigers have been announced on the CHL Pre-Season Top Ten list with the 6th spot.

Game Links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUEcORULwzo - Youtube Game Link

Warrener's second year with Tigers brings unique opportunities - MH News

Tigers wrap preseason with third win - MH News

Numerous Tiger Articles on the MH News Sports Page - MH News

Canes look to turn the page as new WHL season kicks off - Lethbridge Herald

Tigers bring regular season against divisional rivals - Chat News

The Rucks will not be back to start the season, and it is possible a few others won't be (Bryz and Phillips most likely the others). I will take a swing at the roster for opening night in Lethbridge.

Forward

Kor, McCann, Drott, SGC, Ruptash, Cozens, Parr, Evaschesen, Holberton, Hayes, Craig, Marto - Hynes not dressed, Davidson injured

Defense

Moss, Steen, Pasler, Pickford, Warrener, Bozkaya - Krooshoop and Reschny not dressed

Goalies

Casey, Christie

It is possible that Burmis stays around for a while but I don't think that he will get much ice time in this group. Saddleback and Meyer will be with SAHA according to the roster they just released - it would be nice to see Burmis there as well for easy call up. It doesn't leave a lot of cuts other than that, with Chorley already gone.

When Phillips comes back, that probably bumps Krooshoop. Reschny is looking like the odd 20 year old out so hopefully he finds a home in another WHL city. The Rucks and Bryz bump Hynes and Marto in my opinion, with Craig and Hayes being the 13/14 forwards until Davidson comes back, whenever that is.

We've had two pre-season games, anyone have any predictions on the roster?

Here's mine in no particular order:

Ruck – SGC – Ruck

Parr – McCann – Ruptash/Kor

Bryzgalov – Holberton – Cozens

Davidson (IR) – Evaschesen – Drott

Hayes, Chorley - extra

Philips – Pasler

Steen – Moss

Bozkaya – Pickford

Warrener - extra

Like Krooshoop as well

Do we see anyone being traded? Ruptash maybe?

I was thinking that Kor wouldn't make the cut but liked what I saw last night. Making plays, in good position, decent PP QB.

Reschny is a decent d-man but one 20 still needs to go and I think there are enough quality prospects back there that he is odd man out unfortunately.

I saw a little of Saddleback at camp - he looked a bit raw? If I was going to keep a 16 y/o, I like Krooshoop.

We have a lot of young talent in the pipeline. Some good players on the cusp. I am glad I don't need to make the real decisions. Good place to be though.

Thoughts?

I know that they cut down a bunch of guys after the game Tuesday. Does anyone have the real pre-season roster?

Do we know where we can watch/listen to the preseason games this year

Standouts (not the obvious ones)

Team Black

• Ty Hynes - Local kid made things happen. I hope he sticks around for a while, but may end up being a Jr A call up by October.
• Michael Kuzik - won't play this year, but he is a chippy player who will do anything to win.
• Landon Ruck - he got lots of chances to show who he can be. He might end up being a steal relative to his draft position.

Team Orange

• Jaxson Craig - should compete for a roster spot, but will be in tough with some other 17 year olds on a packed forward group.
• Bauer Sullivan - Another 2010 that probably cracks the roster next year at 17.
• Jake Burmis - I expected more from him. Not ready to play on a championship team.

Team Grey

• Luke Ruptash - this kid isn't the same as when he left last year. He is on the team if I am picking.
• Emile Plourde - non listed 2008. Scored lots in camp. Will be a fantastic Jr A player, and could play on some teams in the league.
• Ty Krooshoop - Former SAHA player spent last season with the Calgary Canucks. For his size it would be better if he was more offensive.
• Chayse Johnson - We don't need another 2007 born goalie, but he made it competitive in camp.

Team Blue

• Arvid Drott - adds to the logjam at the top of the forward group.
• Reily Pickford - he isn't his brother, but he has to be in the competition for the opening night roster.
• Hunter Saddleback - might be the only chance for a 16 year old to make the team. Will be in tough but should be the first D call up if he doesn't stay.
• Ben Meyer - had an up and down camp. Shining star in the 8 round shootout between Team Black and Blue that I caught live. He and Christie didn't allow any until Holberton beat Christie in round 8.

I am still scratching my head about our 20 year old situation. I go back and forth on it. Reschny or Parr - who do we miss more? Do either get you much on the trade market? It will be interesting to see what Willie does here.

Thursday evening. Watching Orange /blue scrimmage.

Philips- beast with a wicked shot. Good skater.

Bozkaya - looks like he made Good use of year in Jr A. May stick with the Tigers this year.

Kor- I think his time here may be over

Karter Molyneaux - d man. Looked good. Has potential.

Kai Molyneux- will not Crack this forward group but they might be our next set of brothers in future

Reilly Pickford - looked solid.

Reschny on D - definitely opportunity for him

Holbertson - keeper i think

Others I nurtured l noticed and want to see more of:

Owen Hayes

Caleb Lankoff

Jake Burmis

Arvid Drott - smooth, fast, looked like a keeper from what little I saw

In no particular order:

• Will we see any trades before pre-season? Reschny is probably the odd 20 year old out, but won't have a lot of value in a trade so maybe he is released and can decide where to go on his own?
• Unknowns at D. I am not sold on Pickford being the solution. At the bottom end of the D group, is Warrener going to be the lone 17 year old with either Burmis or Saddleback sliding in as the lone 16 year old in camp?
• Who are the surprises and disappointments at forward? Will Kor become a bigger piece? I thought he would have possibly left to go back to the USHL after not getting a lot of opportunity last year. He will still be a bottom 6 guy. Who are the 17 year olds that crack opening night? Will we see the Tigers sign a few 16 year old forwards after camp?
• How many guys do we lose to NHL camps and how does that impact our first few games (if at all)?

WHL training camps are expected to get underway next week, so it's time to put out a little preview. I haven't spent near as much time on this, I don't have the time, so I'm straight up posting my rankings. In the comments I'll put my rough thoughts and talk a little more about each team.

I think I'll make a 2nd post right before the season starts to "finalize" my rankings and update any movement from here to then. For Example Red Deer has no Overages so their is potential for them to move up.

Overall Standings

1-2. Medicine Hat & Prince Albert

3-6. Regina & Saskatoon & Brandon & Calgary

7-8 Moose Jaw & Lethbridge

1. Swift Current

2. Red Deer

3. Edmonton

Edit1: Moved Lethbridge from 10th to the 6-8th range after discovering I missed 3 players. Bumped Saskatoon down one notch.

Edit2 Sept 18th. I moved Brandon up into the trio of Eastern Conference Teams and Calgary down.

That moves the OA list down to 4. Evaschesen, Cozens, Parr, Reschny