The Tigers head into weekend play in a three way race for the final two playoff spots in the WHL's Central Division. Medicine Hat is in a three-way tie for third with the Calgary Hitmen and the Lethbridge Hurricanes as all three teams have 42 points with Calgary having a game in hand on both the Tigers and the Hurricanes. Saturday's game will be the middle game of a three game weekend for Medicine Hat as they are in Saskatoon on Friday night and will play in Lethbridge on Sunday.
Offensively the Tigers are led by Chris St. Jacques who has 64 points on 20 goals and 44 assists. St. Jacques, who played in the Hershey Cup All-star game for the WHL Eastern Conference, is in eighth place in WHL scoring and his 44 assists ranks him second best in that category. Ben Thomson and Stefan Meyer, who played in the 2003 Home Hardware CHL Top Prospects Game last week in Kitchener, both have a team leading 27 goals. Another Tiger to watch for is rookie Chris McArthur is tied for second place in WHL rookie scoring with 13 goals, 36 assists and 49 points. Joffrey Lupul, selected seventh overall by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in the 2002 National Hockey League Entry Draft, has scored 39 points on 19 goals and 20 assists in 30 games this season. Lupul was a member of Canada's silver medal team at the 2003 World Junior Hockey Championships.
Vancouver is currently on a four game winning streak, a streak that has helped them move past the Kamloops Blazers and into third place in the B.C. Division. The Giants have a won-lost-tied-overtime record of 24-22-3-2 in their second year in the WHL and have 53 points, one more than Kamloops and six points back of the second place Kootenay Ice.
The Giants have two of the WHL's top ten scorers in Adam Courchaine and Darren Lynch. Courchaine and Lynch have 61 points which puts them in a tie for tenth place in WHL scoring. Courchaine has 32 goals and 29 assists while Lynch has 24 goals and 37 assists. Both Courchaine and Lynch, who was selected as the WHL's Player of the Week this past week, played for the WHL's Western Conference All-star team that played in the Hershey Cup All-star series game that was played in Vancouver back in November.
Vancouver goaltender Jordan McLaughlin is tied for second place for shutouts in the WHL with three. McLaughlin was selected as the CHL Player of the Week on October 16.
Up to date stats on all players can be found by visiting the WHL's website at www.whl.ca and clicking on stats. The game summary and up to the minute scoring will be available at the home page of www.whl.ca Lineups and player bios for both the Giants and the Tigers can be found at their respective websites. Medicine Hat's web address is www.tigershockey.com and the Giants are at www.vancouvergiants.com.
The next broadcast on the CHL on Rogers Sportsnet will be on Sunday, February 9 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time with the Barrie Colts hosting the Sudbury Wolves in a game that will be telecast on the full Rogers Sportsnet network.
NHL Draft Picks
Medicine Hat
Joffrey Lupul - Anaheim 1st Round, 2002
Darren Reid - Tampa Bay 8th Round, 2002
Vancouver
Jiri Jakes - Boston 5th Round, 2001
