by Duncan Forbes

The Tigers looked to put memories of last year’s 3-24 record in the back of their minds as they embarked on the 2014-2015 campaign looking to make the AUS playoffs for the first time since 2011.

The pre-season started off on a sour note for the Tigers as they went 0-5 and were outscored by a combined 24-10. Heading into the regular season, the Tigers were hoping that the pre-season was not an indication of what was to come.

They kicked off the regular season with a 0-4 loss to the powerhouse Acadia Axemen, despite a stellar 49 save performance from Corbin Boes in his first AUS regular season start after a successful WHL career. This would be the start to a five-game losing streak for the Tigers to begin the season as they struggled to keep the puck out of their own net, allowing an average of 4.8 goals per game.

They bounced back on October 25 when they won a huge comeback game against the St. Thomas Tommies. Down 1-4 early in the second period, the Tigers easily could have collapsed and lost their sixth straight. Refusing to quit, Fabian Walsh scored the first of what would eventually be five unanswered goals as the Tigers skated to a 6-4 victory.

The Tigers followed up the comeback win with another the following week against the University of Moncton. Tied at one goal apiece after the first period, Colton Parsons, Pierre Vandall and JP Harvey all added a goal, as they came away with a 4-2 victory despite only registering 19 shots on the night.

The mini two-game win streak was followed by a three-game losing streak which was halted when the Tigers defeated the Tommies, this time a 3-0 victory on the strength of a 32 save shutout by Corbin Boes. The Tigers penalty kill came up huge and stifled all six Tommies power play opportunities. This was their third win of the season as they already matched last year’s entire win total.

Just like before, they followed up their victory with another the next game, but this time it was against the UPEI Panthers. After going down 0-2 in the first period, Colton Parsons answered with a goal late at the end of the first period to trim the deficit to one. Andrew Wigginton scored a power play goal in the final minute of the second period and Luke Madill scored another power play goal in the first minute of the third to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead. The Panthers responded with a power play goal of their own midway through the third to send the game to overtime, but Fabian Walsh buried his fourth goal of the season to give the Tigers a 4-3 overtime victory.

Since then, the Tigers have been mired in a four-game slide that has seen them struggle to score goals as they’ve only notched five heading into the holiday break with a 4-11-1 record.

Fabian Walsh leads the Tigers with 11 points (five goals, six assists) but right behind him is Kingston, NS native Colton Parsons. The former Summerside Western Capital and Dieppe Commando was offered a spot on the practice squad in the Summer, but through a combination of hard work and injuries on the team, he earned a spot on the full-time roster and is now tied for second on the team in scoring with nine points in 15 games. He’s also been somewhat of a good luck charm for the Tigers, as they’re 2-1 in games when he scores a goal.

Rookie goalie Corbin Boes, who spent five years playing in the WHL, has been huge for the Tigers and has played much better than his 3-7 record would suggest. He’s posted a 2.89 save percentage and a .917 save percentage, the latter of which is good for fourth in the AUS. He also posts an AUS-best 32.2 saves per game.

They’ll try and right the ship in the second half of the season and head coach Chris Donnelly thinks their home ice advantage will come into play.

“Going forward we must continue to work well as a team and play consistently throughout the game,” explains Donnelly. “We are in striking distance of a playoff spot as we are just five points back in the standings, with 12 games remaining.  We have to get on a roll and with 8 of the 12 games played in the Halifax Forum, we have to take advantage of the limited travel in the second half.  We want to be playing in the playoffs this season.”

With that optimism, it’ll be exciting to see the Tigers when they hit the ice again in January as they prepare for the playoff stretch