Best Tigers Players Ever

[chewie]

Those were the days ikeysol, many a time i used to take my lad to the hockey he loved standing behind the glass, used to move ends at the end of each period to be behind the opposition goal. pc naby pandy world or health and safety wont let you do it now days.
re the blackburn game i would love to see someone post the highlights of that game on youtube.

[brav607]

For me there were many memorable games but none quite matched the Tigers / Barons games either at Telford or Hobbs Moat Road...
Both rinks were capabale of producing an atmosphere like no other on derby day. even an experienced player would find it hard to deny any nerves before stepping out onto the ice on one of those nights.
I missed a big chunk of hockey between 92 and 2009 .. often regretted as there seems so many more memorable players / games.

[sleepytopcat]

So many memories stirred up by this thread, even I have been moved to reply.
For Chewie. I think the guy you are remembering was Craig Melancon - used to be locked out of Streathams dressing room cos he always had a fag going- but was rocket fast and scored stacks of points and ppm`s. I think he used to be an undertaker in Canada as well!
Agree with you about Lea valley as well, had several great games down there.
Most memorable games. Conway/Salmons first game, home to Cardiff and they cut them to pieces,so much faster than anything we had ever seen at that time.
The Peterborough playoff game.
Same season I think against Nottingham, who were in the league above us, and we beat them for the first time, largely as a result of Chuck Taylors one man show.
Speaking of whom - I`m with Chewie on this one . I thought what he brought to the early Tigers years was, as a player, immense. As for the rest I can only say I always found him a pleasure to be and a real character.

[chewie]

Thanks sleepytopcat for the Streatham play thats the man. Re beating Nottingham, Tigers also beat them in the Autumn cup, when, as you point out they were a league above Telford. a cracking win and from what i remember a heck of lot sick as parrot Panthers fans, who thought it would be a stroll.

[tallpaul]

Dec 8, 2010 11:30:28 GMT chewie said:

Most irritating oposition players - Stefan brothers closely followed by the Lambert brothers

Nearly had the Lambert brothers on my irritating list too. I remember them when they first came over and played for the Seahawks. They'd come to our rink and skate around during the warm up without their helmets on and just look like they owned the place. Seriously arrogant but you kind of had to admire them a bit too.

Now don't shout me down here but, is it just me, or were there a few more characters around in those days?

[ikeysol]

Dec 9, 2010 17:43:46 GMT sleepytopcat said:

So many memories stirred up by this thread, even I have been moved to reply.
Speaking of whom - I`m with Chewie on this one . I thought what he brought to the early Tigers years was, as a player, immense. As for the rest I can only say I always found him a pleasure to be and a real character.

Agree with all that, I still remember him scoring with a slapshot from the faceoff circle in our own end. However my problem with Chuck isnt what he brought to the club its what he left it with.....

[topbeats]

Dec 9, 2010 23:10:25 GMT ikeysol said:

Dec 9, 2010 17:43:46 GMT sleepytopcat said:

So many memories stirred up by this thread, even I have been moved to reply.
Speaking of whom - I`m with Chewie on this one . I thought what he brought to the early Tigers years was, as a player, immense. As for the rest I can only say I always found him a pleasure to be and a real character.

Agree with all that, I still remember him scoring with a slapshot from the faceoff circle in our own end. However my problem with Chuck isnt what he brought to the club its what he left it with.....

When you look at things though - regardless of the troubles the Tigers went through - if it wasn't for Chuck we wouldn't be here today.

In some ways though hockey has gone full circle. He started hockey in Telford for the fans and 25 years on the little idea he had about bringing hockey to Telford lives on but now firmly in control of the fans.

Quite poetic when you think about it... if it wasn't for what Chuck, Gary and the rest of the board did 25 years ago none of us (certainly myself) would be here today.

[tom]

Looking at the all time stats for Tigers (i.e. not Wildfoxes, Royals, Timberwolves) on Hockey DB, only 5 players have made 200 or more appearences in the orange and black:

Chuck Taylor - 285
Claude Dumas - 253
John Wolfe - 238
Mark Hazlehurst - 218
Wayne Crawford - 200

Only 3 players have racked up more than 500 points in their Tigers careers:

Taylor with 736 (353+383)
Dumas with 548 (312+236)
Crawford with 522 (250+272)

Of the players still playing for us, Tom Watkins has the most appearences with 93 and Budzy has the most points with 52 (27+25) - but this doesn't include 2010/11 stats.

I'll take the anorak off now ;D

[chewie]

Oh i love stats Tom, can you tell me where you find them. Could you rustle up a few more, maybe all time pen minutes leader, and after John Wolfe who's played the next most between the pipes. just for fun could you post Mr Gould's Tigers stats. not asking for much am i

Have to say for a defenceman Chuck certainly knew how to put the puck away, his slap shot of course was legendary.

[tom]

Dec 15, 2010 13:28:51 GMT chewie said:

Oh i love stats Tom, can you tell me where you find them. Could you rustle up a few more, maybe all time pen minutes leader, and after John Wolfe who's played the next most between the pipes. just for fun could you post Mr Gould's Tigers stats. not asking for much am i

Have to say for a defenceman Chuck certainly knew how to put the puck away, his slap shot of course was legendary.

I got them from www.hockeydb.com

I don't think anyone will ever overtake Taylor at the top of the chart, considering he played in an era when double-figure scorelines were a regular occurance. Claude's stats are all the more impressive when you consider that he's the only player in the top ten that didn't play for us in the Heineken era.

All time PIM leader is Chuck with 816.
The goalie with the second highest number of appearences is Barry Hollyhead with 139.
Our chairmain played 139 games, scoring 110+149 for 259 points, with 165 PIMs over 6 seasons between 1986-1992. He's 13th on the all time appearences list.

Here's another interesting piece of trivia...Kevin Conway is 4th in all-time scoring, despite only being at the club for 2 seasons.

[mrc]

Hi Tom
Hope your keeping well? and looking after Sheffield for me
Any way just thought i would give you a better site to look at other than hockey data base!(as they seem to have missed a few of Claudes stats off) not all these sites are up to date but i find this one the best apart from Malcolm Preen's
www.eliteprospects.com/

[chewie]

Thanks mrc have to say that site is great to. going through all the old stats have to say someone else no one has mentioned who posted some great stats for the Tigers during his time in Telford is Troy kennedy, to be honest the more research you do have to say some great players turned out for the Tigers over the years.
On a sadder note on the elite prospects site say Wayne Crawford in coach of orillia tundra hockey club so i though i would go to there web site maybe send him a email, unfortunately he was fired on 3 nov 2010, just wanted to thank him for the great performances and effort he used to put in for the Tigers.

[tom]

I use Elite Prospects to check up on the latest stats and to "scout" imports who are new to the UK before they play a game here. It is a good resource that covers a wide range of leagues, however it's not without its flaws...it lists Chuck Taylor as having been born in London! No stat site is perfect it would seem.

[brav607]

Dec 15, 2010 13:28:51 GMT chewie said:

Oh i love stats Tom, can you tell me where you find them. Could you rustle up a few more, maybe all time pen minutes leader, and after John Wolfe who's played the next most between the pipes. just for fun could you post Mr Gould's Tigers stats. not asking for much am i

Have to say for a defenceman Chuck certainly knew how to put the puck away, his slap shot of course was legendary.

For extreme fun Chewie ... Mr Gould ....
GP 139 G 110 A 149 PIMs 165

[topbeats]

Dec 15, 2010 23:15:44 GMT tom said:

I use Elite Prospects to check up on the latest stats and to "scout" imports who are new to the UK before they play a game here. It is a good resource that covers a wide range of leagues, however it's not without its flaws...it lists Chuck Taylor as having been born in London! No stat site is perfect it would seem.

That's probably because he WAS born in London, that's why he was a dual National and not classed as a full import playing over here.

His parents moved to Canada when he was a baby if I recall.