Bulldogs face AHL's first place team in Friday
February 18, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hamilton Bulldogs News Release
The Hamilton Bulldogs will challenge the AHL's first place team on Friday, February 20th, as they travel to Grand Rapids' Van Andel Arena to face the Griffins. The Bulldogs, who have 69 points are second overall in the AHL, and trail the Griffins by just three points.
Hamilton will also have a pair of home games on the weekend. The Bulldogs will host the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks on Saturday, February 21st (7:00 p.m.) and the Albany River Rats on Sunday, February 22nd (4:00 p.m.)
Bulldogs fans can listen to Derek Wills call all the action live on 820 CHAM-AM or on-line at www.hamiltonbulldogs.com. For all the most up-to-date information on the Hamilton Bulldogs please visit www.hamiltonbulldogs.com
BULLDOGS RECORD 30TH WIN:
The Hamilton Bulldogs recorded their 30th win of the season on Sunday when they defeated the Manitoba Moose 4-2 at Copps Coliseum. The victory marked the fifth time in the Bulldogs eight year history in Hamilton they had recorded 30 or more wins in a season.
HOME-SWEET-HOME:
The Bulldogs earned their AHL leading 19th home victory of the season on Sunday. Last season, the Bulldogs earned a franchise high 26 home-ice wins.
BULLDOGS NOTES:
The Bulldogs are the AHL's third least penalized team as they have tallied an average of just 15.82 penalty minutes per game ... Jozef Balej is currently tied for fourth in AHL scoring with 54 points (24-30-54) ... Balej is tied with Manchester's Pavel Rosa and Milwaukee's Timofei Shishkanov for the top plus/minus rating at (+20) ... the Bulldogs Jean-Philippe Cote is second in AHL plus/minus with a (+19) rating ... forward Tomas Plekanec is second in AHL game-winning goals with six ... captain Benoit Gratton has the Bulldogs best shooting percentage at 26.3% ... Marcel Hossa has recorded five goals in the last five games.
UPCOMING GAMES:
Hamilton Bulldogs at Grand Rapids Griffins - Friday, February 20 - 7:30 p.m.
This game marks the fourth and final meeting between the Bulldogs and Griffins this season ... Hamilton has earned a record of (0-1-1-1) against Grand Rapids this season ... the Griffins lead the AHL with 72 points on the season ... Grand Rapids have surrendered just 104 goals this season, which is tops in the Western Conference ... forward Nathan Robinson leads the Griffins in scoring with 41 points (21-20-41) ... Next Meeting: Playoffs/Next season
Cincinnati Mighty Ducks at Hamilton Bulldogs - Saturday, February 21 - 7:00 p.m.
The Bulldogs have earned one win and two ties versus the Mighty Ducks this season ... the Mighty Ducks are currently in fourth place in the West Division with a record of (21-23-7-1) ... Bulldogs defenceman Francois Beauchemin has posted 4 points (2-2-4) against Cincinnati this season ... the Mighty Ducks have two local players on their roster - Nick Smith (Hamilton) and Mark Popovic (Stoney Creek) ... Next Meeting: Playoffs/Next season
Albany River Rats at Hamilton Bulldogs - Sunday, February 22 - 4:00 p.m.
In one prior meeting back on Jan. 17, the Bulldogs shut out the River Rats 5-0 in Albany ... Bulldogs goaltender Olivier Michaud earned the shutout in the contest and forward Jozef Balej posted three assists ... the River Rats are currently seventh in the East Division with a record of (14-24-8-6) ... former Bulldogs' forward Joe Hulbig is second in River Rats scoring with 28 points (13-15-28) ... Next Meeting: Playoffs/Next Season
JOE CAHILL HOSTS 'DOGBITES WEELY RADIO SHOW on 820 CHAM - MONDAYS
Legendary radio personality Joe Cahill hosts 'DOGBITES - a weekly half-hour Hamilton Bulldogs radio show every Monday at 7:30 p.m. on Hamilton's 820 CHAM. Bulldogs play-by-play announcer Derek Wills will join Joe Cahill. The weekly show will feature Bulldogs interviews, highlights from the past week and much more.
BULLDOGS ON 820 CHAM!
Hamilton Bulldogs fans can listen to all Bulldogs home and road action on Hamilton's 820 CHAM-AM. Derek Wills provides all the play-by-play, while Hamilton radio personality Al Craig is the colour commentator for all home games and select road games.
BULLDOGS SEASON TICKETS:
Bulldogs Season Tickets are on sale now! To purchase season tickets or for more information contact the Bulldogs at (905) 529-8500 or by e-mail at tickets@hamiltonbulldogs.com
HOMETOWN HERO OF THE GAME LEADERS (Hardest Working Bulldogs Player at Home):
Player: Points:
1. Jozef Balej 70
2. Jimmie Olvestad 40
Tomas Plekanec 40
4. Jonathan Ferland 20
Francois Beauchemin 20
6. Alexander Perezhogin 10
Mike Komisarek 10
Pierre Dagenais 10
Karl Dykhuis 10
Jason Ward 10
Ron Hainsey 10
Gordie Dwyer 10
Sylvain Blouin 10
Chris Higgins 10
HAMILTON BULLDOGS MOLSON CUP - THREE STAR LEADERS (1st place vote - 5 pts, 2nd place vote - 3 pts, 3rd place vote - 1pt)
Player: Points:
1. Jozef Balej 48
2. Benoit Gratton 30
3. Eric Fichaud 22
4. Tomas Plekanec 20
5. Alexander Svitov 17
6. Alexander Perezhogin 15
7. Pierre Dagenais 14
8. Jimmie Olvestad 12
9. Eero Somervuori 11
10. Francois Beauchemin 10
11. Chris Higgins 9
Jean-Francois Damphousse 9
Patrick Traverse 9
Marcel Hossa 9
15. Karl Dykhuis 7
16. Duncan Milroy 5
17. Gordie Dwyer 3
Chad Kilger 3
Jonathan Ferland 3
Jason Ward 3
Philippe Plante 3
22. Olivier Michaud 2
23. Ron Hainsey 2
Benjamin Carpentier 1
LAST WEEK'S RESULTS:
Date Opp. Score GWG Bulldogs/Opponent Goaltending ATTN.
Feb 11 SJS W 7-6 Plekanec Michaud (3GA, 22 SV)/Minard (3GA, 11 SV) 6,739
Fichaud (3GA, 12 SV)/Centomo (4GA, 14SV)
Feb 13 TOR L 2-3 Fichaud (3GA, 27 SV)/Belitski (2GA, 24 SV) 5,587
Feb 15 MTB W 4-2 Plekanec Fichaud (2GA, 20 SV)/Moss (3GA, 33 SV) 6,012
• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...
American Hockey League Stories from February 18, 2004
- Late rally pulls Falcons into 3-3 tie with Wolf Pack - Springfield Falcons
- Monarchs Move Into Second Place Logjam With Shutout Win - Manchester Monarchs
- Sound Tigers Beat Portland 2-1 In OT - Bridgeport Islanders
- Phantoms lose 2-0 to Penguins - Adirondack Phantoms
- Grizzlies Get Ready for Big Crowd and Big Game Against the Wolves on Friday - Utah Grizzlies
- Sound Tigers Release D Jay Leach - Bridgeport Islanders
- River Rats to honor Jiri Bicek this Friday - Albany River Rats
- Toivonen, Morrisonn named to "The Hockey News" top 50 prospects list - Providence Bruins
- Corazzini reassigned to Providence - Providence Bruins
- P-Bruins, McDonald's agree to team sponsorship extension - Providence Bruins
- IceCats Return Goalies to ECHL - Worcester IceCats
- Amerks Play Three at Home this Week - Rochester Americans
- Blackhawks sign Adam Munro - Norfolk Admirals
- Aeros power to 4-1 win over Griffins - Houston Aeros
- Penguins sign forward Ryan Tobler and defenseman Jesse Cook to 25-game PTOs - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- Wallin, Aeros "school" Griffins on PP on Chronicle in Education Day - Houston Aeros
- Barons Make Roster Moves - Cleveland Barons
- Admirals announce Virginian-Pilot Reader Rewards Night - Norfolk Admirals
- Senators assign Hamel, Payer and Ray to Binghamton - Binghamton Senators
- Neckar comes to Milwaukee - Milwaukee Admirals
- Labatt's Celebrity Bartending Series Continues on Tuesday, February 24 at Dodesters - Syracuse Crunch
- AHL Quick Hits - AHL
- Coyotes assign Spiller to Falcons - Springfield Falcons
- River Rats take two at home before road show - Albany River Rats
- Bulldogs face AHL's first place team in Friday - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Moose present fifth annual "Follow Your Dreams" - Manitoba Moose
- Aeros Game Day, Morning Edition - Houston Aeros
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
