'Dogs Gear Up For Tilt With Bears In Calder Cup Final
May 28, 2007 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hamilton Bulldogs News Release
The Western Conference Champion Hamilton Bulldogs (American Hockey League affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens) will take on the Eastern Conference Champion Hershey Bears (AHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals) in the 2007 Calder Cup Final beginning with Games 1 and 2 this week on Friday, June 1st and Saturday, June 2nd respectively. Both games will take place at 7:00 p.m. at the Giant Center in Hershey. The scene of the series will then shift to Copps Coliseum next week for Games 3, 4, and 5 (if necessary) on Monday, June 4th (7:30 p.m.), Wednesday, June 6th (7:30 p.m.) and Thursday, June 7th (7:30 p.m.).
The Bulldogs, who began last week up 2-0 in their Western Conference Championship best-of-seven series over the Wolves (AHL affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers), hosted three games in four nights against Chicago at Copps Coliseum. The âDogs won Game 3 by a 2-1 margin on Wednesday night (May 23), before dropping a 1-0 decision in Game 4 on Friday night. Hamilton rebounded in Game 5 on Saturday evening, posting a 3-1 win and capturing the Robert W. Clarke Trophy as the AHL's Western Conference Champions.
WEEK IN REVIEW:
Wednesday, May 23rd - CHICAGO WOLVES 1 @ HAMILTON BULLDOGS 2
Copps Coliseum - Hamilton, ON
Hamilton Goals: Zack Stortini (2), Corey Locke (8)
Chicago Goal: Jordan LaVallee (7)
Goaltending: Hamilton - Carey Price (W - 36 shots, 35 saves) / Chicago - Fred Brathwaite (L - 25 shots, 23 saves)
Power Play: Hamilton 1-10 / Chicago 1-6
Attendance: 3,317
Friday, May 25th - CHICAGO WOLVES 1 @ HAMILTON BULLDOGS 0
Copps Coliseum - Hamilton, ON
Hamilton Goals: None
Chicago Goal: Niko Dimitrakos (3)
Goaltending: Hamilton - Carey Price (L - 14 shots, 13 saves) / Chicago - Fred Brathwaite (W - 37 shots, 37 saves)
Power Play: Hamilton 0-8 / Chicago 1-4
Attendance: 6,259
Saturday, May 26th - CHICAGO WOLVES 1 @ HAMILTON BULLDOGS 3
Copps Coliseum - Hamilton, ON
Hamilton Goals: Danny Groulx (4), Mikhail Grabovski (2), Kyle Chipchura (5)
Chicago Goal: Trevor Byrne (2)
Goaltending: Hamilton - Carey Price (W - 33 shots, 32 saves) / Chicago - Fred Brathwaite (L - 23 shots, 21 saves)
Power Play: Hamilton 0-7 / Chicago 0-6
Attendance: 3,607
BULLDOGS NOTES:
-- The Bulldogs have set a franchise record with six consecutive playoff road victories. The club is now 7-1 on the road in the 2007 Calder Cup Playoffs
-- C Corey Locke leads the Bulldogs in playoff scoring with 16 points (8-8-16) in 17 games. Locke's eight goals ties him for 2nd in the 2007 Calder Cup Playoffs and his four power-play markers ties him for a single post-season franchise record
-- C Kyle Chipchura's plus-9 rating leads the league in the playoffs. Chipchura is currently tied for 4th among AHL rookies in post-season scoring with 11 points (5-6-11) in 17 games
-- RW Duncan Milroy leads the Bulldogs with nine assists in the playoffs
-- C Mikhail Grabovski scored his second game-winning goal of the playoffs in game 5, tying him with teammate LW Eric Manlow for the league lead
-- G Carey Price is 4th in the Calder Cup Playoffs in save percentage (.929), 2nd in wins (11), 1st in saves (472), 1st in minutes (1015) and is tied for 1st in shutouts (1)
'DOGS & BEARS NOTES:
-- This is the second Calder Cup playoff meeting between the Bulldogs and the Bears (The first and only meeting was in the 1997 Calder Cup Final in which Hershey defeated Hamilton 4-1 in five games)
-- Hamilton and Hershey split their two regular season games in the 2006-07 season with each team winning at the other teams rink; Hershey won 3-2 on October 13th at Copps Coliseum while Hamilton won 5-2 on February 18th at the Giant Center
-- The Bears eliminated the Albany River Rats in the first round of the 2007 Calder Cup playoffs in five games, then defeated the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins in five games to win the East Division crown, before taking home the Eastern Conference Championship by sweeping the Manchester Monarchs to advance to the Calder Cup Final
-- G Frederic Cassivi won last year's Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the most valuable player of the 2006 Calder Cup Playoffs
-- RW Scott Barney (8-9-17) and LW Tomas Fleischmann (4-13-17) currently lead the Bears in the Calder Cup playoffs with 17 points each, tying them for 3rd in the AHL
-- RW Scott Barney and C Matt Hendricks lead the Bears with eight post-season goals to tie them for second in the league
-- LW Tomas Fleischmann is tied for third in the playoffs with 13 helpers
-- D Mike (D.) Green is second in the AHL and leads all Bears defencemen in the playoffs with 13 points (7-6-13) in 14 games
-- C Dave Steckel and C Kyle Wilson are tied for second in the league with a plus-8 rating
-- LW Kip Brennan, who was sixth in playoff penalty minutes with 30, has been suspended by the AHL for the remainder of the playoffs
-- There are seven Ontario natives on Hershey's playoff roster: RW Scott Barney (Oshawa), LW Kip Brennan (Kingston), G Daren Machesney (Hamilton), C Brad Ralph (Richmond), C Joey Tenute (Hamilton), C Kyle Wilson (Oakville), and LW Chad Wiseman (Burlington); Plus Wolves Head Coach Bruce Boudreau is a Toronto native.
BEARS REGULAR SEASON NOTES:
-- The Bears had the AHL's best record during the 2006-07 regular season with 114 points (51-17-6-6) and led the Eastern Conference in scoring with 305 goals (3.81 goals per game) while allowing just 219 against
-- The Hershey Bears franchise was named CCM/AHL Milestone of the Month for December 2006 (oldest AHL franchise - 1938 to current - played 5,000th game on December 20th against Albany River Rats - more than 2,300 wins, 14 division titles and a record-tying 9 Calder Cup Championships)
-- The Bears had eight players in the top 20 of the Plus/Minus stat category; C Alexandre Giroux plus-29 (2nd), C Dave Steckel plus-28 (3rd), D Dean Arsene plus-23 (9th), RW Jakub Klepis plus-22 (13th), LW Quintin Laing plus-21 (15th), RW Eric Fehr plus-20 (16th), D Jeff Schultz plus-20 (16th), C Matt Hendricks plus-19 (19th)
-- C Alexandre Giroux was 2nd in the AHL with 42 goals in 67 games
-- C Dave Steckel was 20th in the league with 30 goals in 71 games and shared the league-lead with five shorthanded markers
-- LW Quintin Laing was named the CCM Vector/AHL Player of the Week for December 18 to December 24 (registering six points (3-3-6) with a plus-4 rating)
-- LW Louis Robitaille recorded 254 penalty minutes in 67 games during the season to finish 2nd in the AHL
-- C Kyle Wilson was the Bears leading rookie scorer with 55 points (25-30-55) to tie him for 10th in AHL rookie scoring, while being named CCM Vector/AHL Player of the Week for March 11 to March 18 (posting 10 points (4-6-10) and a plus-7 rating)
-- G Frederic Cassivi was 5th in the league with a save percentage of .921, 8th overall with a 2.34 goals against average, tied for 10th with three shutouts and had 22 wins, good enough for 14th in the AHL
DEREK WILLS ON OTR: Hamilton Bulldogs Director of Broadcasting and Communications / Play-By-Play Announcer Derek Wills will be a guest on the popular TSN program "Off the Record" with Michael Landsberg on Tuesday, June 5th, 2007 at 6:00 p.m. Wills will be making his sixth appearance on "OTR" since June 16th, 2006. The show is scheduled to repeat at 3:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 7th.
ALUMNI WATCH:
There are 60 former Bulldogs who have participated in at least one game in the National Hockey League this season. There are 15 that qualified for the NHL playoffs. One former Bulldog, Francois Beauchemin (3-4-7) will be playing for the Anaheim Ducks in the Stanley Cup Final against the Ottawa Senators. Over 60 percent of all former âDogs have played in at least one NHL game.
HAMILTON BULLDOGS WEEKLY SCHEDULE:
Friday, June 1st, 2007 - 7:00 p.m. - GAME 1 - Hamilton Bulldogs at Hershey Bears (Giant Center)
Saturday, June 2nd, 2007 - 7:00 p.m. - GAME 2 - Hamilton Bulldogs at Hershey Bears (Giant Center)
Monday, June 4th, 2007 - 7:30 p.m. - GAME 3 - Hershey Bears at Hamilton Bulldogs (Copps Coliseum)
TUNE IN TO EVERY GAME ON THE HAMILTON BULLDOGS HOCKEY NETWORK: Fans can listen to every âDogs playoff game this season on the flagship station of the Hamilton Bulldogs Hockey Network, 820 CHAM "The Legend" beginning with the âPark's Furniture Pre-Game Show', 30 minutes prior to each game.
Fans can also listen to or watch every playoff game online at www.hamiltonbulldogs.com. To watch or listen online, click on the âB2 Networks' or â820 CHAM' icon on the âDogs website. Ellery Award-winning broadcaster Derek Wills will provide the play-by-play call and Al Craig will join Derek as a colour commentator for the remainder of the Bulldogs season.
GET YOUR TICKETS!: Bulldogs playoff tickets are on sale now for Games 3, 4 and 5 (if necessary) of the Calder Cup Final at the Copps Coliseum Box Office, all other Ticket Master Outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.ca, or through charge by phone at 905-527-7666. For Season Ticket Holders, Game 3 will be Round 4, Home Game A. For information on season or group tickets visit www.hamiltonbulldogs.com, or call (905) 529-8500 or 1-866-DOGS-TIX.
American Hockey League Stories from May 28, 2007
- 'Dogs Gear Up For Tilt With Bears In Calder Cup Final - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Monarchs Final Playoff Report - Manchester Monarchs
- AHL Announces Brennan Suspension - AHL
- Sound Tigers Accepting Applications For Fan Advisory Board - Bridgeport Islanders
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