Dogs Set to Battle Amerks in Playoffs

Published on April 18, 2005 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hamilton Bulldogs News Release


The Hamilton Bulldogs will begin their quest for the Calder Cup this week against the Rochester Americans in the North Division Semifinal. Hamilton finished the regular season schedule last week by wrapping up fourth place in the North Division and posting a record of 38-29-7-6, good enough for 89 points. The Amerks (51-19-4-6) finished with the best record in the AHL and took home the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy (Regular Season Points Champion) with 112 points.

The Bulldogs first-round playoff schedule is as follows:

BULLDOGS VS. ROCHESTER AMERICANS: AHL NORTH DIVISION SEMIFINAL PLAYOFFS

GAME #1: Wed., April 20 - Bulldogs at Rochester Americans - 7:05 p.m. - Blue Cross Arena

GAME #2: Fri., April 22 - Bulldogs at Rochester Americans - 7:35 p.m. - Blue Cross Arena

GAME #3: Sun., April 24 - Rochester Americans at Bulldogs - 4:00 p.m. - Copps Coliseum

GAME #4: Tues., April 26 - Rochester Americans at Bulldogs - 7:00 p.m. - Copps Coliseum

* GAME #5: Fri., April 29 - Bulldogs at Rochester Americans - 7:35 p.m. - Blue Cross Arena

* GAME #6: Sun., May 1 - Rochester Americans at Bulldogs - 4:00 p.m. - Copps Coliseum

* GAME #7: Mon., May 2 - Bulldogs at Rochester Americans - 7:05 p.m. - Blue Cross Arena

* if necessary

Bulldogs fans can purchase tickets for playoff games at the Copps Coliseum Box Office, at all Ticketmaster outlets, by calling Ticketmaster at (905) 527-7666 or online at www.ticketmaster.ca.

Bulldogs fans can listen to Derek Wills call all the action on 820 CHAM 'The Legend' in Hamilton, the Team 990 in Montreal, or on-line at www.hamiltonbulldogs.com.

Needing a point last week to clinch a playoff birth, the Bulldogs earned a 4-3 win on Wednesday, April 13th over Syracuse to eliminate the Crunch from playoff contention and solidify fourth place in the North Division. Then on Friday, April 15th, Hamilton ended the regular season with a 5-3 loss to the Rochester Americans.

For the most up-to-date information and statistics on the Bulldogs please visit www.hamiltonbulldogs.com.

BULLDOGS SET ATTENDANCE RECORD

The Bulldogs set a single-season franchise record in attendance during the 2004-05 season. There were 231,753 fans that attended Bulldogs games this season at Copps Coliseum, an average of 5,793 fans per game. That average attendance is over 300 more per game then their next best season average of 5,489 in 2001-02, when the team welcomed 219,571 fans throughout the season.

WEEKLY REVIEW

Apr. 13 vs. Syracuse (W 4-3) - The Crunch, needing a regulation victory to avoid elimination from the playoff race, jumped out to a 1-0 lead only 18 seconds into the game courtesy of Mark Hartigan. The Dogs battled back with three consecutive goals to take a 3-1 lead. With the score 3-3 and less than a minute remaining in the game, Syracuse was forced to pull goaltender Andrew Penner and go for the regulation win. Chris Higgins buried an empty net goal to seal the victory and a playoff birth for Hamilton.
Game Notes:
Scoring: HAM - Hainsey (2), Plekanec, Higgins / SYR - Hartigan, Trattnig, Robinson
Goaltending: HAM - Danis (W - 39 shots, 36 saves) / SYR - Goehring (12 shots, 9 saves), Penner (L - 20 shots, 20 saves)
Shots on Goal: HAM 33 / SYR 39
ATTN - 3,854

Apr. 15 vs. Rochester (L 5-3) - In front of 11,247 fans, the Bulldogs finished off their regular season schedule with a loss to the Americans. Thomas Vanek was outstanding for Rochester, posting two goals and an assist and leading the Amerks over Hamilton by a score of 5-3.
Game Notes:
Scoring: HAM - Ott, Jancevski, Plekanec / ROC - Vanek (2), Roy, Jillson, Iggulden
Goaltending: HAM - Ellis (L - 34 shots, 29 saves) / ROC - Miller (W - 29 shots, 26 saves)
Shots on Goal: HAM 29 / ROC 34
ATTN - 11,247


TEAM NOTES

- The Bulldogs are 7-2-0-1 in their last ten games and have a perfect 25-0-0-0 record when scoring four or more goals in a game.
- Hamilton heads into the playoffs with the third best record in the league since February 11th going 19-8-1-1 in 29 games, good enough for a .690 winning percentage. Only Binghamton (.804) and Chicago (.759) have been better during that stretch.
- For the second consecutive year, Tomas Plekanec finished the regular season as the Hamilton Bulldogs' leading scorer. In 80 games this season, Plekanec had 64 points (29g, 35a) and in 2003-04, Plekanec collected 66 points (74gp, 23g, 43a). Over the course of the two seasons, Plekanec has a plus/minus rating of +25 with 16 game-winning goals.
- Forward Steve Ott became the first Bulldog to register over 35 points (39) while accumulating over 250 penalty minutes (279) in a single season.
- In his rookie season, goaltender Yann Danis set the Bulldogs all-time record with 28 wins in a single season and tied former Bulldog Eric Heffler for another all-time franchise single season record with five shutouts.
- Jean-Philippe Cote led the Bulldogs for the second year in a row in plus/minus, posting a +14 rating this year and a +27 rating last season. Cote is now the all-time franchise leader with a +41 rating.


BULLDOGS PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Tomas Plekanec - Posted four points (2g, 2a) in two games last week, including his 71st career goal as a Bulldog in Friday's game. The goal tied him with Brian Swanson for first on the All-time franchise goal-scoring list. Plekanec had a goal and two assists in a 4-3 win over the Syracuse Crunch on Wednesday, April 13th and added the record-tying goal in a 5-3 loss to the Rochester Americans on Friday, April 15th.


DOGS WITH BITE

Ron Hainsey - Notched two goals against Syracuse (April 13th). Setting two franchise records with his first goal against the Crunch, Ron Hainsey became the all-time Bulldogs' points and goal-scoring leader amongst defencemen. Hainsey (18-49-67) surpassed former Bulldogs' defenceman Scott Ferguson (16-49-65) in goals and points, while also pulling ahead of blue-liner Francois Beauchemin (16-48-64) in goals.

Trevor Daley - Tallied three assists in two games last week. Daley had an assist against Syracuse (Apr. 13th) and two assists against Rochester (Apr. 15th).


BULLDOGS AWARD WINNERS

The Part Source Hometown Hero Award: (Hardest Working Bulldogs Player at Home) - Steve Ott

At the conclusion of Friday's game, Steve Ott was named the 'Hardest Working Bulldog' in a 5-3 loss to the Rochester Americans. This marked the eighth time this season he received the honour and clinched the 'Part Source Hometown Hero' Award for the 2004-05 season. As of Friday's game, Chris Higgins was the only other Bulldog still in contention for the award after being named the hardest worker six times prior to the last game of the season.

The Molson Cup - Yann Danis

With one game left in the season, the Molson Cup Award, given to the leader of the Three Star selections, was between Yann Danis and Chris Higgins. Danis carried a 62-57 lead going into the game. After neither player was selected as a star in Friday's 5-3 loss to the Rochester Americans, Danis took home the award. The Molson Cup was Danis' second award this season as he also won the 'Swiss Chalet Rookie of the Year Award' as chosen by the Bulldogs broadcast team of Derek Wills and Al Craig.


UPCOMING GAMES

BULLDOGS VS. ROCHESTER AMERICANS: AHL NORTH DIVISION SEMI-FINAL PLAYOFFS

- Hamilton holds a record 3-7-0-0 against the Rochester Americans (51-19-4-6) in ten games this season.
- Hamilton beat Rochester three times during the regular season. Only Syracuse (5 wins) and Binghamton (4 wins) have defeated the Americans more times.
- Against Rochester this season, Hamilton's power play has gone 9-42 (21.4%), which is 6% higher than the season average of 15.1%.
- Rochester outscored Hamilton 13-3 in the first period, while Hamilton outscored Rochester 12-6 in the third period of head-to-head games this season.


HAMILTON BULLDOGS MOLSON CUP THREE STARS - LEADERS

(1st place vote - 5pts, 2nd place vote - 3 pts, 3rd place vote - 1pt)

Player Points
1. Yann Danis 62
2. Chris Higgins 57
3. Tomas Plekanec 43
4. Jason Ward 27
5. Corey Locke 24
5. Dan Ellis 24
7. Antti Miettinen 13
8. Steve Begin 12
8. Ron Hainsey 12
10. Marc-Andre Thinel 10
11. Steve Ott 9
11. Duncan Milroy 9
11. Trevor Daley 9
14. James Sanford 8
14. Gavin Morgan 8
16. Andrei Kostitsyn 7
17. Raitis Ivanans 6
18. Philippe Plante 5
19. Michael Lambert 1


HOMETOWN HERO OF THE GAME-LEADERS

(Hardest Working Bulldogs Player on Home Ice)

Player Points
1. Steve Ott 80
2. Chris Higgins 60
3. Tomas Plekanec 50
4. Trevor Daley 40
4. Jason Ward 40
6. Dan Jancevski 20
6. Gavin Morgan 20
6. Marc-Andre Thinel 20
9. Andrei Kostitsyn 10
9. Dan Ellis 10
9. Yann Danis 10
9. Raitis Ivanans 10
9. James Sanford 10
9. Mike Komisarek 10
9. Steve Begin 10

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from April 18, 2005


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.

OurSports Central