Dogs sit one point behind Crunch for Final Playoff Spot

March 14, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hamilton Bulldogs News Release


The Hamilton Bulldogs (28-26-6-5) are now tied for fifth with the Edmonton Road Runners in the North Division, just one point behind the Syracuse Crunch for the fourth and final playoff spot. Each playing 64 games, Edmonton and Syracuse have a game-in-hand on the Bulldogs who have already played in 65 contests.

Hamilton has two road games this week, both of which are against the Maple Leafs at Mile One Stadium in St. John's. The first game is on Friday, March 18th, followed by a game the next night on Saturday, March 19th. Both games start at 6:05 p.m. eastern time and Bulldogs fans can listen to Derek Wills call all the action, beginning with the pre-game show at 5:50 p.m. on 820 CHAM 'The Legend' in Hamilton, the Team 990 in Montreal, or on-line at www.hamiltonbulldogs.com.

After posting two wins and two losses last week, the Bulldogs earned four points in four games and now have 67 points on the season. The Bulldogs beat the Albany River Rats 3-2 in a shootout on Wednesday, March 9th, and lost to the Chicago Wolves 4-3 on Friday, March 11th at Copps Coliseum. The Bulldogs travelled to Grand Rapids the following night on Saturday, March 12th, and lost 4-1 to the Griffins before returning home yesterday on Sunday, March 13th, and defeating the Road Runners 6-3 in a crucial divisional game.

The Bulldogs next home game is on Wednesday, March 23rd, against the Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton Penguins at Copps Coliseum. The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. and tickets are available for purchase at the Copps Coliseum Box Office, at all Ticketmaster outlets, by calling Ticketmaster at (905) 527-7666 or online at www.ticketmaster.ca.

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

NORTH DIVISION STANDINGS

Team GP W L OTL SOL PTS
X-Rochester 66 45 11 4 6 100
Manitoba 63 35 19 3 6 79
St. John's 64 37 23 1 3 78
Syracuse 64 30 26 5 3 68
HAMILTON 65 28 26 6 5 67
Edmonton 64 27 24 4 9 67
Cleveland 64 29 28 1 6 65

X - clinched playoff birth


WEEKLY REVIEW

Mar 9 vs. Albany (W 3-2) - The Bulldogs came from behind twice, erasing two one-goal deficits, including a late third period goal from Marc-Andre Thinel to send the game to overtime. After the extra frame solved nothing, the game went to a shootout. Andrei Kostitsyn and James Sanford scored shootout goals for the Bulldogs, while goaltender Yann Danis stopped all four of the shooters he faced, earning the Bulldogs their 27th win of the season.
Game Notes:
Scoring: HAM - Miettinen, Thinel / ALB - Parise, Khomutov
Goaltending: HAM - Danis (W - 33 shots, 31 saves) / ALB - Clemmensen (L - 51 shots, 49 saves)
Shots on Goal: HAM 52 / CLE 33
ATTN - 4,854

Mar 11 vs. Chicago (L 4-3) - Despite out-shooting the Wolves 45-28 and scoring three consecutive second period goals from Jason Ward, Steve Begin and Ron Hainsey, the Bulldogs lost 4-3 against the new-look Chicago Wolves. Jay Bouwmeester and Stephen Weiss were held pointless in their first games as Wolves since being loaned from the San Antonio Rampage earlier in the week. J.P. Vigier scored the game-winning goal for Chicago at the 8:44 mark of the third period.
Game Notes:
Scoring: HAM - Ward, Begin, Hainsey / CHI - Bohonos, Maltais (2), Vigier
Goaltending: HAM - Danis (L - 28 shots, 24 saves) / CHI - Lehtonen (W - 45 shots, 42 saves)
Shots on Goal: HAM 45 / CHI 28
ATTN - 4,345

Mar 12 at Grand Rapids (L 4-1) - Matt Ellis scored two shorthanded goals and led the Griffins to a 4-1 victory over the Bulldogs at the Van Andel Arena. Despite several good scoring chances, the Bulldogs could put just one of their 36 shots past Griffins goaltender Joey MacDonald. Hamilton goaltender Dan Ellis made 39 saves in the loss.
Game Notes:
Scoring: HAM - Carpentier / GRA - Ellis (2), Bootland, Kopecky
Goaltending: HAM - Ellis (L - 43 shots, 39 saves) / GRA - MacDonald (W - 36 shots, 35 saves)
Shots on Goal: HAM 36 / EDM 43
ATTN - 8,065

Mar 13 vs. Edmonton (W 6-3) - Chris Higgins had two goals and an assist, leading the Bulldogs over the Road Runners 6-3. Jonathan Ferland doubled his season total with two goals, giving him four on the year. Tomas Plekanec (1g, 1a) and Antti Miettinen (0g, 2a) each had two points in the game for the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs took an early 3-0 lead, only to see Edmonton rally all the back to tie the game 3-3. Hamilton then pulled away with three goals in the third period, including an empty net marker, to post their 28th win of the season.
Game Notes:
Scoring: HAM - Ward, Higgins (2), Ferland (2), Plekanec / EDM - Roy, Salmelainen, Petersen
Goaltending: HAM - Danis (W - 21 shots, 18 saves) / EDM - Moss (L - 28 shots, 23 saves)
Shots on Goal: HAM 29 / EDM 21
ATTN - 5,050


TEAM NOTES

- Hamilton is 8-2-0-0 in its last ten divisional games.
- With a win yesterday against the Edmonton Road Runners, Yann Danis became the fourth Bulldogs goaltender to record 20 wins.
- The Bulldogs have only scored the first goal three times in their last ten games, and hold a record of 6-4-0-0 in that stretch.
- When scoring four or more goals, the Bulldogs record is a perfect 18-0-0-0.
- In the last ten games, Chris Higgins (7g, 5a), Tomas Plekanec (3g, 7a) and Antti Miettinen (2g, 8a) have combined for 32 points and accounted for 38% of the team's total offence.
- Hamilton's power play has gone 12 for 46 over the last ten games, good enough for a 26.1 % rating, far above their season rating of 14.9%.


BULLDOGS PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Jason Ward - Registered four points (2g, 2a) in three of the four games last week. Ward earned an assist against Albany in the 3-2 shootout win on Wednesday (Mar 9), had a goal in the losing effort versus Chicago on Friday night (Mar 11), was held pointless on Saturday in the 4-1 loss to Grand Rapids and rebounded with a goal and an assist in the 6-3 victory over the Road Runners yesterday (Mar 13).


DOGS WITH BITE

Chris Higgins - Posted three points (2g, 1a) yesterday against the Road Runners and was named the game's first star. With the two markers versus Edmonton, Higgins now has five two-goal games this season. Higgins also picked up an assist against Albany on Wednesday (Mar 9), giving him four points on the week.

Antti Miettinen - Notched four points (1g, 3a) in three of the four games last week. Miettinen had a goal against the River Rats (Mar 9), an assist versus Chicago (Mar 11) and two assists yesterday against Edmonton (Mar 13).


UPCOMING EVENTS

Wednesday, March 23rd - 7:00pm vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins - Oldies 1150 Night

Wednesday, March 30th - 7:00 pm vs. Manitoba Moose - The Hamilton Bulldogs Two Millionth Fan Night
- The Hamilton Bulldogs will welcome their Two Millionth Fan through the turnstiles of Copps Coliseum at this game.
- The Bulldogs will be giving away $20,000 worth of prizing to fans in attendance at the game.

Friday, April 1st - 7:30 pm vs. St. John's Maple Leafs - Pizza Pizza Presents: Newfoundland Night
- The first 2,500 fans will receive an Andre Kostitsyn Pizza Pizza Bandana
- Smirnoff Spin the Bottle Promotion: Fans 19 or older can win a special Smirnoff prize when the bottle lands on their section.
- Fans will have the opportunity to enjoy food, beverages, and sounds of Newfoundland as the St. John's Maple Leafs make their 100th and final appearance at Copps Coliseum.
- Upper bowl tickets are on sale for 14 dollars in support of city kids. Tickets can be purchased at 17 locations around Hamilton.

On-line Auction: Autographed Game-Worn Hometown Hero Jerseys
- Go on-line now at www.hamiltonbulldogs.com to enter the Hamilton Bulldogs on-line auction for autographed Hometown Hero jerseys, featuring Jason Ward, Tomas Plekanec and Chris Higgins.


UPCOMING GAMES

Fri. March 18th & Sat. March 20th, 6:05 p.m. - Bulldogs @ St. John's Maple Leafs

- Hamilton is 3-4-1-1 against the St. John's Maple Leafs (37-23-1-3) in nine games this season.
- The Bulldogs have won the last two meetings between the teams, winning 4-2 on Feb. 20th and 4-3 on Feb. 23rd.
- With seven points each, Duncan Milroy (4g, 3a) and Tomas Plekanec (3g, 4a) lead the Bulldogs in scoring against the Maple leafs in nine games this season.
- The Bulldogs have scored three short-handed goals against the Maple Leafs this season (Jason Ward, Tomas Plekanec, and Chris Higgins).
- David Ling leads the Maple Leafs in scoring against the Bulldogs this season with 9 points (2g, 7a) in 9 games.


HAMILTON BULLDOGS MOLSON CUP THREE STARS - LEADERS
(1st place vote - 5pts, 2nd place vote - 3 pts, 3rd place vote - 1pt)

Player Points
1. Chris Higgins 54
2. Yann Danis 45
3. Tomas Plekanec 33
4. Corey Locke 24
5. Dan Ellis 18
5. Jason Ward 18
7. Steve Ott 9
7. Duncan Milroy 9
9. James Sanford 8
10. Andrei Kostitsyn 7
10. Antti Miettinen 7
12. Trevor Daley 6
13. Philippe Plante 5
13. Gavin Morgan 5
13. Marc-Andre Thinel 5
16. Raitis Ivanans 3
17. Michael Lambert 1
17. Ron Hainsey 1


HOMETOWN HERO OF THE GAME - LEADERS
(Hardest Working Bulldogs Player on Home Ice)

Player Points
1. Steve Ott 70
2. Chris Higgins 50
3. Trevor Daley 40
3. Tomas Plekanec 40
5. Jason Ward 30
6. Dan Jancevski 20
7. Andrei Kostitsyn 10
7. Dan Ellis 10
7. Yann Danis 10
7. Gavin Morgan 10
7. Raitis Ivanans 10
7. James Sanford 10



American Hockey League Stories from March 14, 2005


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