First-Place Bulldogs Take On Rochester Following Christmas Break

December 21, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Hamilton Bulldogs News Release


The Hamilton Bulldogs (American Hockey League affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens) enter their Christmas break this week on a high note, having earned points in nine of their last ten games, winning eight of those contests. Following the short holiday-break, the Bulldogs will faceoff against the Rochester Americans (American Hockey League affiliate of the Florida Panthers) on Boxing Day at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester at 7:05 pm.

Last week, the Milwaukee Admirals (American Hockey League affiliate of the Nashville Predators) topped the Bulldogs 3-2 on Tuesday night at Copps Coliseum before Hamilton embarked on a three-game road trip that saw the 'Dogs take to the ice on three consecutive nights. Despite the short timeline between games, the Bulldogs were able to string together three straight victories in their visiting uniforms, beating the Adirondack Phantoms (American Hock League affiliate of the Philadelphia Phantoms) 4-0 on Friday, defeating the Hartford Wolf Pack (American Hockey League affiliate of the New York Rangers) 4-1 on Saturday, and getting a 5-4 overtime win in Rochester, taking over first place in the North Division from the Americans.

KIDS NIGHT AT THE DOG POUND It will be kids night at Copps Coliseum when the Bulldogs welcome archrival the Toronto Marlies to town on December 28th at 7:30 p.m. The first 3,000 fans through the gates will receive a mini stick and pack of McDonalds hockey cards.

SALUTE THE TROOPS NIGHT!

The Hamilton Bulldogs will be paying tribute to the brave men and women of Canada's Armed Forces with the "Salute the Troops" night at Copps Coliseum on December 30th. Red rally towels will be given out to the first 3,000 fans through the gates and while other great prizes and giveaways will be given out to fans throughout the game. There will be a pre-game ceremony with Military Honour Guard and band and there will be an on-ice military obstacle course during the intermission.

WEEK IN REVIEW:

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 - HAMILTON BULLDOGS 2 vs. MILWAUKEE ADMIRALS 3

Copps Coliseum- Hamilton, ON

Hamilton Goals: David Desharnais, Mathieu Darche

Milwaukee Goals: Colin Wilson, Nolan Yonkman, Peter Olvecky

Goaltending: Hamilton - Curtis Sanford (L - 17 shots, 14 saves) / Milwaukee - Chet Pickard (W - 33 shots, 31 saves)

Power Play: Hamilton 0-4 / Milwaukee 1-1

Attendance: 2,063

Friday, December 18th, 2009 - HAMILTON BULLDOGS 4 @ ADIRONDACK PHANTOMS 0

Glens Falls Civic Center - Glens Falls, NY

Hamilton Goals: Greg Stewart, Brock Trotter, David Desharnais, Ben Maxwell

Adirondack Goals: No Scoring

Goaltending: Hamilton - Cedrick Desjardins (W, SO - 26 shots, 26 saves) / Adirondack - John Grahame (L - 23 shots, 19 saves)

Power Play: Hamilton 0-5 / Adirondack 0-7

Attendance: 3,508

Saturday, December 19th, 2009 - HAMILTON BULLDOGS 4 @ HARTFORD WOLF PACK 1

XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum - Hartford, CT

Hamilton Goals: Mathieu Carle, David Desharnais, P.K. Subban, Ryan White

Hartford Goals: Brodie Dupont

Goaltending: Hamilton - Curtis Sanford (W - 26 shots, 25 saves) / Hartford - Steve Valiquette (L - 34 shots, 30 saves)

Power Play: Hamilton 2-6 / Hartford 0-5

Attendance: 3,370

Sunday, December 20th, 2009 - HAMILTON BULLDOGS 5 @ ROCHESTER AMERICANS 4 (0T)

Blue Cross Arena - Rochester, NY

Hamilton Goals: Benoit Pouliot, J.T. Wyman, Mathieu Darche (3)

Rochester Goals: Daniel Steiner, Chris Taylor (2), Jamie Johnson

Goaltending: Hamilton - Cedrick Desjardins (W - 26 shots, 22 saves) / Rochester - Chris Beckford-Tseu (L - 36 shots, 32 saves), Alexander Salak (9 shots, 8 saves)

Power Play: Hamilton 2-5 / Rochester 1-4

Attendance: 2,777

BULLDOGS NOTES:

- The Bulldogs earned their 500th regular season victory with a 3-0 win over the Lake Erie Monsters on Saturday, November 28th.

- Hamilton is currently among the hottest teams in the AHL, sporting an 8-1-1-0 record in their last ten games.

- The 'Dogs have the lowest number of regulation losses in the league, having suffered defeat just seven times when overtime or a shootout was not necessary.

- As a team, the Bulldogs have the most shutouts in the league, having blanked the opposition eight times already this season.

- Hamilton's 0.694 winning percentage is currently 2nd-best in the AHL.

- The Bulldogs have the lowest goals against total in the AHL, having allowed just 64 opposition tallies in 31 games this season. The goaltending tandem of Curtis Sanford and Cedrick Desjardins has complemented Hamilton's defensive corps to shut down the opposition's attack.

- Hamilton G Cedrick Desjardins set a Bulldogs franchise record earlier this month for individual shutout streak. Desjardins went 212 minutes and 37 seconds without letting a single puck get past him. The record streak was snapped when Riley Armstrong scored late in the third period as the Bulldogs burned the Abbotsford Heat 5-1 on Wednesday, December 9th at Copps Coliseum. Desjardins currently boasts the 2nd-lowest goals against average in the league at 1.52, the 3rd-best save percentage at 0.941, and the most shutouts in the league with five.

- LW Benoit Pouliot played his first three games with the Bulldogs since being re-assigned from the Montreal Canadiens for conditioning purposes. Pouliot potted his first goal with the 'Dogs and added two helpers while firing a game-high seven shots on net as Hamilton defeated the Rochester Americans 5-4 in overtime on Sunday, December 20th. Pouliot came to Montreal from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for forward Guillaume Latendresse as part of a trade that took place on November 24th.

- Hamilton C Brock Trotter is currently the Bulldogs' top point-getter and is tied for 19th in the league's scoring race with nine goals and 17 assists for 26 points.

- Bulldogs rookie D P.K. Subban is currently tied for third in the league in +/-, skating with a +15 rating.

- Hamilton C David Desharnais is currently tied for 2nd in the league with four game-winning goals, and tied for 9th in the league with five power play goals. Desharnais had a 6-game goal-scoring streak snapped on December 20th as the Bulldogs defeated the Rochester Americans 5-4 in overtime at the Blue Cross Arena.

- Bulldogs LW Mathieu Darche scored a season-high four points on Sunday, December 20th as the Bulldogs beat the Rochester Americans 5-4 in overtime. Darche scored a hat trick, which included the overtime game-winner and added one assist to round out his quartet of points.

- Hamilton C Grant Stevenson has scored two goals and three assists for five points in his last five games.

- The Bulldogs welcomed LW Tom Pyatt back to the lineup this week after being re-assigned by the team's National Hockey League affiliate, the Montreal Canadiens. Pyatt picked up his first point, an assist, since returning to the lineup on Sunday, December 20th as the Bulldogs got past the Rochester Americans 5-4 in overtime.

UPCOMING GAMES:

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26TH - HAMILTON BULLDOGS @ ROCHESTER AMERICANS

7:05 PM EST - BLUE CROSS ARENA - ROCHESTER, NY

This will be the fourth of ten meetings between the North Division rivals this season In their last meeting, the Bulldogs pulled out a 5-4 overtime victory over the Americans with LW Mathieu Darche recording a hat trick that included the overtime game-winner The Americans currently sit in 2nd place in the North Division with a 20-9-2-0 record and 42 points, while the 1st-place Bulldogs sit one point ahead with a 19-7-2-3 record and 43 points Rochester has cooled off since their red-hot start to the season, having gone 3-6-1-0 in their last 10 games In 2008-2009, Hamilton earned a 5-3-0-0 record in eight games against the Americans, with two of the five Bulldogs victories coming after a shootout The Bulldogs will go into Sunday afternoon's contest with a 53-62-7-0-3 record against Rochester Centreman Jamie Johnson (13-17-30) currently leads the Americans in scoring with 13 goals and 17 assists for 30 points in 31 games played this season There are a total of six Ontario natives currently listed on the Rochester roster: C Jamie Johnson (Port Franks), C Chris Taylor (Stratford), D Michael Caruso (Mississauga), D Peter Aston (Toronto), D James DeLory (Scarborough), and G Chris Beckord-Tseu (Toronto)

ALUMNI WATCH: There are more than 40 former Bulldogs on 2009-2010 National Hockey League rosters. Over 60 percent of all former 'Dogs have played in at least one NHL game. Here are a few highlights and accomplishments of ex-'Dogs from this past week:

Montreal G Jaroslav Halak stopped all 40 shots he faced and got the shutout as the Habs beat the New York Islanders 3-0 (Dec. 19) Dallas LW Steve Ott scored a goal in a 5-3 loss to Carolina (Dec. 16) and added an assist in a 6-5 overtime loss to Atlanta (Dec. 17) Atlanta D Ron Hainsey had a productive week, notching one helper in a 3-2 shootout win over the New York Rangers as well as a 6-5 overtime win against Dallas (Dec. 17)... Hainsey then found the back of the net in a 5-4 loss to New Jersey (Dec. 19) Montreal LW Andrei Kostitsyn found his scoring touch last week, picking up two goals and one assist in a 4-3 loss to Buffalo (Dec. 14), adding another tally in a 3-1 loss to Minnesota (Dec. 17), and dishing out one assist as the Canadiens shut out the New York Islanders 3-0 (Dec. 19) Nashville G Dan Ellis added three notches to his win column last week, as he stopped 28 shots in a 5-3 win over Columbus (Dec. 14), made 21 saves in a 6-3 victory over Edmonton (Dec. 17), and turned aside 29 of the 32 shots he faced as the Predators defeated the Calgary Flames 5-3 (Dec. 19) Boston LW Steve Begin recorded one assist in a 3-1 loss to Philadelphia (Dec. 14) Toronto D Francois Beauchemin scored a goal in the Leafs' 3-2 win over Ottawa (Dec. 14) and had one assist in both a 6-3 loss to Phoenix (Dec. 16) and a 2-0 win over Boston (Dec. 19) Montreal C Tomas Plekanec had four assists over two games last week, notching a pair of helpers in the Habs' 4-3 loss to Buffalo (Dec. 14), and 3-0 win over the New York Islanders (Dec. 19) Dallas C Mike Ribeiro registered five assists last week, as he set up all three Stars goals in a 5-3 loss to Carolina (Dec. 16), and picked up an assist in both a 6-5 overtime loss to Atlanta (Dec. 17), and a 4-3 win over Detroit (Dec. 19) Columbus LW Jason Chimera had three points last week, dishing out one assist in a 5-3 win over Nashville (Dec. 14), getting another helper in a 2-1 loss to Minnesota (Dec. 15), and scoring a goal in the Blue Jackets' 5-2 loss to Colorado (Dec. 19) Edmonton C Shawn Horcoff dished out an assist in a 6-3 loss to Nashville (Dec. 17), and scored on one of his five shots on net as Washington defeated the Oilers 4-2 (Dec. 19) Nashville D Francis Bouillon had one assist and finished +1 as the Preds beat the Blue Jackets 5-3 (Dec. 14) Toronto D Mike Komisarek had an assist in the Leafs' 6-3 loss to Phoenix, and picked up another helper while finishing +2 as the Buds got past the Bruins 2-0 (Dec. 19) Montreal LW Max Pacioretty had one assist in the Canadiens' 3-0 win over the New York Islanders (Dec. 19) St. Louis LW Brad Winchester scored on the power play in a losing effort as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Blues 6-3 (Dec. 18) Montreal D Marc-Andre Bergeron had an assist in the Habs' 4-3 loss to Buffalo, and dished out another helper in the Canadiens' 3-0 shutout victory over the New York Islanders (Dec. 19) Chicago G Cristobal Huet recorded two shutout last week, backstopping the Blackhawks to identical 3-0 wins over St. Louis (Dec. 16) and Detroit (Dec. 20)

TUNE IN TO Every Game on the Hamilton Bulldogs Hockey Network AND CABLE 14:

Fans can listen to every 'Dogs game this season on the flagship station of the Hamilton Bulldogs Hockey Network, 'TALK 820'. Fans can also listen or watch at www.hamiltonbulldogs.com by clicking on the 'AHL Live' or 'TALK 820' icon on the Bulldogs website. All regular-season radio and online broadcasts will begin with a pre-game show 30 minutes prior to each scheduled game-time. Ellery Award-winning broadcaster Derek Wills calls the play-by-play of all 80 regular season games, while Al Craig provides the colour commentary for all home games and select road games.

In addition Cable 14 will air live broadcasts 13 of club's 38 home games at Copps Coliseum. In a joint venture with Mohawk College, Cable 14 will also broadcast the 25 Hamilton Bulldogs' home games not being shown live in their entirety as 'Dogs-in-an-Hour at 11:00 p.m. on the night of the game.

Cable 14 will also carry Rogers Television's live coverage of six Hamilton Bulldogs versus Toronto Marlies games at Ricoh Coliseum.

For a full listing of all the games broadcast on Cable 14 follow this link: http://www.hamiltonbulldogs.com/page/broadcast_1019#Live%20Broadcast%20Schedule

GET YOUR TICKETS!:

Hamilton Bulldogs season tickets, flex tickets, min pack tickets, group tickets and tickets are now on sale! Individual game tickets are available at the Copps Coliseum Box Office (in-person sales only), all Ticketmaster outlets and online at ticketmaster.ca or call 905-527-7666. For information on season tickets, flex tickets, mini pack tickets and group tickets visit www.hamiltonbulldogs.com, or call (905) 529-8500 or 1-866-364-7849.

GET YOUR BULLDOGS MERCHANDISE AT THE "DAWG HOUSE": Fans can purchase Bulldogs merchandise during all home games at the "Dawg House" store located behind section 114 on the concourse level at Copps Coliseum.

In the store, fans can find hats, t-shirts, jackets, replica jerseys, foam fingers, foam 'Bone Heads', and other select novelty items for sale.

HAMILTON BULLDOGS SCHEDULE THIS WEEK:

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26TH - HAMILTON BULLDOGS @ ROCHESTER AMERICANS

7:05 PM EST - BLUE CROSS ARENA - ROCHESTER, NY

MOLSON CUP - THREE STAR LEADERS: (1st Star - 5pts, 2nd Star - 3pts, 3rd Star - 1pt)

Player : Points :

1. Cedrick Desjardins 27

2. Mathieu Darche 20

3. David Desharnais 19

4. Curtis Sanford 18

5. Brock Trotter 15

6. Sergei Kostitsyn 9

7. Mike Glumac 8

7. Tom Pyatt 8

9. P.K. Subban 7

10. Ryan White 6

11. Mathieu Carle 5

11. Ryan Russell 5

11. Ben Maxwell 5

14. Grant Stevenson 3

14. Benoit Pouliot 3

16. J.T. Wyman 1

16. Greg Stewart 1

FLAMBORO DOWNS WORKHORSE OF THE GAME LEADERS: (10 pts. - Hardest working Hamilton Bulldogs player)

Player: Points:

1. Brock Trotter 40

2. Tom Pyatt 20

2. Andre Benoit 20

2. J.T. Wyman 20

2. Alex Henry 20

2. P.K. Subban 20

2. Ryan White 20

2. Mike Glumac 20

9. Marc-Andre Bergeron 10

9. Cedrick Desjardins 10

9. Shawn Belle 10

9. Mathieu Darche 10

9. Curtis Sanford 10

9. David Desharnais 10

9. Chad Anderson 10

9. Ben Maxwell 10

9. Mathieu Carle 10

9. Yannick Weber 10

9. Andrew Conboy 10

9. Grant Stevenson 10

9. Eric Neilson 10



American Hockey League Stories from December 21, 2009


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