Hamilton Bulldogs Weekly

Published on February 22, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Hamilton Bulldogs News Release


The Hamilton Bulldogs (American Hockey League affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens) will battle against three different opponents this week playing back-to-back-to-back games this weekend. The 'Dogs will make their way to the Bell Centre in Montreal on Friday, February 25th for a 7:30 P.M. start time versus the Adirondack Phantoms (AHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers). The game will be the second of two match-ups the Bulldogs play in Montreal this season. Following Friday's game Hamilton will go up against the Syracuse Crunch (AHL affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks). The Bulldogs and Crunch will meet the following night on Saturday, February 26th for a 7:30 P.M. puck drop in Syracuse. The third game in as many nights will be a tilt against the Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings). Hamilton will host this match-up as both teams will meet at Copps Coliseum on Sunday, February 27th for a 4:00 P.M. game

Hamilton's Mathieu Carle opened up the scoring in the Bulldogs first game of the week versus the Grand Rapids Griffins. He scored on the power-play midway through the first, but it wasn't long before the Griffins levelled the scoring. Jamie Johnson notched a goal four minutes and 20 seconds later to even the score at 1-1. Aaron Palushaj followed suit, as he quickly added a goal and gained the lead back for the Bulldogs just before the first period ended. The second and third stanzas saw the Griffins take a commanding lead, scoring once in the middle frame and three times in the final period. The Bulldogs' Frederic St. Denis added another goal before the game concluded making the final 5-3 for the Griffs. The Dogs' following match-up saw them snap a five game losing-streak against their North Division rivals, the Toronto Marlies. Andreas Engqvist potted his seventh of the season giving the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead heading into the second. Aaron Palushaj added a goal in the middle frame giving him his second consecutive fixture with a tally. Toronto fought back getting goals from John Mitchell who scored seconds after Palushaj and Ryan Hamilton added another to even the score at 2-2. Danny Richmond gave the Marlies their first lead of the game at 2:57 of the final period. Hamilton battled back to regain the lead and win the contest 4-3 with goals from Hunter Bishop and Ben Maxwell. The Bulldogs took on a rare opponent in the San Antonio Rampage on Saturday, February 19th. Bracken Kearns gave the Rampage the first lead of the game scoring on the power-play at 6:16 in the first. Following that goal Hamilton responded with three consecutive markers, two in the first from Ryan Russell and Ben Maxwell and once in the third from Andreas Engqvist. The Bulldogs went on to win the match-up 3-1 making it their second consecutive win. The 'Dogs finished the week dropping a 4-3 game to the Rochester Americans in a shootout. Gabriel Dumont, Jimmy Bonneau and St. Denis gave Hamilton a 3-2 lead but Joe Callahan tied the game 3-3 late in the third period. With neither team able to score in overtime, the game went into a shootout. Rochester goalie Tyler Plante stopped all four Hamilton shooters while Bill Thomas and Mark Cullen scored for the Americans to win the game.

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW:

Wednesday, February 16th - HAMILTON BULLDOGS 3 vs. GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 5

Van Andel Arena - Grand Rapids, MI

Hamilton Goals: Mathieu Carle, Aaron Palushaj, Frederic St. Denis

Grand Rapids Goals: Jamie Johnson, Jamie Tardif (2)*, Cory Emmerton, Tomas Tatar

Goaltending: Hamilton: Curtis Sanford (L- 36 shots, 32 saves) / Grand Rapids: Jordan Pearce (W- 25 shots, 22 saves)

Power Play: Hamilton 1-3 / Grand Rapids 2-8

Attendance: 7429

* - Game Winning Goal

Friday, February 18th - HAMILTON BULLDOGS 4 vs. TORONTO MARLIES 3

Ricoh Coliseum - Toronto, ON

Hamilton Goals: Andreas Engqvist, Aaron Palushaj, Hunter Bishop, Ben Maxwell*

Toronto Goals: John Mitchell, Ryan Hamilton, Danny Richmond

Goaltending: Hamilton: Curtis Sanford (W - 20 shots, 17 saves) / Toronto: Ben Scrivens (L - 30 shots, 26 saves)

Power Play: Hamilton 2-4 / Toronto 0-7

Attendance: 5046

*- Game Winning Goal

Saturday, February 19th - HAMILTON BULLDOGS 3 vs. SAN ANTONIO RAMPAGE 1

Copps Coliseum - Hamilton, ON

Hamilton Goals: Ryan Russell, Ben Maxwell*, Andreas Engqvist

San Antonio Goals: Bracken Kearnes

Goaltending: Hamilton: Curtis Sanford (W - 21 shots, 20 saves) / San Antonio: Matt Climie (L - 31 shots, 29 saves)

Power Play: Hamilton 0-2 / San Antonio 1-2

Attendance: 4563

*- Game Winning Goal

Monday, February 21st - HAMILTON BULLDOGS 3 vs. ROCHESTER AMERICANS 4 (SO)

Copps Coliseum - Hamilton, ON

Hamilton Goals: Gabriel Dumont, Jimmy Bonneau, Frederic St. Denis

Rochester Goals: Michal Repik (2), Joe Callahan, Bill Thomas*

Goaltending: Hamilton: Curtis Sanford (SOL - 26 shots, 23 saves) / Rochester: Tyler Plante (W - 29 shots, 26 saves)

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

Attendance: 5,795

*- Game Winning Shootout GoalBULLDOGS NOTES:

- The Bulldogs' power play sits fifth in the standings capitalizing on 20.6% of their chances with the man advantage.

- 34 of the 56 games played by Hamilton this season have been decided by one goal which equates to 61% of Hamilton's battles this season.

- G Curtis Sanford sits second in the AHL for goals-against-average with 1.94 and first in the league in save percentage with .930SV%. Sanford is also tied in second for the league lead in shutouts with five.

- D Mathieu Carle played his 200th AHL game on February 18th in a 4-3 win over the Toronto Marlies

- C Ben Maxwell is currently on a four-game point streak (2G,4A).

- D Brendon Nash was recalled to the Canadiens on Tuesday, February 15th and played his first NHL game that night. Nash played in one other game with Montreal before being returned to the `Dogs on February 19th

UPCOMING GAMES:

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25th - HAMILTON BULLDOGS vs. ADIRONDACK PHANTOMS

7:30 PM EST - BELL CENTRE - MONTREAL, PQ

- This is the fourth of four meetings between the two clubs this season

- The last time the two teams met was on February 5th when the Phantoms defeated the Bulldogs 4-0

- The Bulldogs have 2-1-0-0 record against the Phantoms this season

- Hamilton`s all-time record versus Adirondack is 6-1-0-0

- Denis Hamel leads Adirondack in scoring with 33 points (17G, 16A)

- There are six Ontario natives currently listed on the Phantoms roster: C Luke Pither (Burketon), F Eric Wellwood (Windsor), C Zac Rinaldo (Hamilton), D Dan Jancevski (Windsor), D Danny Syvret (Millgrove) and G Michael Leighton (Petrolia)

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26th - HAMILTON BULLDOGS @ SYRACUSE CRUNCH

7:30 PM EST - WAR MEMORIAL ARENA AT ONCENTER- SYRACUSE, NEW YORK

- This will be the fourth of four meetings between the two clubs this season.

- The last time the two teams met was on January 14th when Hamilton defeated Syracuse 1-0 in a shootout

- The 'Dogs hold a 2-1-0-0 record against the Crunch this season

- Hamilton holds an all-time record of 47-40-11-1-2 against the Crunch

- Nicolas Deschamps currently leads Syracuse in scoring with 29 points (10G, 19A)

- There are eight Ontario natives currently listed on the Crunch roster: LW John Kurtz (Oakville), LW Leigh Salters (London), RW Matt Kennedy (Richmond Hill), LW Matt Beleskey (Windsor), D Joe DiPenta (Barrie), D Eric Regan (Ajax), D John de Gray (Richmond Hill) and G Ray Emery (Hamilton)

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27th - HAMILTON BULLDOGS vs. GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS

4:00 PM EST - COPPS COLISEUM - HAMILTON, ONTARIO

- This will be the sixth of six meetings between the two clubs this season.

- The last time the two teams met was on February 16th when the Bulldogs lost 5-3 to the Griffs

- The `Dogs have a 2-3-0-0 record against the Griffins this season

- Hamilton has an all-time record of 31-19-1-2-4

- Ilari Filppula currently leads the Griffins in scoring with 44 points (18G, 26A)

- There is eight Ontario natives currently listed on the Griffins roster: C Cory Emmerton (St. Thomas), C Jamie Johnson (London), RW Adam Keefe (Brampton), LW Chris Minard (Owen Sound), LW Jordan Owens (Toronto), RW Jamie Tardif (Welland), D Brendan Smith (Mimico) and D Greg Amadio (Sault Ste. Marie)

ALUMNI WATCH:

There are over 40 former Bulldogs currently on NHL 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:

- St. Louis LW Brad Winchester tallied an assist in a 5-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks (February 21)

- Montreal C David Desharnais earned an assist in a game against Buffalo (February 15)

- Montreal LW Max Pacioretty tallied a goal in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Sabres (February 15)

- Toronto C Mikhail Grabovski had a two-goal night including netting the game-winner in a 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins.

- Dallas D Trevor Daley earned an assist against the Calgary Flames (February 16)

- Dallas C Mike Ribeiro scored a goal against the Flames (February 16) and recorded an assist in a game against the Vancouver Canucks (February 19)

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

Fans can listen to every 'Dogs game this season on the flagship station of the Hamilton Bulldogs Hockey Network, 'TODAY'S COUNTRY AM 820 CHAM'. Fans can also listen or watch at www.hamiltonbulldogs.com by clicking on the 'AHL Live' or '820 CHAM' 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.

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 ext. 179.

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.

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



American Hockey League Stories from February 22, 2011


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