The AHL regular season has come to an end, and
like their NHL counterparts, the Hamilton Bulldogs lost a critical game right at
the end that cost them home-ice advantage in the first round. We’ll have
expanded coverage of the Dogs this week, with detailed player and specialty
teams stats, as well as the game-by-game scores. As normal, we’ll have our
weekly CHL prospect report, and a final thought on why it’s time the
traditionalists win one, in the Recap.
|
The Dog |
The Dogs overall had a strong week, going 2-1,
but lost a critical game in Rochester that sees them now starting on the road in
the 1st round vs the very same Americans.
|
Scores: |
April 13: Hamilton 3, Grand Rapids 1
April 14: Hamilton 4, Grand Rapids 2
April 15: Rochester 2, Hamilton 1
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Weekly |
A new feature, this features each Bulldog
player and how they did for the week.
|
SKATERS |
| # | Player | GP | G | A | +/- | SH | PIMS |
| 2 | Ryan O’Byrne | 3 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | Dan Jancevski | 3 | 2 | 1 | +3 | 4 | 6 |
| 7 | Eric Manlow | 3 | 1 | 1 | E | 5 | 2 |
| 10 | Cory Urquhart | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 2 | 2 |
| 12 | Jean-Phillipe Cote | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | Andre Benoit | 3 | 1 | 1 | +4 | 3 | 0 |
| 17 | Kyle Chipchura | 3 | 0 | 4 | +4 | 5 | 4 |
| 19 | Duncan Milroy | 3 | 2 | 0 | E | 7 | 4 |
| 20 | Zack Stortini | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 4 | 15 |
| 21 | Jonathan Ferland | 3 | 1 | 1 | +3 | 5 | 0 |
| 22 | Matt D’Agostini | 3 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 7 | 0 |
| 24 | Francis Lemieux | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 5 | 4 |
| 25 | Michael Lambert | 1 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 2 | 0 |
| 26 | Maxim Lapierre | 3 | 1 | 1 | E | 7 | 2 |
| 27 | Danny Groulx | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 32 | Ajay Baines | 2 | 0 | 1 | +2 | 2 | 2 |
| 34 | Mathieu Biron | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 55 | Andrew Archer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 84 | Corey Locke | 3 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 8 | 2 |
|
GOALIES |
| # | Player | MINS | SF | SVS | GA |
| 29 | Carey Price | 117 | 59 | 56 | 3 |
| 35 | Yann Danis | 60 | 31 | 29 | 2 |
|
SPECIAL |
| PP | PK | Shots For | Shots Allowed |
| 3/21 (14.3%) | 17/20 (85.0%) | 76 | 84 |
Final Regular Season Record: 43-28-3-6, 95
points
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Schedule: |
April 19: Hamilton @ Rochester
April 21: Hamilton @ Rochester
April 22: Rochester @ Hamilton
|
In the |
By Jason Brisebois
We’re drawing ever closer to the
Memorial Cup, as another prospect bit the bullet this week. On top of Price,
Mikus and Maxwell all being knocked out in the 1st round, Lacasse and his
Generals were eliminated by Belleville. Meanwhile, three prospects are still
playing.
WHL
Brandon vs Calgary
Brandon leads series 3-2
C Ryan White (Calgary)
White and the Hitmen are only one game away from the WHL Eastern Conference
Final. Thought they lost game one and two, they have battled back and taken the
series lead. White has picked up three goals and two assists as Calgary’s three
straight wins.
OHL
London vs Sault Ste. Marie
London leads series 3-2
RW Sergei Kostitsyn (London)
After taking a commanding three game lead in the series, the Knights have been
unable to knock off the Sault. Tlusty and his Greyhounds only need one win to
square it up at three games apiece. Since scoring two goals in the first two
games, Kostitsyn only has one assist in three games.
Oshawa vs Belleville
Belleville Wins series 4-0
G Loic Lacasse (Oshawa)
Belleville’s high powered offence was far too much for Lacasse to handle. He
never really had a solid game, allowing five or more goals in all four games. He
finished the playoffs with a GAA of 4.93, and an abysmal save precentage of
.862.
QMJHL
Rouyn-Noranda vs Drummondville
Drummondville leads series 3-2
D Mathieu Carle (Rouyn-Noranda)
Rouyn-Noranda faces elimination Sunday night, as they trail Drummondville by one
game. They will need a win to for a game seven. Carle would be key in game five,
scoring two goals in a 3-1 win, which kept the series alive.
|
Final |
The marathon game between the Stars and Canucks
early in the week has sparked the discussion once more of "Do we need a shootout
in the playoffs?" The anti-traditionalists are at it once more, attempting
to inflict change in an area that doesn’t need it. Was the aforementioned
game full of entertainment? From what I’ve been told, no, I didn’t stay up
to watch the whole thing myself, and that’s fine; I didn’t lose any sleep over
not knowing what the outcome of the game was before I went to bed. The
marathon overtimes are one of the things that makes the NHL playoffs special,
why water it down to the level of the regular season by instituting the gimmick
the NHL admits isn’t really a true part of hockey? Sure there is the
argument that there shouldn’t be a difference between the regular season and
playoff games, but let’s face it, there is. The intensity level picks up,
as well as the passion, why should a gimmick such as the shootout determine who
wins a playoff game, series, or even worse, the Cup? It’s bad enough that
the shootout directly put one team in the postseason and another out, I don’t
find it an exaggeration to suggest a riot would occur if the same happened in a
huge playoff game. For years, anti-traditionalists have been effectively
saying "The heck with the traditionalists." Well, as somewhat of a
traditionalist who actually respects some of the history of the game, enough is
enough already, leave well enough alone, and if you don’t like the long
overtimes, no one is forcing you to watch, don’t wreck a good thing for everyone
else.