Overtime was not exactly the Montreal Canadiens
friend this year, but right now, the Hamilton Bulldogs are loving it. A
trio of consecutive extra time wins have propelled the Dogs past division
champion Manitoba and have given them a 2-0 lead on conference champion Chicago.
We’ll break down the numbers, plus a final thought on a new TV agreement that
could save the NHL, in the Recap.
|
The Dog |
An overtime win gave the Bulldogs a 4-2 series
victory over Manitoba, and a pair of OT wins later in the week have given the
Dogs a 2-0 lead on Chicago heading home for games 3-5.
|
Scores: |
Game-by-game, Game 6 vs Manitoba, Games 1
and 2 vs Chicago.
| May 14 | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | Tot | PP | SOG |
| Hamilton | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1/6 | 25 |
| Manitoba | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1/6 | 42 |
Attendance: 3,270
3 Stars: 1) Manlow – HAM 2) Reid – MTB 3) Price – HAM
| May 18 | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | Tot | PP | SOG |
| Hamilton | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 2/7 | 39 |
| Chicago | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2/7 | 40 |
Attendance: 4,021
3 Stars: 1) Haydar – CHI 2) Chipchura – HAM 3) Sterling –
CHI
| May 20 | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | Tot | PP | SOG |
| Hamilton | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0/5 | 30 |
| Chicago | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1/7 | 24 |
Attendance: 3,815
3 Stars: 1) Haydar – CHI 2) D’Agostini – HAM 3) Brathwaite –
CHI
|
Weekly |
Once again, Corey Locke led the attack, but
after that, it was some unlikely heroes getting the job done for Hamilton.
|
SKATERS |
| # | Player | GP | G | A | +/- | SH | PIMS |
| 2 | Ryan O’Byrne | 3 | 0 | 2 | +3 | 1 | 10 |
| 4 | Dan Jancevski | 3 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 2 | 2 |
| 7 | Eric Manlow | 3 | 3 | 1 | +3 | 5 | 0 |
| 10 | Cory Urquhart | 3 | 0 | 0 | +2 | 5 | 0 |
| 16 | Andre Benoit | 3 | 0 | 3 | +4 | 5 | 2 |
| 17 | Kyle Chipchura | 3 | 2 | 2 | +3 | 4 | 0 |
| 19 | Duncan Milroy | 3 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 9 | 2 |
| 20 | Zack Stortini | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 1 | 2 |
| 21 | Jonathan Ferland | 3 | 1 | 0 | +3 | 9 | 2 |
| 22 | Matt D’Agostini | 3 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 8 | 0 |
| 25 | Michael Lambert | 3 | 1 | 1 | E | 8 | 2 |
| 26 | Maxim Lapierre | 3 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 3 | 9 |
| 27 | Danny Groulx | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 5 | 6 |
| 31 | Mikhail Grabovski | 3 | 0 | 1 | E | 6 | 2 |
| 32 | Ajay Baines | 3 | 1 | 1 | +3 | 7 | 0 |
| 34 | Mathieu Biron | 3 | 0 | 1 | +2 | 8 | 6 |
| 55 | Andrew Archer | 3 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 2 | 2 |
| 84 | Corey Locke | 3 | 1 | 0 | -2 | 6 | 0 |
|
GOALIES |
| # | Player | MINS | SF | SVS | GA |
| 29 | Carey Price | 161 | 88 | 80 | 8 |
| 35 | Yann Danis | 54 | 18 | 17 | 1 |
Playoff Leaders:
Goals: Locke (7)
Assists: Locke/Milroy (7)
Points: Locke (14)
+/-: Ferland/Chipchura/Benoit (+8)
PIMS: Lapierre (29)
|
Schedule: |
May 23rd:
Chicago vs Hamilton
May 25th:
Chicago vs Hamilton
May 26th:
Chicago vs Hamilton (if necessary)
|
Inside |
Maxim Lapierre: Pointless in 6
consecutive, still has a high goal-per-game average than during the regular
season with Hamilton.
Eric Manlow: Has as many playoff goals as regular season ones (5),
in 46 fewer games. Has 2 more points than last season’s playoff totals
(Grand Rapids), in 2 fewer games.
Andrew Archer: Has already surpassed regular season totals in
points. This isn’t as good as it would seem, as he only has 2 assists,
compared to his lone one during the season.
Jonathan Ferland: Has the same +/- (8) in both the regular season
and postseason.
Carey Price: Faced the same number of shots in the last 2 weeks
(88), but allowed 1 more this week.
|
Final |
Everyone by now has heard about the Saturday
afternoon debacle on NBC, where the network decided to drop the OT of the Sens/Sabres
game to show the pre-race show for the Kentucky Derby. Everyone wonders
why the NHL isn’t complaining about their shoddy treatment, and the reason is
simple…they voluntarily signed up for it. Fortunately, their jokes of TV
deals expire at the conclusion of the Finals, and not a moment too soon.
Today, I propose to you somewhat of a new idea that could work, or blow up in
the league’s face. Nonetheless, here it is: Rather than signing up
with one network, make each individual game a bidding war, so to speak of
course. If ESPN wants to show a game on a Friday night when there’s not
much going on in the NBA or other league’s, there’s an opportunity. If NBC
or another national channel wants an afternoon game, they can bid on certain
ones. In other words, it’s like a season ticket holder inviting all his
buddies over to split up who’s going and when. Here, the NHL invites all
the networks over, and each handpicks the games they want to show. There’s
more variety for the fans if it works, low risk and high reward for both the
networks and the league, a win-win situation…which means it’ll never happen.