For the first time since the second week of
November, the Bulldogs had a pair of home games. Unfortunately, their
slump continued and they have now lost four straight. On the plus side,
the Habs’ ECHL affiliate in Wheeling won all four of their games and six
straight overall. My Final Thought continues its look back at the year
2012 with another of this years’ top stories, one we wish never happened.
|
The Dog |
After somewhat of an offensive outburst last
week, the scoring returned to normal levels for the Bulldogs. The result
is also one we’re too familiar with as Hamilton has now matched its season long
losing streak.
|
News and |
– With Mike Commodore and Frederic St-Denis
both under the weather, Hamilton signed defenceman Cody Wild – who was at
training camp
with the team – to a PTO.
– The Bulldogs’ loss to San Antonio was their
first defeat of the year when scoring the first goal of the game.
– Lines from the most recent game:
Forwards:
Blunden – Holland – Gallagher
Bournival – Chaput – Nattinen
Hagel – Dumont – Leblanc
Quailer – Fortier – Stortini
Defence:
Beaulieu – Ellis
Tinordi – St-Denis
Nash – Wild
|
Results: |
December 18:
Peoria 4, Hamilton 3 (SO)
December 21:
St. John’s 2, Hamilton 1
December 22:
San Antonio 5, Hamilton 2
|
StatPack: |
After a slow start to the season
in the +/- department (-8 in the first 14 games), Jarred Tinordi has had an even
rating or better in 11 of his last 13 contests (+5 in that span).
|
SKATERS |
|
# |
Player |
GP |
G |
A |
+/- |
SH |
PIMS |
| 3 | Antoine Corbin | 2 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Brendon Nash | 3 | 0 | 1 | E | 2 | 2 |
| 5 | Jarred Tinordi | 3 | 0 | 1 | +4 | 2 | 2 |
| 8 | Nathan Beaulieu | 3 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 9 | 2 |
| 10 | Stefan Chaput | 3 | 2 | 0 | +1 | 5 | 0 |
| 12 | Zack Stortini | 3 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 3 | 7 |
| 13 | Steve Quailer | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 2 | 0 |
| 14 | Michael Blunden | 3 | 1 | 0 | E | 7 | 4 |
| 15 | Kyle Hagel | 3 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 4 | 10 |
| 16 | Olivier Fortier | 3 | 0 | 1 | E | 5 | 2 |
| 17 | Brendan Gallagher | 3 | 2 | 0 | +1 | 12 | 2 |
| 18 | Michael Bournival | 3 | 0 | 1 | E | 5 | 0 |
| 20 | Louis Leblanc | 3 | 0 | 1 | E | 5 | 2 |
| 22 | Mike Commodore | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | Joonas Nattinen | 3 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 8 | 0 |
| 26 | Cody Wild | 2 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 3 | 0 |
| 32 | Frederic St-Denis | 2 | 0 | 1 | +2 | 3 | 0 |
| 37 | Patrick Holland | 3 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 4 | 0 |
| 40 | Gabriel Dumont | 3 | 1 | 0 | E | 6 | 0 |
| 44 | Morgan Ellis | 2 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 0 | 0 |
|
GOALIES |
|
# |
Player |
Record |
SV% |
GAA |
| 29 | Robert Mayer | 0-0-1 | .914 | 2.78 |
| 30 | Cedrick Desjardins | 0-2-0 | .912 | 3.04 |
|
SHOOTOUT |
| # | Player | G/ATT |
| 10 | Stefan Chaput | 0/1 |
| 17 | Brendan Gallagher | 1/1 |
| 18 | Michael Bournival | 0/1 |
| 37 | Patrick Holland | 0/1 |
| 40 | Gabriel Dumont | 0/1 |
|
SHOOTOUT |
| # | Player | SVS/ATT |
| 29 | Robert Mayer | 3/5 |
|
Scoring |
Goals: Brendan Gallagher
(9)
Assists: Beaulieu/Bournival (9)
Points: Brendan Gallagher (17)
+/-: Joonas Nattinen (+6)
PIMS: Zack Stortini (94)
Shots: Brendan Gallagher (95)
|
Schedule: |
December 26:
Hamilton vs Toronto
December 28: St. John’s vs Hamilton
December 29: Hamilton vs Lake Erie
|
The |
Peter Delmas had his first full week with the
Nailers this season and he made the most of it, allowing just a single goal in
each of his starts (all victories).
As the Habs/Bulldogs have players affiliated
with three different teams at the moment, the table below now covers all of those players, not
just the ones with Wheeling.
|
SKATERS |
| Player | Team |
GP |
G |
A |
+/- |
SH |
PIMS |
| Scott Gomez | Alaska | 2 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 6 | 2 |
| Phillipe Lefebvre | Wheeling | 4 | 2 | 1 | +2 | 14 | 0 |
| Daultan Leveille | Wheeling | 4 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 6 | 2 |
| Ian Schultz | Utah | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 1 | 0 |
| Joe Stejskal | Wheeling | 4 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 8 | 2 |
|
GOALIES |
| Player | Team |
Record |
SV% |
GAA |
|
Peter Delmas |
Wheeling |
3-0-0 | .949 | 1.00 |
Colby Armstrong has not yet played
since signing with Utah.
|
Final |
First, I’d like to thank our
readers for your patience during our downtime over the last few days. We
had some technical difficulties which have been resolved and we are now back up
and running.
The second of 2012’s top
storylines is one that unfortunately is still ongoing. Yes, I’m talking
about the lockout. Since September 15th, the only NHL updates we’ve had
involve percentage points instead of points in the standings while witnessing a
pathetic PR campaign that both the league and NHLPA continue to try to win.
(For anyone wondering, the latest reports say there is likely to be a meeting
sometime late in the upcoming week.)
Sadly, the lockout talk was
prevalent long before the expiration of the CBA as it was a topic of discussion
all through the year. Should the negotiations have started sooner?
Would both sides have been amenable to even doing so? Could the fans
actually be forced to sit and wait through another work stoppage? (We all
know the answer to that one now, of course.)
The looming lockout made 2011-12’s
struggles even more difficult to deal with. It was tough enough at times
watching the team struggle to a 28th place finish but even more frustrating when
you considered that it might be the last hockey we saw from the Canadiens for
quite some time. I’m sure there are some out there now that wouldn’t be
upset to see a similarly performing team play the 2012-13 campaign just to see
some actual Habs hockey. Reflecting on 2011, I never would have thought
that this would be the case. Here’s hoping the lockout is a positive story
in 2013 with a quick resolution.
If you have any questions/comments, please feel
free to drop me a line at b.larose@habsworld.net.