The Alberni Valley Bulldogs defeated the Surrey Eagles 3-0 on Saturday in front of 1530 fans at the Alberni Valley Multiplex. The victory was the Bulldogs 10th straight on home ice.
The crowd of 1530 was the Bulldogs largest since 1548 took in a 5-0 loss to the Chilliwack Chiefs on February 17th, 2018.
This edition of the Bulldogs continues to mark their mark on the fans and cement themselves as one of the top clubs in franchise history. The victory improved the Bulldogs record to 32-13-3-1 and they remain in the top spot in the Coastal Conference. The Bulldogs are now 3 points ahead of the Langley Rivermen.
Tonight’s victory also clinched home ice advantage for the 1st Round of the BCHL playoffs. The Bulldogs will open at home on Friday April 1st and Saturday April 2nd for games 1 & 2 of the series. There is still much to be decided before the Bulldogs will learn who their 1st round opponent will be.
The win on Saturday was impressive from start to finish. The goals came from Josh Zary (22nd), Zeke Nicholson (3rd) and Matthew Maltais (6th).
The Bulldogs allowed a season-low 12 shots against, making tonight’s shutout the quietest of Hobie Hedquist’s 5 on the season. He’s the first Bulldogs goalie to have 5 shutouts in a season since Brian Stewart earned 5 back in 2005-2006. The victory was Hedquist’s 25th of the year.
The night got off to an amazing start as a large contingent singers, drummers and dancers from Tseshaht First Nation welcomed the crowd to the game. It proved the perfect kick start to having TSN in the building to film a feature story on Bulldogs defenceman Manu Charbonneau. Charbonneau, the Bulldogs, and the crowd failed to disappoint. It was a raucous crowd until the final buzzer.
The Bulldogs had a ton of ready-made excuses with added distractions, however none of them mattered once t
The Bulldogs are hoping to continue to carry the momentum, both in the stands and on the ice tomorrow as they host the Chilliwack Chiefs tomorrow at 4:00 pm. The Chiefs are fresh off a 7-1 win over Cowichan tonight in Duncan.
