The Bulldogs take to the ice Wednesday night as they begin their first four game week of the 2010-2011 season as the Cowichan Valley Capitals visit the Dog Pound. The Dogs then hit the road for three games in three days over the weekend, starting Friday in Powell River. The ?Amazing Race Road Trip? sees them take two Ferries Saturday down the Sunshine Coast to the Lower Mainland, for a Saturday night meeting with the Langley Chiefs. Sunday afternoon it?s the first meeting of the season between the Bulldogs and the Coquitlam Express, and the first meeting between the respective teams since the Express were located in Burnaby.
The Capitals enter play Wednesday with a record of 7-15-0 and 2, good for 16 points and 8th place in the Coastal Conference. They were last in action Sunday afternoon in Surrey where they lost 3-1 to the Eagles. Surrey led 1-0 after one with a goal in the final two minutes of the opening frame. It was 2-0 Eagles four minutes into the second with a power play marker, and 3-0 on another power play goal with seven minutes to go in the period. Mike Hammond would get the Capitals on the board three minutes into the third with a shorthanded goal but that was as close as they would get.
Shots favoured the Eagles 25-21 with Derek Dun getting tagged with the loss in net. The Capitals went 0 for 6 on the power play while scoring their only goal while shorthanded. The Eagles went 2 for 6.
The Bulldogs and Capitals have met three times this season with the Dogs winning all three by scores of 5-4, 4-3 in double OT, and 8-4 respectively. The most recent of those three was on October 30th at the Dog Pound.
Catch the pregame show Wednesday night from the Alberni Valley Multiplex on 93.3 The Peak FM and our website at www.933thepeak.com with the pregame show getting underway at 6:45 and the puck dropping at 7:00
Friday night the Dogs face the #1 team in not only the Coastal Conference but the entire BCHL in the Powell River Kings, who are riding a five game winning streak with a record of 17-4-1-1, good for 36 points. The Interior Conference leading Penticton Vees are five points behind them for the overall lead.
The Kings were last in action Saturday night in Nanaimo, where they picked up a 4-0 win over the Clippers. Matt Garbowski staked the Kings to a 1-0 lead with a power play marker eleven minutes into the game, before Craig Dalrymple made it 2-0 with just over a minute remaining in the period. The second period would see no scoring but the Kings found the insurance marker with 8:40 gone in the third on Dalrymple?s second of the game before Matt Garbowski also added his second of the game less than two minutes later while the Kings were shorthanded for the 4-0 final.
Shots favoured the Kings 31-29 with Sean Maguire picking up the win in net. The Kings went 1 for 5 on the power play while also scoring once shorthanded. The Clippers went 0 for 5.
It?s the third meeting of the season between the two teams, with each team winning once. The Kings won meeting one on the opening night of the season by a score of 3-0 in Powell River. The Dogs returned the favour with a 3-1 win in the Alberni Valley on September 30th. The Dogs will have to be at their absolute best if they hope to earn two points Friday. You can?t ask for a better test than the league?s top team in their own building.
Friday?s pregame show is on the air at 7:15pm with the puck drop shortly after 7:30 on your radio on 93.3 The Peak FM, on your computer at www.933thepeak.com and the BCHL website at www.bchl.ca
The Dogs hit the road early Saturday morning down the Sunshine Coast for the two-ferry trip to the Mainland to face the Chiefs at the Langley Event Centre later that night. The Chiefs enter play Wednesday with a record of 13-7-0-4, good for 30 points and a tie for 2nd in the Conference with the Surrey Eagles.
They were last in action Saturday night at home where they lost 5-4 in double overtime to the Cowichan Valley Capitals. The Capitals took a 1-0 lead eight minutes into the game on a power play goal, but the Chiefs answered back with a power play goal of their own late in the frame from Trevor Girling for a 1-1 tie after one. The Chiefs raced out to a 3-1 lead eight minutes into the second with goals just over two minutes apart from Josh Myers and Matt Ius but the Capitals answered themselves less than a minute later on the power play to make it 3-2. Four minutes later the Caps tied it at 3-3, but the Chiefs answered right back with a power play goal from Matt Ius less than a minute later to go up 4-3. The Caps got only goal of the third seven minutes into the period to tie it at 4-4 as the game went to overtime. The Chiefs had the first great chance to win it as Josh Myers was awarded a penalty shot in double OT, but he couldn?t find the net. Just over a minute later the Caps got the winner for the 5-4 final.
Shots favoured the Chiefs 40-39 with Wyatt Galley taking the loss in net. The Chiefs went 2 for 4 on the power play while the Capitals went 2 for 5.
Not too long ago the Chiefs were sitting at the top of the Coastal Conference. Fast forward to today and they have lost five in a row, and seven of their last eight, to fall six points off the pace. The Chiefs have a big week ahead of them before the Dogs visit on Saturday as they are in Victoria Wednesday before they visit Coquitlam on Friday night.
This is just the second meeting between the teams with the Bulldogs emerging victorious at the Dog Pound on September 24th 4-3 in overtime. The finish was a memorable one as the teams entered the third period tied at 2-2 before the Chiefs went ahead on a Josh Myers goal with 1:54 to play in regulation. An incredible 11 seconds later Josh Mitchell found the net to tie up, and Kenney Morrison ended up as the overtime hero with a power play marker less than a minute in.
Saturday?s pregame show gets going at 6:45 with the play-by-play to follow on 93.3 The Peak FM and online at www.933thepeak.com and www.BCHL.ca
The four game week finally ends Sunday afternoon as the Dogs visit the Express at the Coquitlam Sports Centre. It?s the first game in Coquitlam for the Dogs since 2004-2005 as the Express spent the last 5 years playing out of Burnaby?s Bill Copeland Arena, which is ironically the previous home of the Bulldogs Franchise before it moved to the Alberni Valley in 2002-2003.
The Express are still boarding at the station entering play Wednesday night, as they have lost eight in a row. Their last win came October 13th in Surrey. While they have had problems getting wins they have also been competitive, losing five of those games by just a goal, includin
