The Bulldogs return to action this weekend with two home games, as the Langley Chiefs are in town Saturday night before the Burnaby Express visit the pound for the first time this season Sunday afternoon.
The Chiefs enter this week with a record of 15-12-0 and 3. Before visiting the Dogs on Saturday the Chiefs will host the Surrey Eagles on Wednesday night, and they will visit the Nanaimo Clippers on Friday night. This will be the last meeting of the season between the two clubs, with the Chiefs having won all three of the previous encounters. The most recent meeting was Remembrance Day, Sunday afternoon at the George Preston Recreation Centre. This was a game NOT to remember, not just for the final score (5-2 Chiefs), but for several ugly incidents throughout the game that saw a total of 15 games of suspensions handed out. The Chiefs would get 11 of those 15 games- 5 to Coleton Thielmann for his actions in the game when he jumped Daniel Moriarty, 5 to Jesse Tresierra for a match penalty for slashing at the 20:00 mark of the third period, and 1 game to Neeco Belanger for being the third man in (fourth actually) after Shane Malone came off the bench to defend Moriarty. Malone would get three games for his actions while Adam Hout would get 1 game for an instigator penalty late in the game.
In talking with the Bulldogs this week they have clearly stated that the last game was in the past and they just want to move on and concentrate on winning. I?m hoping the Langley Chiefs learned their lesson from the BCHL discipline handed out last time and they just want to play the game too. If not, fans could be in for an interesting show. If the Chiefs didn?t learn their lesson from the BCHL, just plain winning and losing might be enough to open their eyes. When the Chiefs beat the Dogs 5-2 in that Remembrance Day game, it was their 7th win in a row. After the suspensions, and going into this week, the Chiefs have lost 4 out of 5 games since. Thielmann, Tresierra and Belanger are not players that you want out of your line up for any reason. The Chiefs are a good team, a team that can beat you with a physical game and a skilled game. The Dogs must be ready from the opening puck drop, and they must play hard until the final puck drop. Fans might remember the only previous meeting between these teams in Port Alberni this season, where the Dogs raced out to an early 3-0 first period lead before Langley fired back with three goals in three minutes to knot it up at 3-3 on their way to a 7-5 win with an empty netter.
Saturday?s pregame show is on the air at 6:45pm, with the puck drop at 7:00. Catch the action in the Alberni Valley on your radio on 93.3 The Peak FM and everywhere else through the Internet Broadcast through the BCHL Fanzone at www.bchl.bc.ca
Sunday afternoon the Burnaby Express roll into town for the first time this season, the final Coastal Conference team to make an appearance in the Pound. It?s an odd scheduling quirk that the season will be 34 games old before the Dogs have hosted all of their Coastal rivals. It?s not just that the Dogs haven?t seen Burnaby on home ice yet this season; they?ve only seen them once all season, period. That game was way back on October 27th at the Bill Copeland Arena, a 4-2 Burnaby win. Checking back on the box score for this game, it looks like too many of the close ones that went the other way this season that have the team in the spot it sits in the Coastal Conference standings. The Dogs took a 1-0 lead almost halfway through the second, before letting Burnaby back into it with a shorthanded goal just over two minutes later. The Dogs bounced back to go up 2-1 with a goal on that same power play but the Express tied it at 2-2 late in the second with a power play goal of their own. The score stayed that way all the way until the final six minutes of regulation when the Express found the winner off a shot block in front and a lucky bounce onto a wide open man in front. An empty netter with 2 seconds left sealed the deal. The Dogs outshot the Express 40 to 27 with Kevin Genoe and Kevin Jebson being the goalies of record. Special teams were a factor, as they almost always are- the Dogs were 1 for 5 on the power play while the Express were 1 for 2. They also scored once shorthanded.
After a less than stellar start to the season, the Express have played much better lately, as they enter this week with a record of 16-12-0 and 1. They were on fire to end November – winners of four in a row, to end the month at 8 and 3 overall. They did lose their first game of December though, a 6-5 overtime decision to Powell River at home last Saturday. The Express will arrive in Port Alberni to play their third game in two and a half days, after starting in Powell River Friday and then heading down to Duncan to face the Cowichan Valley Capitals on Saturday night. Although it?s a quick turnaround for the Dogs, playing Saturday night and then Sunday afternoon, they MUST be the more energized team and the more ready team. No excuses. The Saturday game against Langley will be their first in a week.
The Dogs had better keep an eye on Carlo Finucci, the league?s leading scorer with 55 points going into this weekend. While it won?t be the same as watching Kyle Turris last year, his points aren?t exactly by accident either, so fans should look forward to seeing the Express for the first time this season.
Sunday?s pregame show is on the air at 2:15pm with the puck dropping at 2:30. Catch all the action on your radio on 93.3 The Peak FM or on your computer through the BCHL?s Fanzone at www.bchl.bc.ca
A recap will be posted after the weekend. Next week the Dogs have just two more games to go before the Christmas break. The preview will be posted before Wednesday?s game against the Quesnel Millionaires.
Game Day Audio: ?Last Two, Next Two?
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