Seven games, ten days. That is what the Dogs have in front of them as October begins with a bang. This is the busiest week of the season for the Dogs so far, as they will play three games in two and a half days. Action this week kicks off on Friday as the Dogs host Merritt at 7pm. Saturday sees the first meeting of the Bulldogs and a Mainland team, with the Langley Chiefs in town for a 7pm start time. The Dogs will give thanks by wrapping up the weekend by heading over the hump to Nanaimo on Sunday for a 3pm tilt at the Frank Crane Arena against the Clippers. I?ll talk about the other four games in the preview next week.
The Dogs are coming off a 1 and 1 week, going from a high one night to a low the next. See the most recent ?Hammer?s Recap? for complete details.
Friday night the Dogs see their first Interior Conference team this year, the Merritt Centennials. The Cents are sitting at the bottom of the Interior, with a record of 2-5-0 and 1. After a convincing 8-2 win over the Quesnel Millionaires September 22nd the Cents have lost two straight, most recently an 8-2 loss at the hands of the Vernon Vipers last Saturday at home. This one was over after the first period; with Vernon building a 5-0 lead through 20 minutes. The Centennials came out and got on the board 8:04 into period two with H.T. Lenz scoring on the power play from Mitchell Smith and Brian Kang. The Vipers didn?t slow down though as just two minutes later they were up by five again at 6-1 with a shorthanded marker. The Vipers weren?t done as just three minutes later they scored again and it was 7-1 for the visitors after two. 9:55 into period three Nicholas Kang scored for the Centennials to make it 7-2 with the assists to Jordan Zalba and Patrick Rogan. The Vipers put the final exclamation point on the win with a power play goal with seven seconds left in the game for the 8-2 final. Final shots actually favored the Centennials in the game, 43-36. Jon Groenheyde was tagged with the loss before being relieved by Anthony Manfredi. The Vipers were 3 for 10 on the power play, while also scoring once shorthanded. The Cents went 1 for 10.
Friday night the pre game show from the Dog Pound kicks off at 6:45pm with the puck drop at 7:00pm. Catch all the action on your radio in the Alberni Valley on 93.3 The Peak FM, and anywhere in the world on your computer through the BCHL?s Fanzone at www.bchl.bc.ca
Saturday night the Dogs welcome the Langley Chiefs to the Pound. Langley will be playing their third road game in three days after facing the Kings in Powell River Thursday before heading over to the Island and down to the Bear Mountain Arena to visit the Grizzlies on Friday night. At the time of this writing Langley sits with 3 wins and 5 losses through 8 games, three points up on the Bulldogs for seventh in the Coastal Conference. While it?s still early in the season four-point games like this sure mean a lot with 2 teams in the conference not making the playoffs when March comes around. Langley went into last weekend on a three game losing streak, with a home and home set with the Burnaby Express on the schedule. The streak was stretched to four losses in a row after Burnaby beat the Chiefs 5-2 on Friday night at the Bill Copeland Arena. The Chiefs got payback and broke the streak with a 5-2 victory of their own at the George Preston Recreation Centre to wrap up September. After a scoreless first period Burnaby struck first with a power play goal 8:14 into the second. The Chiefs struck back five minutes later with Mac Roy tying the game at 1-1 from Alex Angers-Goulet and Taylor Stefishen 13:01 in. Burnaby went ahead 2-1 with their second power play goal of the game not even two minutes later with Lee Baldwin scoring at 14:56 as it was 2-1 Express into period three. Special teams were indeed special for the Chiefs in the final frame as they scored four unanswered for the 5-2 win. Milos Gordic tied the game at 2-2 just 1:43 in again from Angers-Goulet and Stefishen, on the power play. Less than five minutes later it was Gordic again, again on the power play, incredibly again from Angers-Goulet and Stefishen but the assists were reversed this time. It was 3-2 Chiefs 6:32 in. The insurance marker came with Trevor Elias scoring on a penalty shot with 3:26 left for a 4-2 Langley lead. The final icing on the cake came in the form of an empty net goal from Derek Grant, assisted by Brandon Thompson with 32 seconds left in regulation. Final shots favored Langley 37-34, with Scott Orth picking up the win in net. The Chiefs were 2 for 11 on the power play, while killing of 12 of 14 Burnaby man advantages.
While the Chiefs will show up in Port Alberni on the end of a three game roadtrip, the Dogs best not take them lightly. Harvey Smyl has been the bench boss of the Chiefs for 16 seasons, with the last 15 in a row ending up with playoff appearances. His clubs always work hard and if you aren?t ready and don?t play 60 minutes you will no doubt end up on the wrong end of the scoreboard.
Saturday night the pre game show from the Dog Pound again kicks off at 6:45pm with the puck drop at 7pm. Catch all the action on your radio in the Alberni Valley on 93.3 The Peak FM, and anywhere in the world on your computer through the BCHL?s Fanzone at www.bchl.bc.ca
The Bulldogs head to Nanaimo Sunday afternoon, where the Clippers will be sitting and waiting for them after having Saturday night off for the second week in a row. The Clippers have a light schedule right now, as they host Powell River on Friday night. That will be their first game since losing to the Dogs LAST Friday night by a score of 2-1.
Nanaimo will get Bill Bestwick and Carson Schell back from suspension for the game against the Dogs on Sunday, but they will still be without Randy McNaught and Todd Kennedy (barring the result of the appeal the Clippers have made to the league office regarding the suspensions stemming from the multiple fight incident with Cowichan) The Clippers will no doubt be out for revenge against the Dogs for handing them their first loss of the season, so the Bulldogs better be ready and prepared to step up their game from last Friday at the Frank Crane.
Sunday afternoon the pre game show from the Frank Crane Arena kicks off at 2:45pm with the puck drop at 3:00pm. Catch all the action on your radio in the Alberni Valley on 93.3 The Peak FM, and anywhere in the world on your computer through the BCHL?s Fanzone at www.bchl.bc.ca
With all of the things the new Bulldogs want to change from last year, they would be well served to continue their past tendency to get BETTER on their third game in three days. Under several coaches and through several seasons the Bulldogs always seemed to work harder, play more desperate, and have MORE energy- and in the end better results- in the final game of a three game weekend. With four games in five days coming up in the Interior next week this three game set is no doubt going to be looked at as a good test of what kind of heart, work ethic, and physical conditioning these Bulldogs possess.
Audio: ?Last two, Next three?
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