Good year ends in loss for Bulldogs
It was a bad end to a good year for the Hamilton Bulldogs.
For the third time in as many meetings, they were topped by the Niagara IceDogs — in this case, in a sold out New Year’s Eve matchup at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines.
The 7-3 loss was the first in eight games for the team, which registered its record-setting seventh straight win a day earlier against the Kingston Frontenacs.
“We had a stinker,” said head coach John Gruden, whose players couldn’t capitalize on scoring chances and struggled with coverage in their own zone. “I might not even take the game tape. I might just throw it away.”
Sunday’s loss aside, the Bulldogs are in a good spot going into 2018, and it’s because they’re different now — on ice and on paper — than they were a year ago.
At the start of 2017, they had a losing record and were hovering in the middle of the conference standings. They were struggling on special teams, scoring was down and goaltending was so shaky they had to go out and get Dawson Carty to take over the starting role.
But Carty is gone now, along with 12 other players who, 12 months ago, were regulars in the Bulldogs lineup. The team that’s since been constructed is tops in the conference, has the league’s best power play and fourthbest penalty kill, and boasts one of the OHL’s better netminders in Kaden Fulcher.
It also has six players who start the new year with 30 points or more, as well as the league’s highest-scoring 16-year-old in Arthur Kaliyev. To top it off, it has one of the most experienced defensive corps in the loop.
Some other changes aren’t quantifiable. For instance, Gruden said the culture has improved since last January — his players understand the expectations and are closer now than they were before.
“It doesn’t seem like we’re spending as much time with that, so for me that’s the biggest difference,” he added.
Will Bitten led the way offensively over the weekend, with a goal and an assist against Niagara and a goal and two assists against Kingston. Matt Strome also scored
three times — once against the Ice-Dogs and twice against the Fronts, who were only a goal behind until Kaliyev scored an insurance marker with four minutes to go in the third period.
“We knew coming in that it was going to be a tough game against a top team, so we just had to play our game and if we did the right things we’d come out knowing that we had the seven-game win streak in hand,” Strome said.
The 7-4 win marked the first time the Bulldogs have won more than half a dozen games in a row in their three-year history in Hamilton. The last time the franchise won seven straight was 2012-13 when it was still the Belleville Bulls. It finished that season in first place in the conference.
While the streak was on the minds of his players, Gruden said it meant little to him and changes nothing.
“We wish we could win 68 straight but we know that’s not realistic,” he said. “We just want to continue to make sure our team gets better and is ready for every game and prepared.”
With the win, the Bulldogs levelled their season series with the third-place Fronts at two wins apiece. They’re 0-3 against the IceDogs.
Hamilton plays its first game of 2018 at home Wednesday against Peterborough. Game time is 7 p.m.
Notes: The Bulldogs earned top marks in the OHL’s mid-season media poll. According to the league, 100 per cent of respondents picked the team to win the East Division and 55 per cent chose it to win the Eastern Conference. … Nick Donofrio registered just his first regulation loss in nine games this season against the IceDogs Sunday. The Bulldogs backup turned aside 24 shots while Stephen Dhillon had 35 saves at the opposite end. … Navrin Mutter is eligible to return to the lineup Wednesday. The rookie forward served the last game of an eight-game head checking suspension against the IceDogs.