Bulldogs playoff ready
PETERBOROUGH — Saturday’s regular season finale between the Hamilton Bulldogs and the Peterborough Petes was meaningless, with the visitors having already secured the No. 1 seed in the conference and the hosts being eliminated from playoff contention weeks ago.
But it meant something to Logan DeNoble.
For the Petes captain, the 5-3 Bulldogs win was the culmination of a four-year career in the Ontario Hockey League — one played entirely with his hometown team.
And Saturday’s game is one he’ll remember.
“If you listened, you could probably hear all of my friends screaming,” said the 20-year-old centre. “Just to have them here meant so much. My mom and dad, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins. I had so many people here and to be able to play in front of them for my last OHL game, it meant a lot.”
Years from now, when DeNoble reminisces about his last matchup at the Memorial Centre, his mind won’t go to the score or about a once-promising overage season that veered dramatically off course.
Instead, he’ll think about a pass from his longtime teammate Adam Timleck with about threeand-half minutes left on the clock.
DeNoble started the play, intercepting the puck from defenceman Jake Gravelle, who was making his Bulldogs debut. He sent it to Brady Hinz, who in turn moved it to Timleck, who had time and a wide-open cage. Instead of shooting, though, he dished to DeNoble.
The Peterborough native, who has a team-high 13 goals and 8 assists against the Bulldogs since the team moved to Hamilton in 2015, made it count — even though he didn’t see it coming.
“Timleck had an empty net and I was figuring this is going to be an awesome goal, pretty good passing play, and then he threw it over to me,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting it — I almost missed it, I think — but then to put it in the net meant a lot and for them to try to get me the puck meant a lot. I almost got a little emotional when it went in.”
Almost? OK, he admits to tears on the ice after the final buzzer. And in the room, “just saying goodbye.” But then there were smiles — as his buddies mobbed him in the Memorial Centre hallway, and kids in Petes jerseys chased him for an autograph as he discussed his future.
Early this week, he expects to sign a short-term deal that will allow him to finish out the season in the ECHL.
Then, he’ll pack his bags, give his mom a hug and head off for school — he’s not sure where yet — in the fall.
“This is going to be the first time I’m going to have to move away from home,” he said. “So it will be different for me, for sure, but I’m excited for it. I’m sure my parents are, too.”
Marian Studenic led the way with three goals and an assist for the Bulldogs, who rested seven of their top players — Nick Caamano, Will Bitten, Matt Strome, Robert Thomas, Ryan Moore, Justin Lemcke and Riley Stillman — in advance of the team’s first round series against the Ottawa 67’s. It gets started Thursday in Hamilton.
“They’ve played a lot of hard minutes,” explained Bulldogs assistant Vince Laise, who filled in for head coach John Gruden behind the bench.
The latter skipped the game to see his son — an NHL draft prospect and a member of the U.S. National Development Team Program under-18 squad — play in Michigan.
“Some of them even went home to their moms and dads, and that’s big, to sleep in your own bed and eat your own food and hit the reset button and come back on Monday,” he added.
Petes head coach Andrew Verner, meanwhile, said losing to a team that left seven guys behind is a “fitting end” to a season rife with injuries and underachievement.
In the early going, Peterborough was picked to contend for the conference title, while Hamilton was expected to finish in the middle of the pack.
Isaac Nurse and Ben Gleason also tallied for the Bulldogs, while Nick Robertson and Semyon Der-Arguchintsev had the other Petes goals.
Nick Donofrio made 30 saves to earn the win and improve to 11-1-0-1 in his first OHL campaign.
With Saturday’s game behind them, the Bulldogs now turn their attention to the 67’s. Hamilton finished a perfect 5-0 against No. 8 seed Ottawa in the regular season and outscored the Barber Poles 26-8.
Hamilton hosts Game 1 Thursday and Game 2 Sunday, before the series moves to Ottawa for Games 3 and 4. Tickets are available online and at the FirstOntario Centre box office on Bay Street North.