Some pre-game snack facts from the Soo
Thursday was a travel day for the Hamilton Bulldogs as the best-ofseven OHL championship series shifted back to Sault Ste. Marie for Game 5 on Friday (7 p.m. on Cable 14) tied 2-2.
And they did it a little differently this time around.
Instead of enduring another bus ride to the Soo and back — a 1,478 kilometre round trip — the Bulldogs chartered a plane out of Pearson International in Toronto. The decision will save the team, which lost a 3-2 heartbreaker in overtime at home against the Greyhounds Wednesday, roughly 10 hours of travel time over the next couple of days.
Here are few other facts, stats and observations from the series:
A tough day at the office
Matt Strome was robbed on the doorstep twice in the third period of Wednesday’s Game 4. And twice he clutched his head in the hands with the understanding that he could scored had the winner. What the Bulldogs forward didn’t know at the time was that his night was about to get worse.
A little more than nine minutes into sudden death overtime, Strome blew a tire at the Soo blue line, which sprung Noah Carroll on a breakaway. He went to his backhanded and scored five hole.
Asked afterwards if it was the biggest goal of his career, the rearguard laughed. “I think it was by far the nicest,” he said. “I’m not known for being a goal scorer so it’s always nice to get that one for the guys.”
Speaking of game winners
Two days earlier, Marian Studenic scored a huge one with less than three minutes to go in the third period of Game 3 to put the Bulldogs ahead by a pair. It went on to stand as the winner in the 6-5 contest.
“That was good timing,” the Slovakian import told
The Spectator.
“I just close my eyes and I shoot it and I put it on the net.”
Rise and shine
As usual, the Bulldogs are expected to hit the ice for a morning skate before their matchup. But you probably won’t find the Greyhounds with them at the Essar Centre — they rarely skate on game days during the playoffs and they do it even less frequently in the regular-season.
Asked why, Hounds coach Drew Bannister said that while he liked to skate in the morning during his own playing days, he started to question the practice — particularly at the junior level — when he became a coach.
“Usually we’re not doing anything with structure or teaching,” he said. “So, basically we’re going on the ice to have a skate, take some shots on the goalie and use up energy that can be used in the game that night.”
On the plus side
The Bulldogs have dominated one statistical category since the playoffs kicked off. Going into Wednesday’s game, the league’s top five plus-minus ratings all belong to Hamilton players, including Riley Stillman, who leads the OHL with a plus-20 rating, and his defensive partner Justin Lemcke, who is close behind at plus-18. Meanwhile, forwards Marian Studenic, Nick Caamano and Ryan Moore are sitting at plus-17, plus-13 and plus-13, respectively.
For more Bulldogs news and analysis, including
The Spectator’s daily episode of The Bulldogs Paw’dcast, visit e2e.thespec.com.