Bulldogs find their bite in time for Bell Centre game

The Hamilton Bulldogs glide into the Bell Centre on Friday night on the heels of their best stretch in a tough season.

The Canadiens’ farm club began the season as one of the youngest teams in the American Hockey League and are in second-to-last place with a 19-25-1 record.

“What we’re trying to focus on is our play, what we can do to get better, not only as individuals but as a team,” head coach Sylvain Lefebvre said in an interview.

The Bulldogs have played really well of late, winning five of their last seven games, the coach said.

“We’re trying to make a push and who knows what’s going to happen,” Lefebvre said. “I know we’re far behind, but you never know. We have to believe that we can do it.”

A crowd of about 10,000 is expected to watch the Bulldogs play the Rochester Americans Friday in a 7:30 p.m. start. The Bulldogs’ last game at the Bell Centre in November, during the National Hockey League lockout, drew 18,582 people, the largest crowd ever for one of their indoor games.

Before their loss to the Americans on Monday, the Bulldogs had won four in a row.

While not looking for excuses “at all,” Lefebvre said the Bulldogs have a young team and could have loaded up with veteran players at the start of the season like a lot of teams did during the lockout, but didn’t do so.

“I think that our young guys will benefit from that because it’s almost like a fast-forwarded progression that we gave our players, especially the young guys because they played almost two seasons in one. They have so much ice time,” Lefebvre said, mentioning Nathan Beaulieu, Jarred Tinordi and Greg Pateryn, who missed 34 games because of a fractured elbow.

Pateryn is back playing and is one of the Bulldogs’ best defenceman, Lefebvre said.

“Obviously, we want to win, we’re all competitors,” the coach said. “But at the same time, we can’t forget (that) our job here is to develop hockey players.”

If they do it in a winning environment that’s even better, but there are a lot of things young players have to learn before they become winners. Lefebvre mentioned going through adversity, experiencing some ups and downs, and finding a way to get out of a slump.

Rookies Tinordi and Beaulieu have been playing well, the coach said of the Canadiens’ first-round draft picks from 2010 and 2011, respectively.

Tinordi’s progress has been very consistent, Lefebvre said of the 6-foot-6 defenceman.

“He’s played well,” the coach said. “He’s played a lot of minutes and he’s played physical.

“Obviously, they all have things to improve (on) and stuff. But overall, he’s made good progress and same thing with Beaulieu.”

An offensive defenceman, Beaulieu has logged a lot of ice time, Lefebvre said. Beaulieu would like his offensive production to be higher and feels he needs to be productive to help the team, the coach added.

“But there’s areas in his game (where) we want him to get better and he has done that,” Lefebvre said. “Obviously, there’s still room for improvement. But he’s understanding that he needs to play a certain way even to be effective, to produce offensively.”

Louis Leblanc, the Canadiens’ first-round draft pick in 2009, missed 11 games last fall with a high ankle sprain. He played more games for the Canadiens than the Bulldogs last season, but wasn’t invited to the start of the Habs’ training camp last month. At the time, Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin said Leblanc’s injury had slowed his progress and he wasn’t where he should be as a result.

“He’s had some games where he’s scored some goals and I think it was good for his confidence level and his frustration level also,” Lefebvre said.

“I think he’s had scoring chances, but didn’t put the puck in the net and I think that was getting to him.”

“Everyone, not just Louis, has to understand that the team concept will bring individual performances and the opposite is not always true. But Louis is (making) progress, too, and we have a plan with Louis and he’s still on task.”

Forward Gabriel Dumont leads the Bulldogs in goals and points. He’s been consistent all year and fits the mould of how they’re trying to shape the Bulldogs as a character team that never quits, Lefebvre said.

HC Biel of the Swiss A League announced on its website this week that Bulldogs goaltender Robert Mayer has signed a two-year deal with the team for the next two seasons. Mayer has played great this season, Lefebvre said.

The Bulldogs acquired goalie Dustin Tokarski from the Tampa Bay Lightning last week in exchange for goaltender Cédrick Desjardins. Tokarski faced 49 shots in the Bulldogs’ 2-0 loss to the Americans on Monday.