Bulldogs face Pats with more bite
REGINA — It’s do or die for the Hamilton Bulldogs.
Tonight, the guys in black and gold face the Regina Pats in the Memorial Cup semifinal. Win, and they’ll get one more game and the opportunity to play for junior hockey’s most coveted prize. Lose, and they’ll be on a plane back to Hamilton.
“It’s the first time we’ve played an elimination game, but we’ve approached games like they were elimination games, especially in the Sault Ste. Marie series,” said centre Ryan Moore. “We know what’s at stake and it’s going to come down to who wants it more.”
The matchup (10 p.m. EST on Sportsnet and TSN 1150) is a repeat of the tournament opener — a 3-2 loss in which the Bulldogs struggled to keep pace with the well-rested Pats, who were playing for the first time since being eliminated from the playoffs 46 days earlier. They weren’t themselves, they said, but they intend to be for the rematch.
“The first time we played against Regina we were a little flat and it showed, but we’re a different team and we’re confident now and we’ve just got to stick to our game plan,” Moore said.
Since that first meeting, the Bulldogs have played faster, tougher, smarter. Better in general, and more like the team that upset the Soo Greyhounds to take the Ontario Hockey League title. Regina coach John Paddock said he’s watched the tape from that
series as well as the team’s rebound wins over the Swift Current Broncos and Acadie-Bathurst Titan, so he knows what Hamilton is capable of.
“They’re a good team, that’s easy to see,” he noted. “We knew that before we ever stepped onto the ice with them.”
With a 6-5 win over the Broncos Wednesday, the Pats created a three-way deadlock at the top of the tournament standings. Bathurst finished in first place once the complicated tiebreaker formula was applied, earning an automatic berth in Sunday’s final and leaving Regina and Hamilton to duke it out for the challenger’s rights.
The Pats will have home ice and last change — a significant advantage considering they also have the tournament’s top scoring line in Nick Henry, Sam Steel and Cameron Hebig. Against the Broncos alone, the trio combined for four goals and 10 points.
Hamilton coach John Gruden said it’s fine. If Paddock wants to overplay them, he has plenty of options.
Likely, Nick Caamano, Robert Thomas and Mackenzie Entwistle will draw the shutdown assignment. They said they plan on keeping Henry, Steel and Hebig off the board by simply spending as much time as possible in the offensive zone.
“They can’t score from their end and we know how frustrating that is,” said Entwistle. “It takes a toll on you. It’s a lot of energy playing in your own end.” Gruden backed the strategy. “We’ve just got to wear them down and eventually we’ll get more opportunity,” he added.
Wednesday’s loss — their third in as many games — eliminated the Broncos from the tournament and brought an end to a marathon campaign for the West- ern Hockey League champions. By the time they arrived in Regina they had already played 98 games, including a record-setting 26 in the post-season. To make matters worse, they were also hampered by injuries and the loss of star winger Tyler Steenbergen, who was concussed 25 minutes into their first round robin tilt.
“Our energy level was very, very low,” said Swift Current coach Manny Viveiros, whose club eliminated the Pats in the opening round of their WHL title winning run.
NOTES: The OHL has a slight edge in Memorial Cup semifinals, with 14 wins in 38 contests between 1974 and 2017. The QMJHL and WHL, meanwhile, have 12 victories each. … The City of Hamilton is hosting a watch party for Friday’s semifinal in the forecourt at City Hall. The festivities, which include food trucks and music, get started at 9 p.m.