Black and blue doesn’t bother black and gold
Petes try to rough up the Bulldogs but find little success as old-time-hockey series now moves to Peterborough
We’ve known all along that the Hamilton Bulldogs are going to win most games in which teams decide to go head-to-head in the skills department. This team just has too much talent for most sides to handle.
But, two games into the playoffs, we’ve already learned something else about the group that finished first overall in the Ontario Hockey League. Trying to intimidate them isn’t much of a strategy either.
“They want to play that way, we’ll play that way and have fun doing it,” captain Colton Kammerer said Monday night after his Bulldogs grabbed a 2-0 series lead with a 5-2 win over the Peterborough Petes.
Good thing he’s enjoying it. Because it didn’t take long for this series to devolve into old-time hockey. On one side, anyway, since it’s quickly become evident the Petes don’t have many other options.
Simply put, the underdogs are horribly overmatched and spent most of the first two games being embarrassed by a Bulldogs team that finished 43 points ahead of them in the regular season. The talent gap here is simply enormous.
Yes, for the second straight game, the visitors came out of the chute flying and played as well as they can. In Game 1, that meant a 0-0 tie after one period. On Monday, it meant a 2-0 lead when they caught the Bulldogs on a bad pinch and then converted a short-handed two-on-one.
There’s a lesson in there somewhere for Hamilton. When you’re the No. 1 team in the country, every other outfit in these playoffs will be fired up to play you.
That said, there’s a reason the Bulldogs have now won 37 of their last 41 games which became apparent in both games when they eventually fired up the afterburners and took over, spending long stretches looking like the Harlem Globetrotters facing the Washington Generals.
Had it not been for Peterborough goalie Michael Simpson — who’s been magnificent — the scores would’ve been lopsided. Instead, it was merely the action that looked that way.
Consider that in Game 2, the Bulldogs fired 53 shots on net by the end of the second period. As mismatches go, this is like watching Mike Tyson fight that guy on the plane.
Thus, it quickly became time for Peterborough to messy things up. Scrums, questionable hits and trying to out tough their opponent has
become the recipe. It’s really all they have at this point. The game plan has seemingly turned into hoping they can get under their opponents’ skin, draw some penalties and pray their keeper continues to play like Tampa Bay Lightning star Andrei Vasilevskiy.
It’s a thought. The trouble is, it’s not working. Hamilton has already scored five power-play goals. Worse, they don’t seem bothered by the rough stuff.
“You’ve got to play smart, but if guys are running around … you’ll see holes open up when guys are running out of position,” says Logan Morrison, who has five goals of his own in the first two games, including a hat-trick on Monday.
Best of all for the black and gold? This is becoming a team-building exercise better than anything the coaching staff could’ve created.
Nothing brings a team together like physical play. Feeling like the other guys are taking liberties and you have to stick up for your buddies creates a kinship. Having a common enemy who really does feel like an enemy creates a connection. Because of that, these first two games have surely been a bonding experience.
“I think it shows a lot of character and the family vibe in our group when guys stick up for each other like that,” Kammerer says.
It’s just Game 2. This looks like it’ll be a short series, but there’s no guarantee. Games 3 and 4 are Wednesday and Thursday in Peterborough. Lots can still happen.
But for right now, any doubts that the home side can play whatever style an opponent wants have been answered rather loudly.