Trying not to play with fire
Bulldogs are already down a player to suspension vs. Steelheads
Despite the fact they’ve now won 40 games and lost just four in 2022, there’s no evidence the Hamilton Bulldogs are bored and actively trying to find ways to make their life harder.
Yet, they’re doing it just the same. As if the Mississauga Steelheads weren’t a formidable enough opponent in the second round of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs — we’ll get to why they really are a handful in a second — the Bulldogs are suddenly playing with a bit of fire.
The team’s second-leading scorer wasn’t in the lineup for the first game of the series Thursday when Hamilton won 4-2. Avery Hayes was serving the first game of a three-game suspension for a cross check in the last contest from the Peterborough series.
And then, just a few minutes from the end of this game, star defenceman Arber Xhekaj was given a fiveminute penalty and a game misconduct for a check to the head. It was a hit that will certainly be looked at by the league and could easily lead to a suspension since he’s been in trouble before (though as of Friday night there was no news from the league).
Those aren’t two nobodies. They’re key guys. The team needs them on the ice.
“We’ve got a lot of great players sitting,” says Mason McTavish, who scored twice in the win. “So, I’m not too worried about it.”
He’s right. They shouldn’t be scared. His team is really good and really deep. But it does make things tougher.
Of all the teams Hamilton may end up playing in this post-season run, it’s unlikely it is going to run into one as defensively solid as the Mississauga Steelheads.
Yes, the Bulldogs finished the season with the fewest goals allowed but Mississauga was right behind them in the No. 2 slot. They have excellent goaltending, they get in the way of shots, they’re responsible in their own end. And their penalty kill is excellent. Simply put, it’s hard to score on them.
That was evident in the first game of the second round. Hamilton was the better team. Zone time and chances tipped in their favour. But translating that into goals was really difficult.
“They were great defensively all year against every team in the league including us and that’s what we expected,” says head coach Jay McKee.
“We know that we’re going to have to be patient and really work for every chance we get.”
Eventually, the Bulldogs we’ve grown used to seeing emerged. But, it was a struggle, which is what Hamilton can likely look forward to for the rest of this series. Nothing is going to come easy.
This shouldn’t be a surprise. Mississauga played them tough all season. Five times in their eight matchups, the Bulldogs were held to two goals or fewer. The entire rest of the league managed to do that to Hamilton a total of six times.
But that means they need all of the firepower they have working for them and they need their big defenceman who’s so integral to locking things down in their own end on the ice.
Taking both of those guys out of the equation doesn’t make winning impossible or even unlikely, but way tougher.
Even so, McKee is hardly panicking.
“We’ve had suspensions all year. We’ve had probably well over 160 man-games lost,” he says. “We’ve had sickness, we went through COVID, flu.
“We’ve been doing it all year, so it’s next man up.”
He has the luxury of saying that. His offence is still the best in the league, his defence is still the best in the league and his goalie Marco Costantini, is still the best in the league. Hamilton really is exceptional at both ends of the ice. They have depth and they have shown they have the ability to deal with whatever is thrown at them.
But, if you start taking out key guys at both ends, you do tempt fate a bit.
Game 2 is Sunday at 2 p.m. at FirstOntario Centre.