HabsWorld.net --
The West wasn’t too kind to the Habs as they
were only able to secure one out of three victories to close out their home
stand. Despite having a shorthanded roster due to Montreal’s recalls, the
Bulldogs had a much better week, winning three of four to sit tied atop their
division. With Hamilton’s first month now complete, my Final Thought looks
at some of the early storylines around the team.
|
Cheers |
Cheers to…
1) Tomas Plekanec. He was criticized for
a slow start but once again, it didn’t take him long for him to reach the level
of production we all expect from him. With the youngster line struggling,
his trio has picked up the offensive pace to compensate. He has shown time
and time again that he can be counted on, he should have got the benefit of the
doubt from his detractors in the early going.
2) The Habs’ 5-on-5 play, which once again, is
near the top of the league in goals for/against ratio at full strength.
This played a big role in their success last season and in the first few weeks
this year, they actually have slightly improved in this department (from 1.25 to
1.42). If they can keep that up regardless of their injury situation,
they’ll be in good shape.
3) The rookie forwards, who continue to not
look out of place. Michael Bournival had the best week of the year while
Patrick Holland looked more comfortable with each game he played. Holland
likely won’t be up for too much longer but he has shown he can log some minutes
and not look too out of place.
Jeers to…
1) David Desharnais. Right now he can’t
buy a positive break. He has had some prime chances in recent games and
has flubbed on more than he has gotten good shots away. His overall play I
think is better than last year and he has been a pleasant surprise on the draw
but with his new contract and higher expectations, one point in eleven games in
an offensive role is unacceptable.
2) The disappearance of Peter Budaj. I
get that the Habs didn’t have any back-to-backs but statistically, he was one of
the better backups in the league last year. He shouldn’t be sitting for
seven (and perhaps more) games in a row.
3) The large increase in shots per game allowed
by the Habs. Last year, the team was in the top-5 for fewest shots allowed
per game; this season they’re in the bottom ten, allowing nearly six more shots
on average. The goaltending has been sharp so far to help compensate but
the defensive zone coverage needs to be shored up.
|
StatPack: |
|
SKATERS |
|
# |
Player |
GP |
G | A | +/- | PIM | SH | TOI |
| 11 | Brendan Gallagher | 3 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 0 | 8 | 48:55 |
| 14 | Tomas Plekanec | 3 | 2 | 3 | E | 0 | 10 | 56:32 |
| 17 | Rene Bourque | 3 | 1 | 0 | -2 | 2 | 7 | 49:11 |
| 21 | Brian Gionta | 3 | 2 | 1 | E | 0 | 7 | 55:54 |
| 26 | Josh Gorges | 3 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 | 1 | 62:31 |
| 27 | Alex Galchenyuk | 3 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 2 | 5 | 51:00 |
| 32 | Travis Moen | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 | 4 | 44:02 |
| 40 | Nathan Beaulieu | 3 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 0 | 1 | 31:33 |
| 45 | Michael Blunden | 3 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 5 | 1 | 18:57 |
| 49 | Michael Bournival | 3 | 1 | 2 | E | 2 | 6 | 19:17 |
| 51 | David Desharnais | 3 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 4 | 7 | 44:42 |
| 53 | Ryan White | 3 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 2 | 3 | 32:46 |
| 55 | Francis Bouillon | 3 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 2 | 1 | 56:35 |
| 61 | Raphael Diaz | 3 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 5 | 58:58 |
| 76 | P.K. Subban | 3 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 | 5 | 74:03 |
| 79 | Andrei Markov | 3 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 2 | 1 | 76:46 |
| 81 | Lars Eller | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 4 | 5 | 52:45 |
| 82 | Patrick Holland | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 0 | 2 | 21:13 |
|
GOALIES |
|
# |
Player |
Record |
SV% |
GAA |
| 31 | Carey Price | 1-2-0 | .931 | 2.36 |
|
Scoring |
Goals: Eller/Gallagher/Plekanec (5)
Assists: P.K. Subban (9)
Points: P.K. Subban (11)
+/-: Andrei Markov (+9)
PIMS: George Parros (20)
Shots: Brendan Gallagher (38)
|
Schedule: |
October 28: Montreal vs New York (R)
October 29: Dallas vs Montreal
November 1: Montreal vs Minnesota
November 2: Montreal vs Colorado
|
The Dog |
A shorthanded roster didn’t seem to set back
the Bulldogs any. Hamilton won three of its four games; their one loss
came in their 3rd game in less than 48 hours. (I thought the reduced
schedule was supposed to eliminate these…) Also worth noting is that
each contest was decided by a single goal; the Bulldogs didn’t fare well in
these situations last season.
|
News and |
– Every player on the opening roster has got
into a game now as Morgan Ellis and Stefan Fournier made their season and
professional debuts respectively this past week.
– Following Sunday’s game, Louis Leblanc and
Greg Pateryn were recalled to join the Habs in New York for their game against
the Rangers on Monday.
– Darren Dietz (lower body) missed all four
games. He remains day-to-day.
– Sven Andrighetto is on a four-game point
streak, tied for the longest for any rookie so far this season.
– Lines from the most recent game:
Forwards:
Andrighetto – St. Pierre – Aliu
Tarnasky – Macenauer – Dumont
Nystrom – Duffy – Quailer
Courtnall – Nattinen – Fournier
Defence:
Beaulieu – Pateryn
Tinordi – Nygren
Schiestel –
Chouinard
|
Results: |
October 22:
Hamilton 5, Rockford 4 (OT)
October 25:
Hamilton 4, Rochester 3 (OT)
October 26:
Hamilton 3, Utica 2
October 27:
Toronto 3, Hamilton 2
|
StatPack: |
|
SKATERS |
|
# |
Player |
GP |
G |
A |
+/- |
SH |
PIMS |
| 2 | Greg Pateryn | 2 | 1 | 1 | +2 | 4 | 4 |
| 5 | Jarred Tinordi | 3 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 4 | 2 |
| 8 | Nathan Beaulieu | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 3 | 0 |
| 9 | Justin Courtnall | 4 | 0 | 0 | E | 8 | 0 |
| 11 | Nathan McIver | 3 | 0 | 1 | +3 | 1 | 11 |
| 12 | Maxime Macenauer | 4 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 3 | 2 |
| 13 | Steve Quailer | 2 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 | 2 |
| 15 | Erik Nystrom | 4 | 0 | 3 | +1 | 6 | 0 |
| 19 | Akim Aliu | 4 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 9 | 6 |
| 20 | Louis Leblanc | 3 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 13 | 2 |
| 22 | Drew Schiestel | 4 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 3 | 2 |
| 23 | Joonas Nattinen | 4 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 3 | 0 |
| 27 | Sven Andrighetto | 4 | 2 | 3 | +5 | 12 | 6 |
| 32 | Magnus Nygren | 4 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 9 | 2 |
| 40 | Gabriel Dumont | 4 | 0 | 3 | -1 | 10 | 8 |
| 42 | Ben Duffy | 4 | 0 | 2 | +2 | 2 | 0 |
| 44 | Morgan Ellis | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 2 | 0 |
| 47 | Stefan Fournier | 4 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 3 | 4 |
| 59 | Joel Chouinard | 4 | 0 | 2 | +3 | 7 | 0 |
| 74 | Nick Tarnasky | 4 | 3 | 0 | -3 | 8 | 9 |
| 93 | Martin St. Pierre | 3 | 0 | 3 | E | 2 | 8 |
|
GOALIES |
|
# |
Player |
Record |
SV% |
GAA |
| 29 | Robert Mayer | 1-1-0 | .909 | 2.49 |
| 34 | Dustin Tokarski | 2-0-0 | .902 | 2.99 |
|
Scoring |
Goals: Nick Tarnasky (5)
Assists: Martin St. Pierre (5)
Points: Sven Andrighetto (7)
+/-: Sven Andrighetto (+5)
PIMS: Nathan McIver (23)
Shots: Louis Leblanc (22)
|
Schedule: |
November 1:
Toronto vs Hamilton
November 2: Abbotsford vs Hamilton
|
Final |
With Hamilton having now completed their first
month of action, here are three things to highlight from the early part of the
season:
1) Rookie Impact: If you were to take a
poll of who the Bulldogs’ top scorer would be in October, I don’t think too many
people would have picked Sven Andrighetto. However, he has averaged nearly a
point per game and has done so without being used on a top line or powerplay
unit and finds himself among the top-10 in AHL rookie scoring. He has been
quite a pleasant surprise so far.
2) Competent Tryouts: With all due
respect to Darryl Boyce and Mike Commodore, they were pretty much finished by
the time they joined the Bulldogs on tryouts. This years’ crop of PTO’s
have had a much more positive impact. Erik Nystrom, Alim Aliu, Maxime
Macenauer, and Nathan McIver have all played top nine forward or top six defence
roles and have had made their marks far more often than the tryouts from last
season.
3) Slow Start for the ‘Make-or-break’
players: Any player coming into the final year of his entry-level deal has a
lot to prove. If they have a bad year, they could find themselves out of
the organization the next summer. Two prospects really fit the bill coming
into this season, Steve Quailer and Joonas Nattinen. Quailer wasn’t 100%
to start the year and now that he’s healthy, he can’t crack the lineup on a
regular basis. Nattinen has played better but is still seeing only fourth
line ice time. That’s not good enough; those two will really need to step
up their play to have a shot at a second contract.
