HW Recap: Home not-so-sweet home
HW Recap: Home not-so-sweet home(2012-12-23 21:14 posted by B. La Rose)

For the first time since the second week of November, the Bulldogs had a pair of home games.  Unfortunately, their slump continued and they have now lost four straight.  On the plus side, the Habs' ECHL affiliate in Wheeling won all four of their games and six straight overall.  My Final Thought continues its look back at the year 2012 with another of this years' top stories, one we wish never happened.

The Dog Pound

After somewhat of an offensive outburst last week, the scoring returned to normal levels for the Bulldogs.  The result is also one we're too familiar with as Hamilton has now matched its season long losing streak.

News and Notes:

- With Mike Commodore and Frederic St-Denis both under the weather, Hamilton signed defenceman Cody Wild - who was at training camp with the team - to a PTO.

- The Bulldogs' loss to San Antonio was their first defeat of the year when scoring the first goal of the game.

- Lines from the most recent game:

Forwards:

Blunden - Holland - Gallagher
Bournival - Chaput - Nattinen
Hagel - Dumont - Leblanc
Quailer - Fortier - Stortini

Defence:

Beaulieu - Ellis
Tinordi - St-Denis
Nash - Wild

Results:

December 18: Peoria 4, Hamilton 3 (SO)
December 21: St. John's 2, Hamilton 1
December 22: San Antonio 5, Hamilton 2

StatPack:

After a slow start to the season in the +/- department (-8 in the first 14 games), Jarred Tinordi has had an even rating or better in 11 of his last 13 contests (+5 in that span).

SKATERS
# Player GP G A +/- SH PIMS
3 Antoine Corbin 2 0 0 -1 0 2
4 Brendon Nash 3 0 1 E 2 2
5 Jarred Tinordi 3 0 1 +4 2 2
8 Nathan Beaulieu 3 0 1 -2 9 2
10 Stefan Chaput 3 2 0 +1 5 0
12 Zack Stortini 3 0 0 -2 3 7
13 Steve Quailer 3 0 0 E 2 0
14 Michael Blunden 3 1 0 E 7 4
15 Kyle Hagel 3 0 0 -2 4 10
16 Olivier Fortier 3 0 1 E 5 2
17 Brendan Gallagher 3 2 0 +1 12 2
18 Michael Bournival 3 0 1 E 5 0
20 Louis Leblanc 3 0 1 E 5 2
22 Mike Commodore 1 0 0 -1 1 0
23 Joonas Nattinen 3 0 1 +1 8 0
26 Cody Wild 2 0 0 -2 3 0
32 Frederic St-Denis 2 0 1 +2 3 0
37 Patrick Holland 3 0 1 -2 4 0
40 Gabriel Dumont 3 1 0 E 6 0
44 Morgan Ellis 2 0 0 +1 0 0

GOALIES
# Player Record SV% GAA
29 Robert Mayer 0-0-1 .914 2.78
30 Cedrick Desjardins 0-2-0 .912 3.04

SHOOTOUT - SKATERS
# Player G/ATT
10 Stefan Chaput 0/1
17 Brendan Gallagher 1/1
18 Michael Bournival 0/1
37 Patrick Holland 0/1
40 Gabriel Dumont 0/1

SHOOTOUT - GOALIES
# Player SVS/ATT
29 Robert Mayer 3/5

Scoring Leaders:

Goals: Brendan Gallagher (9)
Assists: Beaulieu/Bournival (9)
Points: Brendan Gallagher (17)
+/-: Joonas Nattinen (+6)
PIMS: Zack Stortini (94)
Shots: Brendan Gallagher (95)

Schedule:

December 26: Hamilton vs Toronto
December 28: St. John's vs Hamilton
December 29: Hamilton vs Lake Erie

The Farm's Farm

Peter Delmas had his first full week with the Nailers this season and he made the most of it, allowing just a single goal in each of his starts (all victories).

As the Habs/Bulldogs have players affiliated with three different teams at the moment, the table below now covers all of those players, not just the ones with Wheeling.

SKATERS
Player Team GP G A +/- SH PIMS
Scott Gomez Alaska 2 1 1 +1 6 2
Phillipe Lefebvre Wheeling 4 2 1 +2 14 0
Daultan Leveille Wheeling 4 1 1 +1 6 2
Ian Schultz Utah 2 0 0 E 1 0
Joe Stejskal Wheeling 4 0 1 -2 8 2

GOALIES
Player Team Record SV% GAA

Peter Delmas

Wheeling

 3-0-0 .949 1.00

Colby Armstrong has not yet played since signing with Utah.

Final Thought

First, I'd like to thank our readers for your patience during our downtime over the last few days.  We had some technical difficulties which have been resolved and we are now back up and running.

The second of 2012's top storylines is one that unfortunately is still ongoing.  Yes, I'm talking about the lockout.  Since September 15th, the only NHL updates we've had involve percentage points instead of points in the standings while witnessing a pathetic PR campaign that both the league and NHLPA continue to try to win.  (For anyone wondering, the latest reports say there is likely to be a meeting sometime late in the upcoming week.) 

Sadly, the lockout talk was prevalent long before the expiration of the CBA as it was a topic of discussion all through the year.  Should the negotiations have started sooner?  Would both sides have been amenable to even doing so?  Could the fans actually be forced to sit and wait through another work stoppage?  (We all know the answer to that one now, of course.)   

The looming lockout made 2011-12's struggles even more difficult to deal with.  It was tough enough at times watching the team struggle to a 28th place finish but even more frustrating when you considered that it might be the last hockey we saw from the Canadiens for quite some time.  I'm sure there are some out there now that wouldn't be upset to see a similarly performing team play the 2012-13 campaign just to see some actual Habs hockey.  Reflecting on 2011, I never would have thought that this would be the case.  Here's hoping the lockout is a positive story in 2013 with a quick resolution.

If you have any questions/comments, please feel free to drop me a line at b.larose@habsworld.net.







©2003-2013 HabsWorld. All rights reserved. | Header Design created by Del Johnson (2011)
HW Facebook | HW Twitter | HW Forums | About HW | HW Collaborators Login