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Slow starts didn’t hurt the Bulldogs too badly
as they came back from two goal deficits twice in as many games to pick up three
of a possible four points as the Bulldogs moved out of the North Division
cellar.  Things weren’t so rosy for Wheeling as they just won one of three
games while one player who some want to see join them, Alexander Avtsin, is the
focus of my Final Thought.

The Dog
Pound

Even though it’s nice to see the Bulldogs
successfully come back from early deficits, the amount of deficits they’re
getting is becoming concerning.  Hamilton hasn’t scored the first goal
since the second game of the year; they’ve allowed the opening goal in six
straight.

News and
Notes:

– The infirmary continues to grow for Hamilton. 
Defenceman Greg Pateryn fractured his elbow in Friday’s game and will be out
indefinitely.  Louis Leblanc (ankle) will still miss a few more weeks
although Cedrick Desjardins (groin) could be back in action sometime in the next
game or two.

– Kyle Hagel, who played in the first five
games of the season, has been a healthy scratch in the past three.

– Lines from the most recent game:

Forwards:

Holland-Bournival-Gallagher
Quailer-Geoffrion-Palushaj
Dumont-Boyce-Blunden
Nattinen-Berger-Stortini (even though Nattinen is a natural C, Berger has often
taken the faceoffs)

Defence:

Beaulieu-St. Denis
Tinordi-Ellis
Nash-Corbin

Results:

November 2:

Rochester 3, Hamilton 2 (SO)

November 3:

Hamilton 4, Rochester 3

StatPack:

The bottom six helped in the
offensive zone, something we haven’t seen much of in the early stages of the
year.

SKATERS


#

Player

GP

G

A

+/-

SH

PIMS
2 Greg Pateryn 1 0 0 E 0 0
3 Antoine Corbin 1 0 0 -1 1 0
4 Brendon Nash 2 0 2 +1 1 2
5 Jarred Tinordi 2 0 1 E 3 0
8 Nathan Beaulieu 2 0 1 +1 9 0
11 Alain Berger 2 0 0 E 3 0
12 Zack Stortini 2 0 0 +1 2 5
13 Steve Quailer 2 0 0 +2 3 0
14 Michael Blunden 2 1 1 E 7 4
17 Brendan Gallagher 2 2 1 E 5 7
18 Michael Bournival 2 0 1 E 3 2
23 Joonas Nattinen 2 0 0 E 3 2
28 Aaron Palushaj 2 0 1 -1 4 0
32 Frederic St-Denis 2 0 2 +2 2 0
37 Patrick Holland 2 0 1 -1 3 0
40 Gabriel Dumont 2 0 0 +1 5 2
44 Morgan Ellis 2 0 0 -1 0 4
47 Darryl Boyce 2 1 0 +1 3 13
57 Blake Geoffrion 2 2 0 E 8 2

GOALIES


#

Player

Record

SV%

GAA
29 Robert Mayer 1-0-1 .919 2.40

SHOOTOUT
– SKATERS

# Player G/ATT
18 Michael Bournival 0/1
32 Frederic St-Denis 0/1
47 Darryl Boyce 1/1
57 Blake Geoffrion 0/1

SHOOTOUT
– GOALIES

# Player SVS/ATT
29 Robert Mayer 1/4

Scoring
Leaders:

Goals: Blake Geoffrion
(4)
Assists: Patrick Holland (4)
Points: Gallagher/Geoffrion (6)
+/-: Frederic St-Denis (+6)
PIMS: Michael Blunden (19)
Shots: Brendan Gallagher (30)

Schedule:

November 7:
Syracuse vs Hamilton
November 9: Syracuse vs Hamilton (in Montreal)

The
Farm’s Farm

Despite having a surplus of players available
to them (Ian Schultz finished out the week as a healthy scratch), goal scoring
continues to be a problem for the Wheeling Nailers which has them in a tie for
11th in the ECHL’s Eastern Conference.

Here is how the players contracted to Montreal
or Hamilton fared:


#

Player

GP

G

A

+/-

SH

PIMS
3 Stefan Chaput 3 0 3 +1 5 2
20 Joe Stejskal 3 0 0 -1 5 0
21 Ian Schultz 1 0 0 E 0 2
25 Phillipe Lefebvre 3 0 0 +1 4 0
27 Daultan Leveille 3 0 1 +2 6 2

– Chaput is the team leader in shots with 30 on
the season.  Schultz and Lefebvre are tied for the team lead in +/- by a
forward (+2 each).

Schedule:

November 7:
Reading vs
Wheeling
November 9: Toledo vs Wheeling
November 10: Wheeling vs Toledo

Final
Thought

It seems like it was just yesterday that
Alexander Avtsin was thought of as potentially a key piece of the Habs’ future. 
Even though he was a fourth round pick, he fell in large part due to his
nationality (Russian) and the lack of quality competition he faced.  Today,
he isn’t even part of the Bulldogs’ present let alone even remotely being in the
discussion as a potential player to be recalled to Montreal down the road. 
Through eight games, Avtsin has played a grand total of zero minutes and zero
seconds and he’s not injured. 

This leads to an important question – if he’s
not going to play much with the Bulldogs, why not send him down to Wheeling? 
I have to imagine – and this is merely speculation on my part – that there is
some sort of agreement in the contract (either in writing or verbally agreed on)
that he can’t go to the ECHL.  Otherwise, I can’t see any reason why the
organization would prefer to just have Avtsin practice over playing games, even
if it’s at a lower level.  At this point, even going back to Russia would
be an improvement.  The added depth this year would cover injuries (or
recalls if/when the lockout ends); basically, he needs to play.  Lost among
his struggles is that he’s just 21 years old.  It’s not ideal to have
prospects that age not playing.  Sooner than later, I hope the Bulldogs see
things the same way.

If you have any questions/comments, please feel
free to drop me a line at [email protected].