BULLDOGS GEAR UP FOR REGULAR SEASON
The Brantford Bulldogs wrapped up the 2023 OHL pre-season with 4 wins and 2 losses putting on an impressive prelude to 2023-24 season. After dropping their opening game to the Erie Otters, the Dogs ran off four straight victories downing the Saginaw Spirit, Kitchener Rangers twice and Guelph Storm before falling to the Guelph in the rematch.
Bulldogs’ 2023 1st Round selection Jake O’Brien made his debut memorable, pacing the Bulldogs with a pair of goals and 4 assists for 6 points, playing in all 6 pre-season games. The 8th overall selection had his best performance at the Six Nations Sports on September 22nd when the Dogs hosted the Storm. Scoring the game’s opening goal, O’Brien helped finish the game off in the final frame assisting on 3rd period goals from Adrian Rebelo & Marek Vanacker, giving the young star a 3-point night.
Speaking of Marek Vanacker, the Bulldogs’ 2022 1st Round selection didn’t let O’Brien steal the show without a fight with the Delhi product leading the team with 4 goals in 6 games. Scoring goals in all four Bulldogs victories, Vanacker poured 16 shots on goal over that stretch. Already becoming renowned for his 200-foot game and tremendous effort, Vanacker will look to take the next strides in his NHL draft season playing close to home.
Beyond the 1st round selections, the Bulldogs didn’t have to look deep in the draft order to find contributions as 2023 2nd Round selection Dylan Tsherna has already become a nightmare for opposition. The Don Mills Flyers product racked up 4 points, including 3 goals, over the last 5 games of the pre-season including a brilliant steal and breakaway goal when the Dogs hosted the Rangers at the Wayne Gretzky Sports Complex.
Veteran presence has been felt through the pre-season as well and the longest serving Bulldog has been at the forefront. Lawson Sherk has continued to be everything the Bulldogs could ask for and then some. Recording 5 points over 4 pre-season games, in between a stint at Buffalo Sabres camp, Sherk continued his brilliant two-way play. Winning faceoffs at an outrageous 59.3 clip, Sherk closed the pre-season winning over 65% of his draws on September 22nd against the Storm while skating to a team leading plus-3 and adding an assist in the process.
The Bulldogs offensively dynamic pair of Patrick Thomas & Nick Lardis, coming off of NHL Draft selections to Washington & Chicago respectively, each impressed in limited action with Thomas posting 3 assists in 3 games while Lardis compiled a tremendous 2 goals & 3 assists for 5 points in just a pair of games.
Also of note up front for the Bulldogs, Ben Bujold piled up 4 assists over 6 games while Braeden O’Keefe chipped in 2 goals & 2 assists over the 4 games he appeared in while skating to a plus-5. Physical force, and Montreal Canadiens draft pick Florian Xhekaj continued to make life miserable for opposing defenders while scoring a pair of goals in 3 games.
On the blueline in the pre-season Ottawa Senators prospect Jorian Donovan co-led the way with a pair of assists in his 3 appearances while Cedricsson Okitundu potted a goal and an assist in 4 games, while skating to a plus-5 and 2023 3rd Round Selection Callum Cheynowski contributed a pair of assists over 6 games.
Impressing all the way through camp and into the pre-season was 2023 U18 Draft selection Daniel Chen. After earning his scholarship & development agreement at the end of main camp, Chen skated in all 6 pre-season games and the 6’4” 186lbs Thornhill product skated to a plus-4 behind only frequent partner Okitundu on the Dogs blueline.
Between the pipes, Matteo Drobac stopped 71 of 75 shots he faced in the pair of games he appeared winning both with a 2.00 GAA & .947 SV%. Tristan Malboeuf and David Egorov eached earned a win as well, with Egorov backstopping the road win in Kitchener while Malboeuf helped lead the September 6th comeback shootout victory over the Rangers.
With pre-season in the books, the Bulldogs now look forward to opening the 2023-24 season. Starting with a road trip north, the Bulldogs will take on the Sudbury Wolves at 7:00pm on Friday, September 29th at the Community Arena in Sudbury before visiting the GFL Memorial Gardens to face the Sault Ste. Mare Greyhounds on Saturday, September 30th at 7:00pm. The Bulldogs will open the home half on Saturday, October 7th at the Brantford Civic Centre, hosting the Oshawa Generals at 7:00pm.
