BULLDOGS LOOK TO STAY ATOP DIVISION IN WEEKEND 3-IN-3
The Hamilton Bulldogs embark on a challenging weekend 3-in-3 visiting the Kingston Frontenacs on Friday night at 7:00pm, the Ottawa 67’s on Saturday afternoon at 2:00pm, and the Barrie Colts on Sunday night at 7:00pm while looking to expand their lead atop the East division. The Bulldogs enter the weekend with an 18-9-2-2 record for 40 points through 31 games, 3 points ahead of Kingston to lead the East division. Hamilton has momentum since the acquisitions of Arber Xhekaj, Mason McTavish, Ethan Sims & Giordano Biondi leading up to the OHL Trade Deadline having won back-to-back games, while scoring 14 goals and only surrendering 3.
Opening the weekend, the Bulldogs take on the rival Frontenacs for the second time this season at Leon’s Centre and fourth overall meeting on Friday night. The Dogs took the most recent meeting, an 8-1 thrashing on Sunday, January 16th after dropping a pair of one goal decisions on November 27th, 5-4 in a shootout, and December 10th, 6-5 despite a furious 3rd period comeback from the Dogs. Avery Hayes leads the way in the season series against Kingston having recorded a 5-2-7 line followed by line mates Logan Morrison, 3-2-5, & Ryan Humphrey, 0-6-6, with all three players having recorded at least a point in each of the three meetings thus far while 20 total Bulldogs have recorded at least a point in the season series.
A quick turnaround for the Bulldogs sees them at TD Place for the 3rd meeting of the season with the Ottawa 67’s on Saturday afternoon. The two teams have split the season series with the visitors having the advantage as Ottawa took a 6-3 decision in Hamilton on November 13th while the Bulldogs downed the 67’s by an 8-3 final in Ottawa on December 11th, despite playing that game with 11 forwards and 5 defensemen. Avery Hayes once again leads the way in the season series with a 3-2-5 line through a pair of games followed closely by Gavin White, George Diaco, Lawson Sherk, Cole Brown & Logan Morrison who have all chipped in with a goal and 2 assists each. Through the first two meetings of the season the Bulldogs have had 15 different players record at least a point while Lucas Moore scored his first OHL on December 11th with Noah Roberts picking up his first OHL point on the same play.
To close out the busy weekend, the Bulldogs square off with the Barrie Colts on Sunday night visiting the Sadlon Arena for the 2nd time this season, the 4th overall between the two teams. Artem Grushnikov had one of the most memorable moments of the season on opening night, scoring his first OHL goal in a 5-4 OT comeback victory for the Bulldogs before a pair of overtime losses to the Colts, 4-3 in Hamilton on November 7th & 3-2 in Barrie on December 2nd. Nathan Staios, 2-2-4, & Logan Morrison, 0-4-4, lead the way for the Bulldogs in the season series while Cole Brown scored his first OHL goal against the Colts on November 7th.
As the Bulldogs battle to stay atop, and expand their lead in the East Division you can catch all the action on the Bulldogs Audio Network at hamiltonbulldogs.com/audio!
