DESTINY BECONS THE BULLDOGS – 2022 OHL CHAMPIONS
HAMILTON, ONTARIO. Back home for their biggest game of the year tonight in front of a modern OHL Finals record 11,779, the Hamilton Bulldogs squared off with the Windsor Spitfires in the decisive Game 7 at FirstOntario Centre.
The first frame started in favor of the Bulldogs with Mason McTavish opening the scoring going 5-hole on Mathias Onuska for his 15th of the playoffs at 2:04 with Patrick Thomas providing the perfect pass from the left circle and Ryan Winterton, in his return to the lineup, picking up the helpers. After a run of play tilted towards the Windsor Spitfires, the dynamic duo of Avery Hayes and Logan Morrison went back to work with a little give and go action nearly sending the Bulldogs up 2-0 but came just shy of the net. With 3-minutes left in the opening period Marco Costantini stood tall stopping a wraparound attempt and a scramble in front of the goal. Before the end of the period the Bulldogs got the boost they needed stationing themselves in front of Onuska to with a series of opportunities that didn’t find the goal but gave Hamilton a run of momentum heading to the second period.
Starting the second the same way in the first with an early chance for the Dogs to double the score, Hamilton buzzed Onuska’s capped by a rocket from Nathan Staios and follow-up opportunities from George Diaco and Mark Duarte who all came close but couldn’t quite nudge the Bulldogs further ahead. Costantini continued to step up big in the highest pressure moments of the season denying the shot of Nicholas DeAngelis to keep the Bulldogs with the 1-0. Following Costantini’s handiwork, Arber Xhekaj fired a right point laser to the front of the Windsor goal where Avery Hayes redirected the puck into the net for his 12th of the playoffs at 12:57, with his partner in crime Morrison picking up the secondary helper giving the Bulldogs an important 2-0 edge that they would take to the locker room after 40 minutes, standing just one period away from the franchise’s second Robertson Cup Championship.
The Bulldogs penalty killed starred to open the third period, killing off an early Windsor man-advantage without surrendering a shot on goal. Hamilton fed off the momentum through Ryan Humphrey breaking free down the wing to set up Hayes coming late down the middle looking to get his second of the game denied by Onuska. Hayes was right back at it and ripped the puck into the back of the net for lucky number 13 of the playoffs at 6:18, as Mason McTavish won the right-wing faceoff to Logan Morrison, feeding Hayes cross slot for the shot and a 3-0 Bulldogs lead. Jan Mysak extended the lead further to 4-0 at 13:01 as Arber Xhekaj roamed the right-wing flipping the puck over to Mysak to send Hamilton to a seemingly insurmountable lead. Seconds after the Mysak goal Windsor made their way onto the board as Alex Christopoulos broke through on a second attempt to give Windsor a little bit of life at 13:38. That was as close as Windsor would get with Mason McTavish hitting the empty net at 15:26 for his second of the game and Avery Hayes recording the hat-trick into the empty net again at 17:11, hammering the final nail in for the Bulldogs. As the clock wound down, the Hamilton Bulldogs won Game 7 of the OHL Finals 6-1, capturing the franchise’s second J. Ross Robertson Cup and securing their birth in the 2022 Memorial Cup.
The Hamilton Bulldogs will next travel to Saint John, New Brunswick to open the Memorial Cup on Monday, June 20th against the host Saint John Sea Dogs.
For more information on Hamilton Bulldogs 2022 playoff tickets or playoff flex packs call 905-529-8500 or visit hamiltonbulldogs.com.