FIRSTS & MILESTONES FOR BULLDOGS THIS WEEKEND
Another busy weekend for the Hamilton Bulldogs begins on Thursday, December 2nd . The Dogs will be tasked with 3 games in 4 nights for a second time this season. Entering the weekend with points in 8 of their last 9 games, the Bulldogs are first in the East division and second in the Eastern Conference, just one point behind the conference leading North Bay Battalion. It will be a weekend of milestones and firsts as Nathan Staios will cross 200 games played in the Ontario Hockey League. The Bulldogs will make their first trip of the season to the Sadlon Arena in Barrie followed by hosting both the North Bay Battalion & Erie Otters for the first time this season.
It will be the third meeting of the season between the Bulldogs and Colts on Thursday, with the previous pair having seen overtime at FirstOntario Centre. The Colts came away with a 4-3 OT victory on November 7th to counter the Bulldogs stunning 5-4 OT comeback win on October 9th which saw Artem Grushnikov record his first Ontario Hockey League goal to win the game. In the previous two games, the Bulldogs have seen 12 different players hit the scoresheet but only two, Logan Morrison & Nathan Staios, recorded points in both meetings with the Dogs. Jan Mysak leads the way offensively on the season for the Bulldogs with 28 points in 19 games, including a record of 2 goals & 2 assists for 4 points in the October 9th comeback.
On Friday, December 3rd, the Bulldogs host the Eastern Conference leaders the North Bay Battalion for the first time and the game will carry extra intrigue with both teams ranked in the CHL Top-10 this week (North Bay 8th and Hamilton 10th). The reigning OHL Defenseman of the Month Nathan Staios, who crossed 100 career points last weekend, will skate in his 200th career Ontario Hockey League game fittingly again the Battalion where he scored his first goal of the season against on October 21st. The Battalion got the best of the Dogs last time around with a trio of late 3rd period goals leading the Bulldogs to look to even up the season series on home ice. It could be a high-octane offensive battle with the Battalion bringing the OHL’s top two scorers in Brandon Coe & Kyle Jackson to Firstontario Centre while the Bulldogs feature 9 different players with double digit points.
The Erie Otters will make their first appearance of the season to the FirstOntario Centre on Sunday, December 5th to close out the weekend. The only Western Conference team the Bulldogs will see this season, Erie’s season has been quite the opposite of Friday’s opponent North Bay. This team is struggling with searching for consistency and because of that, The Otters sit last in the Western Conference with a 5-13-1-0 record. The team does however feature a pair of players playing at point-per-game pace in centermen Elias Cohen & Brett Bressette. Sunday’s game will mark the first of 6 meetings between Hamilton & Erie this season and the first matchup between the two teams since October 11th, 2019, 787 days.
Tickets for Friday, December 3rd against North Bay and Sunday, December 5th against Erie are available at Ticketmaster.ca. Holiday Flex are officially on sale and can be purchased by calling 905 529 8500. Each package comes with a Bulldogs branded toque!
