THE ROAD TO THE FINALS – NORTHERN EXPOSURE
After dispatching the Peterborough Petes & Mississauga Steelheads in 8 combined games, the Hamilton Bulldogs prepared for an Eastern Conference Final against a team they knew the least about of their three playoff opponents. Having only faced off with the North Bay Battalion on four occasions in the regular season and just twice since the calendar turned to 2022, the matchup of the top-2 seeds in the OHL Eastern Conference promised fireworks.
Entering the series with two most dynamic offenses on the Eastern side of the bracket, North Bay’s top line of Brandon Coe, Mitchell Russell and Kyle Jackson presented a challenge the Bulldogs hadn’t seen in the playoffs to that point. Meanwhile the Bulldogs were bolstered by the return to the lineup of Jan Mysak and Nathan Staios with Avery Hayes, Logan Morrison, Mason McTavish and Ryan Winterton all on fire.
After splitting the two regular season matchups with North Bay taking both played in the 2021 portion of the schedule and Hamilton both in 2022, it looked to be a battle on level terms entering the series.
Ryan Humphrey opened Game 1 with a bang scoring at 1:15 to give the Bulldogs a much desired early lead. North Bay’s response came before the period was out with Brandon Coe striking on the power-play at 17:50 but the Bulldogs grabbed the momentum right back with a Ryan Winterton power-play goal at 19:12 that took a bit of wind out of the Battalion sails. Logan Morrison bubbled the lead to 3-1 in the second period before Dayln Wakely cut the lead back to 1 late in the frame. Just seconds after the halfway point of the third, Arber Xhekaj put an exclamation point on the Bulldogs Game 1 effort putting the home side in front for good at 4-2 and wrestling a 1-0 series lead for Hamilton.
The story of Game 2 was Marco Costantini with a marvellous 28-save effort to record his 2nd OHL playoff shutout shutting down the big guns of the Battalion. Meanwhile in the Battalion net, Joe Vrbetic was exchanged for Dom DiVincentiis who would be tasked with the carrying the load for the rest of the series for North Bay. Logan Morrison, Mason McTavish and Ryan Winterton each potted singles for the Bulldogs while Avery Hayes continued where he left off in Game 1, after a 4 point performance, recording goals both shorthanded and on the power-play, and adding an assist in the 5-0 Game 2 victory, giving Hayes 7 points in 2 games and the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead as the series shifted north.
Without Nathan Staios for Game 3, Jorian Donovan returned to the Bulldogs lineup alongside fellow ’04-born rookie Noah Van Vliet and the talented rearguards were in for a challenge along with the rest of their Bulldogs teammates as North Bay, with last change, looked to change the matchups on their home ice.
Missing Mitchell Russell for Game 3, Matvey Petrov elevated to the Battalion’s top line and it paid dividends early, opening the scoring at 2:42 and putting the Bulldogs on the backfoot for only the 3rd time in the post-season. Avery Hayes took the game into his hands once again, recording goals shorthanded and at even-strength just over 5 minutes apart to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 after 20 minutes. 34-seconds into the second period Mark Duarte struck for his first goal of the playoffs giving the Bulldogs a 3-1 lead but in front of the home crowd the Battalion weren’t ready to surrender. Goals from Anthony Romani and Nic Sima 3:57 apart put the game back on level footing, but once again Avery Hayes weaved some magic, though his top of the circle shot was blocked, the rebound fell to Logan Morrison who cashed in to give the Bulldogs a 4-3 lead heading to the third. Ryan Winterton looked to have put the game out of reach at 2:34 but after the Bulldogs took a late double-minor Brandon Coe nabbed one back setting up a sprint to the finish of a one goal game. With just over 30-seconds to go and North Bay pressing, Mason McTavish’s clear attempt deflected to Logan Morrison who in concert with Ryan Winterton struck the empty net to give the Bulldogs a commanding 3-0 series lead.
Game 4 was all Bulldogs, all the time, as Hamilton record two in each frame with Jan Mysak opening the scoring, breaking through for his first of the playoffs, followed by a power-play rocket from Arber Xhekaj in the first. Mysak opened the second period at 1:41 as instant chemistry with Patrick Thomas & Mark Duarte had the Bulldogs center riding high while Avery Hayes had a picture perfect penalty shot finish to give the Bulldogs a 4-0 lead through 40. A quiet third period saw the Bulldogs run the clock down before striking twice late with Jan Mysak completing the hat-trick at 17:17 and George Diaco putting the final puck in the twine at 19:35. With Marco Costantini recording his 3rd shutout of the 2022 playoffs the Hamilton Bulldogs captured the Bobby Orr Trophy for the second time in franchise history setting up a date with the Windsor Spitfires for the OHL Championship.
A journey into the unknown begins Friday, June 3rd at 7:00pm at First Ontario Centre with two teams who have not seen one another since the early part of the pre-season schedule. While Windsor brings the league’s leading scorer in Wyatt Johnston and the West’s best, the Bulldogs will look to prove with their depth that the Beasts of the East are just a little bit better on this occasion!
