Habster:
Journal de Montreal writer, Pierre Durocher continues his articles on the Hamilton Bulldogs and discusses how Matt D’Agostini is playing the best all round hockey of his young hockey career.
D’Agostini is having a lot of success playing on a line centered by the slick, playmaking Yanick Lehoux and winger Brock Trotter. Don Lever goes on to say that D’Agostini is finally developing a solid two way game and believes the talented winger can play in the NHL one day.
In another article, Durocher talks to Bulldogs head coach, Don Lever about his two most offensively gifted defensmen, Mathieu Carle and Yannick Weber. Lever tells Durocher that both players are learning to make good decisions with the puck and when to take offensive chances when the time arises.
On Weber:
“He (Weber) must learn to play against men. He should focus on his defensive zone game before thinking to support the attack. ” said Lever.
On Carle:
“The return of Carle has been beneficial for the team because he is mobile” commented Lever “He carries the puck well and makes good passes”
“Mathieu, however, must learn when he can start to attack. He must take better calculated risks.”
Lever has AHL veteran Shawn Belle playing along side Weber while Carle is paired with Dan Jancevski.
In a third article, Durocher talks to Yannick Weber and Mathieu Carle about their roles on the team and powerplay. Both agree that they still have more things to improve in their game. Carle says that he is known more as a passer and is more than happy to feed the heavy shooting Weber who has fired 32 shots on net but only has one goal to show for it.
Weber also says that he was encouraged with his work at this year’s Habs training camp where he showed the team management and coaches that he can play in the NHL one day.
In the last article, Durocher interviewed Don Lever regarding his team’s stronger than expected start to the season. He thought it would take his re-vamped team 2-3 months before they gelled as a competitive team but is pleasantly surprised by their success at this early stage of the AHL season.
He likes the veteran leadership of players like Dan Jancevski, Ryan Flinn, Greg Stewart, Alex Henry and Mike Glumac. He also greatly appreciates the leadership of Kyle Chipchura who will should soon be awarded the title of captain.
Lever also loves the way his two goaltenders (Marc Denis and Cédrick Desjardins are playing so far and hopes the team’s success continues with the understanding that it’s a long season.
Journal de Montreal: