Posted by EP

Seeing as I spend a lot of time following the AHL and the QMJHL, I figured I might as well provide a quick update of what’s going on with the Hamilton Bulldogs and the Habs two prospects in the Q….

Hamilton Bulldogs

After getting off to a franchise record 11 game point streak to their season, the Bulldogs have cooled off a bit. They’ve been alternating winning and losing in their last eight games (personally, I don’t think it’s s coincidence that they’re struggling slightly now that the Habs have White and Pyatt but that’s just me). Last week they headed out west for two sets of back-to-back games against two tough division rivals.

First up were the Abbotsford Heat (AHL affiliate of the Calgary Flames). The Bulldogs had to put up with a three hour time zone change, a fire in their hotel and an earthquake before they could even hit the ice. When they did, they came out quite flat and ended up allowing four goals before David Desharnais ensured that they wouldn’t be getting blanked as he scored the Bulldogs only goal of the game. There weren’t very many good things to say about this game so we’ll just leave it there and move on to the next game.

Curtis Sanford was back for his first start in about a week after taking some personal time off (his wife was expecting their third kid). Most games involving the Heat are low scoring, penalty filled games and this second one proved to be just that. Almost 50 penalty minutes were assessed. The Bulldogs got on the scoreboard first with goals from J.T. Wyman on the PP in the first period. Desharnais had what proved to be the game winner early in the second period when he had a two on one breakaway with Mike Glumac. Glumac made a perfect cross-ice pass and Desharnais put it past the Heat goalie. A few minutes later, the Heat would pull within one after Keith Seabrook scored, but the Bulldogs hung on for the win. Yay!

After ending their stay in Abbotsford on a positive note, the Bulldogs headed off to Winnipeg to face the Manitoba Moose (the Canucks AHL team). I’m going to be honest here and say right now that I hate the Moose. I really do. They’re a really good team and their main goalie Cory Schneider drives me up the wall (mainly because he usually ends up robbing my team of pretty goals). I was hoping that Luongo or Raycroft would get injured so the Canucks would have to call up Schneider, but no such luck. Schneider was in nets and he decided to make my night miserable. Actually, I can’t give all the credit to Schneider. The Bulldogs did get on the scoreboard first with a goal from Desharnais. The lead lasted all of 56 seconds, however, as Sergei Shirokov got a pretty awesome goal (there. I said it a Moose had an awesome goal. Happy?). The Moose would add two more goals in the second period before Sanford was replaced by Desjardins (Sanford actually had complained of stomach problems before the Moose scored their third goal). It was pretty disappointing for Sanford who was actually Schneider’s backup last year and was probably looking to prove something against his former club. The Moose would get yet another goal with a minute an a half to go in the game when Mike Keane put the puck into the empty net. If anyone thought that was going to be the end of the game, well, they were wrong. Andrey Conboy and PK Subban would bring the Bulldogs within one with just forty seconds to go. Their comeback fell short though, as Keane would get another empty netter to seal the deal. Myeh.

Back-to-back games are really annoying, especially when you have two sets of them in the same week. Would the Bulldogs have anything left in the tank to finish their roadtrip off on a positive note? At first it seemed like the Bulldogs were set to completely demolish the Moose (Sanford talked his way into playing despite not being 100% and Schneider was back in nets). By 7:35 the Bulldogs were up 3-0 on the Moose with two goals from Carle and a PP goal from Sergei Kostitsyn. But of course, big leads are meant to be blown…right? Right….. Erik Christensen and Marty Murray tallied just over a minute apart to put the Moose within one. At this point the Habs were about to go to a shootout with the Wings so I muted the Bulldogs game to watch the Habs game. Apparently while Datsyuk and Zetterberg were winning the shootout for the Wings, Desharnais put the Bulldogs up 4-2 with a PP goal. Sadly, as I went back to the Bulldogs game, Shirokov got a breakaway with just seconds left in the second period and he got what can only be described as a really sick goal. Ugh. Any hope that this game was going to be over in regulation time was ended midway through the third when the Moose tied the game up. The sold out crowd of just under 14,000 were going nuts and so was I (but for the opposite reason obviously). The Bulldogs had a 3-0 and a 4-2 lead on the Moose and now they were headed to extra time and possibly, hockey gods forbid, shootouts. Thankfully, I didn’t have to suffer through shootout because PK Subban saved the day as he shot the puck over the shoulder of Schneider and won the game at 3 something of in OT. YAAAAAAY! Bets are on now as to how many grey hairs headcoach Guy Boucher sprouted during that game.

The Bulldogs are now 11-4-1-3 which puts them third in their conference and second in their division.

The Baby Habs

The Habs have two prospects in the QMJHL: Gabriel Dumont (drafted in 2009) and Philippe Lefebvre (signed to an entry level contract this past summer). They both play for what was my least favorite team in the Q last year, the Drummondville Voltigeurs (yes, Guy Boucher’s former team). It’s really their fault that I even follow this team at all. But anyway…..

Last week was kind of quiet as the Super Series was going on earlier in the week (this is an annual competition where the top players in the QMJHL, OHL and WHL respectively play against a team comprised of the top Russian prospects). Dumont played in the first game of the Super Series where he failed to register any points. Just in case you thought he wasn’t doing anything, I think I should mention that he did a few good attempts at scoring (including a semi-breakaway) and he looked to be smacktalking with the Russians at one point.

Back to the Q… Lefebvre had a PP goal (with assists going to Dumont and Sean Couturier) as the Voltigeurs blew it big time and lost to the Quebec Remparts by a final score of 5-4. They had a 3-1 lead before giving up 4 goals in a span of 7:25 (needless to say, I was yelling at the radio the entire time). Next up was the league leading Saint John Seadogs. Dumont would register a goal and an assist and Lefebvre had an assist before the Voltigeurs eventually lost 4-3 in a shootout (these shootouts are out to ruin my life, I tell you). The Voltigeurs capped off their week with a 5-3 win over the Q’s equivalent of the Carolina Hurricanes. It was pretty much the Sean Couturier show as he would get a hat trick (Dumont would get two assists though).