Bullldogs at Chiefs, Midget and Bantam Bulldog Updates.

Greetings from the hotel in Langley. The Bulldogs are back in action tonight as they visit the Langley Chiefs at the George Preston Recreation Centre. Pregame on The Peak is at 6:45, and the puckdrop is at 7:00pm. Should be a good one!

Thanks to Simon Read for the below updates on the Midget and Bantam Bulldogs.

MIDGET BULLDOGS HIT EMPTY NETS

The AVMHA Midget A Bulldogs completed their placement round with two victories on the weekend, giving them a record of 4 wins and 2 losses. Now it is a waiting game to see if this will be enough to elevate them to tier 1 for the regular season.

On Saturday the Bulldogs played host to Kerry Park Islanders, a team that likes to hit. Neither team gained an advantage in a first period of end to end hockey. It took a 5 on 3 in the second period for the Islanders to open scoring. Alberni responded exactly 4 seconds later when Catlin MacLeod rushed up the left side from the face off and released a quick shot for a short handed goal. Kerry Park got into penalty trouble after that and Alberni capitalized with 3 power play goals before the period was up. At the seven minute mark Jeff Dagg picked up the rebound from Kody Isherwood’s shot and put it in the open left side of the net. At four minutes Sheldon Trees and Travis Coghill combined on a rush with MacLeod who scored his second from the right circle. Kerry Park got their own power play goal a minute later. As the period closed it was Trees to Darren Oscienny who made a nice saucer pass across the crease to give MacLeod a hat trick.

Early in the third period hard hitting by the Islanders led to an opening and made it a 4-3 game. Alberni settled into a more defensive style, frustrating the visitors at every turn. Their coach was ejected with 15 minutes to go after arguing with the referee. Then a little luck went to the Islanders as a shot trickled through to tie it up. Alberni went ahead again as Oscienny and Trees fed MacLeod for his fourth goal on a hard shot from the slot. Kerry Park pulled their goalie, but the Alberni defence held up and with little more than a minute left Coghill potted an empty netter to ensure the 6-4 victory. As the handshakes began after the game a Kerry Park player dropped his gloves and began an altercation that resulted in multiple penalties to players from both teams.

On Sunday the Midgets faced Nanaimo’s second team at the NIC arena minus several players due to injuries and penalties. In spite of this they took the lead in the first period on goals from Oscienny assisted by Trees, and then a solo effort by Trees. Early in the second, Coghill made it 3-0 with assists from Oscienny and Ryan Campbell. After that they flattened out and allowed Nanaimo to come back with two goals. Dustin Diemert scored from Campbell to open the third period, but Nanaimo narrowed the gap to one goal again with six minutes left. It took an empty netter in the last minute (Carson McCulloch from Leo Fitzgerald) to seal the win at 5-3.

BANTAM BULLDOGS BEAT BRAVES

The AVMHA Bantam Bulldogs played two tough placement games on the weekend and came away with a tie and a win. On October 18^th they played host to the top Nanaimo team and came within five seconds of an upset win. The first goal came from a strong rush when Cortland Thibodeau picked up the puck from Colby Lim and put a low backhand in. Nanaimo tied it up with a power play goal at the end of the period then went ahead early in the second. Near the end of the period, Austin Smith took the puck from the red line and beat both the Nanaimo defence and the goalie to tie it up.

In the third Cam MacAdams and Beau Wilson combined in a two on one with MacAdams finishing to give Alberni the lead again. Goalie Gianni Crema made several amazing saves to keep Alberni ahead. In the last minute Nanaimo pulled their goalie for the sixth attacker. The lack of a face off outside the blue line allowed Nanaimo to keep intense pressure on the Alberni goal. In the end a Nanaimo shot bounced off a defence man and bobbled over the line to tie the game at 3-3.

Coach Kevin Somerville commented that “The team played very well positionally and took options away from one of the best teams on the Island. Our goal tending kept us in it and we buried our chances. To have Nanaimo tie the game in the last five seconds was tough, but it will set up a good rematch.”

On October 19^th the Saanich Braves came to town and opened strong, scoring two unanswered goals before the half time ice clean. After the break, the Bulldogs came out faster, got to the puck first and hit harder. They started passing and using the points more. With accurate passing and more shots from the point the momentum shifted. At 7:16 left in the second period, Lim backed by Smith and MacAdams scored the first goal for Alberni. Less than 15 seconds later Lim assisted MacAdams to tie it up. Then on the power play Wilson passed to Lim to put the Bulldogs up 3-2. They kept up the same intensity in the third period, most of which was played in the Braves’ end. With six minutes left Brandon Antonichuk got the insurance goal, Brent Williscroft assisting.

Somerville said “We were flat in the first half, but we kept the puck out of our net and we managed to turn it around in the second half.”

The Bantams went 2-2-1 in the placement round and hope their strong finish will be enough to raise them into Tier 1 for the regular season. They will know the answer by next week.