Dogs win 5th in a row

The Alberni Valley Bulldogs won their fifth in a row for the first time this season with a 4-1 win today over the Burnaby Express at the Dog Pound.

The game started slowly, and the offense was even further behind it, as it took until the 14:42 mark of the second for the games first goal to go on the board. The AVB took a 1-0 lead on a hard working goal as Johnny Rogic found a loose puck at the top of the paint after a first chance had hit the post, and lifted it over Harrison May.

The second goal wasn't far behind the first as the Express scored a beauty on a three way passing play just thirty seconds later to tie the game at 1-1 with Jimmy Gerrin drove the net and tipped one home from Brad Reid and Colby Kulhanek.

The Dogs took a 2-1 lead on a great play by Mark MacMillan getting the puck up the left wing for David Dziurzynski, who found Kevin Ross for the perfect pass as he jumped on the breakaway chance and went backhand past Harrison May with less than two to play in the second.

The Dogs would throw plenty of shots on net pushing for the equalizer in the third period, and they would finally get it with just over five minutes to play in the game as the Express and Harrison May did a good job to keep it a one goal game. The 3-1 goal would come on a pretty three way passing play by the Dogs as Jesse Halikas found Matt Hatch in the right circle. Hatch turned his back to the net and found Johnny Rogic with a cross ice pass that he buried high glove side on May for his second of the game. Burnaby's comeback hopes were further dashed when Alex Petan picked up four minutes for high sticking. The Dogs made it 4-1 in the first half of the double minor as Mark MacMillan went backhand top shelf from in tight with Mitch and David Dziurzynski getting the assists with 2:22 left.

The game had several scary incidents with players getting hit by pucks, with one of them having painful consequences. As Express play-by-play broadcaster Eddie Gregory said to me via text message after the game - "what a difference and inch or two makes"

In the first period Warren Muir went down to block a shot from Chris Van Duynhoven that struck him in the visor, shattering it. Besides maybe being a little rattled, Muir appeared to come out of it OK and continued to play after getting a new visor. In the third period, Luke Fenske let a shot go from the blue line that appeared to hit an Express stick in front before hitting Chris Van Duynhoven in the face. He would fall to the ice and writhe in pain in a very scary sight for the fans at the Dog Pound.

After getting several emails and texts inquiring about Van Duynhoven's well being after the game I again got an update from Eddie Gregory, who said that it appeared to be a jaw broken in two places after X Rays at West Coast General Hospital. Eddie said the puck struck him just below the bottom lip. The ovation the Dogs fans gave Van Duynhoven and the care for his well being wasn't lost on the Express, as Eddie said to pass on thanks on behalf of the Express saying "You folks out there in AV are first class and prove again and again to be the best fans in the league"

Thanks Eddie. And I hope "Vandy" is as ok as morphine can make him right now and everyone in Alberni wishes him a speedy recovery.

For the Dogs, it's five wins in a row, second by themselves in the Coastal Conference. And maybe some fans will be like me and they'll be looking for the CJHL Nationwide Rankings tomorrow!

Hammmer



Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.