Bulldogs host Capitals tonight to kick off another three game weekend

Another busy weekend begins tonight for the Bulldogs (6-5-0-0, 2nd Island) as they host the Cowichan Valley Capitals (2-11-0-0, 5th Island) for the second Friday in a row, and third meeting between the teams in the last eight days, after the Bulldogs swept last weekends home-and-home set 7-3 and 8-1.  The Bulldogs will head over to the Lower Mainland tomorrow to visit the Chiefs in Chilliwack before they visit the Langley Rivermen Sunday afternoon.

The Dogs were last in action Sunday afternoon where they saw their win streak snapped at four with a 5-4 loss to the Prince George Spruce Kings, while the Capitals haven't played since they hosted the Bulldogs last Saturday.

The Bulldogs have had a week now to think about an afternoon of missed opportunities and being so close yet so far in the loss to Prince George in a game that they never led, while the Caps have had a week to stew about the two tough losses the Dogs handed them last weekend.

While the scores were indeed lopsided, I was impressed with how hard the Capitals battled despite how tough things have been for them and how things went in both those games - conceding goals less than a minute in and just over a minute in on both nights, falling into 3-0 holes both nights. On both nights they answered quickly to make it a 3-1 game, and kept it that way for a spell as well. I sure hope the Dogs don't take the Capitals lightly, because if they do they will most certainly end up on the wrong end of the score. It's natural to expect or prepare for less when it was easy last game, or when a team is at the bottom of the standings, but at this level of hockey that's not a good recipe for success. Look at Sunday afternoon for example. Prince George was playing their fourth game in five days and had been on the road since Wednesday. Yet they knew how tough it would be and fought to take two points home. Here's hoping that stung the Dogs and they learned a bit of a lesson.

It should be another good one on Van Isle Ford Bulldogs Hockey on 93.3 The Peak FM with our pregame show getting on the air at 6:45 and the puck hitting the ice at 7:00 with Bruce MacDonald providing the colour and analysis and Dan Tisserand compiling team and player stats while I will call the play-by-play.

If you aren't in radio listening range of 93.3 The Peak FM you can listen/watch the game by:

Listening Live on your computer: www.933thepeak.com
Listening Live on your SmartPhone : www.tunein.com/mobile/
Watching Live on your computer/SmartPhone www.fasthockey.com

Tonight's 2nd Intermission guest is Jacob Bestebroer, Colour Commentator and Director of Scouting for the Chilliwack Chiefs, who the Dogs visit tomorrow.

Hammer