Bulldogs back home tonight to host Silverbacks, Hawthorne to Northern Michigan...

It's the third meeting of the season between these teams, due to the BCHL Showcase, as the Bulldogs
(14-26-3-0, 4th Island) return to home ice to host the Salmon Arm Silverbacks (20-17-4-1, 5th Interior) at the Dog Pound.


The Bulldogs were last in action Sunday afternoon in Coquitlam, where they dropped their third straight, 8-4 to the Coquitlam Express. The Silverbacks last played Sunday afternoon at home, where they snapped a three game losing streak with a 6-3 win over the Nanaimo Clippers.


As mentioned above, this is the third meeting of the season between these Island and Interior teams, the first being a 4-1 Silverbacks win on September 22nd in Chilliwack.  The second and most recent meeting was a 5-3 Silverback win in Salmon Arm on October 19th.

It will be great to be back in the broadcast booth at home, and great to have Bruce MacDonald along side me to provide game analysis and colour commentary, and Dan Tisserand on hand to compile team and player stats while I call the play-by-play.

Van Isle Ford Bulldogs Hockey will be on the air at 6:45 for our pregame show, with the puck drop to follow at 7:00pm, all on 93.3 The Peak FM.

Tune in during the second intermission for another edition of The Island Division This Week - a compilation of recaps, previews, highlights and more from all of the Island Division play-by-play voices. As always, it's courtesy of Dan Marshall of our sister station 106.9 The Wolf in Nanaimo, the voice of the Nanaimo Clippers.

Fantastic news from the Bulldogs was released yesterday, as John Hawthorne has committed to attend Northern Michigan University next season to play for the Wildcats. He'll be the second Bulldog goalie to play there, after Brian Stewart (2005-2006)

(image: Garrett James)

ALBERNI VALLEY BULLDOGS' GOALTENDER SECURES COLLEGE HOCKEY FUTURE WITH  
WILDCATS

Port Alberni, BC - The Alberni Valley Bulldogs are thrilled to  
announce that 20-year old goaltender John Hawthorne has committed to  
attend Northern Michigan University and suit up for the NCAA Division  
I Wildcats for the 2019/20 season.

Hawthorne joined the Bulldogs prior to the start of the 2017/18  
campaign following an impressive rookie season with the VIJHL's  
Nanaimo Buccaneers and made an immediate impact both on and off the  
ice. He grabbed the reins as the Bulldogs' starting goaltender early  
in the year and was named the team's Most Valuable Player following  
the season.

This season, Hawthorne has continued his strong play with a 3.22  
goals-against average and .910 save percentage, which ranks sixth  
among BCHL netminders, in 34 appearances. His 1141 saves this season  
rank first in the league while his 1917 minutes in goal rank third.

"On behalf of the entire Bulldogs organization, I'd like to  
congratulate John on earning a scholarship to play NCAA hockey," says  
head coach Matt Hughes. "John is one of the most committed, hardest  
working young men you'll find at this level and he's put in a  
tremendous amount of work to earn this opportunity. He has been one of  
the best goaltenders in our league over the past two seasons and he's  
been a great representative of the Bulldogs in our community. We  
expect John to transition quickly to college hockey and have a great  
NCAA career."

Before coming to the Alberni Valley, Hawthorne spent a season with the  
Buccaneers and three campaigns with the B.C. Major Midget League's  
North Island Silvertips.

"I think Northern Michigan is a great fit both on the ice and  
academically, and I'm extremely excited to have the opportunity to  
continue the program's tradition of strong goaltending," says  
Hawthorne. "The rapport their coaching staff developed with me made me  
very comfortable with the program and after discussions with the  
Bulldogs' coaches, my family and our educational adviser, Tom McEvay,  
it became clear that NMU was the right spot for me."

"My time with the Bulldogs has been instrumental in getting me to this  
point. The entire hockey operations staff has gone above and beyond  
for myself and the rest of our team, and I can't say enough good  
things about Tom McEvay, who is a true unsung hero of the  
organization. I'd like to thank the Bulldogs and the Nanaimo  
Buccaneers organizations, as well as coaches James Gaertner, Dan  
Lemmon and Jeff Carey, and of course my family for all their support.  
I'm also excited for the remainder of the season and my goal is to  
help bring as much exciting playoff hockey as possible to the Dog  
Pound."

Hawthorne is the fifth Bulldogs player on this season's roster to earn  
an NCAA scholarship. He joins forwards Keaton Mastrodonato (Canisius  
College - 2019/20), Ryan Miotto (Canisius College - 2019/20) and  
Austin Spiridakis (Quinnipiac University - 2020/21), and defenceman  
Marcus Walter (Bentley University - 2019/20).

***

For more information, please contact:

Matt Hughes

If you aren't in 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.hockeytv.com




Hammer

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