Tag: Drew MacIntyre

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IceCaps game report

Bulldogs Lack Killer Instinct in Shutout Loss [with AUDIO]

By Dan Kramer, Senior Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine

POST-GAME AUDIO: Morgan Ellis | Sylvain Lefebvre

HAMILTON, ON – After having a six-game win streak snapped two weeks ago, the Hamilton Bulldogs all spoke of how important it was to avoid the peril of their early season: following each step forward with an equivalent or worse step back. Despite a valiant effort to prevent a new skid, firing 32 shots on Toronto Marlies’ goaltender Drew MacIntyre, the boys from the Hammer were unable to find the back of the net Saturday night, dropping a 2-0 decision for their third loss in the past four outings.

ThomasHamilton
Christian Thomas had the best ‘Dogs chances on the night, but couldn’t beat Drew MacIntyre (PHOTO: BRANDON TAYLOR, via HAMILTON BULLDOGS)

The Bulldogs – looking to rebound from last week’s loss to the bottom feeding Utica Comets – started strong, as an early Christian Thomas scoring chance off a Sven Andrighetto set-up forced Drew MacIntyre into a tough save and Wade MacLeod into a hooking penalty. Thomas would also have the best chance with the man advantage on a Morgan Ellis rebound, but MacIntyre was sharp right from opening puck drop.

Frustrations began to mount as the ‘Dogs saw two powerplays and a Sven Andrighetto breakaway go unrewarded, prompting Jarred Tinordi to drop the gloves with tough guy David Broll in a clash of heavyweights. Lots of swinging, but few punches landed either way, so Sam Carrick and Gabriel Dumont decided to keep the intensity high later in on the period in a lightweight bout.

As often happens in hockey, when a team has the better scoring chances but fails to cash in, it only takes one opportunity for the other team to open a lead. Martin St. Pierre was called for a poor penalty late in the first, interfering with a forechecking Brad Staubitz, something the captain has been guilty of far too frequently this season. Greg Pateryn was caught hobbled in front of Dustin Tokarski after blocking a hard point shot, allowing Greg McKegg to beat him to a rebound and tuck the puck just inside the post on the Hamilton netminder, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead.

The ‘Dogs were again the better team at five-on-five in the second period, but a continued failure to make anything of their rushes or powerplay opportunities bit them once again. After Joonas Nattinen deftly set up linemate Stefan Fournier with a quick drop pass, only to be turned aside by  MacIntyre, Hamilton was handed a powerplay opportunity when a scrum near the benches resulted in a too many men call against Toronto. Rather than seizing the opportunity, however, the home side allowed Jerry D’Amigo to break in alone. While being hooked to the ice, D’Amigo managed to direct the puck towards the net, fooling Tokarski who followed the sliding man rather than the abandoned disk, which trickled past him and into the cage.

Hamilton was given a great chance to get back into the game in the third period, as Brandon Kozun – making his debut for the Marlies after being acquired for Andrew Crescenzi a couple of days ago – took back-to-back penalties, giving the trailers four minutes of near uninterrupted powerplay time. The Bulldogs failed to generate much in the way of sustained possession or pressure, squandering their chances once again, and running into a wall of MacIntyre on the best opportunity as Gabriel Dumont and Mike Blunden batted away at a Greg Pateryn rebound.

Toronto was able to coast the rest of the way, preserving ex-Bulldog MacIntyre’s first shutout of the season. The struggling powerplay – 0 for 7 on the night – was an easy target on which to pinpoint the night’s defeat. “For me on the powerplay, I have to shoot pucks, get the pucks through,” suggested Morgan Ellis, whose team-high five shots came with a good dose of powerplay ice time thanks to Nathan Beaulieu‘s call-up to Montreal. “[Beaulieu] is a good puck-moving defenseman. He finds seams. For me, being out there, I just have to keep it simple and get pucks through, and hopefully one of them goes in.”

Coach Sylvain Lefebvre wasn’t as concerned about how Beaulieu’s loss impacted his man advantage, but reiterated the need fo it to be better. “Our powerplay was not good tonight. Our powerplay wasn’t doing very well even when Nathan was here. It’s been a current theme right now. Even when we were playing well and getting some wins, the powerplay wasn’t much of a factor. We have to find a way to grind it out. Maybe we’re doing too much. When we did well on the powerplay, it was getting shots from the point and traffic in front.”

The coach also scoffs at the notion of his team being streaky. “I’m tired of hearing that we’re streaky. We try to win every game. We try to put some wins together, and obviously we’re not trying to put some losses together. We want to get back on track. We think we’re a good team. We gotta get better and stronger mentally.”

Lefebvre’s troops will have a chance to prove they are strong mentally by getting right back on the ice Saturday night in Lake Erie to take on the Monsters. They’ll then return home to complete an always difficult three games in three nights stretch Sunday against Chicago.

 

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IceCaps game report

Bulldogs’ Toy Toss Night a Success, but Marlies Prevail

By Dan Kramer, Senior Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine

HAMILTON, ON – There are some things more important than hockey. Around North America, at virtually every level below the National Hockey League, teams organize annual Toy Toss evenings, where fans are encouraged to throw a stuffed animal on the ice following the home team’s first goal. The toys are then collected and donated to needy kids. A year ago in Hamilton, Steve Quailer dramatically snapped a scoreless tie with a highlight-reel breakway marker that sent plush creatures to the Copps Coliseum playing surface. Unfortunately in 2013, while the toys amassed will serve as great a purpose, they came under far lress happy circumstances, with the visiting Toronto Marlies spoiling the party, carrying the majority of play en route to a 4-1 victory.

The Bulldogs had a couple of chances to get the Toy Toss night monkey off their back early. Just thirty seconds in, Joonas Nattinen collected a Marlie turnover in the slot, but his quick wrister was turned aside by former Bulldog netminder Drew MacIntyre. Next it was Patrick Holland, attempting to complete a three-way passing play with linemates Martin St. Pierre and Gabriel Dumont that he himself had started with a nifty deke, also meeting the outstretched pad of MacIntyre.

The scene after Louis Leblanc got Hamilton on the board. (PHOTO: Dan Kramer, AllHabs.net)
The scene after Louis Leblanc got Hamilton on the board. (PHOTO: Dan Kramer, AllHabs.net)

As tends to happen in hockey, missed opportunities at one end eventually led to a conversion at the other. Just past the midway mark of the first, a Andrew MacWilliam point shot went well wide of the net, but Robert Mayer was slow to recover, and Spencer Abbott was able to corral the puck off the endboards and one-time it into an empty cage before he could get back across the crease.

Hamilton was given a gift of a powerplay late in the period, as Mayer misplayed a puck behind his net, and then attempted to throw a hit on Kory Nagy to stop him from getting to the loose disc. Instead, it was Nagy charged with goaltender interference on the play, and though the man advantage carried over into the second period, the home side failed to capitalize.

From there, the Marlies blew the game open. A strange goal on Robert Mayer served to open the floodgates, as a harmless looking centering pass by David Broll was tapped in the the outstretched stick of Kory Nagy, leaving the Bulldog pair of Jarrred Tinordi and Darren Dietz looking awfully soft on the play. Seconds after the goal, the situation went from bad to worse as Gabriel Dumont was assessed a minor for kneeing. On the ensuing a powerplay, AHL scoring phenom T.J. Brennan would let go an off-speed point shot that deflected off Mayer’s pad and up into the net, stretching the Toronto lead to three. It was a debatable coach’s choice to give Mayer a third straight start following two wins, even after Dustin Tokarski had seemingly earned the “No. 1” title through his far superior play,and the goaltender did little to reward his coach’s confidence.

Though fans itched to toss their stuffed animals to the Copps Coliseum ice, they’d have to wait and watch the visitors add a fourth marker before having the chance to do so. A minute and a half after Brennan’s marker, Brad Ross was left completely alone at the lip of Mayer’s crease, and deftly lifted a Tyler Biggs cross-ice pass over the sliding Hamilton netminder.

It’s rare to get a crowd on its feet when their home team trails by 4, but it’s a feat that Louis Leblanc accomplished just past the middle frame’s halfway mark. The winger went to the front of the net, and buzzing by Martin St. Pierre and Mike Blunden eventually saw a rebound pop right on to his stick. His rocket wrister broke MacIntyre’s shutout bid, and surely made Christmas a much happier one for many Hamilton kids in need, as the barrage of toys launched towards the playing surface were collected for charity.

Unfortunately, it did little to revive the Bulldogs’ offense. Leblanc – the team’s most dangerous offensive player on this night – would himself have Hamilton’s best chance to pull within two in the third period, stickhandling impressively just inside the Toronto blueline on a powerplay, but his heavy shot found only goalpost. Beyond that scoring chance, Hamilton played the period fairly even with the Marlies, with few notable opportunities for either side, and the visitors coasting to a 4-1 win.

The loss drops the Bulldogs to 12-11-0-3 on the season, allowing Toronto to pass them in the tight North Division race. The ‘Dogs will have an opportunity to get right back in the win column Saturday, though, as St. John’s visits Copps Coliseum.

 

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IceCaps game report

Bulldogs Turn in Lacklustre Effort, Drop Decision to Marlies [with AUDIO]

By Dan Kramer, Senior Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine

POST-GAME AUDIO: Gabriel Dumont | Sylvain Lefebvre 

HAMILTON, ON – In what Habs fans need to hope wasn’t a preview of Saturday night’s Canadiens – Maple Leafs matchup in Montreal, the Bulldogs turned in a lackluster effort Friday night, dropping an important divisional contest 3-1 to the Toronto Marlies.

(Photo: HamiltonBulldogs.com)
(Photo: HamiltonBulldogs.com)

If you were to describe the 2013-14 Hamilton Bulldogs in one word, through the season’s first 21 games, it would be “streaky.” Through the year’s first ten games, the team had lost only twice in regulation, which they promptly followed up by losing five straight contests in 60-minutes. A four-game win streak then got fans optimistic that the dark days were over, particularly thanks to inspired play from Dustin Tokarski. But a mid-week blowout at the hand of the Rochester Americans set-up Friday night’s clash with the enemy Marlies at Copps Coliseum as a battle for first place in the division that would prove anticlimactic for the crowd of 6,159 in attendance.

The Bulldogs welcomed two relatively new faces to the line-up, compensating for the recent departures of Erik Nystrom and Magnus Nygren. First was rookie pro defenseman Darren Dietz, returning after missing 16 games with a wrist injury to play just his fifth contest for the squad. The next was Jordan Owens, a journeyman forward who attended Bulldogs’ training camp on a tryout, and was just signed to a professional tryout agreement earlier this week, making his AHL season debut.

The fresh blood helped buoy the team to a solid first period. Despite holding a 9-7 shot advantage, one defensive lapse left the ‘Dogs trailing their Ontario rivals. Morgan Ellis lost a battle in the corner, allowing Josh Leivo to skate out, and Darren Dietz was left in no man’s land, caught between covering the front of the net and moving towards Leivo, allowing the Marlies’ rookie to spot Jerry D’Amigo alone in front. The former U.S. National Under-18 program star was quick to one-time his fifth past Robert Mayer, making his first start in six games.

Hamilton would make matters difficult for themselves early in the second, as Jarred Tinordi was called for delay of game after flipping a puck over the glass. With the penalty about to expire, David Broll patiently waited before roofing a wrister top shelf on Mayer, a perfect shot that exposed the goaltender for a playing a little too deep in his net.

Moments later, Gabriel Dumont – one of the hotter hands in Hamilton of late – prevented the game from getting out of reach on a great solo rush. Weaving in and out of the Toronto defense, he outwaited a committed Drew MacIntyre before sneaking a backhander through the netminder to get back within one.

However, within two minutes, a delayed penalty call against the ‘Dogs combined with another instance of disorganized defensive coverage allowed Toronto to restore a two goal advantage. Sam Carrick was left all alone at the side of the net, and Spencer Abbott found him with a cross-ice dish to net his second of the season. Following the goal, Sylvain Lefebvre called a timeout, but seemed to have little to say to his side, instead simply trying to settle things down and slow the frenetic pace of the period.

There did seem to be some fight in the ‘Dogs later in the period, as Dumont again led a dangerous-looking rush. In a play almost exactly mirroring a goal scored at the Bell Centre one week prior, a quick move set up a pass to an open Mike Blunden at the hash marks, but this time the veteran’s one-time attempt sailed wide. Another chance saw newcomer Owens – getting a good look on a line with Martin St. Pierre and Christian Thomas – drive the net hard and bowl over MacIntyre. The ‘Dogs put a rebound into the empty cage, but the goal would be called back in favour of a two minute minor to Owens.

A late penalty meant Hamilton would have to start the third with a kill before trying to get back in the game, but the team couldn’t muster much offensively despite tightening up in their own end. The best chances to claw back into the game had come in that second period, and the Marlies coasted their way to the victory.

Hamilton looks to snap this new skid right away on Saturday night, as the Lake Erie Monsters visit Copps Coliseum.

 

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IceCaps game report

Tired Bulldogs See Streak Ended by Marlies [with AUDIO]

By Dan Kramer, Senior Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine

POST-GAME AUDIO: Greg Pateryn | Sylvain Lefebvre

HAMILTON, ON – If the Hamilton Bulldogs could play full games like it was the final two minutes of the third period, they’d be near impossible to beat. Just when it looked like a typical night for a team on the trail end of a three-in-three marathon, the ‘Dogs proved there was in fact still something left in the tank, battling back to twice pull within one, but ultimately coming up short in a 3-2 loss to rival Toronto Marlies.

In addition to his team-leading fifth goal of the season, Tarnasky had a fight with tough guy Jamie Devane
In addition to his team-leading fifth goal of the season, Tarnasky had a fight with tough guy Jamie Devane

The fact that the Bulldogs were able to dress their full top four on defense – Nathan Beaulieu, Greg Pateryn, Jarred Tinordi, and Magnus Nygren – for the first time this season was of no help early on. Right off the game’s opening shift, a defensive end turnover allowed Jerred Smithson to finish off a passing play and beat Robert Mayer just 24 seconds after the opening face-off.

A recurring storyline would next rear its ugly head as Hamilton took the game’s first three penalties, and despite an earlier prolonged 5-on-3 kill (thanks to two hit goal posts), just 14 seconds after Greg Pateryn was sent off for a high stick, Greg McKegg tucked a Josh Leivo centering feed just inside the post for a 2-0 Toronto lead.

Hamilton showed signs of life in the second, notably thanks to four powerplay opportunities, but the results were repeated broken plays and missed shots, typical of a tired hockey club. The best chances belonged to Akim Aliu – firing a shot from a tough angle wide of a completely open cage after a Martin St. Pierre feed – and Sven Andrighetto, the club’s most dangerous forward throughout the night rejected on multiple occasions by Drew MacIntyre.

If the second period was characterized by a lack of finishing ability for the Bulldogs, the third period looked like it’d provide further evidence to the team’s tanks being on empty. Erik Nystrom had the team’s only real scoring opportunity of the first fifteen minutes on a long shot which looked dangerous just thanks to MacIntyre losing his balance.

But how quickly a hockey game can change. Aliu led the charge in the period’s final minutes, hauled down by Korbinian Holzer as he tried to break away, and thus drawing a penalty. The powerplay generated strong pressure, as Greg Pateryn and Nathan Beaulieu patrolled the line effectively. Just prior to its expiry, a Pateryn shot was blocked, but the second year pro collected the rebound and fed Beaulieu, whose shot would bounce on to Nick Tarnasky‘s stick in traffic down low. Tarnasky outwaited a falling MacIntyre for his team-leading fifth of the season, giving the home side late life.

With an offensive zone face-off, coach Sylvain Lefebvre called a timeout and pulled Robert Mayer. The ‘Dogs got exactly what they wanted with a win on the draw, but Magnus Nygren suffered a split second mental lapse, feather a long pass across the blueline to be picked off by the Marlies. Jerry D’Amigo won the race down ice and seemed to seal the game with an empty netter.

The Bulldogs proved one last time on the night that “never saying die” is a part of the identity of this year’s squad, when Greg Pateryn took a Martin St. Pierre centering pass and blasted it through MacIntyre, but with only 17 seconds left on the clock, it was too little, too late.

Coach Sylvain Lefebvre didn’t mince words about his feelings towards the AHL’s three games in three nights scheduling, calling it “near inhuman,” and adding that he was happy of his team’s efforts under such circumstanes.

Pateryn wasn’t quite as pleased with his side’s effort, indicating the need for the team to start playing for a full sixty minutes moving forward. A funny moment occurred post-game when he was asked if the frequent injuries and resulting call-ups to Montreal this season were a distraction.

“It’s not a distraction at all. I think for guys when it’s their first time up and down, it’s overwhelming at first. But the guys that have been going up and down, they realize what the reason is, and what their role is, and when you come back here, it’s for a certain reason, and you just gotta work on the things they tell you too. And you hopefully get another chance up there.” This scrum was taking place just outside the Bulldogs’ dressing room door, and immediately at this moment – as if scripted – Louis Leblanc pushed out the door past Pateryn carrying his equipment bag (for his call-up to Montreal). While the next question is being asked, Pateryn turns his head over his shoulder, and utters a “See ya Louis!” Not a distraction at all I’d say.

The Bulldogs will have a chance for revenge next Friday, when the Marlies return to Copps Coliseum for the third matchup of the season between the Ontario squads. The two sides are now tied with 10 points each through the season’s first eight games.