Hamilton Bulldogs 2014-15

[NWTHabsFan]

Dogs almost blow it, needing OT to seal the deal 5-4. Two game winning streak!

Condon with the win, Andrighetto with three assists, and some guy named Bork with a goal and an assist. DLR got his second goal as well.

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

Nov 16, 2014 16:43:12 GMT -5 GNick99 said:

Nov 15, 2014 7:00:20 GMT -5 Habs_fan_in_LA said:

I remember going to the Jr. canadiens games. This year I went to the Keg and saw the playoff game, Habs vs Rangers on the big screen from MSG.
You get a different crowd that can't get or afford corporate Habs tickets. Montreal could fill the Keg with fans for 40 dates of fans cheering for Bleu Blanc Rouge lite or going to see future Habs in the making. It's a place a father can take his sons (or daughters) to enjoy an evening cheering le flannel and going home with memories and a couple of bucks left in the wallet. While the AHL team provides entertainment, it also develops players and future fans too.
Watching Perrault, Houle, Tardiff and Globensky in a packed rockin Forum was an unforgettable experience.

Do you remember the '69 Junior Canadiens?

Absolutely. So much talent on the team.
Globensky vs Tony Featherstone epic battles.
On vent Globensky rang through the rafters until the coach relented and let him on the ice.

[GNick99]

Nov 16, 2014 20:04:17 GMT -5 Habs_fan_in_LA said:

Nov 16, 2014 16:43:12 GMT -5 GNick99 said:

Do you remember the '69 Junior Canadiens?

Absolutely. So much talent on the team.
Globensky vs Tony Featherstone epic battles.
On vent Globensky rang through the rafters until the coach relented and let him on the ice.

That was one of best junior clubs ever. Moose Dupont and those guys. Perrault and Martin would go on to be 2/3 of French Connection line. Marc Tardif would have been a hall of famer if he doesn't jump to WHA.

[Willie Dog]

Is Sylvain Lefebvre becoming MT jr?

Sylvain Lefebvre scratches Andrighetto for "reasons", continues making baffling decisions

Sometimes when it comes to developing players, you give the benefit of the doubt to the people in charge. However when a head coach hasn't made a single player significantly better by any account, and has seemingly made a few worse, while running a record of 59-83-4-12 in nearly two and a quarter seasons, it's difficult to do so.

If you talk to anyone who watches the Hamilton Bulldogs regularly, there is one absolute constant since the beginning of last season; whatever little offense there is, Sven Andrighetto drives it. He is, very obviously, the most dynamic and hard-working player on the Bulldogs. Surprisingly strong for his size, Andrighetto is a voracious forechecker, and his speed forces opponents to play conservatively for fear of being caught for an odd man rush.

Yet Friday night in St. John's, Andrighetto was made a healthy scratch by the Bulldogs' head coach Sylvain Lefebvre. It was speculated that Andrighetto may be getting a call up to Montreal, but Lefebvre quashed that right way post-game by saying he'd be back in the lineup Sunday evening. So what was Lefebvre's reason for the scratch?

"Sven's got to understand some things, it's a message that we sent him tonight. He's a good kid, and he's gonna bounce back from that. We want him to compete every shift he's out there. He's got the skills, he's got the wheels, he's got a lot of things going for him, and we just want him to be competing every night, and competing at the NHL level. Competing how he can compete, not compared to the other guys. We want him, and we need him to be at his best, and he's a big part of this club, and he's gonna be back in this lineup on Sunday."

-source

Sounds semi-reasonable, right? Only Andrighetto has two goals and one assist in his last four games with a +2 rating, leads the Bulldogs in goals with six, and shots per game 3.23.

The Bulldogs are currently absolutely stacked at forward for the AHL level, and with Jarred Tinordi down there, they have at least one NHL level defenseman, and three guys who are extremely close in Magnus Nygren, Greg Pateryn, and Davis Drewiske. As far as the AHL goes, this team should be tearing opponents apart on a nightly basis, yet they're 5-7-2-0, essentially losing two games for every one they win.

Last year the Bulldogs had both Tinordi and Nathan Beaulieu, along with an NHL quality netminder in Dustin Tokarski, and still couldn't get over the .500 mark, a rare thing in today's game. Of the 158 AHL games Lefebvre has coached, the Bulldogs have lost 99. Under Lefebvre, the Bulldogs have a goal differential of -111. They've scored just 378 goals over that time, yet have over 170 fights. When those are the kinds of priorities a team has, it's no wonder Hamilton hasn't won back to back games this season.

Message sending


This has been a common theme in both the Habs and Bulldogs' coaching staffs. Therrien was always trying to send messages to Subban last year with numerous benchings, telling him he can't do certain things, and that's worked so well that Subban has become a worse player. Therrien tried to do the same thing to Lars Eller this season, who was clearly playing very well in tough minutes, until a talk with Marc Bergevin seemed to get Eller "un-scratched" right before game time. Since, Eller has continued to play well, and the goals have started to come for him.

Maybe this is a little naive, since I've never coached professional hockey players, but usually if you want to send someone a message, you talk to them first. If you're so bad at communicating with your players that you need to scratch them in order for them to understand what you're telling them, maybe you're not very good at your job.

An important position

The big job of the coach of the Bulldogs is to develop prospects, so it's understandable that winning games isn't the first thing the Canadiens are paying attention to, however the head coach of the Bulldogs is also a training position, a valuable spot for the Canadiens to groom future coaches of the team.

Let's pretend for a moment that Lefebvre's first priority is to develop players. Who has Lefebvre made better? Brendan Gallagher produced at a higher rate in the NHL in his rookie season than in the AHL. Jarred Tinordi and Nathan Beaulieu both continually draw better reviews at the NHL level than AHL level. Louis Leblanc was used as a grinder with career face punchers for two seasons with little to no powerplay time until he was traded away for future considerations. Morgan Ellis, a promising young defenseman coming out of junior, was one of the Bulldogs' most dependable players last season, and was the only player with a positive goal differential on the team aside from Greg Pateryn, was scratched every game this year in favour of career plugger Joe Finley, and sent to the ECHL. Darren Dietz, a 20 goal scoring defenseman in junior, has just one goal in 47 professional games.

With his record of development, and his record in the standings, there is a less than zero chance that Sylvain Lefebvre will ever coach a game for the Montreal Canadiens. That's a big deal, since the Habs can only groom one person at a time.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

Nov 16, 2014 20:38:00 GMT -5 GNick99 said:

Nov 16, 2014 20:04:17 GMT -5 Habs_fan_in_LA said:

Absolutely. So much talent on the team.
Globensky vs Tony Featherstone epic battles.
On vent Globensky rang through the rafters until the coach relented and let him on the ice.

That was one of best junior clubs ever. Moose Dupont and those guys. Perrault and Martin would go on to be 2/3 of French Connection line. Marc Tardif would have been a hall of famer if he doesn't jump to WHA.

Quite the lineup.

Cheers.

[CentreHice]

Heard on the radio today that Bourque is exhibiting a very positive attitude with the Dogs.

No big revelation there.

Seeing as those AHLers would kill for a guaranteed 6-year, $20 million contract…I'd think it best to not mope.

[seventeen]

Screw the attitude. How many points does he have?

[NWTHabsFan]

An article on Mike Condon, the Dogs' younger goalie who is enjoying a very good start to his first full season in the AHL.

www.mckeenshockey.com/uncategorized/condon-emerging-3-goaltender-habs-system/

[NWTHabsFan]

How about those Bulldogs, as they swept a home and home against the Marlies this weekend. They won the home game 2-1 in OT and then travelled down to TO and pounded them 5-1 yesterday. Goals by Andrighetto, Macenauer, Hudon (he also had two assists!), Bennett and Sorkin. Condon with the big win. Nygren had two assists from the blue line.

www.thespec.com/sports-story/5153024-bulldogs-pound-marlies-5-1-for-weekend-sweep/

An article on Eric Tangradi and his hope to make it back to the NHL.

lastwordonsports.com/2014/11/22/bulldogs-forward-eric-tangradi-trying-work-back-nhl/

[NWTHabsFan]

Hudon had a 1g 2a night on Sunday against the Dogs. Here are his highlights, he is #10 in red. Check out the pass by DLR (#20) on Hudon's goal.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQdzS_srDuc&list=UUhYLkAgCoG0tgQJSEDvt9Lw

Andrighetto (#27) with a nice goal against the Marlies on Sunday as well.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqyMuRJ_FG4&list=UUhYLkAgCoG0tgQJSEDvt9Lw

[blny]

If Tangradi has a good year, he could be one of those playoff roster call ups. Size, experience, etc. Injuries to the 4th line could see him slide in.

[Polarice]

Nov 25, 2014 15:04:23 GMT -5 blny said:

If Tangradi has a good year, he could be one of those playoff roster call ups. Size, experience, etc. Injuries to the 4th line could see him slide in.

He just got called up!!

[Willie Dog]

Cool. Good for him.

[blny]

Nov 25, 2014 17:32:57 GMT -5 Polarice said:

Nov 25, 2014 15:04:23 GMT -5 blny said:

If Tangradi has a good year, he could be one of those playoff roster call ups. Size, experience, etc. Injuries to the 4th line could see him slide in.

He just got called up!!

Ha!

Do they risk losing him to waivers if they choose to send him back?

[NWTHabsFan]

Charles Hudon was just named AHL rookie of the month. Way to go!

hamiltonbulldogs.com/pressbox/news/?article_id=953

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

Dec 1, 2014 18:14:53 GMT -5 NWTHabsFan said:

Charles Hudon was just named AHL rookie of the month. Way to go!

hamiltonbulldogs.com/pressbox/news/?article_id=953

I know we're supposed to talk about players and not posters but I'll make an exception here.
I really appreciate the job you do finding updates and videos I could never find here in LA. You da man NWT!
Keep up the great work.

[NWTHabsFan]

I guess when a 20 year old rookie fifth rounder is leading the entire AHL in scoring, folks start to take notice. Here is an article on Charles Hudon from NHL dot com.

www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=743722&navid=nhl:topheads

[NWTHabsFan]

Dogs win 3-2 over Rochester tonight. TJ Hensick with two goals, super rookie Hudon with two helpers, Carr with the other goal and Condon with the win. Condon has taken over the starter position from vet Joey MacDonald.

[NWTHabsFan]

Dogs beat the Ice Caps 5-2 last night led by defender Mac Bennett's two goals. Thomas, Drewiske and Dowell with the other goals, Condon with the win.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_qraD1l3Rg

[seventeen]

Why I like Jared Tinordi.

[seventeen]

Why I like Jared Tinordi. First he lays a beauty of an open ice hit on an opponent and then he beats the guy's teammate who comes in to 'defend the team honour'. Beauty.



[/quote]

[GNick99]

Dec 18, 2014 16:08:09 GMT -5 seventeen said:

Why I like Jared Tinordi. First he lays a beauty of an open ice hit on an opponent and then he beats the guy's teammate who comes in to 'defend the team honour'. Beauty.

[/quote]
Tinordi should be in NHL. Elemin traded in near future. Tinordi and Beaulieu are future on blueline

[Willie Dog]

Dec 18, 2014 18:29:35 GMT -5 GNick99 said:

Dec 18, 2014 16:08:09 GMT -5 seventeen said:

Why I like Jared Tinordi. First he lays a beauty of an open ice hit on an opponent and then he beats the guy's teammate who comes in to 'defend the team honour'. Beauty.

Tinordi should be in NHL. Elemin traded in near future. Tinordi and Beaulieu are future on blueline

Emelin has an NTC for this year and next and a limited for the 2 years after... he ain't going anywhere he doesn't want to, unless they send him to the Bulldogs.

[GNick99]

Dec 19, 2014 11:55:33 GMT -5 Willie Dog said:

Dec 18, 2014 18:29:35 GMT -5 GNick99 said:

Tinordi should be in NHL. Elemin traded in near future. Tinordi and Beaulieu are future on blueline

Emelin has an NTC for this year and next and a limited for the 2 years after... he ain't going anywhere he doesn't want to, unless they send him to the Bulldogs.

Him and Tinordi too similar, Tinordi and Beaulieu need to play, gain experience

[Willie Dog]

Dec 19, 2014 18:23:05 GMT -5 GNick99 said:

Dec 19, 2014 11:55:33 GMT -5 Willie Dog said:

Emelin has an NTC for this year and next and a limited for the 2 years after... he ain't going anywhere he doesn't want to, unless they send him to the Bulldogs.

Him and Tinordi too similar, Tinordi and Beaulieu need to play, gain experience

I agree... Tinordi will go with anyone Emelin can't.

[NWTHabsFan]

Connor Crisp has been suspended for three games as a result of him leaving the bench for purposes of entering into an altercation.

theahl.com/ahl-announces-suspension-p195477

[CentreHice]

Before reading the article, I was presuming that Crsip left the bench illegally to jump into an existing fight.

But it was a legal line change...and the refs made the decision to enact the AHL rule re: coming onto the ice legally, but for the purpose of starting an altercation.

While I don't mind that idea in principle...what if there's a guy on the other team who's clearly taking liberties and not getting called for it, prompting a guy like Crisp to jump out to finally respond? The refs' incompetence has another loophole...i.e. "Our lousy officiating can cause frontier justice to rear its ugly head...but you can't inflict it."

So much grey area ON the ice...which makes automatic supplemental discipline ludicrous.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

Oct 23, 2014 15:21:14 GMT -5 NWTHabsFan said:

Connor Crisp has been cleared medically to play, and has been officially assigned to the Hamilton Bulldogs. One of the new wave of rough and tumble forward prospects, so it will be interesting to see if they insert him into the lineup this weekend and how he does playing full time pro this season. With Beau and Bournival there for both Friday and Saturday's games, the Dogs will have a pretty decent lineup for a lot of this three in three weekend. Let's see if they can convert that into wins!

I was sort of hoping Bergevin might have drafted another Scott Laughton, but I think Crisp may more resemble Chris Gratton ... nothing wrong about having a potential big, shutdown centre ... I know he can take care of himself but how are his wheels ...

Cheers.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

Nov 15, 2014 7:00:20 GMT -5 Habs_fan_in_LA said:

I remember going to the Jr. canadiens games. This year I went to the Keg and saw the playoff game, Habs vs Rangers on the big screen from MSG. You get a different crowd that can't get or afford corporate Habs tickets. Montreal could fill the Keg with fans for 40 dates of fans cheering for Bleu Blanc Rouge lite or going to see future Habs in the making. It's a place a father can take his sons (or daughters) to enjoy an evening cheering le flannel and going home with memories and a couple of bucks left in the wallet. While the AHL team provides entertainment, it also develops players and future fans too.
Watching Perrault, Houle, Tardiff and Globensky in a packed rockin Forum was an unforgettable experience.

Meant to get back to you earlier on this ... here are a few team photos from the Jr Habs back in the day ... check out some of the names ... it's all about the hockey in Montreal ...



Cheers.

[NWTHabsFan]

Dec 23, 2014 15:08:46 GMT -5 CentreHice said:

Before reading the article, I was presuming that Crsip left the bench illegally to jump into an existing fight.

But it was a legal line change...and the refs made the decision to enact the AHL rule re: coming onto the ice legally, but for the purpose of starting an altercation.

While I don't mind that idea in principle...what if there's a guy on the other team who's clearly taking liberties and not getting called for it, prompting a guy like Crisp to jump out to finally respond? The refs' incompetence has another loophole...i.e. "Our lousy officiating can cause frontier justice to rear its ugly head...but you can't inflict it."

So much grey area ON the ice...which makes automatic supplemental discipline ludicrous.

Yes, it was a legal line change. Annoying the this is another subjective penalty call. Big impact as he loses three games plus a chunk of that game too.