dlbalr

Yeah, Fortier got one late but the Dogs still lost in a shootout. A point's still not bad at least. As for Willsie, he had 26 goals 2 years ago and 30 last season. By AHL standards, that's a goal scorer; he's not the 14th highest paid forward in the league to play at a 10 goal pace. His production was all at the wing in those years, the Habs and Bulldogs seem insistent on playing him out of position for some odd reason. Interestingly enough, he's shooting the puck at a much higher rate this year, they're just not going in.

That's a nice retro pic of Theodore, back from during the lockout.

Mayer hasn't been bad lately (hence getting back to back starts). His season numbers aren't pretty but he seems to be more of the goalie he was back in the East Coast League, the bad goals aren't killing him right now. As I type that, he coughs one up, go figure. Mitera has been much better as of late. I remember early on he was a league worst -8, since then he's only been -3. I don't recall hearing him much on the special teams side of things though, he's still a 3rd pairing D. Some progression is better than none but he has a long way to go still. As I referenced, Mayer just coughed one up, it's now 2-1 Monsters late in the 3rd.

Lefebvre scores for the first time in 21 games...I think I'm going to faint.

More than one could go a long way. The supposed sniper, Willsie, has a whopping 3 goals in 27 games.

Scoreless through 1. Wilson said yesterday Lawson was supposed to start but instead Mayer gets the nod in back to backs. I don't think Lammy was a happy camper after seeing that at the game...

He can shoot the puck but passing is another story. He's going for the AHL's 'Cy Young' award (if only that actually existed) with 16-2 as his goals/assists ratio thus far.

It's game day, can you continue your winning streak?

The Bulldogs' busy week (4-in-6) ends this afternoon against a team they haven't seen in ages (a whole 17 days this time!) in Lake Erie. With a regulation win, Hamilton would pull into a tie with the Monsters for 3rd in the division. Active scoring leaders: Goals: Hugh Jessiman (16) Assists: Tyson Barrie (16) Points: Tyson Barrie (20) PIMS: Hugh Jessiman (52) +/-: Cameron Gaunce (+10) Active scoring leaders: Goals: Andreas Engqvist (9) Assists: St-Denis/Willsie (13) Points: St-Denis/Willsie (13) PIMS: Zack FitzGerald (117) +/-: Andreas Engqvist (+5) Puck drop is at 3:00 PM EST and can be listened to by clicking this link: http://cham.player.amri.ca/

Palushaj had the only goal in the 3rd as Hamilton wins 5-4. http://theahl.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=1009110

Tinordi, barring a Danish miracle, won't be getting a medal after their 3rd period woes continued against the Czechs in a 5-2 loss. The US need Denmark to beat Finland to have a remote shot still at 3rd in the pool. The Danes, however, have benched 5 players for joking around on camera after losing the Canadian game. This is what they were suspended for:

4-4 after 2. Bulldog goals in that period were by Dumont and Wahl again. Wahl's 2 goals tonight give him...2 on the season. Shots are 32-18 for the Amerks, MacIntyre is letting Hamilton stay in it.

Sean Avery on waivers again. I suspect that's the end of him in the NHL this season.

Well, it's not St. John's. Instead, it's Shawinigan where he'll play with Bournival and will automatically be in the Memorial Cup.

2-2 after 1, Bulldog goals by Engqvist and Wahl. Hamilton has already allowed a PPG, apparently the 6th straight game that has happened. The new forward lines: Fortier- Engqvist - Palushaj Nattinen - Willsie - Avtsin Dumont - DeSimone - Schultz FitzGerald - Masse - Wahl

Hamilton has a shot tonight to get out of the North Division basement as they travel to Rochester to take on the Americans. Simply speculation on my part but with an afternoon game tomorrow, I suspect it might be 'Mayer time.' Active scoring leaders: Goals: Andreas Engqvist (8) Assists: Brian Willsie (12) Points: Brian Willsie (15) PIMS: Zack FitzGerald (117) +/-: Andreas Engqvist (+5) Active scoring leaders: Goals: Derek Whitmore (13) Assists: Phil Varone (14) Points: Derek Whitmore (21) PIMS: Joe Finley (71) +/-: Mark Voakes (+11) Puck drop is at 7:35 PM EST and can be listened to by clicking this link: http://cham.player.amri.ca/

Since it's an hour before game time and no GDT (wherefore art thou, bar? ), here's a quick one. Montreal Cole - Eller - Pacioretty Cammalleri - Desharnais - Leblanc Kostitsyn - Plekanec - Moen Darche - Nokelainen - Blunden Gorges - Subban Gill - Diaz Kaberle - Emelin Price Tampa Bay (aka, the ex-Hab squad): St. Louis - Lecavalier - Purcell Malone - Stamkos - Downie Pyatt - Moore - Hall Wyman - Jones - Tyrell Kubina - Brewer Bergeron - Gilroy Clark - Gervais Garon The Habs are 2 points up on the Bolts for 12th in the Eastern Conference. Shockingly, despite all the offensive firepower, Tampa is scoring just 0.15 more goals per game than Montreal. Puck drop is at 7:30, TV coverage is RDS, TSN-Habs, and Sun (HD) in the US.

Engqvist scores to get Hamilton on the board, 3-1 with now 6 minutes left.

Might have spoke too soon on that one. 3 goals just past the 2:30 mark of the 3rd is actually worse than the 3-goal stretch he allowed last game. 3-0 St. John's halfway through the 3rd.

Scoreless after 2. St. John's will have 1:23 of PP time to start the 3rd though.

I could go for that last blurb... Lots of driving though; round trip, we were in the car for about 14 hours out of a 31 hour span, plus another hour of driving to/from the hotel to/from the arena. Some game thoughts: - Lots and lots of Hab fans which was fun. Our seats were in the 300's but we got down to ice level for most of the warmup, Hab fans were all around the boards in nearly every section at the warmup. - I haven't seen the Bell Centre screen to compare but their new video screens (which died in the final minute) have some potential when everything is actually fully assembled. - Diaz had the quietest 3-point effort I think I ever saw. The only time I ever saw him was when he was without the puck covering someone (which he did quite well). - Seeing the game from high up gave me a real look at how Subban loves to just wander around out there. He looked out of position more than he was in it. I'm not sure if TV did that justice; it's unfortunate as when he actually played his position instead of the old fashioned rover, he played well. - Ottawa fans really, really don't like Craig Anderson. A couple fans behind us tried to get a we want Emery chant going. Yikes. - I think I discovered why Darche is dressed all the time. He was fetching the pucks in the warmup constantly ("doing the dirty work out there" ). - Eller looked really good out there, I think he got ripped off in the 3 Stars (which officially were Price 1, Cole 2, and Diaz 3, Leblanc was an RDS-only pick). It was also nice to see them come out for the stars even though it was a road game. I'm sure it helped that by the end of the game, Ottawa fans were long gone. - Our seats were beside a family from England who travelled to see the Habs play. And I thought I had a long trip... - In terms of general play, the Habs' play in the 1st was even worse than the comments on here suggested. Price kept them in it and some good bounces finally went Montreal's way for once.

Scoreless late in the 2nd in this one. Aebischer is having a strong game for the IceCaps while Lawson has rebounded from that awful start in Toronto to shut the door so far.

Pribyl was added this morning and is in the game tonight. Also, Tinordi was named Player of the Game for the US in their 4-1 loss to Finland.

Hamilton looks to continue their season-best 6-game point streak as they host St. John's, who with a win can move into a tie for their conference lead. Active scoring leaders: Goals: Klingberg/King (10) Assists: Marco Rosa (21) Points: Marco Rosa (27) +/-: Arturs Kulda (+10) PIMS: Patrice Cormier (38) Active scoring leaders: Goals: Andreas Engqvist (7) Assists: Brian Willsie (12) Points: Brian Willsie (15) +/-: Andreas Engqvist (+4) PIMS: Zack FitzGerald (113) Puck drop is at 7:30 PM EST and can be listened to by clicking this link: http://cham.player.amri.ca/

Stat lines for the Canadian prospects are updated in the StatTracker. (Also note that as I'll be out of town Tuesday and most of Wednesday, there will be a delay in updates during that time). In the US-DEN game, Tinordi has a goal (he's on fire!) as the States lead 3-2 after 1.