Hamilton Bulldogs

December 07, 2007 HAMILTON, ON – Hamilton Bulldogs Head Coach Don Lever announced today that forward Ajay Baines has been named the ninth Captain in franchise history.

Baines, 29, has missed the first 19 games of the 2007-2008 season due to injury but is now medically cleared to play. In 77 games with the Bulldogs last season, Baines posted 26 points (13-13-26) and 72 penalty minutes. The 5-foot-10, 181-pound winger also notched 10 points (6-4-10), including the 2007 Calder Cup-winning goal, and eight penalty minutes in 22 playoff games for Hamilton.

The native of Kamloops, British Columbia, has registered 89 goals, 124 assists, 213 points and 554 penalty minutes in 510-career AHL games.

Hamilton has been without a Captain since defenceman Dan Smith dawned the “C” during the 2005-2006 season. The following is a list of former Bulldogs Captains:

1996-1997, 1997-1998 – Terran Sandwith
1998-1999 – Jeff Dawe
1999-2000 – Rob Murray
2000-2001 – Scott Ferguson / Alain Nasreddine
2001-2002 – Alain Nasreddine
2002-2003, 2003-2004 – Benoit Gratton
2004-2005 – Jason Ward
2005-2006 – Dan Smith
2006-2007 – None

The defending Calder Cup Champion Hamilton Bulldogs return to action tomorrow night (Saturday, December 8th) at 7:00 p.m. when they host the Milwaukee Admirals on “Stuffed Toy Toss Night” at Copps Coliseum. Tickets for all ‘Dogs home games are available at the Copps Coliseum Box Office, any Ticketmaster outlet, online at www.ticketmaster.ca, or through charge-by-phone at 905-527-7666. For more information or to purchase season tickets call 905-529-8500, e-mail tickets@hamiltonbulldogs.com or visit www.hamiltonbulldogs.com.

Fans can listen to every Bulldogs game on the flagship station of the Hamilton Bulldogs Hockey Network, 820 CHAM. Fans can also listen or watch at www.hamiltonbulldogs.com by clicking on the ‘B2 Networks’ or ‘820 CHAM’ icon on the ‘Dogs website. All regular-season radio and online broadcasts will begin with a pre-game show 20 minutes prior to each scheduled game-time.