Hamilton Bulldogs

HAMILTON, ON – The Hamilton Bulldogs in conjunction with the American Hockey League and Houston Aeros are pleased to announce the dates and times for the upcoming Western Conference Finals between the ‘Dogs and Aeros. Hamilton will host Games 3, 4 and 5 (if necessary) at Copps Coliseum and tickets for those games are on sale and are only $21.50.  

The Bulldogs defeated the Oklahoma City Barons in six games in their best-of-seven North Division Semi-Finals series before downing the Manitoba Moose in seven games in the North Division Finals. The Aeros swept the Peoria Rivermen in four games in their best-of-seven West Division Semi-Finals series before knocking off the Milwaukee Admirals in seven games in the West Division Finals series. The two teams will meet in the Western Conference Finals series with Houston having home-ice advantage because they finished with more points than the ‘Dogs in the regular season. The Aeros finished the regular season in second place in the West Division with a record of 46-28-1-5 while Hamilton had a 1-1-0-0 record against Houston in the 2010-2011 regular season. The series will begin in Houston for Games 1 and 2 before heading to Hamilton for Games 3, 4 and 5 (if necessary). If Games 6 and 7 are needed, the teams will return to Houston to play them. This will be the second time the teams have met each other in the Calder Cup Playoffs. The previous time the two teams played in a seven-game playoff series was in the 2003 Calder Cup Final when the Aeros defeated the Bulldogs in seven games.

The following are the dates, along with locations, and times for the third-round playoff series between the Bulldogs and Aeros (all times eastern):

            Game #1 – Friday, May 13^th – 8:35 PM – Hamilton at Houston (Toyota Center)
            Game #2 – Sunday, May 15^th – 5:05 PM – Hamilton at Houston (Toyota Center)
            Game #3 – Tuesday, May 17^th – 7:30 PM – Houston at Hamilton (Copps Coliseum)
            Game #4 – Wednesday, May 18^th – 7:30 PM – Houston at Hamilton (Copps Coliseum)
            *Game #5 – Friday, May 20^th – 7:30 PM – Houston at Hamilton (Copps Coliseum)
            *Game #6 – Sunday, May 22^nd – 5:05 PM – Hamilton at Houston (Toyota Center)
            *Game #7 – Tuesday, May 24^th – 8:05 PM – Hamilton at Houston (Toyota Center)
* If necessary

The Bulldogs will begin their Western Conference Finals series against the Houston Aeros on Friday, May 13^th at 8:35 p.m. EST at Toyota Center in Houston. Fans can tune in to all ‘Dogs playoff games on the flagship station of the Hamilton Bulldogs Hockey Network, 820 CHAM, and online on www.hamiltonbulldogs.com and www.ahllive.com. All playoff games can also be heard live on Montreal’s The Team 990 radio station. All playoff Hamilton Bulldogs broadcasts on AM 820 CHAM will begin with a pre-game show 30 minutes prior to the scheduled start time.

Tickets for Hamilton’s third round series in the 2011 Calder Cup Playoffs are only $21.50 and are available at the Copps Coliseum Box Office, any Ticketmaster Outlet, online at www.ticketmaster.com or through charge-by-phone at 1-855-872-5000. fans interested in purchasing group tickets can do so by calling 905-777-2372.