The Hamilton Bulldogs (American Hockey League affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens) will look to extend their lead in the Western Conference and North Division standings by hosting two divisional counterparts at Copps Coliseum for three games this week.  The 'Dogs will hit the ice on Wednesday, February 24^th for a 7:30 PM EST contest against their Southern Ontario rivals, the Toronto Marlies (American Hockey League affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs).  The Rochester Americans (American Hockey League affiliate of the Florida Panthers) will then be in town on Saturday, February 27^th for a 7:00PM EST meeting with the Bulldogs.  Hamilton will then host the Marlies for the second time in five nights, as Toronto will revisit Copps Coliseum on Sunday, February 28^th with puck drop slated for 6:00 PM EST. 

Last week, the Bulldogs got back on the winning track with two consecutive victories after dropping three straight games.  The 'Dogs began the week with a 5-0 defeat at the hands of the Texas Stars (American Hockey League affiliate of the Dallas Stars) on Tuesday, February 16^th.  Determined to avenge their worst loss of the season, the Bulldogs rallied on the road to beat the Grand Rapids Griffins (American Hockey League affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings) 4-3 on Friday, February 19^th, snapping a three-game losing streak.  Hamilton continued their winning ways by crushing the Adirondack Phantoms (American Hockey League affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers) 5-0 in front of over 15,500 fans at Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec on Sunday, February 21^st.
 

WEEK IN REVIEW:

Tuesday, February 16^th - HAMILTON BULLDOGS 0 vs. TEXAS STARS 5

Copps Coliseum - Hamilton, ON

Hamilton Goals: No Scoring

Texas Goals: Warren Peters*, Andrew Hutchinson, Aaron Gagnon, Trevor Ludwig, Mathieu Beaudoin

Goaltending: Hamilton: Cedrick Desjardins (L - 20 shots, 17 saves); Curtis Sanford (17 shots, 15 saves) / Texas: Richard Bachman (W, SO - 17 shots, 17 saves)

Power Play: Hamilton 0-3 / Texas 3-8

Attendance: 2,551

* - Game Winning Goal

Friday, February 19^th - HAMILTON BULLDOGS 4 @ GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 3

Van Andel Arena - Grand Rapids, MI

Hamilton Goals: David Desharnais (3), Grant Stevenson*

Grand Rapids Goals: Jan Mursak, Francis Pare, Jeremy Williams

Goaltending: Hamilton: Curtis Sanford (W - 26 shots, 23 saves) / Grand Rapids: Daniel Larsson (L - 34 shots, 30 saves)

Power Play: Hamilton 0-2 / Grand Rapids 0-2

Attendance: 8,493

*- Game Winning Goal

Sunday, February 21^st - HAMILTON BULLDOGS 5 vs. ADIRONDACK PHANTOMS 0

Bell Centre - Montreal, PQ

Hamilton Goals: Tom Pyatt*(2), Brock Trotter (2), Grant Stevenson

Adirondack Goals: No Scoring

Goaltending: Hamilton: Cedrick Desjardins (W, SO - 16 shots, 16 saves) / Adirondack: Johan Backlund (L - 20 shots, 15 saves)

Power Play: Hamilton 1-5 / Adirondack 0-8

Attendance: 15,529

* - Game Winning Goal

AMI

NORTH DIVISION STANDINGS:

(As of Tuesday, February 23^rd)

BULLDOGS NOTES:

• The Bulldogs would like to congratulate RW Mike Glumac and his wife Melissa on the birth of their son, Michael Elija Glumac, who was born on Saturday, January 23^rd.
• Hamilton's 5-0 victory over the Rockford IceHogs on Wednesday, January 27^th was the team's sixth road shutout this season, setting a new franchise mark for most shutouts on the road in one season.
• Bulldogs D Yannick Weber is currently representing his native Switzerland in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games on the Swiss Men's Ice Hockey team. Weber has suited up for all three of his country's preliminary round games.
• Hamilton's 80 points are currently two more than any other team in the Western Conference.
• Hamilton's 0.690 points percentage is currently second best in the AHL.
• Bulldogs LW Tom Pyatt has registered five multi-point games in his last seven contests, highlighted by a hat trick to go along with an assist in the Bulldogs' 5-2 win over the Rochester Americans on February 5^th. Overall, the Thunder Bay, Ontario native has scored 13 goals and 22 assists for 35 points in 39 games played this season, putting him in 5^th position in the Bulldogs' scoring race.
• Hamilton C David Desharnais scored a hat trick in last week's 4-3 Bulldogs victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins on February 19^th. With the win, the 'Dogs snapped a three game losing skid. The Quebec native has become acquainted with the score sheet, racking up 23 points in his last 15 games. Desharnais now ranks second on the team and 14^th in the league with 19 goals and 34 assists for 53 points in just 40 games played this season.
• Bulldogs C Brock Trotter has scored six goals and five assists for 11 points in his last seven games. The former Denver Pioneer leads the Bulldogs and is 4^th in the AHL with 28 goals and 31 assists for 59 points in 54 games played this season. Trotter's 28 goals also put him in a tie for 3^rd in the league in that category.

UPCOMING GAMES:  

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24^TH - HAMILTON BULLDOGS vs. TORONTO MARLIES

7:30 PM EST - COPPS COLISEUM - HAMILTON, ON

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28^TH - HAMILTON BULLDOGS vs. TORONTO MARLIES

6:00 PM EST - COPPS COLISEUM - HAMILTON, ON

• This will be the seventh of 12 matchups between the Southern Ontario rivals this season
• In their last meeting on February 6^th, the visiting Bulldogs squeaked out a narrow 2-1 victory over the Marlies with RW Mike Glumac netting the game winning goal for the 'Dogs
• Hamilton currently holds a 3-1-1-1 record against Toronto this season
• Toronto currently sits in 6^th position in the North Division standings with a 23-26-5-5 record and 56 points on the year
• In 2008-2009, the Bulldogs managed 7-3-2-0 record against the Marlies
• Hamilton's all-time record against Toronto currently sits at 24-22-0-5-3
• RW Andre Deveaux (14-18-32) is currrently pacing the Marlies attack with 14 goals and 18 assists for 32 points in 53 games played thus far this season
• There are currently seven Ontario natives listed on the Marlies roster: C Tim Brent (Cambridge), LW Ryan Hamilton (Oshawa), RW Richard Greenop (Bowmanville), C Justin Hodgman (Brampton), D Ryan Stokes (Sarnia), D Phil Oreskovic (North York), and D Todd Perry (Ingleside)

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27^TH - HAMILTON BULLDOGS vs. ROCHESTER AMERICANS

7:00 PM EST - COPPS COLISEUM - HAMILTON, ON

• This will be the ninth of 10 contests between the North Division rivals this season
• In their last meeting on February 5^th, LW Tom Pyatt recorded a hat-trick and added an assist to lead the Bulldogs to a 5-2 victory over the Americans at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York
• The Bulldogs currently boast a 4-3-0-1 record against the Americans this season
• Rochester currently sits in 2^nd place in the North Division with a 32-25-2-0 record and 66 points, 14 points behind the division-leading Bulldogs
• Last season, the Bulldogs skated to a 5-3-0-0 record in eight games against the Americans
• Hamilton currently holds a 56-63-7-0-4 all-time record against Rochester
• C Jamie Johnson (22-35-57) is currently atop the Americans' scoring race with 22 goals and 34 assists for 56 points in 59 games played this season
• There are currently eight Ontario natives listed on the Rochester roster: C Jamie Johnson (Port Franks), C Chris Taylor (Stratford), LW Michael Duco (Toronto), RW Victor Oreskovich (Oakville), C Shawn Matthias (Mississauga), LW Kendal McArdle (Toronto), D Michael Caruso (Mississauga), and D John de Gray (Richmond Hill)

ALUMNI WATCH:

There are more than 40 former Bulldogs on 2009-2010 National Hockey League rosters. Over 60 percent of all former 'Dogs have played in at least one NHL game. Here are a few highlights and accomplishments of ex-'Dogs from this past week:

• The Hamilton Bulldogs would like to congratulate the 10 alumni who have been named to Olympic rosters for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.  Forwards Mikhail Grabovski, Andrei Kostitsyn, and Sergei Kostitsyn will represent Belerus.  D Jan Hejda and C Tomas Plekanec will suit up for the Czech Republic.  Minnesota Wild F Antti Miettinen will wear the blue and white for Team Finland.  G Jaroslav Halak and F Marcel Hossa will wear their national colours for Slovakia.  Stalwart D Mike Komisarek and Vezina Trophy winner G Tim Thomas will take to the ice for the United States.
• Team Belarus forward Sergei Kostitsyn scored his team's lone goal in a 5-1 loss to Team Finland (Feb. 17), then scored a goal and added three assists in a 5-3 win over Team Germany (Feb. 20)... Kostitsyn now ranks among the tournament leaders with two goals and three assists for five points in three games played thus far.
• Team Czech Republic C Tomas Plekanec was credited with a goal in each of his country's three preliminary games - a 3-1 win over Team Slovakia (Feb. 17), a 5-2 win over Team Latvia (Feb. 19), and a 4-2 loss to Russia (Feb. 21).
• Team Slovakia G Jaroslav Halak made 36 saves and stood tall in the shootout, backstopping his country to a 2-1 shootout victory over Alex Ovechkin and the high-powered Team Russia squad (Feb. 18).

TUNE IN TO Every Game on the Hamilton Bulldogs Hockey Network AND CABLE 14:

Fans can listen to every 'Dogs game this season on the flagship station of the Hamilton Bulldogs Hockey Network, 'TALK 820'. Fans can also listen or watch at www.hamiltonbulldogs.com by clicking on the 'AHL Live' or 'TALK 820' icon on the Bulldogs website. All regular-season radio and online broadcasts will begin with a pre-game show 30 minutes prior to each scheduled game-time. Ellery Award-winning broadcaster Derek Wills calls the play-by-play of all 80 regular season games, while Al Craig provides the colour commentary for all home games and select road games.

In addition Cable 14 will air live broadcasts 13 of club's 38 home games at Copps Coliseum. In a joint venture with Mohawk College, Cable 14 will also broadcast the 25 Hamilton Bulldogs' home games not being shown live in their entirety as 'Dogs-in-an-Hour at 11:00 p.m. on the night of the game. 

Cable 14 will also carry Rogers Television's live coverage of six Hamilton Bulldogs versus Toronto Marlies games at Ricoh Coliseum.

For a full listing of all the games broadcast on Cable 14 follow this link: http://www.hamiltonbulldogs.com/page/broadcast_1019#Live%20Broadcast%20Schedule

GET YOUR TICKETS!:

Hamilton Bulldogs season tickets, flex tickets, min pack tickets, group tickets and tickets are now on sale! Individual game tickets are available at the Copps Coliseum Box Office (in-person sales only), all Ticketmaster outlets and online at ticketmaster.ca or call 905-527-7666. For information on season tickets, flex tickets, mini pack tickets and group tickets visit www.hamiltonbulldogs.com, or call (905) 529-8500 or 1-866-364-7849.

GET YOUR BULLDOGS MERCHANDISE AT THE "DAWG HOUSE":
Fans can purchase Bulldogs merchandise during all home games at the "Dawg House" store located behind section 114 on the concourse level at Copps Coliseum.

In the store, fans can find hats, t-shirts, jackets, replica jerseys, foam fingers, foam 'Bone Heads', and other select novelty items for sale.

MOLSON CUP - THREE STAR LEADERS:

(1^st Star - 5pts, 2^nd Star - 3pts, 3^rd Star - 1pt)

FLAMBORO DOWNS WORKHORSE OF THE GAME LEADERS:
(10 pts. - Hardest working Hamilton Bulldogs player)

HAMILTON BULLDOGS TEAM STATISTICS:

(As of Tuesday, February 23^rd, 2010)

Hamilton Bulldogs