September 30, 2022 – Ontario Hockey League (OHL) – Hamilton Bulldogs Press Release
HAMILTON, ONTARIO. The Hamilton Bulldogs opened the 2022-23 OHL season and their J. Ross Robertson Cup defense, with their first trip to the Sleeman Center in Guelph in nearly 3 years to face a pre-season favorite from the Western Conference in the Guelph Storm.
The Storm did what their name implied at the start of the first period, attacking the Bulldogs’ area and putting pressure on a young Hamilton defense, but Matteo Drobac held the door closed allowing his teammates to get their legs under them . After Cam Allen was flagged for a late game penalty, the Bulldogs struck first with the man advantage. Avery Hayes carried the puck to the right corner where the newly minted assistant captain spun and found Cole Brown in the slot which drew a pair of Storm defensemen towards him, sliding the puck to his right and finding George Diaco who covered the wrist at 9:08 to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. Guelph was quick to fight back after a puck hit in neutral ice found its way to Braeden Bowman, entering the offensive zone, Bowman distributed to the slot for Matthew Poitras who beat Drobac for the only time in the first quarter, tying the game 1-1 at 10:06. After Avery Hayes took a high stick in the Guelph zone, the Bulldogs’ power play got back to work. A big puck move around the formation led to a trade between George Diaco and Lucas Moore opened up Logan Morrison in the left circle who headed for goal and rang the puck bar at 11:50 a.m. for the 1st of the year of the new captain. the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead in 20 minutes.
After a historic season in 2021-22, the Bulldogs were able to write some history on the opening night of 2022-23 as Marek Vanacker recorded his 1st in the Ontario Hockey League at 15: 56 as Logan Morrison came off the bench to steal the puck in the offensive zone, feeding Noah Van Vliet in the middle of the blue line which found Lucas Moore in the right circle and as Moore approached Jacob Oster’s goal, Vanacker appeared wide open at the back post to deflect the puck behind Guelph’s goal giving Hamilton a 3-1 lead. Hamilton extended the power play lead again to 17:36 as Marek Vanacker worked the puck from right in the middle for Logan Morrison who drew three defensemen and gave the puck to George Diaco who fired the puck passed Oster for his 2nd of the game, making it a 4-1 game.
Guelph got one back at 19:00 minutes as Matthew Poitras fed Jake Karabela for his 1st of the season, shorthanded, but the Bulldogs would head to the locker room with a 4-2 lead in 40 minutes.
The third period went heavy against Hamilton as the Guelph Storm stormed in, beating the Bulldogs 10-2 in frame. Valentin Zhugin hit at 12:35 to bring Guelph back in under one, followed by Ben McFarlane who rebounded off the corner board at 16:34 and tossed the puck past Drobac to tie the game 4-4. A late power play for the Storm went nowhere, as did a 5-on-3 later for the Bulldogs and we led overtime 4-4 on opening night.
The Bulldogs fired the Storm in overtime 4-1 and were rewarded for their effort late with Guelph taking a call from Too Many Men with just 55 seconds left. As the seconds ticked Avery Hayes saved the puck from the left side for Lucas Moore, the defenseman swung the puck towards Logan Morrison who trailed past a defender and fired a wrist shot that hit the top corner with just 4- seconds remaining in overtime to give the Bulldogs the 5-4 overtime win.
The Hamilton Bulldogs will be back in action on Saturday night, October 1, as they travel to the Memorial Center in Peterborough for the first meeting of the season with the Petes.
For more information on the Hamilton Bulldogs’ 2022-23 season ticket packages, call 905-529-8500 or visit hamiltonbulldogs.com.
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