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Bulldogs rebound for key win at Memorial Cup

The Hamilton Bulldogs rebounded after a tough tournament opener at the MasterCard Memorial Cup on Monday night
2018-05-21 Hamilton vs. Swift Current MB
Photo by Marissa Baecker/CHL Images

REGINA, Sask. – In a short tournament where every game takes on added meaning, it was the biggest game of the season for the Ontario Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs.

A late goal by Marian Studenic lifted the Bulldogs to a key 2-1 victory over the Western League’s Swift Current Broncos at the Brandt Centre in round robin action at the 2018 MasterCard Memorial Cup.

Studenic converted a cross-slot feed from Ben Gleason with 2:01 to go to put the Bulldogs ahead.

“He was really good,” Bulldogs Coach John Gruden said of the import forward. “He was on loose pucks and winning battles.”

It was a game that saw the Bulldogs take the play to the Broncos for much of the night, only to see Swift Current netminder Stuart Skinner turn aside 54 shots.

“He was outstanding,” said Swift Current Coach Manny Viveiros. “The score could have got out of hand really quick.”

“He was really good,” Gruden said. “We started to get more traffic in the third. You just have to stick with it. This is championship-type hockey.”

Gruden said there wasn’t any frustration on the Bulldogs bench as Skinner continued to turn the OHL champions aside.

“If you start getting frustrated, you start cheating, then they’re going to counter,” Gruden said. “We never allowed that to happen.”

Mackenzie Entwistle had the other goal for the Bulldogs, who improve to 1-1.

Goaltender Kaden Fulcher stopped 21 shots for Hamilton and received praise from Gruden.

“Fulcher was outstanding,” Gruden said. “He has really evolved as a goalie. Even though he only had 22 shots, some of them were really difficult. It’s really hard as a goalie to see the other goalie facing shots and making saves. When he had to be, he was outstanding.”

With two days off following their opening day loss to Regina, Gruden spoke of the great start the Bulldogs got off to against Swift Current, outshooting the WHL champs 22-4 in the opening period.

“Our guys had two days to recover,” Gruden said. “They weren’t happy about Friday.”

Colby Sissons had the lone goal for the Broncos, who fall to 0-2.

“They were working hard,” Viveiros said. “Nothing was going right, and we weren’t working the right way.

“Hamilton was just so much quicker than us tonight,” Viveiros also said. “They won the puck battles. They got out of their zone really quick. We were just a step behind tonight.”

The Bulldogs wrap up round robin action on Tuesday night against the Quebec League’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan. The Broncos face the host Regina Pats in the final game of the round robin on Wednesday night.

The final two games will determine positioning heading into the playoff round. A win by the Titan on Tuesday would send the Quebec champions straight to Sunday’s final. If Regina beats Swift Current, the Pats and Bulldogs will meet in Friday’s semifinal while a Broncos win would lead to a tie-breaker game.


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Brad Coccimiglio

About the Author: Brad Coccimiglio

A graduate of Loyalist College’s Sports Journalism program, Brad Coccimiglio’s work has appeared in The Hockey News as well as online at FoxSports.com in addition to regular freelance work with SooToday before joining the team full time.
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