Really, how could it have been any better than last year?

Well, the locker rooms are cleaned out and most of the players are making their summer plans, which might include some hockey, but more likely golf.  Yes, another Bulldogs season wrapped up.  This year was obviously not as exciting as last.  But then again, how could you get much better than last year.  The Bulldogs won the Calder Cup last year for the first time in franchise history and like many of you I was half-heartedly waiting for a repeat, to no avail.  We must, however, put this in to perspective.  With the Dogs' victory last year, one had to figure that there was an overwhelming amount of talent within the organization.  Talent that one might consider to be ready to make the transition to the NHL, and that's exactly what happened.  Over this past season, Andrei and Sergie Koistitsin, Michail Grabovski, Maxime Lapierre, Ryan O'Byrne, Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak were all called up to play for the Habs.  Price retuned briefly, only to be called to take the starting role when Montreal traded Huet.  Meanwhile several other players made the up and down trip a few times including: Corey Locke, Matt D'Agostini, Greg Stewart and Yann Danis, to name a few. 

As the in-house announcer for the Dogs, I watched this all unfold game-by game.  For an AHL team it is extremely difficult to maintain a solid line-up when you are at the mercy of the parent club's roster reassignments, let alone when you have such a huge talent pool.  And with that we should have expected the Habs to have had such an amasing season!  This is just a natural part of the game and its farm system.

With that, I offer my congratulations to the Hamilton Bulldogs players, coaching staff, office staff and support crew.  It has been a fun season, if not a winning one.  I look forward to working with them next season.  And as a final note, I would encourage you, especially if you are one of those Hamiltonians who believes that it's our God-given right to have an NHL team, to buy a few tickets for next season and support this great team that our city has to offer.