The greatest season in Hamilton OHL history came to an empathic conclusion Wednesday night, as they dropped a 6-3 decision to the St. John Sea Dogs.
After beating the WHL Champion Edmonton Oil Kings and the QMJHL champion Shawinigan Cataractes in the thrilling semifinal, the battle-tested Bulldogs came into the Final with momentum.
But when the first period played out, it was the Sea Dogs who shook the confidence of the country’s number one ranked team with their run-and-gun style, scoring two goals in the opening six minutes. The Bulldogs responded less than two minutes later with the Mason McTavish goal, closing the gap to 2-1 after the first twenty minutes of play.
In the second period, the Sea Dogs responded with two goals in a span of 34 seconds. Jan Mysak answered one back for Hamilton before the middle frame concluded as the host team edging the Bulldogs 4-2 after 40 minutes of play.
As the final frame took place, the Sea Dogs controlled the momentum. The Sea Dogs’ Josh Lawrence provided the insurance at 6:32. The Bulldogs’ McTavish scored his second marker of the game at 15:03, cutting the lead down to 5-3. But the Sea Dogs sealed the deal with an empty netter from Peter Reynolds with 1:07 remaining.
Despite the subpar showing at the Memorial Cup, the Hamilton Bulldogs had a stellar season and a remarkable postseason run that should be commended across the league.
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