The Games
At the Rochester Americans: The Bulldogs kicked off their 2014-2015 season on the road in Rochester, against an Amerks team boasting names such as Joel Armia, Johan Larsson, and Mikhail Grigorenko. Despite the firepower in Rochester’s lineup, Hamiltons’ newfound forward depth overpowered them en route to a 6-4 win over the Amerks. After falling behind 2-0 midway through the second period, Maxime Macenauer put home a Gabriel Dumont rebound to bring Hamilton within a goal. Less than two minutes later Nick Sorkin converted a T.J. Hensick pass into a tying goal, with the secondary assist going to Darren Dietz. Akim Aliu once again put the Amerks up 3-2, but Magnus Nygren sprung Charles Hudon, who broke away from the defenders and showed off a of couple nifty moves, then put the puck past Nathan Lieuwen to tie the game at three. Trailing Rochester late in the third period, newly-anointed captain Gabriel Dumont shoveled a backhand past Lieuwen to tie the game at 4-4, and just 17 seconds after that Daniel Carr converted a Hudon pass into the game winning goal. Drayson Bowman added an empty net goal to seal the game for the Bulldogs.
VS the Toronto Marlies: The Bulldogs then returned home to Hamilton to host their Ontario rivals, the Toronto Marlies, in another North Division clash. It didn’t take long for the recently sent down Michael Bournival to make an impact in his return to the Bulldogs lineup, as he opened the scoring just six minutes into the game, with assists going to Davis Drewiske, and the red-hot Charles Hudon. Looking to improve on his breakout rookie season, Sven Andrighetto picked up where he left off by wiring home his first goal of the year on the power play, with assists to Bowman and Hudon. However, a series of defensive lapses over the course of the game would cost the Bulldogs as they fell in overtime to the Marlies 3-2.
VS the Rockford Icehogs: Playing the second game of their back-to-back, the Bulldogs faced off against the Icehogs who boasted Finnish sensation Teuvo Teravainen. After a dominant preseason in Montreal, Christian Thomas continued his high level of play in Hamilton, and was rewarded with his first goal of the season less than three minutes into the game, with the assists going to Nick Sorkin and T.J. Hensick. Following a dominant rookie season for the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers, Mike Condon got his first start of the season for the Bulldogs. He turned in a strong performance, stopping 26 of 28 shots faced, but it wasn’t enough as the Bulldogs once again fell 2-1 in overtime.
Player Stats
| Player | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | PPP | SHG | SOG |
| Charles Hudon | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | +1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Maxime Macenauer | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Drayson Bowman | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | +1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Daniel Carr | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | +1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Gabriel Dumont | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Nick Sorkin | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Jake Dowell | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| T.J. Hensick | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Michael Bournival | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Sven Andrighetto | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 13 |
| Christian Thomas | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Jacob de la Rose | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Eric Tangradi | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Player | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | PPP | SHG | SOG |
| Magnus Nygren | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Darren Dietz | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Davis Drewiske | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Mac Bennett | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Joe Finley | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Greg Pateryn | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Player | GP | W | L | OTL | SO | GA | GAA | SV% |
| Joey MacDonald | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3.35 | .879% |
| Mike Condon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1.83 | .929% |
Bulldogs Player of the Week: Charles Hudon
Looking to make an impact at the pro level after several strong years in the QMJHL, with both the Chicoutimi Sagueneens and the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, Hudon starred in the Bulldogs early season games. He started the week by tallying a goal and assist in a 6-4 win over the Rochester Amerks, and followed that up with a pair of assists in a 3-2 loss to the Toronto Marlies. Despite being held off the score sheet against Rockford, Hudon is still the early points leader for Hamilton. Not only has Hudon been a force offensively, he has also been unafraid to get involved physically, and threw his body around frequently against Rochester. Four points in three games earned Charles Hudon our player of the week honours.
