Captain Morrison the OT Hero in Opening Win in Guelph
September 30, 2022 – Ontario Hockey League (OHL) – Hamilton Bulldogs News Release
HAMILTON, ONTARIO. The Hamilton Bulldogs opened the 2022-23 OHL season, and their
defense of the J. Ross Robertson Cup, with their first trip to the Sleeman Centre in Guelph in
nearly 3 years to take on a pre-season Western Conference favourite in the Guelph Storm.
The Storm did what their name implied early in the first period, attacking the Bulldogs zone and
pressuring a young Hamilton defense but Matteo Drobac held the door shut allowing his
teammates to get their legs under them. After Cam Allen was flagged for a delay of game
penalty, the Bulldogs struck first with the man advantage. Avery Hayes carried the puck to the
right-wing corner where the newly minted assistant captain spun and found Cole Brown in the
slot who drew a pair of Storm defenders to him, sliding the puck to his right and finding George
Diaco who roofed the wrister at 9:08 to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. Guelph was quick to strike
back after a batted puck in neutral ice found its way to Braeden Bowman, entering the offensive
zone, Bowman dealt off to the slot for Matthew Poitras who beat Drobac for the only time in the
opening frame, tying the game 1-1 at 10:06. After Avery Hayes took a high stick deep in the
Guelph zone, the Bulldogs power-play went back to work. Great puck movement around the
formation led to an exchange between George Diaco & Lucas Moore opened up Logan
Morrison in the left circle who walked his way to goal and rang the puck bar-down at 11:50 for
the new captain’s 1st of the year giving the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead through 20 minutes.
After a history making season in 2021-22 the Bulldogs were able to make a little history on
opening night for 2022-23 as Marek Vanacker recorded his 1st in the Ontario Hockey League at
the 15:56 mark as Logan Morrison raced off the bench to steal the puck in the offensive zone,
feeding Noah Van Vliet at the middle of the blueline who found Lucas Moore in the right circle
and as Moore approached Jacob Oster’s goal, Vanacker appeared wide open on the back post
to deflect the puck into the back of the Guelph goal giving Hamilton a 3-1 lead. Hamilton
extended the lead once again on the power-play at 17:36 as Marek Vanacker worked the puck
from the right to the middle for Logan Morrison who drew three defenders and fed 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 through
40 minutes.
The third period went heavily against Hamilton as the Guelph Storm, stormed back, outshooting
the Bulldogs 10-2 in the frame. Valentin Zhugin struck at 12:35 to get Guelph back within one
followed by Ben McFarlane taking a corner board bounce at 16:34 and whacking the puck past
Drobac to tie the game 4-4. A late power-play for the Storm went for naught as did a later 5-on-3
for the Bulldogs and we headed overtime 4-4 on opening night.
The Bulldogs outshot the Storm in the extra period 4-1 and were rewarded for their efforts late
with Guelph taking a Too Many Men call with just 55-seconds to play. As the seconds ticked
away, Avery Hayes rescued the puck on the left-wing side feeding middle for Lucas Moore, the
defender swiveled the puck to Logan Morrison who toe dragged past one defender and fired a
wrist shot that hit top corner with just 4-seconds remaining in overtime to give the Bulldogs the
5-4 overtime victory.
The Hamilton Bulldogs return to action on Saturday night, October 1st, as they travel to the
Memorial Centre in Peterborough for the first meeting of the season with the Petes.
For more information on Hamilton Bulldogs 2022-23 Season Ticket packages call 905-529-
8500 or visit hamiltonbulldogs.com.
• Discuss this story on the Ontario Hockey League message board…
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
