The Western Conference Finals had Game 5 Friday night in Hamilton, with the Bulldogs trailing the Houston Aeros three games to one. Hamilton had their backs squarely against the wall, having gone down 3-0 to start the conference finals.
Friday night on their home ice, Hamilton skated away with a 4-2 win, setting the stage for Sunday night’s Game 6, back in Houston.
Last night, Nigel Dawes scored his second goal of the game 9 minutes and 11 seconds into the second overtime period, giving the Bulldogs a 5-4 win and more importantly, tieing the series at three games each. Game 7 is scheduled for tomorrow night in Houston.
Meanwhile, the official silence is deafening on the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg and thus the Manitoba Moose to somewhere else story. The only statement issued by the NHL regarding the move was a terse “no deal is done”.
When all is said and done, this may have been one of the worst kept secrets of all time. Just as there were stories regarding the Thrashers situation in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, so was there a story in Saturday’s St. John’s Telegram. Shortly after the Telegram story was published, TSN’s Darren Dreger tweeted:
For what it’s worth, the Manitoba Moose say they have no agreement with St John’s and no plan for an announcement on Friday.