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Hamilton is on track to fall into last place overall in the AHL



If you're sitting at home thinking to yourself, Gee, this year's Hamilton Bulldogs team kinda stinks, you're right. They do. They're awful.

But if you're looking for someplace to lay the blame, hold fire on most of the overmatched players. That's because the responsibility for Hamilton having a team that's in real danger of falling into last place in the entire American Hockey League before Christmas lies with the Montreal Canadiens and its feeble attempts to ice a competitive squad.

An inability to score is one thing. Same with a fondness for the penalty box. But things really hit bottom last weekend when the Dogs dressed only 15 skaters for back-to-back games in what was truly a minor-league moment for a minor-league team. Even owner Michael Andlauer admits he was embarrassed by that one.

"I expect that with our relationship, they will provide us with 18 players and a competitive team," the frustrated owner says, stressing the second half of that sentence. "I don't expect them just to provide 18 players."

That's not happening. Five losses in a row and 11 of their last 12 prove that. And the fact that he has no say in any player decisions means he can't do anything to fix things. Which is part of the reason he's meeting with the Canadiens next week to find out if something can be changed.

In the Habs' defence, it's unreasonable to expect to have a stocked farm team every year. Can't-miss prospects aren't easy to find. Drafting is a crapshoot. Most of Montreal's best young players have recently made the leap to the big team.

That's where free agents come in to fill the void, though. Franchises that are serious about building a solid farm team start with the prospects and then build around that with AHL veterans and guys who'd otherwise be heading to Europe. Yes, that costs money, but it works. For two years now, Andlauer's said he'd be willing to spend a few of his own dollars to bring some talent of his choosing here. The Habs so far don't appear interested.

In the meantime, they've built a dinosaur for him and his fans. Just in time for the year-long 10th anniversary celebration.

As soon as the NHL lockout ended and the new rules were introduced, everyone had a pretty good idea what the new hockey was going to look like, even if only conceptually. It was going to be fast and highly skilled with a flow that would reward smart, quick, offensively gifted players. Checking and banging forwards had a place in the new game, but only if they were nimble and able to play their game without clutching and grabbing. Defencemen with some playmaking ability who could ignite the transition game and score on the power play were the prototype on the back end.

So who did the Canadiens get for the Bulldogs this offseason? Guys like Johnathan Aitken, Jeff Paul, Ryan Barnes and Garth Murray. Four slow-footed grinders who've combined for a grand total of three points in 61 games.

That's not a misprint. Three points. In the new game, three points is an OK night for one guy. But this foursome can't find the net with a compass and a guide dog. And Murray is a centre. An offensive player, in other words. Yet, he's had only one game this season in which he finished the night with a positive plus-minus rating.

Of all the skaters who are Habs' property, only Corey Locke, Andre Benoit and Ron Hainsey have excelled. And Hainsey's gone now, lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets on waivers.

If it wasn't for the players the Oilers sent here as part of the renewed split-affiliation, this team would be truly atrocious. Jean-Francois Jacques, Marc-Antoine Pouliot and Brad Winchester have largely kept this ship sort of afloat. How much? Despite playing fewer than a quarter of the man-games their Canadiens' counterparts have, Edmonton's prospects have provided more than a third of the Dogs' goals.

Nobody's demanding a champion every year. But the team has become worse in each season of the Canadiens' three years in charge.

If they aren't willing to do what's necessary to provide a decent product, they need to let Andlauer step in and try. It's hard to imagine he could make things worse.

sradley@thespec.com