Bulldogs welcome Switzerland team to Kincardine for start of Canadian tour

The Nicol Insurance Kincardine Bulldogs of the Provincial Junior Hockey League welcomed the EHC Dübendorf team of Switzerland to the Davidson Centre, Wednesday night, but wasn't about to roll over and play dead for the visitors.

In front of a packed crowd of 750 spectators, the 'Dogs scored a 4-2 victory, despite Dübendorf out-shooting the home side, 30-29.

Keegan Angel opened the scoring for the Bulldogs at 2:41 of the first period with assists from Will Rickerby and Mike Osadca.

Bryce McFadden scored from Mike Fiegehen at 12:16 to put the Bulldogs ahead, 2-0, but less than a minute later, Sven Seiler scored from Luca Danuser and Dominique Posch less than a minute later to put EHC Dübendorf within one at the end of the first period. 

Both of these evenly-matched teams had their chances in the second period but EHC Dübendorf goaltender Manuel Rufer stood tall between the pipes, until Kincardine’s Tyler Fregona scored in the final seconds of the period to restore the two-goal lead after 40 minutes. 

The third period was much like the second, as both teams were scoreless until the final minutes when Jesse Gunn scored, unassisted, at 17:33, to put the Bulldogs up, 4-1.

EHC Dübendorf was not finished, as Stefan Diezi scored from Nicola Trieb with 90 seconds left in the game. But the rally was over as the final buzzer sounded on a 4-2 win for the Bulldogs.

Rufer made 25 saves on 29 shots for EHC Dübendorf, while Malcolm Young and Craig Luinstra split duties in net for the Bulldogs, Young made 15 saves on 16 shots and Luinstra made 13 saves on 14 shots.
 
Kincardine was the first stop on the EHC Dübendorf team's Canada-versus-Switzerland tour. The visitors travelled to Kitchener Thursday to take in an OHL Kitchener Rangers morning practice, followed by a light skate and a pre-game session with Rangers’ assistant coach and former NHL'er Matthew Barnaby.

After some shopping in Kitchener, the EHC Dübendorf team was off to Mount Forest for a game against the Patriots Thursday night.

From there, it was Friday night in Mitchell, then New Year's Day in Port Perry, Jan. 2 at Napanee, and Jan. 3 at Alliston.

In Kincardine, there was plenty of pomp and ceremony in honour of the game against Switzerland. Huron-Bruce MP Ben Lobb was on hand to drop the puck, along with fellow dignitaries, Kincardine mayor Anne Eadie, Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) president Karen Phibbs, OHA director Jeff Beatty, and PJHL Pollock Division convener Steve Coulter.

The dignitaries were marched in by the Kincardine Scottish Pipe Band, and the national anthems were sung by the vocal ensemble, Colla Voce of Kincardine.

At the end of the game, Most Valuable Player awards were presented to Tyler Fregona of the Bulldogs and Stefan Diezi of  EHC Dübendorf.

Special thanks goes to Doug Kennedy, Bulldogs general manager and director of hockey operations, for helping to put together this exciting International hockey tour, along with Moore Sports Tours.

Also of note, the webcast of the game between the Bulldogs and EHC Dübendorf drew listeners from across Canada and the United States, as well as Europe.

Darren Maurer, assistant manager of the Bulldogs, said this game was heard in Mississauga, Kitchener, Hamilton, Oakville, Oshawa, Sudbury, and in the local region - Port Elgin, Goderich, Mount Forest, Brantford, Lion's Head, etc. It also drew listeners from Boardman, Oregon; Holmen, Wisconsin, Redmond, Washington, Ashburn, Virginia, and Florida; as well as Halifax, Nova Scotia; Warsaw, Poland; and Zurich and Dübendorf, Switzerland, and Austria.

The 'Dogs regularly have listeners from across Canada and the U.S., said Maurer. Depending on the opponent, they might even get a few in this area who can’t come to the game, as well as listeners from Toronto, across Ontario, and Virginia, Texas, Kansas, Missouri, California, Florida and Arizona,
 
During one game last year, the 'Dogs were coast-to-coast, with listeners in British Columbia and Nova Scotia during the same game.