Full of Bulldogs
The latest venture of the Ontario Hockey League into Hamilton is giving the appearance of being a rather solid move.
Hamilton Bulldogs are in their second OHL season following the relocation of the Belleville Bulls to the venerable steel town.
After missing the OHL playoffs in 2015-2016, Hamilton is headed to the 2016-2017 post-season dance and will finish in either fourth or fifth place in the 10-team Eastern Conference.
Routinely playing in front of crowds in the 3,500 range at the FirstOntario Centre, the Bulldogs are establishing a presence in Hamilton — where multiple other OHL teams have set up shop over the decades only to depart.
Hamilton Red Wings. Hamilton Fincups. Hamilton Steelhawks. Dukes of Hamilton.
All except the Dukes enjoyed good-to-very good on-ice success in Hamilton only to ultimately leave town.
This version of the OHL in Hamilton is under the steely-eyed watch of president and general manager Steve Staois, a hometown guy and former standout OHL defenseman who went on to play in more than 1,000 National Hockey League games.
One of the first off-season marketing moves made by Staois was to change the Bulldogs colours from red-white-and-blue to the black-white-and-gold worn by the legendary Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League.
On the ice, the Bulldogs take a record of 30-25-7 into the final six games of the ’16-17 regular season.
Staois has tweaked the Bulldogs roster since the beginning of the season by bringing in veterans who have improved the club, notably 1998 birth-year centre Will Bitten and 1996 birth-year (overage) goalie Dawson Carty.
The Bulldogs are by no means an OHL powerhouse.
But they have managed to move up from missing the playoffs last season to become a middle-of-the-pack contender this season. And in an Eastern Conference where there is no real powerhouse, Hamilton probably has as good a chance of playoff-series advancement as any.
The Bull Dogs do a fair amount of promotion and they do have a nice following altho I think that a market the size of Hamilton should be supporting the Team more like they do in Kitchener, London and over in St. Catharines.
Staiois is a Hamilton guy and he sure seems bent on making the Bull Dogs a big deal in Hamilton . . .
. . . Enjoyed the Article!
Where is DJ King who was taken in the 2nd Round? Is he coming to Hamilton?
Thanks Randy. Enjoyed that. I took in a game last week against Peterborough. Hamilton lost. But, they don’t look bad.
I’m not sure if you have heard, but one of our former Fincups owners passed away this past week. Mario Cupido. He was a great guy and real gentleman. A sad thing for a lot of us. Take care and thanks again.
— Ron Roscoe #5