Hamilton Bulldogs

Hamilton Bulldogs
City	Hamilton, Ontario
League	Ontario Hockey League
Conference	Eastern Conference
Division	East
Founded	1981
Operated	2015–present
Home arena	FirstOntario Centre
Colours	Black, Gold, White
General manager	Steve Staios
Head coach	John Gruden
Affiliate(s)	Ancaster Avalanche
Franchise history
1981–2015	Belleville Bulls
2015–present	Hamilton Bulldogs

The Hamilton Bulldogs are a major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League that began to play in the 2015–16 season. Based in Hamilton, Ontario, the Bulldogs play their home games at the FirstOntario Centre. They were purchased by owner Michael Andlauer in March 2015 and re-located to Hamilton after a 34-year run in Belleville, where they were known as the Bulls.

The Bulldogs replaced the American Hockey League team of the same name, also formerly owned by Andlauer. That team's first franchise played from in Hamilton from 1996 to 2015, after which they moved to St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador to become the second incarnation of the St. John's IceCaps.

History

Move to Hamilton

On March 12, 2015, Michael Andlauer announced that he had acquired the Belleville Bulls, and that they would move to Hamilton's FirstOntario Centre for the 2015–16 season and become the Hamilton Bulldogs. The former AHL Hamilton Bulldogs were concurrently sold to the Montreal Canadiens and will move to St. John's, Newfoundland for the 2015-16 season as the St. John's IceCaps (the current True North Sports and Entertainment-owned IceCaps, which are affiliated with the Winnipeg Jets, moved back to Winnipeg on an interim basis).^[1]

Players

Current Roster

Goaltenders
Number		Player	Catches	Position	Birth year	Place of birth	Acquired	NHL Status
33		Kaden Fulcher	L	G	1998	Brigden, Ontario	Trade SSM (2016)	Eligible 2016
29		Connor Hicks	L	G	1997	Kanata, Ontario	7th round (2013)	Free Agent

Defencemen
Number		Player	Shoots	Position	Birth year	Place of birth	Acquired	NHL Status
2		Brody Morris	L	D	1996	Corbyville, Ontario	9th round (2012)	Free Agent
5		Justin Lemcke	R	D	1997	Whitby, Ontario	1st round (2013)	Free Agent
6		Ondrej Kachyna	L	D	1998	Hodonin, Czech Republic	1st round import (2015)	Eligible (2016)
8		Jesse Sabban	L	D	1997	Lindsay, Ontario	2nd round (2013)	Free Agent
9		Reilly Webb	R	D	1999	Stoney Creek, Ontario	2nd round (2015)	Eligible 2017
20		Cole Candella	L	D	1998	Mississauga, Ontario	2nd round (2014)	Eligible (2016)
22		Jack Hanley	L	D	1998	Whitby, Ontario	4th round (2014)	Eligible (2016)
24		Connor Walters	R	D	1997	Welland, Ontario	Trade OS (2015)	Free Agent
42		Benjamin Gleason	L	D	1996	Ortonville, Michigan	Trade LON (2015)	Eligible (2016)

Forwards
Number		Player	Shoots	Position	Birth year	Place of birth	Acquired	NHL Status
12		Mitchell Mendonca	L	C	1998	Thorold, Ontario	5th round (2014)	Eligible 2016
14		Niki Petti	R	RW	1996	Welland, Ontario	1st round (2012)	Free Agent
10		Trent Fox	C	LW	1997	Chatham, Ontario	Trade ER (2015)	Free Agent
17		Brandon Saigeon	L	C	1998	Grimsby, Ontario	1st round (2014)	Eligible 2016
12		Evan Krassey	R	RW	1998	Atikokan, Ontario	8th round (2014)	Eligible 2016
18		Matthew Strome	L	LW	1999	Mississauga, Ontario	1st round (2015)	Eligible 2017
19		Adam Laishram	R	C	1997	Asburn, Ontario	4th round (2012)	Free Agent
21		Luke Kutevicius	L	C	1998	Toronto, Ontario	Trade MISS (2016)	Eligible 2016
25		Matt Luff	R	RW	1997	Oakville, Ontario	7th round (2013)	Free Agent
26		Evan Krassey	R	RW	1998	Atikokan, Ontario	Trade NIAG (2016)	Eligible 2016
27		Maurizio Colella	L	LW	1997	Tottenhm, Ontario	5th round (2013)	Free Agent
28		Joseph Mizzi	R	RW	1998	Markham, Ontario	7th round (2014)	Eligible 2016
43		Michael Cramarossa	L	LW	1996	Markham, Ontario	3rd round (2012)	Free Agent
44		MacKenzie Entwhistle	R	RW	1999	Georgetown, Ontario	2nd round (2015)	Eligible 2017

Captains (as Belleville Bulls)

1981–1982 Ben Kelly 1982–1985 Dunc MacIntyre (3) 1986–1988 Brian Chapman (2) 1988–1989 Bryan Marchment 1989–1990 Greg Bignell 1990–1991 John Parco 1991–1992 Darren McCarty 1992–1993 Chris Clancy

1993–1994 Jarrett Reid & Mark Donahue 1994–1996 Craig Mills (2) 1996–1997 Daniel Cleary 1997–1999 Ryan Ready (2) 1999–2000 Justin Papineau 2000–2001 Nick Policelli 2001–2002 Matt Coughlin 2002–2003 Cody McCormick

2003–2004 Andrew Brown 2004–2005 Marc Rancourt 2005–2007 Andrew Gibbons (2) 2007–2008 Matt Beleskey 2008–2009 Eric Tangradi 2009–2012 Luke Judson (3) 2012–2014 Brendan Gaunce (2) 2014–2015 Jake Marchment 2014–2015 Brett Welychka

Retired numbers (as a Belleville Bulls)

• # 15 — Dunc MacIntyre

NHL alumni (as Belleville Bulls)

Steve Bancroft Matt Beleskey Radim Bicanek Craig Billington Evan Brophey Kevin Brown Sean Brown Brian Chapman Jonathan Cheechoo Tony Cimellaro David Clarkson Daniel Cleary Brandon Convery Craig Coxe Troy Crowder Andre Deveaux Doug Doull

Stan Drulia Tyler Graovac Dan Gratton Brent Gretzky Philipp Grubauer David Haas Mike Hartman Todd Hawkins Bryan Helmer Al Iafrate Jason Lafreniere Shawn Lalonde Kevin MacDonald Bryan Marchment Brandon Mashinter Shawn Matthias Darren McCarty Cody McCormick Chris McRae

Marty McSorley Branislav Mezei Craig Mills Mike Murphy Jan Mursak Kris Newbury Nick Palmieri Darren Pang Richard Panik Justin Papineau Richard Park Adam Payerl Rob Pearson Matt Pelech John Purves Dan Quinn Branko Radivojevic

Ryan Ready Keith Redmond Nathan Robinson Jarrod Skalde Jason Spezza Matt Stajan P. K. Subban Eric Tangradi Scott Thornton Nikos Tselios Mike Vellucci Kyle Wellwood Derek Wilkinson Darryl Williams

• Source

Season-by-season results

Regular season

Legend: OTL = Overtime loss, SL = Shootout loss

Season	Games	Won	Lost	OTL	SL	Points	Pct %	Goals For	Goals Against	Standing
2015–16	68	25	35	8	0	58	.426	197	260	5th East

Playoffs

• 2015–16 Out of playoffs.

See also

• List of ice hockey teams in Ontario

References

1. "Hamilton Bulldogs sell AHL franchise, buy the OHL Belleville Bulls". CBC News. Retrieved 12 March 2015.

External links

• Hamilton Bulldogs Official web site
• Ontario Hockey League Official web site
• Canadian Hockey League Official web site