Belleville Bulls

The Belleville Bulls were a junior ice hockey team, founded in 1981 and based in Belleville, Ontario. The team played in the Eastern Division of the Eastern Conference of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team relocated to Hamilton, Ontario, at the end of the 2014–15 OHL season.

Belleville Bulls
City	Belleville, Ontario
League	Ontario Hockey League
Conference	Eastern
Division	East
Operated	1981–2015
Home arena	Yardmen Arena
Colours	Black, red, gold, white
Franchise history
1981–2015	Belleville Bulls
2015–2023	Hamilton Bulldogs
2023–present	Brantford Bulldogs

Belleville Bulls in action at home versus Oshawa Generals.

History

The Belleville Bulls started in 1979 as a Junior Tier II team in the OHA. In their second season in 1980–81, the Bulls won the Tier II title, defeating the Guelph Platers in the league finals. The Bulls then competed in the national championship for the Manitoba Centennial Trophy hosted in Halifax, Nova Scotia losing in the finals to the Prince Albert Raiders.

On February 2, 1981, the OHL granted an expansion franchise to the city of Belleville and the ownership group of Dr. Robert L. Vaughan & Bob Dolan. Dr. Robert L. Vaughan remained an owner/co-owner of the team for over 20 years until he sold the team in 2004 to Gord Simmonds. Dr. Vaughan was awarded the Bill Long award in 1993 for distinguished service to the OHL.

In 1983, Belleville hosted the OHL All-Star Game, known then as the OHL Chrysler Cup.

The Bulls reached the OHL finals in 1986 versus a familiar foe from their Tier II days, the Guelph Platers. The Platers won the series in 6 games. In 1995 and 1996, the Bulls lost in the semi-finals to the Guelph Storm.

The 1999 season would be one for the memories when the Belleville Bulls would win it all. The Bulls defeated the London Knights 9–2 in game seven of the OHL championship series at the Yardmen Arena to win their first J. Ross Robertson Cup.

The Bulls competed in the 1999 Memorial Cup, hosted in Ottawa versus the Calgary Hitmen, Acadie–Bathurst Titan and Ottawa 67's. Belleville finished third, losing to Ottawa 4–2 in the semifinal.

In the 2005–06 season, the Belleville Bulls celebrated their 25th anniversary in the OHL. The team also hosted the annual OHL All-Star game for the second time, on February 1, 2006. The Bulls set a season-best record of 102 points earned during the 2007–08 regular season.

In 2007–08, the Bulls made a trip to the Memorial Cup by virtue of Kitchener winning the Western Conference, and being the host, Belleville would get in as the OHL representative. The Bulls would lose the semi-final game 9–0 against the hosting team, the Kitchener Rangers, who would eventually lose to the Spokane Chiefs in the championship game.

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 to become the Hamilton Bulldogs. The Hamilton Bulldogs, an American Hockey League franchise, was concurrently sold to the Montreal Canadiens and moved to St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, for the 2015–16 season as the St. John's IceCaps (the True North Sports and Entertainment-owned IceCaps, which was affiliated with the Winnipeg Jets, moved back to Winnipeg to become the Manitoba Moose).^[1]

Championships

Leyden Trophy East Division Regular Season Champions

• 2000–2001
• 2001–2002
• 2006–2007
• 2007–2008
• 2008–2009
• 2012–2013

Bobby Orr Trophy Eastern Conference Champions

• 1998–1999
• 2007–2008

J. Ross Robertson Cup Championships: 1999

• 1985–1986 — Lost to Guelph Platers in OHL Final
• 1998–1999 — OHL Champions vs. London Knights
• 2007–2008 — Lost to Kitchener Rangers in OHL Final

Memorial Cup Appearances: 2

• 1999 OHL representative in Ottawa, Ontario
• 2008 OHL representative in Kitchener, Ontario

Coaches

Larry Mavety coached the Belleville Bulls for 14 seasons. He is third only to Brian Kilrea and Dale Hunter for amount of time coached with an OHL team.

Lou Crawford was groomed by Mavety to replace him behind the Bulls' bench. Lou Crawford is the brother of former NHL head coach Marc Crawford, who was also the head coach of the St. John's Maple Leafs (now the Toronto Marlies) in the American Hockey League, which played in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Their father, Floyd Crawford, was team captain of the 1959 World Champion Belleville McFarlands.

Former head coaches Lou Crawford and Shawn MacKenzie both had brief NHL careers. George Burnett briefly coached with the Edmonton Oilers. James Boyd is the only former Bulls player to later coach the Belleville team.

List of head coaches

(Multiple years in parentheses)

1979–1988 Larry Mavety (16) 1988–1990 Danny Flynn (2) 1990 playoffs – Shawn MacKenzie 1990–1997 Larry Mavety (16)

1997–2000 Lou Crawford (3) 2000–2003 Jim Hulton (3) 2003–2004 James Boyd 2004–2015 George Burnett (11)

Players

Award winners

CHL Humanitarian of the Year Award 1995–1996 Craig Mills Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy OHL Top Point Scorer. 1984–85 Dave MacLean 2000–01 Kyle Wellwood 2001–02 Nathan Robinson Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy OHL Top Scoring Right Winger. 1984–85 Dave MacLean 1991–92 Darren McCarty 2000–01 Branko Radivojevic 2001–02 Mike Renzi OHL Goaltender of the Year Voted best goaltender in the OHL. 1989–90 Jeff Fife 2007–08 Mike Murphy 2008–09 Mike Murphy F.W. "Dinty" Moore Trophy Best rookie goals against average. 1982–83 Dan Burrows 1985–86 Paul Henriques Wayne Gretzky 99 Award Playoffs MVP 1999 Justin Papineau

Dan Snyder Memorial Trophy Humanitarian of the year. 1995–96 Craig Mills 2001–02 David Silverstone 2002–03 Michael Mole 2006–07 Andrew Gibbons William Hanley Trophy Most sportsmanlike player. 1985–86 Jason Lafreniere 2002–03 Kyle Wellwood Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy Overage player of the year. 1984–85 Dunc MacIntyre 1998–99 Ryan Ready 2000–01 Randy Rowe 2006–07 Tyler Donati Bobby Smith Trophy Scholastic player of the year. 1984–85 Craig Billington Jack Ferguson Award First overall draft pick. 1981 Dan Quinn 2004 John Hughes

Captains

1981–1982 Ben Kelly 1982–1985 Dunc MacIntyre (3) 1985–1986 Daran Moxam (1) 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

• # 15 — Dunc MacIntyre

NHL alumni

• 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
• Brendan Gaunce
• Doug Gilmour
• 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
• Alan Quine
• Dan Quinn
• Branko Radivojevic
• Ryan Ready
• Keith Redmond
• Nathan Robinson
• Jarrod Skalde
• Jason Spezza
• Matt Stajan
• Malcolm Subban
• P. K. Subban
• Eric Tangradi
• Scott Thornton
• Nikos Tselios
• Mike Vellucci
• Kyle Wellwood
• Derek Wilkinson
• Darryl Williams

• Source

Season results

Ontario Provincial Junior Hockey League

Legend: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, SL = Shoot-out losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Centennial Cup champions

OPJHL champions

OPJHL runners-up

Season	GP	W	L	T	Pts	Win %	GF	GA	Standing	Playoffs
1979–80	44	24	18	2	50	0.568	235	191	5th OPJHL	Lost quarterfinal (Aurora Tigers) 4–3
1980–81	44	35	7	2	72	0.818	273	138	1st OPJHL	Won quarterfinal (Markham Waxers) 4–1 Won semifinal (North Bay Trappers) 4–0 Won OPJHL championship (Guelph Platers) 4–1 Won OHA championship (Onaping Falls Huskies) 3–0 Won Central Canada semifinal (Thunder Bay Kings) 4–1 Won Central Canada final (Gloucester Rangers) 4–3 2nd place in Centennial Cup round-robin Lost Centennial Cup final (Prince Albert Raiders) 6–2

Ontario Hockey League

Legend: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, SL = Shoot-out losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Memorial Cup champions

OHL champions

OHL runners-up

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	SL	Pts	Win %	GF	GA	Standing	Playoffs
1981–82	68	24	42	2	—	—	50	0.368	280	326	7th Leyden	Did not qualify
1982–83	70	34	36	0	—	—	68	0.486	342	332	6th Leyden	Lost divisional quarterfinal (Oshawa Generals) 7–1
1983–84	70	33	37	0	—	—	66	0.471	319	304	5th Leyden	Lost divisional quarterfinal (Oshawa Generals) 6–0
1984–85	66	42	24	0	—	—	84	0.636	390	278	2nd Leyden	Won divisional quarterfinal (Oshawa Generals) 8–2 Won divisional semifinal (Cornwall Royals 6–2 Lost divisional final (Peterborough Petes) 9–1
1985–86	66	37	27	2	—	—	76	0.576	305	268	2nd Leyden	Won divisional quarterfinal (Cornwall Royals) 9–3 Tied for 1st place divisional semifinal round-robin Won divisional final (Peterborough Petes) 9–7 Lost OHL championship (Guelph Platers) 8–4
1986–87	66	26	39	1	—	—	53	0.402	292	347	5th Leyden	Lost divisional quarterfinal (Kingston Canadians) 4–2
1987–88	66	32	30	4	—	—	68	0.515	297	275	4th Leyden	Lost divisional quarterfinal (Cornwall Royals) 4–2
1988–89	66	27	35	4	—	—	58	0.439	292	322	6th Leyden	Lost divisional quarterfinal (Peterborough Petes) 4–1
1989–90	66	36	26	4	—	—	76	0.576	301	247	5th Leyden	Won divisional quarterfinal (Kingston Frontenacs) 4–3 Lost divisional semifinal (Peterborough Petes) 4–0
1990–91	66	38	21	7	—	—	83	0.629	324	280	3rd Leyden	Lost divisional quarterfinal (Ottawa 67's) 4–2
1991–92	66	27	27	12	—	—	66	0.500	314	293	6th Leyden	Lost divisional quarterfinal (North Bay Centennials) 4–1
1992–93	66	21	34	11	—	—	53	0.402	280	315	6th Leyden	Lost divisional quarterfinal (Oshawa Generals) 4–3
1993–94	66	32	28	6	—	—	70	0.530	303	264	4th Leyden	Won divisional quarterfinal (Kingston Frontenacs) 4–2 Lost divisional semifinals (North Bay Centennials) 4–2
1994–95	66	32	31	3	—	—	67	0.508	295	287	4th East	Won first round (North Bay Centennials) 4–2 Won quarterfinal (Kingston Frontenacs) 4–2 Lost semifinal (Guelph Storm) 4–0
1995–96	66	35	26	5	—	—	75	0.568	300	250	3rd East	Won first round (Oshawa Generals) 4–1 Won quarterfinal (Ottawa 67's) 4–0 Lost semifinal (Guelph Storm) 4–1
1996–97	66	22	37	7	—	—	51	0.386	235	278	5th East	Lost firstround (Ottawa 67's) 4–2
1997–98	66	41	22	3	—	—	85	0.644	315	239	2nd East	Won first round (Peterborough Petes) 4–2 Lost quarterfinal (Plymouth Whalers) 4–2
1998–99	68	39	22	7	—	—	85	0.644	334	246	2nd East	Won conference quarterfinal (Sudbury Wolves) 4–0 Won conference semifinal (Ottawa 67's) 4–1 Won conference final (Oshawa Generals) 4–1 Won OHL championship (London Knights) 4–3 3rd place in Memorial Cup round-robin Lost in Memorial Cup semifinals (Ottawa 67's) 4–2
1999–2000	68	44	22	4	0	—	88	0.662	319	227	2nd East	Won conference quarterfinal (Peterborough Petes) 4–1 Won conference semifinal (Ottawa 67's) 4–2 Lost conference final (Barrie Colts) 4–1
2000–01	68	37	23	5	3	—	82	0.603	275	224	1st East	Won conference quarterfinal (Kingston Frontenacs) 4–0 Lost conference semifinal (Ottawa 67's) 4–2
2001–02	68	39	23	4	2	—	84	0.618	279	218	1st East	Won conference quarterfinal (Oshawa Generals) 4–1 Lost conference semifinal (Barrie Colts) 4–2
2002–03	68	33	27	6	2	—	74	0.544	195	200	3rd East	Lost conference quarterfinal (Toronto St. Michael's Majors) 4–3
2003–04	68	15	44	8	1	—	39	0.287	172	279	5th East	Did not qualify
2004–05	68	29	29	6	4	—	68	0.500	176	208	3rd East	Lost conference quarterfinal (Peterborough Petes) 4–1
2005–06	68	32	28	—	5	3	72	0.529	202	225	3rd East	Lost conference quarterfinal (Brampton Battalion) 4–2
2006–07	68	39	24	—	0	5	83	0.610	260	227	1st East	Won conference quarterfinal (Ottawa 67's) 4–1 Won conference semifinal (Oshawa Generals) 4–0 Lost conference final (Sudbury Wolves) 4–2
2007–08	68	48	14	—	4	2	102	0.750	280	175	1st East	Won conference quarterfinal (Peterborough Petes) 4–1 Won conference semifinal (Barrie Colts) 4–0 Won conference final (Oshawa Generals) 4–1 Lost OHL championship (Kitchener Rangers) 4–3 2nd place in Memorial Cup round-robin Lost Memorial Cup semifinal (Kitchener Rangers) 9–0
2008–09	68	47	17	—	2	2	98	0.721	258	176	1st East	Won conference quarterfinal (Sudbury Wolves) 4–2 Won conference semifinal (Niagara IceDogs) 4–1 Lost conference final (Brampton Battalion) 4–2
2009–10	68	20	40	—	2	6	48	0.353	189	263	5th East	Did not qualify
2010–11	68	21	43	—	0	4	46	0.338	175	271	4th East	Lost conference quarterfinal (Mississauga St. Michael's Majors) 4–0
2011–12	68	35	32	—	1	0	71	0.522	200	221	2nd East	Lost conference quarterfinal (Ottawa 67's) 4–2
2012–13	68	44	16	—	5	3	96	0.706	228	167	1st East	Won conference quarterfinal (Mississauga Steelheads) 4–2 Won conference semifinal (Sudbury Wolves) 4–0 Lost conference final (Barrie Colts) 4–3
2013–14	68	23	38	—	4	3	53	0.390	206	285	4th East	Did not qualify
2014–15	68	27	33	—	3	5	62	0.456	203	246	4th East	Lost conference quarterfinal (Barrie Colts) 4–0

Uniforms and logos

Original Bulls logo

Bulls uniforms through 2015

1999 to 2015:

• Uniform Colours: Black, Red, Gold, White
• Logo Design: An angry bull with a hockey stick

1982 to 1998:

• Uniform Colours: Black, Red, Gold, White
• Logo Design: A standing red and orange bull

Bulls Uniforms

Arena

The team played their homes games at the Belleville Yardmen Arena (capacity 3,257) for the existence of the franchise. The Yardmen Arena is part of the Quinte Sports Centre which is composed of the Yardmen Arena and the Wally Dever arena which is home to the Belleville McFarlands, an OHA Senior team, and is also used by minor hockey teams.

Capacity = 3,257

Ice Size = 199.5' x 99.5'

See also

• List of ice hockey teams in Ontario