Belleville Bulls

Belleville Bulls
founding	1981
resolution	2015
history	Belleville Bulls 1981–2015 Hamilton Bulldogs since 2015
Stadion	Yardmen Arena
Location	Belleville , Ontario
Team colors	black, red, gold, white
league	Ontario Hockey League
Conference	Eastern Conference
division	East Division
Memorial Cups	no
J. Ross Robertson Cups	1998/99

The Belleville Bulls were a Canadian ice hockey team from Belleville , Ontario . The team played in one of Canada's top three junior ice hockey leagues, the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) , from 1981 to 2015 .

history

The Belleville Bulls began in 1979 as the OHA junior team of the second category, whose championship they won in the 1980/81 season. On February 2, 1981, the city of Belleville received its own franchise from the Ontario Hockey League , so that the Belleville Bulls moved to the OHL. In the 1985/86 season, the Bulls reached the final of the J. Ross Robertson Cup for the first time , in which they were subject to the Guelph Platers , against whom they had won the title in the OHA in 1981. It took Belleville 13 years to reach the OHL final for the second time in franchise history in 1999. This time they beat the London Knights and got the opportunity to represent the OHL in the Memorial Cup .

Since the Kitchener Rangers were both hosts and OHL winners, the Belleville Bulls were allowed to take part in the Memorial Cup for a second time as runner-up in the OHL 2008.

After the 2014/15 season, the Bulls were bought by Michael Andlauer and relocated to Hamilton , where they are called the Hamilton Bulldogs . There they replaced the Bulldogs from the American Hockey League , who moved to St. John's at the same time , in order to operate there as St. John's IceCaps .

successes

Memorial Cup 1999 participation as OHL representative 2008 participation as OHL representative J. Ross Robertson Cup 1986 final defeat against the Guelph Platers 1999 final victory against the London Knights

Bobby Orr Trophy 1998/99 & 2007/08 Division Trophies 2000/01 Leyden Trophy , East Division 2001/02 Leyden Trophy, East Division 2006/07 Leyden Trophy, East Division 2007/08 Leyden Trophy, East Division 2008/09 Leyden Trophy, East Division 2012/13 Leyden Trophy, East Division

player

First round draft picks

Draft year	player	position	team
1983	Dan Quinn	13.	Calgary Flames
1984	Al Iafrate	4th	Toronto Maple Leafs
1987	Bryan Marchment	16.	Winnipeg Jets
1989	Scott Thornton	3.	Toronto Maple Leafs
1989	Rob Pearson	12.	Toronto Maple Leafs
1989	Steve Bancroft	21st	Toronto Maple Leafs
1995	Sean Brown	21st	Boston Bruins
1997	Daniel Cleary	13.	Chicago Blackhawks
1997	Nikos Tselios	22nd	Carolina Hurricanes
1999	Branislav Mezei	10.	New York Islanders
2012	Malcolm Subban	24.	Boston Bruins
2012	Brendan Gaunce	26th	Vancouver Canucks

Former players

The following players who were active for the Belleville Bulls played in the National Hockey League during their career :

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

Stan Drulia Dan Gratton Brent Gretzky Philipp Grubauer David Haas Mike Hartman Todd Hawkins Bryan Helmer Al Iafrate Jason Lafrenière Matt Luff Kevin MacDonald Bryan Marchment Shawn Matthias Darren McCarty Cody McCormick

Chris McRae Marty McSorley Branislav Mezei Craig Mills Kris Newbury Nick Palmieri Darren Pang Richard Pánik Justin Papineau Richard Park Rob Pearson Matt Pelech John Purves Dan Quinn Branko Radivojevič

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

Web links

• Profile on hockeydb.com