Hamilton Bulldogs 2015 Off-Season Thread

[theBulldogsOHL]

With the Bulls season coming to an end its time to start talking about the future of the franchise. It'll be interesting to see what happens from the coaching & management side of things. Have to think Andlauer will want to bring in his own guys.

There was also an article in the Spec today that fans have overwhelmingly asked for a uniform color change but they reiterated that it won't happen until next season as its too late. Gotta think merchandise sales will take a large hit next year if fans know it will be outdated the following season.

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[JMROWE]

They are going to have to change the uniforms & colours to distance themselves from the Canadians & Oilers AHL. eras in Hamilton they do this there is no doubt in my mind that the Bulldogs OHL. era will do a lot better than the AHL. era ever did & I predict that the Bulldogs will avg. at least 5.000 a game maybe more seeing that junior hockey is a lot more popular than the AHL. also I compare junior hockey's popularity to USA. NCAA. Football & Basketball in Canada .

In my opinion the colours & uniforms need an overhaul that fits the city of Hamilton as for the logo it is fine in fact it is one of the best in hockey so there is no need to change that so here is what I propose .

New Colours
Black , Red & Bronze
Black , Red & Gold
Black , Red & Pewter\Silver
Black , Orange & Pewter\Silver

New secondary logo so where on the lines of bones . spiked dog collar , paw print & the letter H .

 

[Stanley Foobrick]

I'd be very surprised if the strayed very far from the Tiger Cats black and gold, those seem to be Hamilton's colours.

 

[HamiltonOHL]

They are going to have to change the uniforms & colours to distance themselves from the Canadians & Oilers AHL. eras in Hamilton they do this there is no doubt in my mind that the Bulldogs OHL. era will do a lot better than the AHL. era ever did & I predict that the Bulldogs will avg. at least 5.000 a game maybe more seeing that junior hockey is a lot more popular than the AHL. also I compare junior hockey's popularity to USA. NCAA. Football & Basketball in Canada .

In my opinion the colours & uniforms need an overhaul that fits the city of Hamilton as for the logo it is fine in fact it is one of the best in hockey so there is no need to change that so here is what I propose .

New Colours
Black , Red & Bronze
Black , Red & Gold
Black , Red & Pewter\Silver
Black , Orange & Pewter\Silver

New secondary logo so where on the lines of bones . spiked dog collar , paw print & the letter H .

Even if u want black, red and gold for away which not sure how that would look how would look but then u go what white, red and gold for home?

 

[HamiltonOHL]

As for staff goes not sure what kind of experience Burnett had and such but i hope whom ever they hire has some Major Junior success experience or even nhl experience

 

[Evil Doctor]

I'd be very surprised if the strayed very far from the Tiger Cats black and gold, those seem to be Hamilton's colours.

Actually...

 

[JMROWE]

Even if u want black, red and gold for away which not sure how that would look how would look but then u go what white, red and gold for home?

I am pretty sure it would be home whites & road blacks & Alt. Reds if they choose go with those colours

 

[frontsfan2005]

As for staff goes not sure what kind of experience Burnett had and such but i hope whom ever they hire has some Major Junior success experience or even nhl experience

Burnett has a ton of OHL experience, he coached Guelph to the championship back in 1998, taking the Storm to the Memorial Cup final game, where they lost in overtime to Portland. He also coached the Bulls to the OHL finals in 2008, where they lost to Kitchener in seven games.

He has a little NHL head coaching experience, coaching the Oilers in 1995 for 38 games before getting fired. He worked as an assistant with Anaheim for a couple of years also.

Burnett has also won a Calder Cup as a head coach in 1993.

I know the Hamilton ownership will probably want to hire their own guys, but I think it'd be smart to hang on to Burnett, like I said, he has a ton of experience, which would be beneficial, and he knows all the players and prospects in the system. Maybe let him focus just on GM duties and have a new head coach.

 

[NaughtyDog]

I am pretty sure it would be home whites & road blacks & Alt. Reds if they choose go with those colours

New secondary logo so where on the lines of bones . spiked dog collar , paw print & the letter H .

Great way to get that bulldog-Icedog rivalry going...almost the same name, same home, road, alternate jersey colours, similar shoulder patches......30 mins apart

 

[Stanley Foobrick]

Actually...

Was referring to sports teams.........

 

[zeropotentate]

So next year the team will be using the same uniforms as this year's AHL team? And then after next year they'll move to their own uniform?

Do you guys think they keep the same jersey design and just change the colours, or do they design the jersey entirely?

Icethetics link to Jersey: http://static1.squarespace.com/stat...5365d1/1427672530505/hamilton.png?format=500w

 

[theBulldogsOHL]

So next year the team will be using the same uniforms as this year's AHL team? And then after next year they'll move to their own uniform?

Do you guys think they keep the same jersey design and just change the colours, or do they design the jersey entirely?

Icethetics link to Jersey: http://static1.squarespace.com/stat...5365d1/1427672530505/hamilton.png?format=500w

Yes next season they will use the same jersey as the AHL team does. There will be a fan vote this fall on what the new colors will be. I believe the article mentioned that new jersey designs must be submitted to the league in December for the following season. I would imagine the jersey will be redesigned completely.

 

[Evil Doctor]

Was referring to sports teams.........

The Cats are the only team in modern history (except for the Kilty B's) that have had those colours. If you are talking Hamilton colours, it's a blue/gold combo, used in their flag, logo, and the HSR transit system. It was also the colour of the Fincups who were the last Hamilton team to win the Memorial Cup....

 

[The Mikestro]

What does Hamilton need to compete next season?

 

[cupcrazyman]

The Cats are the only team in modern history (except for the Kilty B's) that have had those colours. If you are talking Hamilton colours, it's a blue/gold combo, used in their flag, logo, and the HSR transit system. It was also the colour of the Fincups who were the last Hamilton team to win the Memorial Cup....

What were the colours of the Hamilton Dukes , Hamilton Steelhawks ?

 

[AK87]

wouldnt mind seeing the Frontenacs pick up Burnett and getting rid of McPharland.

 

[PhlyerPhanatic31]

What were the colours of the Hamilton Dukes , Hamilton Steelhawks ?

The Dukes were red white and blue, The Steelhawks were red,white and black

 

[JSavoire]

Burnett has a ton of OHL experience, he coached Guelph to the championship back in 1998, taking the Storm to the Memorial Cup final game, where they lost in overtime to Portland. He also coached the Bulls to the OHL finals in 2008, where they lost to Kitchener in seven games.

He has a little NHL head coaching experience, coaching the Oilers in 1995 for 38 games before getting fired. He worked as an assistant with Anaheim for a couple of years also.

Burnett has also won a Calder Cup as a head coach in 1993.

I know the Hamilton ownership will probably want to hire their own guys, but I think it'd be smart to hang on to Burnett, like I said, he has a ton of experience, which would be beneficial, and he knows all the players and prospects in the system. Maybe let him focus just on GM duties and have a new head coach.

There's no way they should keep Burnett. Under the old ownership Burnett's job was a given but New Team, New Slate! That's the way to start a fresh build and there are LOTS of great hockey people out there.

 

[ImaBullsfan]

There's no way they should keep Burnett. Under the old ownership Burnett's job was a given but New Team, New Slate! That's the way to start a fresh build and there are LOTS of great hockey people out there.

Apparently Burnett is the only one that was offered a job with the bulldogs

 

[Canadian Game]

Apparently Burnett is the only one that was offered a job with the bulldogs

That's just comical if true.

 

[CanadaGord]

Apparently Burnett is the only one that was offered a job with the bulldogs

If Burnett coaches in Hamilton, Belleville had better get the Yardman renovations started right away, they could be back here in less than 3 years.

Powerplay last 5 years 19th, 18th, 17th, 20th, 20th
Penalty kill last 5 years 18th, 20th, 1st (with Malcolm Subban in goal, 4th, 16th

Specialty teams are the responsibility of the head coach, and his recent record (thru 2 cycles of players) tells the story. He might have a great deal of experience, but the above record asks the question about whether he has stayed current with the way the game is played now

 

[Stanley Foobrick]

The Cats are the only team in modern history (except for the Kilty B's) that have had those colours. If you are talking Hamilton colours, it's a blue/gold combo, used in their flag, logo, and the HSR transit system. It was also the colour of the Fincups who were the last Hamilton team to win the Memorial Cup....

When the public gets to vote on the colours, if they don't go Black Gold and White, like the Ticats and the cities only NHL team, Tigers, I'll eat this thread.

 

[frontsfan2005]

That's just comical if true.

He comes with experience, which I think is important for the first year of this team in a new market. It'd probably help the players with the adjustment of relocating and give them some stability if he remained for a year or so.

The team nearly went to the OHL finals in 2013, losing game seven of the conference finals to a much better Barrie team. It's not like he hasn't had success in the recent past.

There's a ton worse hockey guys available than Burnett. I know I'd rather have him running the show in Kingston over our part-time GM Doug Gilmour and his "mentor" Larry Mavety.

 

[JSavoire]

He comes with experience, which I think is important for the first year of this team in a new market. It'd probably help the players with the adjustment of relocating and give them some stability if he remained for a year or so.

The team nearly went to the OHL finals in 2013, losing game seven of the conference finals to a much better Barrie team. It's not like he hasn't had success in the recent past.

There's a ton worse hockey guys available than Burnett. I know I'd rather have him running the show in Kingston over our part-time GM Doug Gilmour and his "mentor" Larry Mavety.

And there are better guys out there than Burnett as well. Methinks a number of the players would've wanted a fresh start from Burnett as well. Maybe ask Tomasek, Colella, Bricknell to name a few...oh, and Harper/Subban.

 

[Canadian Game]

If two separate people had the GM and and coaching positions and George was GM, I'd be fine with that. Although I wouldn't want George too close to the players if he was GM. However George as coach made many terrible decisions this year and continued doing them. A classic example is juggling lines after lines built chemistry and were producing. Once he juggled lines we would have a bad loss and then go on a losing skid. Forwards like Tomasek and Harper spent a fair amount of time on D while they kept Morris in Wellington (who I think played fairly well when he came up near the end of the season).

Tomasek also became George's whipping boy and often played on the bottom forward lines (usually 4th) and still managed to score a fair amount of goals with limited minutes (which you would think George would notice). Tomasek has some nifty hands and George should have embraced him. But then again, George doesn't seem to like Europeans. During the import draft rather than pick someone that could fill a spot, George selected David Pastrnak. There was no way Boston was sending him down to the OHL and now look at the guy in the big league. If a European was going to come here, it was one that he could invest little energy into and was guaranteed production from.

Then there is the in-game decisions. I think the worst glaring error for Burnett to miss was when the Bulls had a powerplay (I believe we were down by a goal in the 3rd) and for an entire minute George didn't realize he was a man short on the ice. The Belleville crowd was shouting at him and he didn't catch on while we played even strength hockey on a friggin powerplay.

Lastly, both players and family members have told me directly about their displeasure for George and his decisions... and in most cases these aren't guys fighting for minutes and opportunities. When you have effective players (or family) speaking out against the coach in public, you know things are bad. I understand that he is a strict coach and Gord was a strict owner but I get the impression that the environment was almost toxic behind the scenes.