Hamilton Bulldogs 2019-20 Season Thread

[Hammer9001]

I suggest everyone email their councilor and the mayor and stress the desire to have the city work with the team, and listen to their proposal to complete an arena for the benefit of both Hamilton and the Bulldogs.

 

[The Mikestro]

Hamilton Bulldogs Arena Situation

 

[hizzoner]

The council meeting tonight to discuss the arena should be interesting.

 

[hizzoner]

Well well well--Hamilton Council decides to kick the discussion down the road. No hurry here eh? Steve Staios there only to find Council will not deal with it--so he leaves. I think Andlauer is being sent a message.

 

[Rounder8]

Ya, the message is that council are a bunch of clowns

 

[Canadian Game]

Well well well--Hamilton Council decides to kick the discussion down the road. No hurry here eh? Steve Staios there only to find Council will not deal with it--so he leaves. I think Andlauer is being sent a message.

At this rate council will be sent a message when Andlauer finds a new home for the Bulldogs outside of Hamilton. It might be nearby, it might not be but I doubt he lets it drag much longer. It’s unfortunate because he really is an ideal owner who genuinely cares about the team and the city. Not many teams have an owner who cares like he does, and is willing to build an arena mostly on his own dime.

 

[Rounder8]

It's beyond frustrating.

 

[digiblader]

This is the Belleville Bulls situation all over again.. owner demands new arena or renovations, city kicks the can down the road, team leaves.. which is likely what's set to happen to the Bulldogs. It's obvious the city has no interest in spending tax dollars on an arena--I mean, FirstOntario is in as bad or worse shape than CAA Arena (formerly the Yardmen) was in 2015..while I understand they don't want another white elephant like FirstOntario Centre was back when it was built in the mid-80s--they're running the risk of losing their OHL team to either nearby cities (Burlington?) or further away, like NY State or Cornwall..

Not a distraction this franchise needs espeically while they're in a rebuild and hoping to be competitive in 2020/21 and beyond..

 

[Rounder8]

It's like the Bulls situation except for the fact that you're in a market that is 10x the size and if they would get their head out of their ass there would be A LOT of private money involved. Soon FOC will need a major renovation which will cost just as much or more money to the taxpayer.

The only difference is then they may not have an anchor tenant like the Bulldogs. It doesn't make any sense at all.

 

[kovacro]

Ya, the message is that council are a bunch of clowns

Bunch of f***sticks couldn’t plan a one car parade.

 

[Helvigster]

well I kind of gave up on Hamilton city council a while ago with their bonehead decisions, so this didn't surprise me much

I want to be optimistic about the arena situation and that there will be a permanent hockey arena in Hamilton but I just don't know anymore.

Maybe Hamilton really is strictly a football town, I'm not sure..

 

[Canadian Game]

Any word on cuts from camp? Haven’t read/heard anything.

 

[Canadian Game]

Don't know a thing about Bradey Johnson's game but a 15th round pick for a depth veteran forward is fine by me. Johnson is an OA.

 

[three dog night]

Don't know a thing about Bradey Johnson's game but a 15th round pick for a depth veteran forward is fine by me. Johnson is an OA.

He a good all round defensive forward I enjoy watching him play

 

[three dog night]

Here his stats Ontario Hockey League – Official Site of the Ontario Hockey League

 

[Bra Wavers]

So what happens with the OAs now? Will Landry or Wainman be traded?

 

[HockeyPops]

Can't imagine much interest in Wainman. I would suspect Landry though would generate a fair amount.

 

[Helvigster]

Has Jackson been at camp? I haven’t seen.

this is extremely late I'm sorry

If I remember correctly, Zach Jackson has been out with an injury since around January. He's not on the roster on the team website so I'm assuming he was quietly released, similar to Jake Murray

 

[Canadian Game]

this is extremely late I'm sorry

If I remember correctly, Zach Jackson has been out with an injury since around January. He's not on the roster on the team website so I'm assuming he was quietly released, similar to Jake Murray

No worries. Thanks for the info. This could explain acquiring Johnson since him and Jackson are both two-way forwards.

 

[Canadian Game]

Can't imagine much interest in Wainman. I would suspect Landry though would generate a fair amount.

I agree with the value of both players.

A few weeks ago I wouldn't have thought Landry would be in the cards to trade since he is heavily relied upon for puck-moving and controlling the PP. However, with the addition of Nathan Staios, Supryka continuing to show improvement in pre-season, and Renwick back from long-term injury, I can see Hamilton being open to trading Landry.

 

[Canadian Game]

So what happens with the OAs now? Will Landry or Wainman be traded?

Personally, I hope they at least keep Landry for a couple of months. Another possibility is if Nurse finds a pro contract and doesn't return. I expect him to return but the addition of Johnson today was a bit surprising solely based on the current OA situation.

Worst case scenario, they run with 4 OAs and rotate scratches. If that's the case, Landry and Nurse would be locks on a nightly basis, and the scratches would mainly rotate between Wainman and Johnson. With Jackson being gone and his role of being a shutdown forward and being on the PK, my guess is that Johnson was brought in to help fill that spot, which doesn't help Wainman.

 

[Rounder8]

It could be insurance in case Jenik or Kaliyev (more likely Jenik) make a roster and don't return. If they trade somebody I would think that it would be Landry. I wouldn't be surprised by the deal, but I would be a bit surprised by them doing it this early.

 

[Hammer9001]

This is the Belleville Bulls situation all over again.. owner demands new arena or renovations, city kicks the can down the road, team leaves.. which is likely what's set to happen to the Bulldogs. It's obvious the city has no interest in spending tax dollars on an arena--I mean, FirstOntario is in as bad or worse shape than CAA Arena (formerly the Yardmen) was in 2015..while I understand they don't want another white elephant like FirstOntario Centre was back when it was built in the mid-80s--they're running the risk of losing their OHL team to either nearby cities (Burlington?) or further away, like NY State or Cornwall..

Not a distraction this franchise needs espeically while they're in a rebuild and hoping to be competitive in 2020/21 and beyond..

So this isn't quite the same. The difference here being is the city is working on a replacement plan. It's just not the replacement plan the team may want/has time to wait on, but it's there at least.

Anyways, I thought you said you were leaving last season?

 

[Canadian Game]

So this isn't quite the same. The difference here being is the city is working on a replacement plan. It's just not the replacement plan the team may want/has time to wait on, but it's there at least.

Anyways, I thought you said you were leaving last season?

I completely agree. It's not the same situation at all. Both arenas were/are in deteriorating conditions but the situations are at polar opposite ends of the spectrum.

In Belleville the owner and city could never agree on who should pay for the arena renos and upgrades. The owner (still minority owner of the Bulldogs) was not local and had a poor reputation with fans. A year after the owner's son graduated from the Bulls, Simmonds cashed out and sold the team. Regardless of him selling the team and it moving, the way it happened was extremely unprofessional. Fans were assured that the team wasn't for sale, and within the last few weeks of the regular season, the team was sold overnight and the team abruptly left. At the very least, if he gave a damn about the community, he would have handled it more professionally. It seemed as if he intentionally left it to the end of the season so that he could cowardly sneak out the backdoor to avoid the public backlash.

In Hamilton, Michael Andlauer is noticeably a very passionate owner. He has publicly stated on numerous occasions that he is willing to pay for most/all of a new arena himself. If an arena is build on his dime, he understandably wants the arena to be located in an area that makes sense for him and the team. He is passionate about having quality hockey in Hamilton, and ideally he wants the team to remain in Hamilton. Unfortunately he is being held back from a city council that is very closed-minded, which may put him in a position to look for a home elsewhere. In my opinion, Andlauer is the ideal type of owner that fans, staff, players, and cities would want.

As a side note, Andlauer has done an excellent job of getting the ship turned around into a quality OHL organization with high quality coaching, scouting, management, trainers, ammenities & programs (gym, nutrition education, etc), and marketing. If he can build the arena he wants, I can see the Bulldogs eventually becoming one of the elite OHL teams for attracting top-end players and being known for player development. He's certainly on the right path.

 

[Helvigster]

I know that sometimes we like to say that if the Bulldogs had a new arena, game attendance would be higher. But how do we know that for sure? IIRC there were only around 6 OHL teams that had an attendance of above 4000+ last season (Hamilton was one of them)