Winning two of the OHL’s past four championships, the Hamilton Bulldogs are on the move to Brantford, settling into their new home when training camp ramps up at the end of August.
The Bulldogs will maintain their signature black and gold scheme, with a specially designed secondary logo that the team will use on occasion to identify with their new surroundings in Brantford.
Former OHL General Manager of the Year Steve Staios, who has now joined the Edmonton Oilers, along with understudy-turned interim GM Matt Turek have done a tremendous job equipping the Bulldogs with quality players in recent years, talent that head coach Jay McKee and his staff have maximized and turned into points in the standings. The Bulldogs were one of four OHL teams to produce four selections in the 2023 NHL Draft (Lardis, Xhekaj, Thomas, Brown).
While the Bulldogs lose some experience with the graduation of Sahil Panwar (Hartford Wolf Pack, AHL) and Artem Grushnikov (Dallas Stars), a lot of familiar faces will report to training camp in Brantford with established veterans like Lawson Sherk, Patrick Thomas and Jorian Donovan leading the way into a new era of Bulldogs hockey.
Five Questions looks at the Brantford Bulldogs, a franchise that’s found ways to remain consistently competitive over the past number of years.
1. How’s the building coming along?
It’s an exciting time in Brantford as OHL hockey returns to the Telephone City for the first time since 1984. The Bulldogs will move from the sprawling 17,000+ seat FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton to the confines of the Brantford Civic Centre, with an expected overall investment of over $10 million to prepare the facility for OHL action. Bulldogs owner Michael Andlauer, who is the newest owner of an NHL franchise following his purchase of the Ottawa Senators, has taken the highly successful Bulldogs up the 403 where they’ll still be within driving distance of their loyal fans in the Hamilton area. The Bulldogs provided a construction update on the Civic Centre back on July 7th, and that video can be seen below.
🚧Construction Update From Civic Centre with @VicanoConstruct
Things are happening as October 7th gets closer and closer!#OHL | #Brantford pic.twitter.com/2jKdPyiFu0
— Brantford Bulldogs (@BulldogsOHL) July 7, 2023
2. Is Lardis among the league’s best?
A trade that saw Avery Hayes and Gavin White move to the eventual OHL champion Peterborough Petes resulted in the Bulldogs adding a promising young scorer in Nick Lardis, who donned black and gold and proceeded to have himself a monster second half of the season. Lardis, who played in the Kubota CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game, recorded 25 goals, 21 assists and 46 points in 33 games with the Bulldogs and was selected in the third round by the Chicago Blackhawks at last month’s NHL Draft. Lardis, who hails from Oakville, showed off a wicked release and thrived alongside centreman Sahil Panwar who joined the Bulldogs from Peterborough and experienced a resurgence of his own, earning an AHL contract with the Hartford Wolf Pack. Lardis will be leaned-on as Brantford’s go-to guy up front this season.
He scored some real dandies for both the @BulldogsOHL and @PetesOHLhockey!
Here’s what @NHLBlackhawks fans can expect from third round #NHLDraft pick Nick Lardis, who boasts quite the offensive toolbox 🎥 pic.twitter.com/REyPytmsr6
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) June 30, 2023
3. Can the Bulldogs bring their Czech defence prospects over?
Bulldogs management, led by Matt Turek, targeted a pair of Czech blueliners in this year’s CHL Import Draft, taking highly touted 2024 NHL Draft prospect Adam Jiricek 19th overall before adding Dominik Badinka, who played with Jokerit Helsinki in Finland this past season, with the 79th overall pick. The Brantford blue line will feature a number of returnees led by Ottawa Senators prospect Jorian Donovan and power play presence Lucas Moore. Big shutdown defender Noah Van Vliet will be joined by names like Cedricson Okitundu, Noah Roberts, Carson Lloyd and Callum Cheynowski competing for minutes. The addition of one or both of the two Czech defenders would make things super-competitive during the pre-season.
The Bulldogs selected a pair of Czechia defenders in the 2023 #CHLImportDraft today.
Learn more about Adam Jiricek & Dominik Badinka: https://t.co/ihZ3wdvyyS#WeBuild | #DawgMentality pic.twitter.com/wbyQNv3PyF
— Brantford Bulldogs (@BulldogsOHL) July 5, 2023
4. Is Egorov ready to break in?
A fourth round pick in 2022, David Egorov backstopped the GOJHL affiliate Hamilton Kilty B’s to a Golden Horseshoe title as he put together a tremendous playoff run with a 13-3 record, 2.01 goals-against average and .927 save percentage in 17 games. The Manotick, Ont. native was named a GOJHL Golden Horseshoe Rookie All-Star and managed to appear in two games with the Bulldogs last season, picking up his first win on Feb. 3rd against Niagara. Eligible for the 2024 NHL Draft, Egorov will challenge overage candidate Matteo Drobac and 19-year-old Tristan Malboeuf for opportunities out of training camp.
OHA Top Prospect Team!
Congrats Ego on a great season! Once a Kilty, always a Kilty! Now go dominate the OHL with the Bulldogs!@BulldogsOHL @GOJHL @OHAhockey1 @davidegrv pic.twitter.com/ZdV77a0EHx
— Hamilton Kilty B’s (@HamiltonKiltyBs) June 25, 2023
5. Can Testa find his scoring touch?
A former OMHA SCTA U16 Player of the Year who starred for the 2022 Sutherland Cup champion St. Catharines Falcons during their playoff run, Luca Testa split his first OHL season between London and Hamilton, recording five points (2-3–5) over 39 games. Testa went to the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge and recorded three assists in five games for Team White, and joined the Bulldogs in a deal that sent veterans Ryan Winterton and Ryan Humphrey to the eventual Western Conference champion London Knights. There’s every reason to think Testa has more to offer offensively this season, and he’ll be given opportunities to display his skills under head coach Jay McKee.
LUCA TESTA GETS HIS FIRST AS A BULLDOG!@BulldogsOHL 🥳👏 pic.twitter.com/2cTGUmhlSo
— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) February 8, 2023
Five Questions is put together by Josh Sweetland (@joshsweetland). Follow along throughout the summer for an offseason look at all 20 OHL clubs.
